North American Weeds
Title, subheading, bold words
What is a central idea?
What problem does Sheriff Ramirez face when he comes to visit Gus?
Gus would not evacuate his home.
How many stanzas are in this poem?
1
How many stanzas are in the poem?
What do the title and subheading show that the text is about?
It lists examples of weeds from North America
What is the central idea of paragraph 1?
Arachnids are an animal group that includes spiders, scorpions, ticks, and mites.
Why does Gus refuse to evacuate?
He thinks the volcano will not erupt and that he knows better than the scientists.
What is a metaphor?
Comparing two things without using like or as. Saying something is something else.
Which two lines re-create a roller coaster moving slowly up the first steep hill?
lines 3 and 4
Why does the author make some words bold? Name one bold word
They are important vocabulary words: Plantain, broadleaf plantain, buckhorn plantain
What is the central idea for paragraph 2?
Spiders differ from insects in several ways
What does Gus learn from his experience?
He should have listened when everyone was telling him to leave.
What is the basic metaphor in this poem?
Old letters are memories.
The second stanza
What is diction?
The types of words the author uses to create a certain tone or convey their purpose.
What is the central idea for paragraph 3?
There are many different types of insect and spider species.
What is a theme? Where do we find it?
The author's message in a story, it must be inferred from the text.
What is an extended metaphor?
A metaphor that continues over many lines or pages of a text.
It gives the impression that the noises are loud.
What is syntax?
The types of sentences an author uses to create an effect.
How do the central ideas of paragraphs 1-3 contribute to the article as a whole?
Each central idea supports the author's purpose, which is to compare and contrast information about insects and spiders.
What is a possible theme of the story?
Better safe than sorry, safety should come before pride
What is the extended metaphor in this poem?
"Old letters are roadmaps, / Showing us where we have been/ and hinting at where might go..." compares letters and old roadmaps
Shoulders
by Naomi Shihab Nye
A man crosses the street in rain,
stepping gently, looking two times north and south,
because his son is asleep on his shoulder.
5No car must splash him.
No car drive too near to his shadow.This man carries the world’s most sensitive cargo
but he’s not marked.
Nowhere does his jacket say FRAGILE,
HANDLE WITH CARE.10His ear fills up with breathing.
He hears the hum of a boy’s dream
deep inside him.
15We’re not going to be able
to live in this world
if we’re not willing to do what he’s doing
with one another. The road will only be wide.
The rain will never stop falling.
Why does the author capitalize "FRAGILE" and "HANDLE WITH CARE"?
To emphasize the delicate nature of the man's cargo