Fourth Grade

Goal3

Student Independent Practice Passages

Passage Titles Page#

When Little Bear Would Not Work 47

Epaminondas 51

Backseat Driver 55

Siblings 60

U.S.S. Thompson 64

The Great Toothpaste Experiment 69

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When Little Bear Would Not Work

1 One morning when Little Bear wanted to play, his mother sent him out to pull weeds in the blackberry patch. When his mother went out to see how he was getting on, she found him lying on the ground and looking at the sky.

2 "Little Bear," said his mother, "Have you

:finished your weeding?" 3 ''No, Mother Bear," was the answer, "It is too hard work. I shall pull no more weeds." 4 Never before had Mother Bear heard Little Bear speak like that. So she took him by the hand and led him into the house, where Father Bear sat

in his big chair.

5 "Father Bear," she said, "Little Bear will not work." Then behind Little Bear's back she made motions that meant, "But please do not spank him!"

6 "Ah-hum! Ah-hum!" began Father Bear, gazing hard at Little Bear. "Do I understand that you will not pull weeds, Son Bear?"

7 "It is too hard work," explained Little Bear. "I am not big enough to pull weeds in the blackberry patch."

8 "Ah-hum! Ah-hum!" repeated Father Bear, who was really too surprised at first for words. Then he said, "Son Bear, I ought to spank you and send you out to work, and that is what I will do if your mother is willing. But-" Father Bear said "But" in such a loud, loud voice that Little Bear jumped at the tone. "But little bears who will not pull weeds in the blackberry patch shall not eat blackberries." So upstairs went Little Bear, followed by his mother, who

carried a plate of bread and a brown pitcher full of water from the spring. Mother Bear said

nothing when she left Little Bear upstairs with the bread and the water, but he did not

mind that, because at first he thought it was all a joke. At dinner time, when he smelled fish frying he felt hungry. But his mother did not bring him

any fish, and his father said nothing. So Little Bear ate bread and drank water.

9 The afternoon lasted a long, long time.

Little Bear was asleep when his mother brought him more bread and water.

10 When he awoke, he again smelled fish

frying. He felt hungry, but still his mother did not bring him any fish, and his father said nothing. Then he called his mother and his father. 11 "What is the trouble with Son Bear?" inquired Father Bear, when Mother Bear led the little fellow downstairs. 12 "I am hungry!" wailed Little Bear. "Have you no bread?" asked Father Bear. "I cannot eat just

bread," answered Little Bear, ''not when I smell fish. Besides, I am lonesome. I will weed the blackberry patch and the whole garden, and I'll hoe the com, and I' 11 work like Sally Beaver, if you'll just let me have fish for my supper, and blackberries, and honey, and milk."

13 "Very well, Son Bear," agreed Father Bear. "You shall sit down to supper, and weed the blackberry patch before dark."

14 Little Bear passed his plate, and Father Bear filled it with trout, and mashed potatoes,

47

The Great Toothpaste Experiment

Michael Stahl

1 Mrs. Thatcher had an announcement for her fourth grade class. The 30 boys and girls listened closely, a little worried about what she might say. Most of the times Mrs. Thatcher "had an announcement," things did not turn out so well for the class. She announced tests, upcoming fire drills, homework that needed to be done over vacations, and other activities the students just simply did not enjoy taking part in, even though they all knew those things were just part of going to school.

2 Mrs. Thatcher, who looked like a gray-haired giant to the fourth graders, stood in front of the class silently in her large, heavy shoes. All of the students were waiting patiently for the announcement, but Mrs. Thatcher stayed silent a few moments longer. It was almost as though she knew the kids were expecting bad news, so she seemed to keep them waiting on purpose to worry them more.

3 "The science fair is coming up in two weeks," she finally said, breaking the silence. A few kids in the class groaned. Others quietly said in celebration, "Yes." They had taken part in the science fair every year since kindergarten. Some of the students just wanted to get it over with, while others really enjoyed coming up with experiments and showing off what they had learned to a gymnasium full of people.

4 Samuel James liked the yearly science fair. Sherry Jane was not so enthusiastic.

5 "However," continued Mrs. Thatcher once all the kids got their reactions out of the way. "This year will be a little bit different than years past."

6 "Uh oh," many of the kids thought to themselves.

7 "This year, you will be working with partners," Mrs. Thatcher said.

8 The whole class let out a groan. This was most likely because the process would be new to them and added another challenge: learning to work with another person.

9 Fifteen kids wrote their names on a piece of paper and put it into Mrs. Thatcher's wool hat. The other fifteen students went up to the front of the class, one-by-one,

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Use the story to answer the questions below.

1. Sherry Jane was not excited about the science fair. Which detail from the text

supports this conclusion?

2. Which of the following shows the sequence of events described in the passage?

3. Read the following sentences from the passage.

"In the bowl they mixed together a little bit of water, yeast, dish soap, and orange food coloring. They poured the contents of the bowl into the bottle and made quite a mess of the table! The orange bubbles spewed out of the bottle and went all over the place."

What does the word spewed mean as it is used in the passage?

4. Which excerpt from the passage supports the idea that Samuel James wanted people

to be completely shocked when they saw the science fair project he and Sherry Jane

had worked on?

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