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Created March 2016, Spring Break Student Packet Copyright © 2016 by School Board of Palm Beach County, Department of Elementary Education

Name: ____________________________________________

Spring Break Student Packet

Grade 4 Reading

Includes:

Independent Reading

Item Practice Review

Language and Editing

Answer Key

THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OF PALM BEACH COUNTY

Department of Elementary Education


INDEPENDENT READING

Have your child read book of their choice each day for at least 45 minutes. Below are

some ways they can talk and write about what they have read.

Literature Text (e.g. Realistic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Fairy Tales, Fantasy, Poetry,

etc.)

* Summarize the story using details and examples from the text.

* Describe the characters and how their actions contribute to the sequence of the events.

* From whose point of view is the text written? How do you know?

* Compare and contrast two stories. Your child may discuss characters, setting, events, etc.

* What is the possible theme? What are details in the text that support your thinking?

* What is a possible central message? What are details in the text that support your thinking?

* What word in the text was tricky for you? How did you solve it?

Informational Text (e.g. Nonfiction Books, Magazines, Websites, etc.)

* Summarize the text; include the main idea and key details.

* Explain events; include what happened and why, based on specific information in the text.

* Describe how the author organized the text (e.g., sequence, compare/contrast, cause/effect,

problem/solution, main idea and reasons, description).

* What was the author’s purpose for writing this text? How do you know?

* What can you learn from the text features? How does the information you learned connect

with the text?

* What is an important detail from the text? How does it connect with the author’s message?

* I can conclude that _________ because _____________.

* How is the text structured?


ITEM PRACTICE REVIEW

Waiting at Live Oak

(The following poem is about waiting for a train at the Live Oak, Florida Junction. It was written in the 1800s.)

Of all the minor woes, A mortal undergoes, ‘Tis waiting in shawl or cloack Seven hours at Live Oak! Waiting from nine to four, Seven hours, sometimes more, Amid box-cars and logs, And music of the frogs. Musquitos, bugs and fleas, Vile dust or raging seas, Inflict, by far, less pain, Than waiting for a train. Ye gods of Rome and Greece, When Shall this waiting cease- This waiting in the cold and rain For the Savannah train! I’d much prefer to take A ride o’er Great Salt Lake- Or to the grand Ty-coon, Than wait in rain or cold, With minor woes untold, Wrapp’d up in shawl or cloak, Seven hours at Live Oak!

John Willis Menard

Black Poet

John Menard was born in

1838 in Illinois. During the

Civil War, he was a clerk in

the U.S. Department of the

Interior. In 1865, he moved to

moved to New Orleans, where

he became active in the

Republic Party. He served as

Inspector of Customs and

later as a Commissioner of

Streets. He also published a

newspaper, The Free South,

later named The Radical

Standard.

He was the first black elected

to the U.S. Congress. He was

elected from Louisiana in

1868 to fill an unexpired term.

Menard failed to overcome an

election challenge by the

loser. Congress refused to seat

either man.

In 1871, he moved to Florida,

where he was again active in

the Republican Party and

published the Island City

News in Jacksonville.


Use the poem, “Waiting at Live Oak” to answer the multiple choice questions

below.

1. What is the main purpose of each stanza in the poem?

a. To describe different aspects of waiting for a train to arrive.

b. To tell a different story about a time the narrator waited at the train

station.

c. To create drama.

d. To show the reader how interesting it is to wait for the train to arrive.

2. Which sentence contains the best evidence that this poem is written in first

person?

a. “Than wait in rain or cold”

b. “This waiting in the cold and rain for the Savannah train”

c. “I’d much prefer to take a ride o’er Great Salt Lake”

d. “Amid box-cars and logs, and music of the frogs”

3. What information can we get from the text box?

a. A brief biography of John Menard.

b. A look at what life was like for John Menard.

c. John Menard’s purpose for writing this poem.

d. What it was like to wait for the train in the 1800s.

4. Read the following sentence from the poem:

Wrapp’d up in shawl or cloak, Seven hours at Live Oak

What is the meaning of the word cloak?

a. A watch

b. A shoe

c. A coat

d. A train


Use the poem, “Waiting at Live Oak” to answer the open response questions

below.

5. How does the narrator feel about waiting at the Live Oak train station? Use

details from the text to support your answer.

6. What is the main idea of this poem?


The Old Stone House

W.M. Akers

1 On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was signed, and the

Revolutionary War was about to begin. Seven weeks later, on August 22nd, 1776, the

British Army invaded New York. The British chose to attack Brooklyn, a village across

the East River from Manhattan. General George Washington‘s army was located in this

village. The Patriot forces were ready to fight, but they were badly outnumbered. The

British had about 20,000 soldiers. The Americans had fewer than 13,000.

2 The battle started on August 27th, when British soldiers raided a watermelon

patch, and were fired upon by American troops. The Americans retreated northward,

fighting as they went. The British surrounded the Americans, who fled across the

Gowanus Creek. To keep back the British, they left behind a group of soldiers from

Maryland: just a few hundred Americans to hold off 2,000 Redcoats (British Army

soldiers).

3 British were fighting from in front of the Old Stone House—a farmhouse built

in 1699. The Marylanders attacked the house six times. Nearly all of them were

killed or captured. As he watched from a nearby hill, General Washington said,

"Good God! What brave fellows I must this day lose." Because of the sacrifice of

the Marylanders, the rest of the American army was able to escape. Had it not


been for the fighting at the Old Stone House, the war could have been lost that

morning.

4 The Revolution survived, and so did the Old Stone House. The family home

of the Vechte family was sold to the Cortelyous in 1783. In the late 19th Century,

it served as the clubhouse for the baseball team that would later be named the

Brooklyn Dodgers. In 1897, the house was destroyed and buried. Thirty years

later, it was dug up and rebuilt by the New York City Parks Department.

5 "Eighty percent of the house," said Old Stone House Executive Director

Kimberly Maier, "is original material.”

6 On the outside, the house looks just as it did in 1699. On the inside, there is

an exhibit about the Battle of Brooklyn and the men who died there. There are

uniforms like the soldiers would have worn, maps of the battle, and a diorama of

the fighting around the house. Six thousand children come every year to learn

about the house. Maier and her staff teach them not just about the battle, but

about what life was like in the 18th century.

7 "You couldn't just go to the grocery store," she said. "You just had one

dress, because you had to weave it and cut the cloth and sew it together. The

chores were so much more than just making your bed."

8 Maier said that school children are most surprised when they learn what

playtime was like in the 18th century. To kids today, 18th century fun looks a lot

like work.

9 "Kids would start out by helping in the garden, or helping to churn butter,"

Maier said.


10 Children would do basic weaving, or help in the kitchen. As they got better

at these tasks, they would learn more advanced tasks. Eventually, they would be

as good as a grown‐up. When they played outside, they didn't have rubber balls.

Instead, they used an inflated pig's bladder.

11 Outside the Old Stone House is a park. A few years ago, it was rebuilt. It has

swings, fountains, and jungle gyms. Children play there every day—and they don't

have to use a butter churn.


Use the story, The Old Stone House to answer the multiple choice questions

below.

1. The Old Stone House played an important role in the American Revolution.

What evidence from the passage supports this conclusion?

A) “The British surrounded the Americans, who fled across the Gowanus

Creek.”

B) “Had it not been for the fighting at the Old Stone House, the war could

have been lost that morning.”

C) “The British chose to attack Brooklyn, a village across the East River from

Manhattan, where General George Washington had his army.”

D) The Marylanders attached the house six times. Nearly all of them were

killed or captured.”

2. According to the passage, how did General George Washington feel about

the Marylanders?

A) He was proud of how brave they were.

B) He was disappointed that they didn’t help the Patriots.

C) He was proud when they decided to play baseball.

D) He was impressed with the butter they churned.

3. What do the children who go to the Old Stone House learn?

A) They learn about the battle.

B) They learn about life in the 18th century.

C) They learn about the battle and life in the 18th century.

D) They learn about the park outside of the Old Stone House.


4. Read the following sentences:

“The Patriot forces were ready to fight, but they were badly outnumbered. The British had about 20,000 soldiers. The Americans had fewer than 13,000.”

What does the phrase “they were badly outnumbered” mean?

A) There were far more British soldiers than American soldiers.

B) There was no way for the American soldiers to win.

C) The Americans couldn’t count the number of British soldiers.

D) The American soldiers were better than the British soldiers.

Use the passage, The Old Stone House to answer the Open Response questions

below:

5. Why is it important for children to visit the Old Stone House? Use evidence

from the passage to support your answer.

6. When people are faced with a challenge it is important to remember that

the biggest and strongest aren’t always the winners. What details from the

passage support this idea?


Remember to Call!

By James Folta

“Ugh, there's flour everywhere!”

1 Sylvia pulled a book out of her bag and a big cloud of white flour

puffed out. Coughing, Sylvia waved her hand in front of her face to clear it

out. Her cat, Cyrus, hopped up on the table and swatted its paw through

the flour in the air.

2 Sylvia put the book down on the table and brushed the flour from

the cover. Sylvia had just started a new job. Sylvia was a baker and she had

just been hired at a new bakery to bake for them. She came in and baked so

the bakery would always have lots of food to sell. She worked very hard

and she was sometimes messy. When she came home, she was always

covered in flour.

3 Her boss was a man named Jason. He owned the bakery. He taught

Sylvia where all the ingredients were in the kitchen. He showed her how to

work the ovens. He made sure she had all the recipes. Her first few days,

Jason and Sylvia worked together at the bakery. Jason made sure Sylvia was

doing a good job and everything was all right.

Sylvia was doing well at her new job.


4 On the last day that Jason trained Sylvia, he told her: “If you have any

questions, please ask me! You can call me any time, with any question. I

don't want any problems, so I would prefer that you ask many questions.”

5 The problem was that Sylvia didn't like asking questions. She didn't

want to bother Jason or embarrass herself. She thought: “I can figure

anything out all by myself. I don't want to bother Jason with questions. I

won't have to ask too many questions.”

Remember to Call! Sylvia decided she wouldn't ask and would just do her

best. She would figure things out on her own and not bother Jason with

questions.

6 One day, Sylvia was cleaning up the store while some bread was

baking in the oven. She mopped the floors, wiped all the crumbs and flour

off of the counters, and cleaned out the old things from the refrigerator.

When she was taking the garbage out, she didn't remember whether or not

Jason had told her to clean out the garbage cans with a hose. The cans

were a little dirty inside from all the trash.

7 “Should I call Jason and ask?” she thought. “I'd better not, I don't

want to bother him.”

8 So she decided to leave the garbage cans outside while they were

still dirty. She went back inside to finish baking. She went home and didn't

worry about the garbage cans.

The next day, while Sylvia was having breakfast and petting her cat, she got

a phone call from Jason.

9 “Sylvia! You forgot to clean out the garbage cans!” Jason said.

10 “Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't remember if I was supposed to or not,” she

said.

11 “Well, raccoons got into the trash cans and made a big mess! I've

been cleaning it up all morning,” he said. Sylvia gasped. She felt terrible.

12 “I'm so sorry, Jason! I hope it's not too bad,” she said.


13 “It's not that bad, just a little messy. Please just ask me next time, so

we don't have a problem like this.” Jason said, and then he hung up the

phone.

14 Sylvia felt very bad. She kept eating her breakfast and thought about

the raccoons. She hoped they were not too messy.

15 The next day at work, Sylvia was supposed to make a lot of blueberry

muffins. She mixed up the batter and scooped it out into the tins. She

heated the oven up and put the tins into the oven. She went over to see

how long they needed to cook. But she had accidentally dripped batter

onto the recipe card and couldn't read how many minutes it was supposed

to cook.

16 She thought that she should call Jason and ask, especially after the

raccoons the other day. But she was embarrassed that she had spilled on

the recipe. She didn't want to bother him.

17 So Sylvia looked at some other recipes and guessed that 40 minutes

would probably be enough time. She set a timer and waited. When she

took the muffins out of the oven and popped them out of the tin, they were

rock hard! She tried biting into one of them. They were so dry that she

could barely taste the blueberries.

18 “Oh no,” she said, “they're ruined!” Just then, Jason walked in. Sylvia

didn't know he was coming back to the store that day.

19 “What's ruined?” Jason asked.

20 “These blueberry muffins. They are too hard, and I can't taste any of

the berries. Sorry,” she said.

21 “Sylvia! You should have asked,” Jason shouted. He was very angry. “I

told you not to be afraid to ask. Now we have all these bad muffins that I

have to throw out!”

22 Jason angrily took the tin of muffins and dumped them in the trash.

23 “I'm sorry, Jason, I'll ask next time,” Sylvia said shyly.


24 When Sylvia got home that night, she was very upset. Her cat jumped

on her lap but she was too grumpy to play with it. She kept messing things

up at the bakery! And only because she didn't want to ask questions.

25 The next day, Sylvia went in extra early. She took out her keys to

unlock the door, but the door was already open. She peeked her head in

the door and heard someone rustling around in the back. Someone was in

the store! Maybe it's Jason, Sylvia thought. But maybe not! Sylvia was

scared because she thought it could be a robber. She didn't want to go

inside. She didn't know what to do!

26 “Maybe I'll just come back later,” she thought. That would be easier

than asking what to do.

She could just walk away. But she had promised herself that she would ask

questions if she

didn't know what to do. She took out her cell phone and called Jason.

27 “Hello?” Jason said. He sounded sleepy.

28 “Jason!” Sylvia whispered, “I don't know what to do. The door is

unlocked and I can hear someone in the back of the store.”

29 “Okay, Sylvia. I'm going to call the police. I'll come down to the

bakery very soon. Wait there and be careful!” Jason hung up the phone.

30 Sylvia waited around the corner from the bakery until the police

showed up. She waited outside with one of the police officers while two

others went inside. Jason showed up after and they all waited outside,

trying to see through the bakery windows. There was shouting inside the

store and Sylvia heard some bread trays clatter to the ground. Soon the

two officers came out, holding a short man between them. Sylvia was

shocked. It had been a robber!

31 “We caught him trying to open up the cash register,” the officer said.

The robber was angry and looked at Sylvia.


32 “Why did you have to come in early? You should have just left me

alone!” he said to her. The officers put him in the police car. Jason turned

to Sylvia and gave her a big hug.

33 “Thanks for calling,” Jason said, “if you hadn't called, we would have

been robbed. Do you see now why you have to always ask questions?”

Sylvia blushed.

34 “Yes, I do. I would have just walked away!” she said. “I guess it is

always better to ask.”


Use the passage, Remember to Call to answer the Multiple Choice questions

below:

1. After Sylvia helps catch a robber, the author writes that “Jason turns to

Sylvia and gives her a big hug.”

Why does the author include this detail?

A) Jason is angry that she called him.

B) Jason is relieved that she is not the thief.

C) Jason is grateful to her for remembering to call.

D) Jason is impressed by her detective abilities.

2. Which statement correctly summarizes the passage?

A) Sylvia owns a bakery and trains Jason, but he ends up being a thief. Sylvia

calls the police and they arrest him.

B) Sylvia is a baker who makes blueberry muffins to feed the raccoons. She

loves animals and wants them to eat the great food that she makes. Jason

is not happy with her.

C) Sylvia got a new job as a baker. Jason, her boss, encourages her to ask

questions. Sylvia messes up a couple of times, but finally called Jason when

she heard a noise in the bakery early in the morning. The police came and

arrested a robber.

D) Sylvia works as a detective. She keeps messing up but at the end she

catches a robber in a bakery.

3. Why doesn’t Sylvia like asking questions?

A) She didn’t want to bother Jason or embarrass herself.

B) She was nervous that Jason would fire her.

C) Jason told her not to ask questions.

D) Sylvia loves asking questions.


4. What is the lesson that Sylvia learns by the end of the story?

A) It’s better to ask questions than to make mistakes.

B) You should try your best to figure things out on your own.

C) Controlling your anger is important when you have a job.

D) When you are at work, you shouldn’t make messes.

Use the passage, Remember to Call to answer the open response questions

below:

5. What is the theme of the passage? Use details from the passage to support

your thinking.

6. How would you describe Jason as a boss? Use details from the passage to

support your thinking.


Digitally Speaking Activity

Purpose: Summarize an audio or multimedia presentation and determine the central message. You will need: • Exit Card (to be completed during the activity) • Video or Audio Clip (choices below) Directions: 1. Watch the video (or listen to the audio presentation) with a friend or family member. 2. Retell what happened (use words like “in the first part”, “in the middle”, “at the end”…) and discuss what it is mostly about. 3. Watch the video again and identify the key details, jotting the bullets on the Exit Card. 4. Watch the video again, thinking, “What is the big idea/ central idea?” Then write that in the box of the Exit Card. 5. Discuss “How did the filmmaker show us this central idea?” (consider setting choices, music choices, interview choices, repeated words/repeated phrases, repeated symbols) Digitally Speaking Exit Card Key Details:

____________________________

____________________________

____________________________ Big/Central Idea: __________________________________________________________________ How did the filmmaker show us this central idea? __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________

Original Goldie Blox Commercial- YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0NoOtaFrEs

Earth Day 1st Place Speech by Kid Soultravelers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HW-C2PGehYc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0NoOtaFrEs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HW-C2PGehYc


LANGUAGE AND EDITING Choose the correct word or phrase to fill in each blank in the passage. For each blank, fill in the circle before the word or phrase that is correct.

Literature Text 1 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

__________ [Ⓐ two Ⓑ too Ⓒ to Ⓓ toot] 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, __________ [Ⓐ whom Ⓑ who Ⓒ whose Ⓓ which] 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.

Informational Text

3. "I cried when I saw my house,” Chakia Boutte told WR News. The 12-year-old's

New Orleans neighborhood looks different from the way it looked a year ago

[2005]. Chakia points to a block of homes that were damaged when __________

[Ⓐ Hurricane Katrina Ⓑ hurricane Katrina Ⓒ hurricane katrina Ⓓ Hurricane

katrina] hit the Gulf Coast. "All these houses used to be __________ [Ⓐ “fixed

up," Ⓑ fixed up," Ⓒ fixed up" Ⓓ fixed up] she says. Chakia's own home flooded

in the storm last year [2005].

4. More than 1,300 people died in the storm, and many more lost their homes.

Hurricane Katrina is the costliest __________ [Ⓐ natral Ⓑ naturel Ⓒ natraul

Ⓓ natural] disaster in American history. Relief and recovery costs from the storm

are nearing $100 billion.

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