Desoto County Schools

DeSoto County Schools

Fourth Grade Reading Assessment 1 – Unit 1

(RL.4.2, RI.4.1, RF.4.3a, MLAF 1b)

Willy Wins the Hearts of Everyone

1 An animal doesn’t have to be as large as a lion to be brave. Sometimes a small dog can have more +courage+ than the largest animal.

4 Willy is a Chihuahua, which is a type of small dog. He was found in a cardboard box on a street in Los Angeles, California, where he had been abandoned. He had been left there with a broken back, and he couldn’t move his back legs. He also had throat problems and couldn’t bark. Willy was taken to an animal hospital where doctors were able to make his throat better, but they could not fix his back legs. Willy dragged his back legs behind him, trying to walk. He stayed at the animal hospital for a year. He waited and waited for someone to adopt him.

13 One day a very special woman named Deborah Turner came to the animal hospital. Turner loved animals and owned a pet store. She had been rescuing animals almost all her life. When Turner saw Willy, she knew she had to help save him. She decided to take him home.

18 Because Willy couldn’t walk, Turner had to carry him. Willy didn’t weigh much, so she didn’t mind. But she knew that Willy wanted to be independent. She could see that he wanted to run and play with her other pets.

22 Turner tried many unusual ways to help Willy move around. Once she tried tying helium balloons to his back legs. The balloons lifted Willy’s back legs off the floor. But Willy weighed only about two pounds, and the balloons lifted his front legs off the floor, too. Turner was afraid the little dog would float away! It was clear that balloons were not the answer.

28 Turner also tried putting Willy on a skateboard. Willy used his front legs to move the skateboard while his back legs stayed on the board. He raced through the house, but he couldn’t stop the skateboard. He would crash into walls and furniture, scaring himself and Turner’s other pets. Skateboards were not the answer, either.

33 One day Turner saw an advertisement for a special cart for animals with leg injuries. The cart had tiny wheels. After the animal’s hurt back legs were strapped in, the animal could use its front legs to pull the cart around. Turner knew the cart would be perfect for Willy and bought one for him. After being strapped in, Willy ran around the room. Soon he could go all over the house by himself and not crash into anything.

40 Turner could not contain her excitement when she saw how happy her little dog seemed to be. She wanted to share that happiness with others. Turner began taking Willy to hospitals to visit children who could not walk. The children loved Willy and were encouraged by him. If a handicapped dog could get around, then they could, too. Willy also went to visit people in nursing homes. As with the children, Willy’s example encouraged these older adults to keep trying even though some things were hard to do.

48 Soon Willy’s story was printed in newspapers and magazines. Turner and Willy appeared on many television shows as well. Willy ran in a Los Angeles marathon with a group of children. Turner even helped write a book about Willy called How Willy Got His Wheels. Thanks to reading Willy’s story, other pet owners heard about his special cart. They ordered carts to help their pets live happy, active lives.

Today Willy lives with Turner in Long Beach, California. He still appears on television shows and visits many schools and hospitals every year.

Focus Objectives

3.

57 With the help of a special cart, Willy was able to conquer his problem and put his best paw forward. Willy shows people that they too can beat their problems.

1.  When referring to details in “Willy Wins the Hearts of Everyone,” the reader can infer that Willy—

A . became scared when he was

carried around all day

B. likes being away from all animals

C. gets depressed when he appears on television

D. is comfortable around people

2. When referring to details in “Willy Wins the Hearts of Everyone,” the reader can infer that Deborah Turner —

A. likes appearing on television

B. wants to become rich by using Willy

C. wants to work at the animal hospital

D. cares a lot about her animals

A Winning Heart

by Rebecca Spohn

The squeaky sound of shoes running up and down the court, the loud whistle between periods, cheers from the bleachers, and coaches shouting encouraging words at players—Jordan loved every bit of it. The sights and

sounds of basketball made his heart go fast. If only he could play the game, but he knew there was no point in thinking about it. Jordan looked down at his legs, they didn’t work like other kids’. His muscles were weak and, he thought to himself, “the wheelchair would just get in the way out on the court.”

After school, he and Tyler, his big brother, would shoot a few hoops at home in the driveway. Jordan liked to dribble the ball the best. Then he’d quickly spin his wheelchair away from Tyler towards the hoop and throw the ball with all his might.

“Crash!” It hit the backboard and fell through the net. “I slam dunked it,” shouted Jordan.

“Lucky break,” smiled Tyler. “Let’s play again. Hey, I’ve got an idea. How about the loser has to clean the other person’s bedroom.”

“It’s a deal,” said Jordan with great confidence. And sure enough, he won!

After dinner, Tyler reluctantly started to pick up clothes and magazines off Jordan’s bedroom floor. “It’s an absolute mess in here,” said Tyler.

“Don’t worry about dusting the place,” laughed Jordan. He thought his big brother was the best. Tyler was going to go on to play basketball in college when he got older. He hoped his brother would be a great player, and he would go to all of his games and watch.

The next morning was Saturday and Jordan’s birthday. “Pretty nice having the day off from school on your special day, hey, sport?” said Jordan’s father. “Yep!” said Jordan.

After lunch Jordan’s mother brought in a big chocolate cake and everyone shouted, “Blow out the candles and make a wish.” Jordan blew hard and wished with all of his might that he could play basketball like everyone else.

“Hey sport, I have a surprise for you!” said his father. “I’ve got three tickets to the professional basketball game at the dome for this evening. What do you think of that?” “That’s great!” said Jordan. Inside he was sad. Watching just wasn’t the same as being involved in the action.

Driving to the game, Jordan looked out the window of their van. They passed big elm trees, houses of all shapes and sizes, and—Jordan couldn’t believe his eyes. There were several men all playing basketball at a basketball court in the park, and all the men were just like him, in wheelchairs. They were moving fast, just like the squeaky shoes running up and down the courts at school.

When they arrived at the dome, there were cars and people everywhere. The excitement inside was contagious. Jordan’s heart was beating fast. The whistle blew, the game started, and the court came alive with action. There were cheers from the bleachers, squeaky shoes, slam dunks, and encouraging words from the coach—“the

coach,” said Jordan to himself. “Could it be, could it really be?” The opposing team’s coach was an important part of the game and giving advice to his players, and he was in a wheelchair just like Jordan.

3. Read the following sentences from the passage.

That night, Jordan’s heart was filled with hope and happiness. This was the best birthday ever,” he thought to himself. He remembered back to the men having fun playing basketball in the park and the coach. They were people just like him and part of the action in many different ways. He knew he would find a way too, someday.

Jordan experiences a mix of emotions throughout the story, but at the end, the author says, “Jordan’s heart was filled with hope and happiness.”

Explain what causes Jordan’s feelings to change throughout the story. In your answer, be sure to describe some of the emotions Jordan feels throughout the first part of the story; explain what causes Jordan to be filled with hope and happiness at the end of the store. Refer to details from the story to justify your answer.

4. The story describes Jordan’s emotions about basketball. Refer to details in the text to provide evidence as to why he feels this way about the sport.

5. Based on the passage, infer Jordan’s mood when his father gives him tickets to the professional basketball game. Refer to details from the story to justify your answer.

6. Create an accurate summary of the passage by completing the graphic organizer.

Somebody
Character (s)
Wanted
Goal
But…
(Problem)
So…
(Solution)

7. Citing evidence found in the text, 9. What is the correct way to

what is the central theme of the divide the word responsible

story? into syllables?

A. Determination A. re/ sponsi/ble

B. Selfishness B. r/ esponsi/ble

C. Failure C. re/spon/ sible

D. Isolation D. re/spon/si/ble

8. Read the poem.

"Humanity"

by Elma Stuckey

If I am blind and need someone

To keep me safe from harm,

It matters not the race to me

Of the one who takes my arm.

If I am saved from drowning

As I grasp and grope,

I will not stop to see the face

Of the one who throws the rope.

Or if out on some battlefield

I’m falling faint and weak,

The one who gently lifts me up

May any language speak.

We sip the water clear and cool,

No matter the hand that gives it.

A life that’s lived worthwhile and fine,

What matters the one who lives it?

What is the theme, or central message, of the poem?

A. acceptance

B. avoidance

C. superiority

D. power

10. What is the correct way to

divide the word energy

into syllables?

A. energ/y

B. e/ ner/ gy

C. en/ er/ gy

D. ener/gy

A Pioneer with Heart

Heart transplant surgery was not encouraged until Alexis Carrel’s historic work in the early 1900s. Carrel, a specialist in blood vessels, or the tubes that transport blood to your body, was a surgeon. Because of his groundbreaking work, he received a Nobel Prize in 1912. In 1935, he helped to create a machine that would keep donated organs in fresh condition. He performed several transplants. Transplants are when a heart is donated from one person and given to another person in need. In spite of Carrel’s work, heart surgery was still rare fifty years ago. The risks were just too great. Because experiments with whole heart transplants in 1933 were not successful, few people would do them. A Russian surgeon covered some ground in the late 1940s, but his work was unknown to our side of the world until 1962.

In the 1950s, doctors began to talk about doing heart transplants again. In 1959, Dr. Norman and his colleagues at Stanford began to experiment but did not perform an actual transplant until many years later.

Christiaan Barnard is credited, or honored, for performing the first human heart transplant in December 1967. Dr. Barnard was born in 1922 in South Africa. His education and early career in surgery were in Cape Town, South Africa, as well as in America. He eventually became the world’s best heart surgeon. On December 3, 1967, Dr. Barnard and his team of thirty people transplanted a donated heart. The patient, a very ill fifty-nine-year-old man, volunteered for the surgery. The surgery was a success, but sadly, the weakened patient did not survive the pneumonia (new-mone-yuh) that developed afterward. Another one of Dr. Barnard’s patients lived for more than a year and a half after the same surgery.

Dr. Barnard’s work created a great deal of interest. In fact, Dr. Barnard was amazed by the attention his work received. One month later, Dr. Norman Shumway and his team performed the first heart transplant in the United States. Between December 1967 and March 1971, sixty-five teams performed 170 heart transplants. The risk was still too great. Only fifteen percent of the transplant patients survived for a year after the surgery. By late 1971, heart transplantation was fast becoming a procedure of the past.

A real breakthrough occurred in 1974 with the development of a new heart transplantation drug. Today, most patients’ life expectancies are extended by two years! The world recognized his great work and he received the first World Health Award in 2000.

Dr. Barnard devoted his life to the study of organ transplants. He was a hard-working doctor. When one of his patients’ bodies passed away, he kept on trying. Dr. Barnard viewed the human heart as a mere pump and the brain as the master of the heart. He was a confident man and his hard work paid off.