Name ______Date______

Unit 1 Success

I’m on my way to being a reading super star! Here’s what I learned.

I learned how to… / Questions / Score
Read and follow explicit directions / 1, 5, 6, / __/3
Identify Parts of a Book (headings, titles, author, illustrator) / 2, 14,15 / __/3
Identify the Main Idea of a Text and the supporting details of a text / 3, 7, 8,,10,11, / ___5
Identify the different genre / 4, 9, 12 / ____,5

Read the Passage below to answer questions 1-6

Static Electricity

Have you ever gotten a shock from walking across a rug? Have you ever taken your winter hat off only to find your hair standing on end? Both of these are examples of static electricity. Here is a simple experiment that you can do at home.

Please read all instructions carefully, and ask your parents for permission before starting.

The Amazing Swinging Cereal

You will need:

  • A hard rubber or plastic comb
  • String
  • Small pieces of dry cereal (O-shaped works best)
  • Scissors

What to do:

  1. Cut a 12-inch piece of string.
  2. Tie one end of the string to a piece of cereal.
  3. Tie the other end of the string to the end of a table or someplace where the cereal will hang by itself.
  4. Take a clean comb and run it through your hair, or rub the comb really fast against a wool sweater. (Your hair must be completely dry for the experiment to work.)
  5. Slowly bring the comb near the piece of cereal. It will swing to touch the comb.
  6. Hold the comb still until the cereal jumps away by itself.
  7. Now try to touch the comb to the cereal again. It will move away as the comb approaches.

What Happened:

When you combed your hair, electrons moved from your hair to the comb. The comb then had a negative charge. The cereal had a positive charge and was attracted to the comb. (Remember: opposites attract.)

When the objects touched, electrons moved from the comb to the cereal. Now they both had the same negative charge and the cereal was repelled.

Note: This experiment works best on dry days. You may substitute a balloon for the comb.

1)What do you do after you slowly bring the comb near the cereal?

  1. swing to touch the comb.
  2. Take the comb and run it through your hair.
  3. Rub the comb really fast against your sweater.
  4. Hold the comb still unti the cereal jumps away by itself.

2)What is the title of this experiment?

  1. Static Electricity
  2. The Amazing Swinging Cereal.
  3. You will need
  4. Cereal, sweaters and static.

3)Why do you think the passage says you can use a balloon in the place of a comb?

  1. A comb and a balloon are made of the same material
  2. The both conduct electricity
  3. Balloons are less expensive than combs
  4. Combs are sometimes hard to find.

4)What type of genre is this text?

  1. Historical Fiction
  2. Non-Fiction
  3. Persuasive
  4. Fiction

5)What is one thing that you do not need?

  1. String
  2. Cereal
  3. Scissors
  4. Balloon

6)What is the first think you need to do before you start the experiment?

  1. Gather what you need.
  2. Read the instructions and ask your parents for permission
  3. Brush your hair so there is static.
  4. Make sure it is a dry day.

Read the Passage below to help you answer questions 7-10

The Pigeon and the Crow

"Mother!" cried the young son. "It is too hot to work or play. Can you tell me a story?"

"Yes, my son. I will tell you a story that my mother told me." This is the story she told.

Once there was a fine pigeon who lived in a nest close to a kitchen. The cooks of the kitchen liked the pigeon and often fed her grain. The pigeon was very satisfied with her home and the food she received.

One day a crow saw the cooks feeding the pigeon. The crow wanted to share the pigeon’s food so he decided to make friends with the pigeon. The crow and the pigeon flew everywhere together. Finally he asked her, "May I share your nest?"

"Of course," said the pigeon. "There is plenty of room and plenty of delicious grain for both of us." Soon, however, it was clear that the crow ate more than his fair share. Even with so much grain the crow was not satisfied. He wanted meat, but all the pigeon got was grain.

The crow could smell delicious food from the kitchen nearby. He could not stop thinking about meat. The smell was too much. One day he could not stand it any longer and he flew right into the kitchen. He could smell meat being cooked on the stove. He flew straight at the hot pan. On the way he knocked over a bowl sitting on the edge of the counter. It fell with a loud crash. The cook, who had not noticed the sneaky bird, turned when he heard the noise. He nearly caught hold of the crow, who was so frightened she flew out of the kitchen and far, far away.

The cook turned to the gentle pigeon who was waiting outside. "Since you have been so patient, you will receive twice as much grain as before." The pigeon settled happily into her warm little nest.

7)What did the crow learn in the story?

  1. Greed can make someone act foolishly
  2. It’s best to be like a pigeon
  3. Two birds shouldn’t share one nest
  4. Birds don’t belong in the kitchen.

8)The cooks gave the pigeon grain because

  1. He was not greedy like the crow
  2. They had extra grain
  3. The pigeon was raising a family
  4. The pigeon asked for more.

9)What type of genre is this passage?

  1. Fairy tale
  2. Non-fiction
  3. Fiction
  4. Biography

A Modern Dragon

Imagine you are walking along a dirt path. Around you are tall grasses and tropical trees. Suddenly, you hear a noise in the grass behind you. You turn around, and in your path is a 10-foot-long dragon. Its head is moving back and forth on its long neck, and its forked tongue is flicking in and out. With a loud hiss, it rushes forward and grabs a small pig that has been hiding in the grass. You are stunned that something so large can move so fast. You have just witnessed an attack by the Komodo Dragon, the world’s largest living lizard.

The Komodo Dragon lives on the IndonesianIsland of Komodo. It is the largest member of a group of lizards commonly called the monitors.

The Komodo Dragon is a fierce and dangerous predator. In addition to its shape, it has other similarities to snakes. They both have jaws that can expand to swallow large prey, and long, forked tongues that they use to smell the air for food or danger. Komodo Dragons are excellent hunters. They will eat almost anything, from eggs and birds to small deer and pigs. They are equally at home in the water, where they use their long tails to swim like a crocodile. In fact, the native Indonesian name for the dragon, buaja darat, means "land crocodile." Komodo Dragons are such good swimmers that they will swim across a mile or more of open ocean to get from one island to another when they are hunting.

Although they are always hunting for food, Komodo Dragons prefer to scavenge for dead animals. Even after making a kill, a dragon will let its catch sit and age for several days before eating it. Because they eat rotting meat, the bite of a Komodo Dragon is very toxic. Their mouths are full of harmful bacteria. A bite from a Komodo Dragon almost always results in infection.

Komodo Dragons have no enemies except man. Unfortunately, humans have hunted these remarkable lizards almost to extinction. Today they are protected on most of the areas where they are found, and hunting is only allowed in cases where the lizard has become a danger to a local village.

10)The Komodo Dragon is

  1. The world’s largest living dragon
  2. Not harmful
  3. Extinct
  4. A type of crocodile.

11)Another good title for this passage would be…

  1. A dangerous lizard
  2. KomodoIsland
  3. Dragons and Knights
  4. The land of a crocodile

12)What type of text is this?

  1. Non-fiction
  2. Fiction
  3. Biography
  4. Legend

Use the picture of the book to answer question 14 and 15.

15) Who is the author of the book?

______

16)Who is the illustrator of the book?

______