Set 4: Themes in Literature

Weekly ReadingCommon Core

homework

Differentiated Directions

4 Passages with Text-Dependent questions

Common Core AlignmentCCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.1 Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.2 Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.3 Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., how characters interact).

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative language such as metaphors and similes.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.6 Describe how a narrator’s or speaker’s point of view influences how events are described.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poetry, at the high end of the grades 4–5 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

©Jennifer Findley

Common Core AlignmentCCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.1 Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.2 Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text; summarize the text.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.3 Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character’s thoughts, words, or actions).

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including those that allude to significant characters found in mythology (e.g., Herculean).

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poetry, in the grades 4–5 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

©Jennifer Findley

This resource is meant to be a weekly review of the Common Core reading literature standards, specifically those related to literature with implied themes. This can be used for homework, morning work, or classwork. It would be perfect to use during a fiction unit on themes or after the unit for reinforcement.

This resource contains 4 stories with implied themes written on a 4th/5th grade reading level. The students will read one story a week for four weeks. One story will be used for an entire week with a different assignment each day to be completed using that story. The students will have to revisit the passage each day to complete the daily assignment. This will support a deeper understanding of the text and provide the student a chance to practice close reading of a text.

I have included 3 options for the daily assignments (on pages 6-8) for you to choose from based on your students' needs. I have also included a blank directions page if you want to write in your own directions for the daily assignments (page 10).

Print the directions you want to use and the passage and questions for the week. Give the students the handout (page 10) to record their homework on or blank pieces of notebook paper. Journals or notebooks could also be used.

For each option, Monday through Wednesday are general, open-ended responses to the text, and Thursday is a set of text-dependent comprehension questions specific to each story.

An answer key with suggested answers and specific common core alignment is provided for each passage.

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©Jennifer Findley

Monday: Read the passage. Put stars beside important events, underline new vocabulary words, and put question marks beside anything that confuses you.

Tuesday: Draw a T-Chart on your paper labeled “Events from the Story” and “My Thoughts”. Reread the passage, and write at least three statements on each side of your T-Chart.

Wednesday: Reread the passage. Think about what the character has learned. Determine at least one possible theme for the text, and support your response with evidence from the text.

Thursday: Answer the questions about the text. Use evidence from the text to support your thinking.

Weekly Reading

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Monday: Read the passage. Underline any words you don’t know. Use the context clues to define them. Then, underline three interesting words. Explain why you think the author chose those words.

Tuesday: Reread the passage. Analyze the main character. Describe his/her actions, dialogue, character traits, and motivations.

Wednesday: Reread the passage. Think about what the character has learned. Determine at least one possible theme for the text, and support your response with evidence from the text.

Thursday: Answer the questions about the text. Use evidence from the text to support your thinking.

Weekly Reading

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Monday: Read the passage. Write down at least two of each of the following: connections you can make to the text, questions you have, and inferences you can make about the main character.

Tuesday: Reread the passage. What is the connection between the title of the passage and the passage itself? Write at least five sentences, and use evidence from the text to support your response.

Wednesday: Reread the passage. Think about what the character has learned. Determine a possible theme for the text, and support your response with evidence from the text.

Thursday: Answer the questions about the text. Use evidence from the text to support your thinking.

Weekly Reading

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Monday:

Tuesday:

Wednesday:

Thursday:

Weekly Reading

©Jennifer Findley

©Jennifer Findley

Name: ____________________________________ Date: ___________________Record your written responses under the correct day.Monday:_____________________________________________________________________

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_____________________________________________________________________©Jennifer Findley

Weekly Reading

©Jennifer Findley

Helping Johnny Johnny loved working. He was a diligent worker, and he was

always able to get a great deal of work done. Johnny mowed lawns, but he always worked alone. He preferred the solitude. He also treasured the outdoors. He was content when he was outside, both in the summer and in the winter. When it snowed, he shoveled sidewalks. He knew that working hard would get him somewhere in life, and he wanted to be someone. Whenever someone needed yard work done, Johnny was called.

Rainy days forced Johnny to stay in his garage and work on his mowers and snow blowers. He cleaned up his equipment and made sure that everything was running up to par. Johnny pretty much worked whenever he could. He loved working; it was enjoyable to him.

Johnny wondered why people thought he was peculiar. Why wouldn't someone love his or her job? Johnny loved his. He loved nature. He could watch birds and butterflies while he mowed lawns. In the winter, he delighted in watching children make snowmen and snow angels. He always took time to stop and smell the flowers.

One day, Johnny injured himself when he was mowing a lawn. He tripped in a hole in the ground. He said some angry words to no one, or maybe he was talking to the moles in the ground that had made the hole. The owner of the yard rushed out to help him. Johnny's ankle was sprained. He couldn't mow lawns for three weeks while it healed. He was very distraught since the lawns couldn't mow themselves.

That night, his neighbor, a young boy named Joe, stopped by to see how Johnny was doing. He told Johnny that he'd heard about the accident and that he would love to fill in mowing lawns until he was well again. He asked only for a small percentage of Johnny's full pay, since he knew Johnny had done all of the footwork to get the mowing jobs.

Joe did such a great job mowing lawns during those three weeks that Johnny begged him to keep helping him out on a regular basis. For a percentage of the full pay for each account, Joe would rake up the mowed grass behind Johnny as he mowed. Joe even helped out in the winter, salting the sidewalks after Johnny shoveled. To Johnny’s surprise, he found that he enjoyed working even more now!

©Jennifer Findley

Helping Johnny 1. Why do some people think that Johnny is odd? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.

2. Compare and contrast the characters of Johnny and Joe. Use evidence from the text to support your answer.

3. What is the meaning of solitude as used in the following sentence?

He preferred the solitude.

4. Which of the following is the best theme for the story? Support your answer with evidence from the text.

a. Working together can be better than working alone.b. Friends help each other in hard times.c. Working alone is the wrong way to work.d. Two friends can make more money if they work together.

©Jennifer Findley

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Answer Common Core Standard

1. People think Johnny is odd because he enjoys his job so much. Evidence will vary.

RL.4.1, RL.5.1

2. Johnny and Joe both work outdoors. Johnny loves his job. It is unclear how Joe feels about the work. However, he must like it to some degree to continue doing it. Both boys make money from the jobs. However, Johnny makes more money and does the majority of the work.

RL.4.3, RL.5.3

3. Being alone RL.4.4, RL.5.4

4. A. Evidence will vary. RL.4.2, RL.5.2

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©Jennifer Findley

Margo’s DilemmaOne day, everything in Margo's life came crashing down

around her. She lost her job. How was she going to pay her bills? She had a house payment, a car payment, her pets to think about, and all of those other important, pesky bills that people have. She needed her electricity, heat, and water. With no job, she wouldn't be able to provide for herself or her pets. She was alarmed. What if she had to give up her pets? In her mind, they were like her own children. She thought it was trivial that she was so concerned about them, but they'd each been part of her life for years and meant so much to her.

Margo had two dogs and a cat. She lived alone in a tiny one-bedroom home. She had a minivan, nothing extravagant. She always paid her bills on time. She worked hard and spent time with her family every chance she got. Her family meant a lot to her, and she loved the time spent with them. However, now she was really troubled. With no money, she would lose everything. She felt like a failure.

It wasn't anything she did that cost her the job. They had to downsize due to the poor economy. With less money coming in, they needed to have less money going out, which meant less employees. She hadn't worked there as long as many of the other employees, so she was one of the first to go. Margo was still ashamed, even though she knew it wasn't her fault. She felt that she should have seen it coming. She should have been more prepared and had money stowed away. What would she tell her family? Who would take her pets, and where would she live?

As much as she didn't want to burden her family with her hardships, she knew she had to. They would wonder where she was at the next family get-together, but she knew she wouldn't be able to afford to go. She was a resilient woman and always did things on her own, and they knew that. She knew they'd realize that she was in a bad spot as soon as she admitted to them what was going on, but she wasn't asking for help. She'd figure it out somehow. However, Margo finally decided to call her mother. That was all she needed to do.

By the following day, all of Margo's bills were paid for the upcoming month, and she even had various job offers through friends of her family. It wouldn't be long until Margo would be back on her feet. All it took was a little bit of humble honesty. Margo knew she had done the right thing by notifying her family of her troubles.

©Jennifer Findley

Margo’s Dilemma1. What challenge is Margo having to deal with in the story? How does she react to the challenge?

2. What does the author mean when she says that Margo did not want to burden her family?

3. Using evidence from the text, describe Margo’s viewpoint about what has happened to her.

4. Which of the following is the best theme for the story? Support your answer with evidence from the text.

a. Money isn’t everything, and people should do without it.b. Family is important and will be there for you when you need

them.c. It was not Margo’s fault that she lost her job.d. Problems can be fixed if you just ignore them.

©Jennifer Findley

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Answer Common Core Standard

1. Margo has lost her job, and she is not sure how she will pay her bills and support her pets. She stays strong despite this challenge. She is reluctant at first, but she does decide to tell her family of her troubles.

RL.4.2, RL.5.2

2. Margo did not want to worry her family or bother them with her financial difficulties.

RL.4.4, RL.5.4

3. Margo is embarrassed by the situation and very worried. However, she knows that it was not her fault. She is not angry or resentful about what has happened.

RL.4.3, RL.5.6

4. B. Evidence will vary. RL.4.2, RL.5.2

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©Jennifer Findley

To Kate’s SurpriseKate huffed, begrudgingly climbing into the car. She

had begged her mom to let her stay, but it was to no avail. She had to go to her grandma's house because her mom had to work all weekend. In Kate’s opinion, her grandma's house was probably the lamest place on the planet. She was just a quiet old woman who enjoyed nothing more than knitting. Kate was convinced they had nothing in common at all. She didn't have TVs or games, just several old magazines that looked like they were a million years old.

None the less, Kate's mother insisted she go. Kate whined and complained when she got to her grandma’s house, but her grandma only laughed. Her grandma was so patient that nothing ruffled her feathers. Kate spent the entire afternoon wandering the house. She shuffled from room to room. She was bored and was looking or anything to occupy her time. While in one of the guest rooms, she came across a box. It looked like a board game. Since it looked a tad bit interesting to Kate, she decided to take it down to her grandma and see what it was about. Her grandma explained that it was an old game she had had for a long time. She said that she and Kate’s mother used to play the game all the time and that Kate’s mother was the champion. Kate smiled. She always liked hearing stories of her mother when she was younger.

Kate spent the rest of the day learning the game from her grandma. They ate snacks and chatted about Kate’s mother when she was younger. It was the most fun Kate had had in a long time. She memorized techniques and skills. She even beat her grandma at the game. The best part was that she really connected with her grandma and looked forward to spending more time with her.

©Jennifer Findley

To Kate’s Surprise1. In the beginning, how does Kate feel about visiting her grandma? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.

2. Determine the meaning of begrudgingly as used in the following sentence:

Kate huffed, begrudgingly climbing into the car.

3. In at least three sentences, explain how this story would be different if told from the point of view of Kate’s grandma.

4. Some stories have more than one theme. Choose all of the themes that could apply to this story. Support your answer with evidence from the text.

a. Don’t judge a book by its cover.b. Don’t be afraid to try new things and experiences.c. Life can be hard, but never lose sight of your dreams.d. Beauty is more than just what is on the outside.

©Jennifer Findley

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Answer Common Core Standard

1. Katie was not looking forward to vising her grandma. She felt like the visit would be boring and “lame”.

RL.4.1, RL.5.1

2. Not looking forward to something

RL.4.4, RL.5.4

3. Answers will vary, but should indicate an understanding that the story would give us the grandma’s thoughts and feelings. We would hear the story from her point of view.

RL.4.6, RL.5.6

4. A and B. Evidence will vary. RL.4.2, RL.5.2

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©Jennifer Findley

An Aspiring WriterWhen Penny was little, her mom always told her that she

could be anything she wanted to be. Her mom taught her that as long as she tried, she had the chance to succeed. Penny was a dreamer, but instead of wanting to be a princess like all of her friends, she wanted to be a writer. Penny loved writing poetry. She wrote poems about unicorns, puppies, and kittens. She even wrote poems about scary things. Penny loved telling ghost stories. As she got older, she started writing down all of the wonderful, and even frightening, stories she came up with. She had a huge collection by the time she was a teenager.

Penny would sometimes let her friends read her poetry, and they would all tell her how great her work was. Penny figured they were just being nice; she knew that her stuff wasn't that great. She was her own biggest critic. She never let anyone read her work until it was completed. She feared criticism. She knew that being critiqued was an important part of being a writer, but it still really scared her.

Penny often dreamed of publishing her poetry and short stories. She even wrote and illustrated a children's book that everyone seemed to love, but where would she start, and who would publish her? Everyone that read her book said that she should publish it. She started to look into children's book publishers. It all seemed like so much work, but she knew that she had to work at something to succeed. She would need to adjust her story so that it was in the right font, size, and spacing. She had to have it all laid out like it would look in a book. She took days to perfect her manuscript, which is what they call the copy to be sent to the publisher.

After Penny got her manuscript ready, she made copies and wrote down the five publishers she wanted to send it to. She didn't think anyone would buy her story, but she knew she had to try. Off she sent them, and then she waited.

Soon, Penny began to receive letters from the publishers. The first two were rejection letters. This depressed her, and she decided that they would all be rejections. There was no point in dreaming anymore. She would just write for herself and not show them to anyone anymore. The following day, she got another response. This one offered her money to publish her book. It even came with a check! Penny was thrilled. She called the publisher and worked everything out with them. She then called all of her friends to thank them for giving her the push and the courage she needed to try. If you don't try, you'll never succeed!

©Jennifer Findley

An Aspiring Writer1. Using evidence from the text, determine how Penny feels about writing in the beginning stages of being a writer, after being rejected twice, and finally at the end of the story.

2. Which sentence from the story best supports the inference that Penny believes that working hard is the way to get what you want?

3. What is the meaning of depressed as used in the following sentence?

This depressed, her and she decided that they would all be rejections.

4. Using evidence from the text, explain how the theme of the story could be both “hard work pays off” and “never give up on your dream”.

©Jennifer Findley

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Answer Common Core Standard

1. In the beginning, she loves writing, but she feels that her friends are just being nice when they tell her how great it is. After the two rejection letters, she is devastated and decides to keep her writing private from now on. At the end, she is proud of her writing and thankful for her friends giving her the courage to try.

RL.4.1, RL.4.2, RL.5.1,RL.5.2

2. It all seemed like so much work, but she knew that she had to work at something to succeed.

RL.4.1, Rl.5.1

3. saddened, made to feel sad RL.4.4, RL.5.4

4. Answers will vary, but should indicate an understanding that both themes match the story because Penny worked hard to have her work published, and she learned to not give up on her dream even after being rejected twice.

RL.4.2, RL.5.2

©Jennifer Findley

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