Paying Attention Pays Off

Jackson and his family were excited to be camping for the first time. They had never been to Yellowstone National Park, and they had been anticipating this trip all year. His father packed up the car, his mother made sure they had their maps, and he and his little sister Aly hopped in the back seat of their minivan ready to go. It only took about 15 minutes until Aly got on his nerves, so he put his earbuds in so he could watch videos on his phone. He must have fallen asleep because he woke up a few hours later and saw the large brown sign with white writing across the front, reading “Yellowstone National Park.” They had arrived.

They got all checked in and found their home for the next three days, campsite number 35. Dad set up the tents, and Mom consulted her itinerary for all of the upcoming activities and excursions. After they got settled in, it was time for a safety training class with the park ranger. The ranger went through what visitors should do if they encountered a dangerous wild animal, got lost, ran out of supplies, or fell into the fast-moving river. Jackson looked from side to side at his family and realized he was the only one paying attention! His mom was looking at her list, Aly was dozing off, and his father’s eyes were glazed over as he stared into the woods. He hoped they wouldn’t need to use any of these skills!

That night, after his mother and father were all tucked into their sleeping bags, Jackson and Aly snuck out of their tent to look at the stars. It was a quaint evening until Jackson heard grunting and banging coming from the campsite. He peeked around a tree with his flashlight and saw a juvenile bear pawing at the coolers and trash cans. Aly started to shout and tried to take off running. Jackson covered her mouth and reminded her that the ranger said not to scream or run away if confronted by bears. She nodded, and they stood still behind the tree and out of sight. The bear grew frustrated with the coolers and trash cans because Jackson had secured them with bungee cords, just as the ranger recommended. The bear padded off into the woods, and they snuck back to their tents exhausted. As Jackson laid in his sleeping bag, he smiled to himself, thinking about how lucky they were that he had paid attention in the ranger’s safety class.

Why would the author choose to organize the text as it is structured above?

Samantha has highlighted keywords and phrases in a story to help identify the text structure. She has highlighted the following words/phrases:

• because
• so that
• due to
• led to
• since

What text structure often uses these keywords and phrases?

Paying Attention Pays Off

Jackson and his family were excited to be camping for the first time. They had never been to Yellowstone National Park, and they had been anticipating this trip all year. His father packed up the car, his mother made sure they had their maps, and he and his little sister Aly hopped in the back seat of their minivan ready to go. It only took about 15 minutes until Aly got on his nerves, so he put his earbuds in so he could watch videos on his phone. He must have fallen asleep because he woke up a few hours later and saw the large brown sign with white writing across the front, reading “Yellowstone National Park.” They had arrived.

They got all checked in and found their home for the next three days, campsite number 35. Dad set up the tents, and Mom consulted her itinerary for all of the upcoming activities and excursions. After they got settled in, it was time for a safety training class with the park ranger. The ranger went through what visitors should do if they encountered a dangerous wild animal, got lost, ran out of supplies, or fell into the fast-moving river. Jackson looked from side to side at his family and realized he was the only one paying attention! His mom was looking at her list, Aly was dozing off, and his father’s eyes were glazed over as he stared into the woods. He hoped they wouldn’t need to use any of these skills!

That night, after his mother and father were all tucked into their sleeping bags, Jackson and Aly snuck out of their tent to look at the stars. It was a quaint evening until Jackson heard grunting and banging coming from the campsite. He peeked around a tree with his flashlight and saw a juvenile bear pawing at the coolers and trash cans. Aly started to shout and tried to take off running. Jackson covered her mouth and reminded her that the ranger said not to scream or run away if confronted by bears. She nodded, and they stood still behind the tree and out of sight. The bear grew frustrated with the coolers and trash cans because Jackson had secured them with bungee cords, just as the ranger recommended. The bear padded off into the woods, and they snuck back to their tents exhausted. As Jackson laid in his sleeping bag, he smiled to himself, thinking about how lucky they were that he had paid attention in the ranger’s safety class.

What text structure is used to organize this passage?

Photosynthesis

When humans or animals need energy, they find some food to eat. Plants do not get food in the same way. Plants must take materials from the environment and use energy from sunlight to make glucose, an energy-rich sugar. Plants use water and air to make food. Plants absorb moisture from the soil and take it in through their roots. The water travels up the stem and reaches the cells in the leaves. Plants must have water to allow the nutrients to be absorbed. Plants allow carbon dioxide from the air to enter their leaves through tiny holes, and it enters the leaf cells. Without air, plants would be missing one of the ingredients necessary to create glucose. Plants take light energy from sunlight to make their food. Light energy is not a material; it is an energy. Leaf cells trap light energy and use it to convert water and carbon dioxide into sugar. The sugar is stored as chemical energy in the plant. When this process takes place, leaf cells release oxygen as a byproduct. This process is called photosynthesis.

What is the structure of this text?

Jessa is reading a text that gives the steps to making a sundial for telling time. It highlights the materials needed and then walks readers through a series of steps to create the sundial at home. How would we describe the structure of a text like this?

Based on the text, what does the word "curiosity" mean?

Adapted from "The Tongue-Cut Sparrow" in Japanese Fairy Tales (1904, trans. Teresa Peirce Williston)

A long time ago, in a little old house in a little old village in Japan lived a little old man and his little old wife.

One morning when the old woman slid open the screens that in that era formed the sides of all Japanese houses, she saw, on the doorstep, a poor little sparrow. She took him up gently and fed him. Then she held him in the bright morning sunshine until the cold dew was dried from his wings. Afterward she let him go, so that he might fly home to his nest, but he stayed to thank her with his songs.

Each morning, when the pink on the mountain tops told that the sun was near, the sparrow perched on the roof of the house and sang out his joy. The old man and woman thanked the sparrow for this, for they liked to be up early and at work. But near them there lived a cross old woman who did not like to be awakened so early. At last she became so angry that she caught the sparrow and cut his tongue. Then the poor little sparrow flew away to his home, but he could never sing again.

When the kind woman knew what had happened to her pet she was very sad. She said to her husband, "Let us go and find our poor little sparrow." So they started together, and asked of each bird by the wayside, "Do you know where the tongue-cut sparrow lives? Do you know where the tongue-cut sparrow went?"

In this way they followed until they came to a bridge. They did not know which way to turn, and at first could see no one to ask. At last they saw a bat hanging head downward, taking his daytime nap. "Oh, friend bat, do you know where the tongue-cut sparrow went?" they asked.

"Yes. Over the bridge and up the mountain," said the bat. Then he blinked sleepy eyes and was fast asleep again.

They went over the bridge and up the mountain, but again they found two roads and did not know which one to take. A little field mouse peeped through the leaves and grass, so they asked him, "Do you know where the tongue-cut sparrow went?"

"Yes. Down the mountain and through the woods," said the field mouse.

Down the mountain and through the woods they went, and at last came to the home of their little friend.

When he saw them coming the poor little sparrow was very happy indeed. He and his wife and children all came and bowed their heads down to the ground to show their respect. Then the sparrow rose and led the old man and the old woman into his house, while his wife and children hastened to bring them boiled rice, fish, and cress.

After they had feasted, the sparrow wished to please them still more, so he danced for them what is called the "sparrow dance."

When the sun began to sink, the old man and woman started for home. The sparrow brought out two baskets. "I would like to give you one of these," he said. "Which will you take?" One basket was large and looked very full, while the other one seemed very small and light.

The old people so thought they would not take the large basket, for that might have all the sparrow's treasure in it, so they said, "The way is long and we are very old, so please let us take the smaller one."

They took it and walked home over the mountain and across the bridge, happy and contented. When they reached their own home they decided to open the basket and see what the sparrow had given them. Within the basket they found many rolls of silk and piles of gold, enough to make them rich, so they were more grateful than ever to the sparrow.

The cross old woman who had cut the sparrow's tongue was peering in through the screen when they opened their basket. She saw the rolls of silk and the piles of gold, and planned how she might get some for herself.

The next morning she went to the kind woman and said, "I am so sorry that I cut the tongue of your sparrow. Please tell me the way to his home so that I may go to him and tell him I am sorry."

The kind woman told her the way and she set out. She went across the bridge, over the mountain, and through the woods. At last she came to the home of the little sparrow. He was not so glad to see this old woman, yet he was very kind to her and did everything to make her feel welcome. They made a feast for her, and when she started home the sparrow brought out two baskets as before. Of course the woman chose the large basket, for she thought that would have even more wealth than the other one.

It was very heavy, and caught on the trees as she was going through the wood. She could hardly pull it up the mountain with her, and she was all out of breath when she reached the top. She did not get to the bridge until it was dark. Then she was so afraid of dropping the basket into the river that she scarcely dared to step. When at last she reached home she was so tired that she was half dead, but she pulled the screens close shut, so that no one could look in, and opened her treasure.

Treasure indeed! A whole swarm of horrible creatures burst from the basket the moment she opened it. They stung her and bit her, they pushed her and pulled her, they scratched her and laughed at her screams. At last she crawled to the edge of the room and slid aside the screen to get away from the pests. The moment the door was opened they swooped down upon her, picked her up, and flew away with her. Since then nothing has ever been heard of the old woman.

When the narrator says, "Treasure indeed!" at the beginning of the last paragraph, what does he or she mean by this phrase?

Passage and illustrations adapted from "The Gold-Giving Serpent" in Indian Fairy Tales (ed. Joseph Jacobs, illustrator John D. Batten, 1892 ed.) This story is originally from the Panchatantra by Vishnu Sharma, c. 3rd century BCE.

_{Image "Common Core Fourth Grade CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.4 - Determine the Meaning of Words and Phrases in a Text, Including Mythology - Image 1" adapted from "The Gold-Giving Serpent" in Indian Fairy Tales (ed. Joseph Jacobs, illustrator John D. Batten, 1892 ed.).}

_{Image "Common Core Fourth Grade CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.4 - Determine the Meaning of Words and Phrases in a Text, Including Mythology - Image 2" adapted from "The Gold-Giving Serpent" in Indian Fairy Tales (ed. Joseph Jacobs, illustrator John D. Batten, 1892 ed.).}

ow in a certain place there lived a man named Haridatta. He was a farmer, but poor was the return his labor brought him. One day, at the end of the hot hours, the man, overcome by the heat, lay down under the shadow of a tree to have a doze. Suddenly he saw a great hooded snake creeping out of an ant-hill near at hand. So he thought to himself, "Sure this is the guardian deity of the field, and I have not ever worshipped it. That's why my farming is in vain. I will at once go and pay my respects to it."

When he had made up his mind, he got some milk, poured it into a bowl, and went to the ant-hill, and said aloud: "O Guardian of this Field! All this while I did not know that you dwelt here. That is why I have not yet paid my respects to you; pray forgive me." And he laid the milk down and went to his house. Next morning he came and looked, and he saw a gold denar in the bowl, and from that time onward every day the same thing occurred: he gave milk to the serpent and found a gold denar.

One day the man had to go to the village, and so he ordered his son to take the milk to the ant-hill. The son brought the milk, put it down, and went back home. Next day he went again and found a denar, so he thought to himself: "This ant-hill is surely full of golden denars; I'll kill the serpent, and take them all for myself." So next day, while he was giving the milk to the serpent, the man's son struck it on the head with a cudgel. But the serpent escaped death by the will of fate, and in a rage bit the man's son with its sharp fangs, and he fell down dead at once. His people raised him a funeral pyre not far from the field and burnt him to ashes.

Two days afterwards his father came back, and when he learnt his son's fate he grieved and mourned. But after a time, he took the bowl of milk, went to the ant-hill, and praised the serpent with a loud voice. After a long, long time the serpent appeared, but only with its head out of the opening of the ant-hill, and spoke to the man: "'Tis greed that brings you here, and makes you even forget the loss of your son. From this time forward friendship between us is impossible. Your son struck me in youthful ignorance, and I have bitten him to death. How can I forget the blow with the cudgel? And how can you forget the pain and grief at the loss of your son?" So speaking, it gave the man a costly pearl and disappeared. But before it went away it said: "Come back no more." The man took the pearl, and went back home, cursing the folly of his son.

Based on the way in which the word is used throughout the passage, which of the following is closest in meaning to "denar"?

According to the passage, what does a "dwarf planet" mean?

Passage 2: Adapted from "Cyanocitta cristata: Blue Jay" in Life Histories of North American Birds, From the Parrots to the Grackles, with Special Reference to Their Breeding Habits and Eggs by Charles Bendire (1895)

The beauty of few of our local birds compares to that of the Blue Jay. One can’t help admiring them for their amusing and interesting traits. Even their best friends can’t say much in their favor, though. They destroy many of the eggs and young of our smaller birds. A friend of mine writes, “The smaller species of birds are utterly at [the Blue Jay’s] mercy in nesting time. Few succeed in rearing a brood of young. It is common in the woods to hear Vireos lamenting for their young that the Jay has forcibly carried away. Vast numbers of eggs are eaten and the nests torn up.”

Still, I cannot help admiring Blue Jays, because they have good traits as well. They are cunning, inquisitive, good mimics, and full of mischief. It is difficult to paint them in their true colors. Some writers call them bullies and cowards. Perhaps they deserve these names at times, but they possess courage in the defense of their young. But it is unfortunate that they show so little consideration for the feelings of other birds.

It is astonishing how accurately the Blue Jay is able to imitate the various calls and cries of other birds. These will readily deceive anyone. They seem to delight in playing tricks on their unsuspecting neighbors in this manner, apparently out of pure mischief. They are especially fond of teasing owls, and occasionally hawks; however, sometimes this has disastrous results for the Blue Jays.

The word "Vieros" is used near the end of the first paragraph. It is underlined in the passage. Based on the way this word is used in the passage, which of the following is closest to the meaning of "Viero"?