Desoto County Schools

DeSoto County Schools

Fourth Grade Reading Assessment 1

Unit 2 – Literature Settings: Weather or Not

(RL.4.1, RL.4.3, RI.4.3)

Read the passage. Then answer questions 1 – 10.

The Snow Walker

1 Crack! The sound jolted Milton awake. A howling wind rattled the window. Milton jumped out of bed and pushed aside the curtains. A smile lit his face. Snow! Snow was everywhere. He saw that a giant branch had broken from the maple tree. Now wind was tossing it crazily across the yard.

2 Quickly Milton pulled on his school clothes and ran downstairs. Snow covered all the windows. The hall and parlor were dark. Back in the kitchen, Mama had lit the kerosene lamp. Everyone was eating breakfast; even baby Jerome in his high chair.

3 “Mama! Why didn’t you call me?” Milton asked. “It’s after 7:30. I’ll be late for school.”

4 “No school today,” his mother replied. “There’s a wall of snow blocking the front door.”

5 “We’ll all stay home,” said his father. “It’s dangerous out in that storm.”

6 “We have plenty of food,” Mama said, checking the icebox. “But I do wish we had more milk.”

7 “I’ll go and buy some,” Milton offered.

8 “Don’t be foolish, Milton!” his father exclaimed. “The drifts1 are already climbing to the second story. You would be buried out there.”

9 “I could go on snowshoes,” Milton insisted.

10 “And where are you going to get snowshoes?” his father asked.

11 “We could make some,” Milton replied. “At school, we’ve been studying the Alaska Territory. There are pictures of snowshoes in my geography book. I bet we could make a pair. Could we try, Papa? Please?”

12 His father laughed. “All right, son. Eat your oatmeal,” he said. “Then we’ll try to make you some snowshoes.”

13 After breakfast, Milton and his father set to work. They used wooden barrel hoops, thin slats, wire, heavy cord, and the bottom of an old pair of roller skates with the wheels off. Finally, after almost two hours, the snowshoes were ready to try out.

14 Everyone crowded into the little upstairs bedroom. Milton piled on sweaters, an overcoat, a wool hat, a scarf, and mittens. His father helped him strap on the snowshoes. Then he tied a rope around his son’s waist. “Okay, Milton. I’ll hold onto the line until we’re sure your snowshoes work,” he said. “If you start to sink, I’ll pull you back.” He opened the window. An icy wind swept snow into the room. The girls shrieked. Mama covered Jerome with her shawl.

15 Milton pulled his hat down over his ears and his scarf up over his mouth. He wished he had an Alaskan parka. He took one step, then a second, and a third. He had to keep his feet apart. Otherwise, he stepped one snowshoe on the other, and couldn’t walk. Milton climbed up and down the snowdrift to the window several times. At last, his father nodded. The snowshoes worked. Milton untied the clothesline. His father handed him a sled with a wooden box nailed to it. “Watch for landmarks so you don’t get lost,” Papa warned.

16 “Please be careful,” his mother called.

17 Milton leaned into the biting wind. He snowshoed across the front yard and over the garden fence. Wind had swept the road clear to an icy base in some places. In others, Milton had to climb over drifts of snow. Some drifts were as hard as icebergs. Some moved beneath his feet. At times, gusts of wind scooped up fallen snow and tossed it back into the air.

19 Milton reached the spot where he knew Mike Ash’s grocery store should be. At first, he couldn’t find it. The sign had blown away, and snow covered the door and window. Then he climbed up the snowdrift and tapped on the window of the Ashes’ apartment above the store. He held onto the window ledge to keep from being blown away. Mr. Ash opened the window a crack. “Milton! What are you doing out in this storm?” he bellowed above the wind.

20 “How did you get up here?” his son Mickey wanted to know.

21 “My mother needs milk, Mr. Ash,” Milton shouted back with a grin. “Like my snowshoes, Mickey?”

22 “No fresh milk was delivered today, Milton,” said the grocer. “But I can sell you condensed milk.”2

23 Milton gave him fifty cents. Mr. Ash went downstairs to the store. He returned with five cans of milk. Mickey leaned out the window for a better look at Milton’s snowshoes. Quickly, Mr. Ash pulled him back in and shut the window.

24 Milton tugged his scarf up over his face and started for home. A neighbor who was watching from her upstairs window shouted, “Young man, can I buy some of that milk?” Milton sold her a can of milk. He asked for ten cents, but the woman insisted he take a quarter. Another neighbor called to him. Then another.

25 Soon Milton had sold all the cans of milk. He snowshoed back to Mr. Ash’s store and bought more condensed milk. But again, at almost every house he passed, someone shouted for milk.

26 As he dragged his sled back to Ash’s store, Milton pictured the dogsleds of Alaska. Maybe he and his father could make a dogsled, he thought.

27 When he got back to the store, he bought a whole case of milk with the extra money people had given him. He sold this milk, and then another case, to neighbors.

28 By now, half the kids in the neighborhood had seen and admired his snowshoes.

29 Milton grinned when he thought of how surprised they would be if he came by on a dogsled. He imagined himself and all the dogs of the neighborhood out in the storm, and all the rest of the world snowed in.

30 Just then, the noon whistle blew at the factory. Milton was surprised. He didn’t feel as if he had been out for almost two hours. He set out for home at once. Snow clung to his clothes like lint. Snowflakes driven by the wind stung and reddened his eyes and nose. His toes ached from the cold. But Milton felt like cheering as he snowshoed home, pulling the sled after him.
1 drifts — piles of snow or sand created by the wind
2 condensed milk — a thick, sweetened milk in a can

1. Which of the following best describes the theme, or message, of the story?

A. Responsibility and perseverance

B. Friendship and kindness

C. Courage and loyalty

D. Honesty and love

2. What is the meaning of the word bellowed as used in paragraph 15?

F. to whisper

G. to jump with excitement

H. to scold someone

J. to shout

3. Which sentences contains vivid language to help the reader form a detailed picture of the setting for

Milton’s story?

A. By now, half the kids in the neighborhood had seen and admired his snowshoes.

B. Snow clung to his clothes like lint. Snowflakes driven by the wind stung and reddened his eyes and nose. His toes ached from the cold.

C.  As he dragged his sled back to Ash’s store, Milton pictured the dogsleds of Alaska.

D. By now, half the kids in the neighborhood had seen and admired his snowshoes.

4.  Based on the passage, which of the following character traits describes Milton?

F. Hardworking and helpful

G. Playful and curious

H. Fair and excited

J. Stern and Impatient

5. How does the setting of the story change from the beginning of the story to the end of the story?

A.  The setting changes from the school to the park.

B. The setting begins at the store and ends outside.

C. The setting begins at home and ends outside.

D. The setting begins at school and

ends at home.

6. Which of the following best describes the text structure used

in the passage above?

F. Sequential

G. Informational

H. Simple Procedure

J. Compare and Contrast

7. What is Milton’s motive for going out in the snow?

A. His mother needs milk.

B. He wants to play with his friends in the snow.

C. He doesn’t want to go to school.

D. He is unwilling to help his neighbors.

8. After reading the passage “The Snow Walker” the reader can interpret the author’s purpose to be which of the following?

F. To persuade the reader to help those that are in need.

G. To inform the reader about blizzards and what to do if you get stuck in one.

H. To give directions about how to sell milk at a store.

J. To entertain the reader with a story about a boy who used snow shoes in order to get milk for his family and neighbors.

9. Which of the following is important to include in a summary?

A. Milton grinned when he thought of how surprised they would be if he came by on a dogsled.

B. Just then, the noon whistle blew at the factory.

C. Milton used his snowshoes to get from his house to the store.

D. Maybe he and his father could make a dogsled, he thought.

10. Read the sentence.

His neighbors were appreciative for providing them with milk.

Which line in the passage contains information that justifies this statement?

F. Lines 24-27

G. Lines 30-32

H. Lines 16-18

J. Lines 12-15

Read the passage. Then answer questions 11 – 16.

Weather Watcher

When gray clouds fill the sky and rain starts to fall, most people go inside. But not nine-year-old Tyler Allender.

Stormy skies near Tyler’s home in Florida make him grab his umbrella and head for the backyard, where he loves to watch the rain soak his lawn. “I like to watch the raindrops fall through the grass,” says Tyler. “I’ll go in if there’s lightning. But sometimes I’ll count first to see how far away it is.”

But just watching the weather is only part of the fun. Tyler likes to track and forecast the weather, too. Tyler’s parents bought him a rain gauge and a thermometer. He uses them to keep track of the high and low temperatures and the amount of rainfall, like a meteorologist (mee-tee-oh-RALL-uh-jist), a scientist who studies the weather.

One day, Tyler learned that television weather forecasters had volunteer weather watchers. They tracked temperatures and rainfall like Tyler – and got to be on TV!

He wrote letters to his local TV stations to become a volunteer. Everyone turned him down. “I didn’t get any responses,” says Tyler. “But I kept trying, and still kept my own weather log.”

A Break in the Clouds

Tyler was determined. And then he met Mike Lyons, chief meteorologist at WPBF, a local television station. After talking a few minutes, Mike gave Tyler a surprise. He asked Tyler to be one of his weather watchers.

Each afternoon Tyler calls Mike. They’ll talk about the weather in Tyler’s neighborhood for about ten minutes. Then Mike includes that information in his forecast. “He’s so interested in the weather,” says Mike. “He’s always asking very smart questions.”

School Skies
Meanwhile, the principal at Tyler’s school found out about his hobby. She invited him to do the weather for the school’s morning newscast. Now he does the weather twice a day—in the mornings at school and in the afternoons with Mike at WPBF-TV

Depending on the weather, Tyler puts happy suns or grumpy clouds on his Florida weather map. Then he puts on a microphone, stands in front of the TV camera, and reads his forecast to his school.

Since Tyler knows so much about the weather, his friends have nicknamed him “Weather Boy.” Tyler hopes when he grows up they will be calling him “meteorologist.”

“Weather Watcher” by Layne Cameron. From Jack and Jill, copyright © 2002.

11. Based on the passage, the reader can infer that Tyler’s parents bought Tyler a rain gauge and thermometer because-

A. They hoped he would take weather watching more seriously

B. They wanted him to learn a new hobby

C. They hoped he would become a meteorologist when he grew up

D. They wanted to support his interest in weather

12. What is the meaning of the word track as used in paragraph 3?

F. To keep a record of something

G. Rails on which trains move

H. To leave a mark

J. A sport including a race

13. Based on the passage, which of the following would be an example of an accurate connection to the text?

A. The reader makes a connection by remembering that he/she observed the weather during a storm.

B. A connection about a field trip to the weather station to watch news reporters in action.

C. A connection is made a time in which it snowed heavily.

D. A connection is made when the reader thinks about how to prepare for a hurricane.