Fourth Grade
Unit One, Week One The Mystery of the Missing Lunch
Comprehension:
1. What is the problem Ramon is trying to solve? (Pgs. 22-23)
2. How did Ramon start to gather his evidence? (Pg. 24)
3. On page 26, use the clues in the text to explain what the word “succession” means.
4. When the teacher, Mrs. Richmond, gave Ramon $5, did it solve the problem Using the text explain why or why not. (Pg. 27)
5. What descriptive words does the author use to show that Ramon is not happy with his school-bought lunch? (Pg. 28)
6. Give evidence from the text that shows us how Ramon eliminated potential suspects. (Pg. 29)
7. How does Ted’s sneezing help us solve the mystery? (Pg. 33)
8. How did Ramon feel when he discovered who stole his lunch? (Pg. 35)
9. What clues in the story does the author give so you know it’s a mystery?
Vocabulary:
1. Do you have an allergy? If so, describe in detail what your symptoms are.
2. What is your favorite assignment you’ve had and your least favorite assignment?
3. What do you take into consideration when you choose your clothes for the day?
4. On an average weekend, what different junk foods do you consume?
Unit One, Week Three National Parks
Writing: (Pgs. 70-71) Utah has many national parks. Think about a national park you have visited or would like to visit. Describe the park and the activities you did or would like to do there.
Questions:
1. What do national parks protect? (Pg. 74)
2. What is the job of a park ranger? (Pg. 74)
3. Explain the journey of the elk. (Pg. 75)
4. Why were the elk important to the ecosystem? (Pg. 75)
5. How does the disappearance of one animal affect the other plants and animals in an ecosystem? (Pg. 75)
6. An ecosystem is plants and animals that live in a certain area. Find evidence of what hurt Yellowstone’s ecosystem. (Pg. 76)
7. What did the government do to fix the ecosystem? (Pg. 76)
8. What changes happened to the wolf population in Yellowstone National Park? (Pg. 77)
9. Using the information from pages 75-76, draw a diagram of a successful ecosystem for Yellowstone National Park.
Unit One, Week Four The Astronaut and the Onion
1. Why did Gloria decide to throw the onion? (Pg. 88)
2. What do you predict will happen when she throws the onion? Give evidence to support your prediction. (Pg. 88)
3. Explain what “I was paralyzed” means in this part of the story. Describe a time when you felt paralyzed like Gloria. (Pg. 91)
4. How do Gloria’s and Dr. Street’s perspectives of “space” differ? (Pg. 92)
5. “Up there you see it is one great big powerful living being that knows a lot, a lot more than we do.” Who is the “living being” and what does it know? (Pg. 94)
6. What does Dr. Street mean when she said, “’I can’t’ can be a sensible thing to say”?(Pg. 96)
7. How does Dr. Street say you can tame your fears? (Pg. 97)
8. Based on what Gloria and Dr. Street said and did, what type of people would you say they are? (Pg. 99)
9. How did the onion turn from a “little thing” to a “big thing”? (Pg. 99)
Writing Prompt: What little things can you do every day to reach your big dream?
Unit One, Week Five The Raft
Objective: Key ideas and details- The students will be able to describe characters, setting, and major evens.
Questions:
· How do you think Nicky feels about spending the summer with his grandmother? (Pg. 113)
· Identify words and phrases that the author uses to create the mood. (Pg. 118)
· What is the point of view from which the author tells the story?
· Why did the author choose to use this point of view?
· On page 114, what idiom does the author use to describe the grandmother? What does this show about the grandmother?
· Where did the raft come from? Use context clues from the story to answer the question. (Pgs. 121, 123)
· What effect does finding the raft have on Nicky’s summer? Use story details. (Pgs. 121-129)
· At the beginning, Nicky’s father says, “She’s not your normal kind of grandmother.” At the end he is proud that his grandmother says that he is just like her. Why did his feelings change?