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G6 Exercise Your Turn Te
G6 Exercise Your Turn Te
Your Turn
Practice Book
Grade 6
Your Turn
Practice Book
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 QDB 17 16 15 14 13 12
Contents
Unit 1 • Changes
Perspectives Dynamic Earth
Vocabulary 1 Vocabulary 31
Comprehension: Character, Setting, Plot: Comprehension: Main Idea and
Compare and Contrast Graphic Organizer 2 Key Details Graphic Organizer 32
Comprehension and Fluency 3 Comprehension and Fluency 33
Comprehension: Compare and Comprehension: Main Idea and
Contrast and Fluency 5 Key Details and Fluency 35
Genre/Literary Element 6 Genre/Text Feature 36
Vocabulary Strategy: Context Clues 7 Vocabulary Strategy:
Phonics: Short Vowels 8 Metaphor and Simile 37
Write About Reading: Write an Analysis 9 Phonics: r-Controlled Vowels 38
Writing Traits: Organization 10 Write About Reading: Write an Analysis 39
Writing Traits: Voice 40
Alliances
Vocabulary 11 TIME For Kids
Comprehension: Character, Setting, Plot: Vocabulary 41
Sequence Graphic Organizer 12 Comprehension: Author’s Point of View
Comprehension and Fluency 13 Graphic Organizer 42
Comprehension: Character, Setting, Plot: Comprehension and Fluency 43
Sequence and Fluency 15 Comprehension: Author’s Point of View
Genre/Visual Element 16 and Fluency 45
Vocabulary Strategy: Context Clues 17 Genre/Text Feature 46
Phonics: Long Vowels 18 Vocabulary Strategy: Root Words 47
Write About Reading: Write an Analysis 19 Word Study: Compound Words 48
Writing Traits: Word Choice 20 Write About Reading: Write an Analysis 49
Writing Traits: Sentence Fluency 50
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Environments
Vocabulary 21
Comprehension: Main Idea and
Key Details Graphic Organizer 22
Comprehension and Fluency 23
Comprehension: Main Idea and
Key Details and Fluency 25
Genre/Text Feature 26
Vocabulary Strategy: Greek Roots 27
Word Study: Frequently
Misspelled Words 28
Write About Reading: Write an Analysis 29
Writing Traits: Ideas 30
iii
Contents
Unit 2 • Excursions Across Time
Contributions Influences
Vocabulary 51 Vocabulary 81
Comprehension: Problem and Comprehension: Point of View
Solution Graphic Organizer 52 Graphic Organizer 82
Comprehension and Fluency 53 Comprehension and Fluency 83
Comprehension: Problem and Solution Comprehension:
and Fluency 55 Point of View and Fluency 85
Genre/Text Feature 56 Genre/Literary Element 86
Vocabulary Strategy: Latin Roots 57 Vocabulary Strategy:
Word Study: Irregular Plurals 58 Greek and Latin Suffixes 87
Write About Reading: Write an Analysis 59 Phonics: Open Syllables 88
Writing Traits: Ideas 60 Write About Reading: Write an Analysis 89
Writing Traits: Sentence Fluency 90
Democracy
Vocabulary 61 Past and Present
Comprehension: Compare and Vocabulary 91
Contrast Graphic Organizer 62 Comprehension:
Comprehension and Fluency 63 Theme Graphic Organizer 92
Comprehension: Compare and Comprehension and Fluency 93
Contrast and Fluency 65 Comprehension: Theme and Fluency 94
Genre/Text Feature 66 Genre/Literary Element 95
Vocabulary Strategy: Literary Elements:
Greek and Latin Prefixes 67 Rhyme Scheme and Meter 96
Word Study: Inflectional Endings 68 Vocabulary Strategy: Personification 97
Write About Reading: Write an Analysis 69 Phonics: Consonant + le Syllables 98
Writing Traits: Ideas 70 Write About Reading: Write an Analysis 99
Writing Traits: Word Choice 100
iv
Contents
Unit 3 • Accomplishments
Common Ground Milestones
Vocabulary 101 Vocabulary 131
Comprehension: Comprehension: Cause and Effect
Theme Graphic Organizer 102 Graphic Organizer 132
Comprehension and Fluency 103 Comprehension and Fluency 133
Comprehension: Theme and Fluency 105 Comprehension: Cause and Effect
Genre/Literary Element 106 and Fluency 135
Vocabulary Strategy: Context Clues 107 Genre/Text Feature 136
Phonics: Vowel Team Syllables 108 Vocabulary Strategy: Paragraph Clues 137
Write About Reading: Write an Analysis 109 Word Study: Prefixes 138
Writing Traits: Sentence Fluency 110 Write About Reading: Write an Analysis 139
Writing Traits: Voice 140
Transformations
Vocabulary 111 TIME For Kids
Comprehension: Vocabulary 141
Theme Graphic Organizer 112 Comprehension: Main Idea and
Comprehension and Fluency 113 Key Details Graphic Organizer 142
Comprehension: Theme and Fluency 115 Comprehension and Fluency 143
Genre/Literary Element 116 Comprehension: Main Idea and
Vocabulary Strategy: Paragraph Clues 117 Key Details and Fluency 145
Phonics: r-controlled Vowel Syllables 118 Genre/Text Feature 146
Write About Reading: Write an Analysis 119 Vocabulary Strategy: Synonyms and
Antonyms 147
Writing Traits: Organization 120
Word Study: Suffixes -ion and -tion 148
Write About Reading: Write an Analysis 149
Inspiration Writing Traits: Ideas 150
Vocabulary 121
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Comprehension:
Sequence Graphic Organizer 122
Comprehension and Fluency 123
Comprehension:
Sequence and Fluency 125
Genre/Text Feature 126
Vocabulary Strategy:
Prefixes and Suffixes 127
Word Study:
Frequently Misspelled Words 128
Write About Reading: Write an Analysis 129
Writing Traits: Ideas 130
v
Contents
Unit 4 • Challenges
Changing Environments Shared Experiences
Vocabulary 151 Vocabulary 181
Comprehension: Author’s Point of View Comprehension:
Graphic Organizer 152 Theme Graphic Organizer 182
Comprehension and Fluency 153 Comprehension and Fluency 183
Comprehension: Author’s Point of View Comprehension: Theme and Fluency 185
and Fluency 155 Genre/Literary Element 186
Genre/Text Feature 156 Vocabulary Strategy: Homographs 187
Vocabulary Strategy: Paragraph Clues 157 Word Study: Greek and Latin Prefixes 188
Word Study: Suffix -ion 158 Write About Reading: Write an Analysis 189
Write About Reading: Write an Analysis 159 Writing Traits: Ideas 190
Writing Traits: Organization 160
Taking Responsibility
Overcoming Challenges Vocabulary 191
Vocabulary 161 Comprehension:
Comprehension: Author’s Point of View Point of View Graphic Organizer 192
Graphic Organizer 162 Comprehension and Fluency 193
Comprehension and Fluency 163 Comprehension:
Comprehension: Author’s Point of View Point of View and Fluency 194
and Fluency 165 Genre/Literary Element 195
Genre/Text Feature 166 Literary Elements:
Vocabulary Strategy: Idioms 167 Alliteration and Assonance 196
Phonics: Vowel Alternation 168 Vocabulary Strategy:
Write About Reading: Write an Analysis 169 Figurative Language 197
Writing Traits: Sentence Fluency 170 Phonics: Consonant Alternation 198
Write About Reading: Write an Analysis 199
Writing Traits: Word Choice 200
vi
Contents
Unit 5 • Discoveries
Myths Breakthroughs
Vocabulary 201 Vocabulary 231
Comprehension: Problem and Comprehension:
Solution Graphic Organizer 202 Sequence Graphic Organizer 232
Comprehension and Fluency 203 Comprehension and Fluency 233
Comprehension: Problem and Comprehension:
Solution and Fluency 205 Sequence and Fluency 235
Genre/Literary Element 206 Genre/Text Feature 236
Vocabulary Strategy: Word Origins 207 Vocabulary Strategy: Context Clues 237
Word Study: Homophones 208 Word Study: Greek Roots 238
Write About Reading: Write an Analysis 209 Write About Reading: Write an Analysis 239
Writing Traits: Sentence Fluency 210 Writing Traits: Organization 240
Innovations
Vocabulary 221
Comprehension:
Cause and Effect Graphic Organizer 222
Comprehension and Fluency 223
Comprehension:
Cause and Effect and Fluency 225
Genre/Text Feature 226
Vocabulary Strategy: Context Clues 227
Word Study: Latin Roots 228
Write About Reading: Write an Analysis 229
Writing Traits: Organization 230
vii
Contents
Unit 6 • Taking Action
Resources Extraordinary Finds
Vocabulary 251 Vocabulary 281
Comprehension: Main Idea and Comprehension:
Key Details Graphic Organizer 252 Sequence Graphic Organizer 282
Comprehension and Fluency 253 Comprehension and Fluency 283
Comprehension: Main Idea and Comprehension:
Key Details and Fluency 255 Sequence and Fluency 285
Genre/Text Feature 256 Genre/Text Feature 286
Vocabulary Strategy: Latin Roots 257 Vocabulary Strategy: Greek Roots 287
Word Study: Suffixes -ible and -able 258 Word Study: Absorbed Prefixes 288
Write About Reading: Write an Analysis 259 Write About Reading: Write an Analysis 289
Writing Traits: Sentence Fluency 260 Writing Traits: Word Choice 290
viii
Vocabulary
Name
2. sarcastic, phobic
She made a sarcastic remark when she learned the man was phobic
about snakes.
3. glimmer, threshold
I had a glimmer of hope when I looked over the threshold to the
garden and saw my friends waiting.
4. consolation, indispensable
The consolation of seeing her friends during this sad time was
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
indispensable.
Characters
Setting
Beginning
End
Read the passage. Use the visualize strategy to help you form
mental images as you read.
SMART START
Normally the cafeteria was so noisy you couldn’t hear a tray drop. But
13 now, Alex’s footsteps echoed across the huge room. There were a few
25 other scattered students in the cafeteria, all avoiding eye contact with one
37 another. The Dunce Convention, Alex thought, as his backpack landed
47 with a loud thud on the table. He was here after school for his first session
63 in “Smart Start,” a program in which students received free tutoring in
75 subjects that were difficult for them. Alex wondered whom the school
86 thought they were fooling with their opposite-name trick. Smart Start
96 meant “Stupid Forever.”
99 Alex had been sentenced to Smart Start for math. His parents, already
111 concerned about his grades, were even more agitated because the
121 Statewide Math Aptitude Test was approaching. (Also oppositely-named,
129 Alex thought; in his case, it should be the Inaptitude Test.) Math had
142 always been torture for Alex. For extra humiliation, his little sister had
154 accelerated and was taking the same math subject as he, despite being
166 almost two years younger.
170 Alex unearthed the crumpled registration form and began to fidget with
181 it, a nervous habit of his. Absentmindedly, he folded over the strip with
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
194 his name on it repeatedly, scoring it until there was a sharp crease. Next,
208 he tore the strip off, bracing the page against the edge of the table. What
223 remained was a nearly perfect square—ideal for one of Alex’s favorite
235 pastimes: origami.
237 He began folding one of the common origami patterns, the bird base.
249 Using his thumbnail to form the sharp creases, Alex created a triangle,
261 and added some petal folds. Soon the bird base was complete, and he was
275 partway into making the crane. So absorbed was he, that he didn’t hear the
289 footsteps of the person approaching his table.
“You must be Alex. I’m Sophia,” announced the girl, extending her hand.
Startled, Alex quickly shoved his folded paper aside. Sophia continued, “I’m in
eighth grade. Tell me a little bit about yourself. What do you like to do?”
“Anything but math!” Alex replied.
“Well, I guess that’s why you’re here,” Sophia said with a laugh. “I used to
hate math, too,” she offered.
Alex recognized that Sophia was making an effort to put him at ease, so he
granted her a quick smile. “What made you start to like it?” he asked politely.
“Believe it or not, I think it was marching band. I realized that counting beats
and tracking measures is all about math. Hey, what’s that you’re hiding?” she
teased, tugging at his folded form.
“It’s nothing yet, but soon it will be,” Alex
explained. Quickly, Alex folded and creased,
his hands awhirl. “Ta-da—a crane!” he
proclaimed, presenting the transformed shape.
“That’s awesome,” Sophia declared, staring
intently at the origami folds. “Do you mind
if I take it apart?” Alex shrugged, and Sophia
carefully unfolded each step of the crane,
leaving a geometric wonder of creases. Sophia
looked excited about the wrinkled sheet, and
Alex raised his eyebrows.
“Don’t you see? What you have here is most of your math curriculum, right in
2. In the middle of the story, what does Alex start to make? What is
his attitude toward this pastime?
He is making an origami bird. Origami is one of his favorite pastimes.
3. At the end of the story, what is Alex’s attitude toward Smart Start
and math?
Alex thinks Smart Start might be OK, if math tutoring will include
origami.
begins to think Smart Start could be fun, and he seems to feel better
about math when it relates to something else he’s good at.
1. List three literary elements that let you know this is realistic fiction.
Answers will vary but should include three of the following: narrator,
dialogue, realistic character, and setting
2. Who is the narrator and what is the narrator’s role in the text?
A student with a broken leg is the narrator. The narrator is the “I” and
main character of the story.
2. Soon the bird base was complete, and he was partway into
making the crane. So absorbed was he, that he didn’t hear the
footsteps of the person approaching his table.
involved
Use what you know about context clues to explain the following
word in a sentence: pastime. Be sure to include context clues
that explain the word’s meaning.
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
A. Read the words in each row and circle the word that has a
short vowel sound. Then write the word on the line and underline
the letter or letters that stand for the sound.
B. Read each sentence. Find the word with a short vowel sound
and write it on the line. Then underline the letter or letters that
make the short vowel sound.
Evidence is details and examples from a text that support a writer’s ideas. The
student who wrote the paragraph below cited evidence to show how the author
used details to create a realistic story.
Write a paragraph about the text you have chosen. Cite evidence
from the story to show how the author used character, setting,
and plot to create a realistic story. Remember to use evidence to
support ideas and to use different sentence types.
Cite evidence from the text: Answers will vary but should include a topic
sentence, text evidence of the author’s use of details that make the
characters, setting, and plot seem realistic, and a concluding statement.
Ideas should be presented clearly with evidence, and different sentence
types should be represented.
A. Read the draft model. Use the questions that follow the draft to
help you think about ways to give the draft a stronger opening.
Draft Model
I was hiking to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. It was cold and foggy.
I could feel the steep cliffs rising sharply above us.
2. How can you hint at or tell about a problem to make the opening
more interesting?
B. Now revise the draft by adding details that will grab the
reader’s attention and make him or her want to learn more about
the narrator’s hike.
Answers will vary but should include details about the narrator and
2. (inflicted) The winds from the strong storm inflicted heavy damage on
the town.
3. (adversity) We were prepared for the challenge and knew we could face
adversity if we all stayed together.
4. (spindly) The children wanted to climb in the trees, but the branches were
too spindly.
5. (retrieved) I left my textbook in the living room, but I retrieved it before walking
to school.
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6. (reminisce) The townspeople liked to reminisce about the early days when
everything wasn’t so crowded.
7. (confinement) After sitting in the small room for a while, the boys had a feeling
of confinement.
Characters
Setting
Problem
Event
Solution
Read the passage. Use the visualize strategy to help you form
mental pictures as you read.
Appreciation
It was the first day of school in this Nebraska community, and Hermann
13 had good reason to be nervous. He barely remembered what it felt like to
27 go to school!
30 That had not always been the case. He had been a good student when he
45 lived in New York City. During the 1882 school year, however, his father
58 had become ill. Hermann had to leave school to help his family. When
71 his father finally recuperated enough for Hermann to return to school,
82 his father made an announcement. The family was going to move to the
95 Nebraska prairie to farm as his family had in the old country.
107 This Nebraska life proved to be an extremely hard one, and it kept
120 Hermann and his father busy every day from early in the morning until late
134 at night. First, they had to reinforce the walls of their sod house, which
148 were made from squares cut from the soil, so they wouldn’t collapse.
160 Then, in order to keep the wind out, they had to seal the cracks that snaked
176 across the walls, and after that, it was time to plow the fields and tend to
192 the crops. Unfortunately, the attention and effort needed to ensure that
203 they had food on the table left no time for Hermann to attend school.
217 However, when fall arrived in 1884, Hermann’s father had made his
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Dynamic Graphics/JupiterImages
said. “I am your teacher, Miss Peal.”
Miss Peal pointed to a seat at the far end
of the classroom. All eyes were on Hermann
as he crossed the floor, and he thought he
heard someone stifle a giggle. When he
A one-room schoolhouse with
tripped, his classmates couldn’t hold it in any teacher and students
longer. They laughed loudly, and by the time
Hermann finally sat down, his face was beet red, and he felt humiliated.
“Class, please!” Miss Peal said sharply. Then she smiled and reassured
Hermann. “Don’t worry, you haven’t missed anything,” she said comfortingly.
“I’ve just been asking students to read aloud and spell a few words so that I can
assign partners.”
When it was Hermann’s turn to read, he stumbled since it had been a long
time since he had been in school. Afterward, he wasn’t surprised to be paired
with Rosa, a quiet girl approximately three or four years younger.
Before Hermann realized it, it was time for lunch. Hermann seated himself
away from the other students and pulled some bread and cheese out of a small
sack. Then he noticed Rosa sitting alone. She glanced toward Hermann, looking
First Read – =
Second Read – =
1. How does the setting let you know this is historical fiction?
The time and place are drawn from history.
Read each passage. Underline the context clues that help you
figure out the meaning of each word in bold. Then write the
word’s meaning on the line.
1. During the 1882 school year, however, his father had become ill.
Hermann had to leave school to help his family. When his father
finally recuperated enough for Hermann to return to school, his
father made an announcement.
regained his health
3. Back in the city, there had always been someone to talk to, but
here there was nobody, and the prairie seemed inhospitable.
unfriendly, unwelcoming
B. Read the words in the box below. Then write each word on
the line next to the word that has the same long vowel sound.
8. meek bleach
Evidence is details and examples from a text that support a writer’s ideas. The
student who wrote the paragraph below cited evidence that shows how two
authors developed the plots of their stories.
Write a paragraph about the two texts you have chosen. Cite
evidence from the stories to show how each author developed
the plot. Remember to include a strong concluding statement
and to use complete sentences that have both a subject and a
predicate.
Cite evidence from the text: Answers will vary but should include a topic
sentence, text evidence that compares two authors’ use of details to
develop plot, and a strong concluding statement. Ideas should be
presented clearly with evidence, and sentences should be complete and
have a subject and a predicate.
A. Read the draft model. Use the questions that follow the draft
to help you think about ways to use strong, vivid words to create
a clearer picture of what is happening.
Draft Model
In the orchard, Hester and John met the scary soldiers. John wanted to leave,
but Hester gave each soldier a nice apple.
1. What time of day is it? Would the orchard be scarier if the story
took place at night?
2. Why are the soldiers there? What words can you use to describe
what makes them scary?
3. What strong, vivid words can you use to describe how John and
Hester feel about the soldiers?
Answers will vary but should include strong and vivid descriptive words
to help readers visualize the scene in the orchard.
5. (maneuvering) It was going to take some careful maneuvering to get the boat
around the rocks .
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
6. (obscure) As the storm came closer, dark clouds began to obscure the sun
7. (species) The explorers wondered if the strange insect was some kind of
undiscovered species .
Read the selection. Complete the main idea and key details
graphic organizer.
Main Idea
Detail
Detail
Detail
175 by wind or float on water. Others may be transported on the backs of birds
190 or other animals. Some may drop to the ground in animal waste. Still
203 others require fire or a great deal of time to break down a hard outer shell.
219 The beautiful white flowers of this tree develop into foot-long seedpods.
230 Each pod contains two or three seeds. When the pods burst open, they
243 shoot the seeds into the air. The seeds travel like missiles.
2. How are the details in the second paragraph under the head
“The Rat-Eating Pitcher Plant” connected?
The details tell about how the pitcher plant attracts and digests prey.
3. How are the details in the third paragraph under the head
“The Rat-Eating Pitcher Plant” connected?
The details tell about how this pitcher plant gets nitrogen.
A. Read each word below. Then choose a word from the box that
has a similar spelling pattern and write it on the line.
1. misuse excuse
2. affection affect
3. where there
4. taught caught
5. adept except
6. fought bought
B. Read each sentence. Write the underlined word on the line and
circle the letters that spell the vowel sound in each syllable.
12. His older brother would accuse him of borrowing too much. accuse
Evidence is details and examples from a text that support a writer’s ideas.
The student who wrote the paragraph below cited evidence to analyze a
main idea.
Write a paragraph about the text you have chosen. Cite evidence
from the text to support your analysis of the author’s use of
details to develop a main idea. Include relevant examples and
use compound sentences correctly and effectively.
Cite evidence from the text: Answers will vary but should include a topic
sentence, text evidence to support the statement of a main idea, and
a strong concluding statement. Ideas should be presented clearly with
evidence, and compound sentences should be used correctly and
effectively.
A. Read the draft model. Use the questions that follow the draft
to help you think about ways to focus on the topic and add
precise details.
Draft Model
There are many unusual rainforest plants. They are very different from the
plants you would find in your backyard!
3. What details will help the reader visualize the plant and
understand why it is unusual?
Answers will vary but should focus on one type of rainforest plant and
should describe it in interesting detail.
Read the selection. Complete the main idea and key details
graphic organizer.
Main Idea
Detail
Detail
Detail
Read the passage. Use the reread strategy to identify the main
idea and key details.
177 There had been warning signs. In 1978 scientists at the USGS thought
189 that Mount St. Helens might blast again. It had a history of eruptions. On
203 March 20, 1980, an earthquake was recorded beneath Mount St. Helens.
214 Another quake was recorded three days later. After that, the quakes hit like
227 waves. There were about 15 per hour. By March 25, pilots flying over the
241 volcano saw cracks in the glaciers and a number of avalanches. The giant
254 could not sleep with the strong shakes of the earth below. Huge blasts of
268 steam in April and May led to the great blast on May 18.
A Real-life Laboratory
Peter Frenzen flew over the blast zone
after the eruption. Frenzen was an ecologist.
An ecologist is a scientist who studies
how plants and animals act with their
environment. All he could see below was
a scorched landscape and a “ghost forest”
of ash. Still, Frenzen felt excited. He had
studied how forests come back from natural
First Read – =
Second Read – =
Laki Volcano
Most people associate a volcanic eruption
2. What is the text’s main idea? List two details that support the
main idea.
Main idea: Volcanic eruptions can spread poisonous gases and severe
2. In the simile “Trees were blown down like matchsticks,” what force
causes the trees to fall, and what does the simile tell you about it?
The simile describes the force of the explosion. It was strong enough to
blow trees down very easily, as if they were thin matchsticks.
3. What does the simile “After that, the quakes hit like waves” say
about the earthquakes?
The earthquakes came one after another.
4. What does the metaphor “the giant could not sleep with the strong
shakes of the earth below” say about the volcano?
The earthquakes caused the volcano to erupt.
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
A. Read the words below and listen for the r-controlled vowel
sound. Put each word under the correct heading and underline
the letters that stand for the r-controlled vowel sound.
Evidence is details and examples from a text that support a writer’s ideas. The
student who wrote the paragraph below cited evidence that supports his or her
argument about the author’s use of main ideas and key details.
Topic I believe all the main ideas in “Mount St. Helens” are
sentence important to understanding the volcano’s impact on the
environment. The main idea of the first section is how
devastating the 1980 eruption was. In the second section,
details about watching the volcano support the idea that
Evidence
predicting an eruption is necessary. The main idea of the
third section is that the eruption made special scientific
work possible. Because the main ideas explain events
Concluding before, during, and after the eruption, readers understand
statement the effect of the volcano.
Write a paragraph about the text you have chosen. Cite evidence
from the text to analyze how well the main ideas helped you
understand the topic. Support your argument with clear reasons
and relevant evidence. Include complex sentences.
Cite evidence from the text: Answers will vary but should include a topic
sentence, text evidence that supports an argument about the author’s
use of main ideas and key details, and a strong concluding statement.
Ideas should be presented clearly with evidence, and complex sentences
should be included.
A. Read the draft model. Use the questions that follow the draft
to help you think about ways to give a distinct voice to the text.
Draft Model
I sometimes walk in the swamp near my home. In my high boots, I see frogs
and trees in the fog. I usually walk alone. All I can hear is my steps in the water.
1. How can you change the first sentence to give it a particular “voice,”
or style and tone?
2. What does the narrator see and hear in the swamp? What could
the narrator feel, taste, or smell in the swamp?
3. What words would help the reader understand how the narrator
feels about being alone in the swamp? What vivid descriptions
would show this?
B. Now revise the draft by adding words and phrases that help
to develop the style and tone of the writing.
Answers will vary but should include vivid words and phrases that help
1. inventory, fluctuate
Our store’s inventory will fluctuate depending on how many items
we sell.
2. basically, salaries
The workers’ salaries were basically the same no matter which store they
worked in.
3. formula, available
The store’s formula for success was to have many different sizes of
clothes available.
4. factors, manufactured
One of the factors in deciding what items will be manufactured is the
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
171 enough wheels for all the skateboards. With fewer skateboards to sell, each
183 one will be more valuable to buyers. They will be willing to pay more to
198 get one. This shortage of supply of goods can lead to what is called “cost-
213 push” inflation.
215 Another way prices can be pushed higher is if the government decides to
228 print lots more money. This also can cause inflation. If the money supply
241 is too large, the value of each dollar falls. When the value of the currency
256 decreases, prices rise.
With inflation, the desire for goods and services is greater than the economy’s
ability to meet the demand. Sometimes the government spends more money than
it gets from taxes. When governments pay their bills by printing more money
instead of raising taxes, the effect is inflation. The new supply causes people to
spend more money buying goods and services. If the demand is already high,
more demand drives the prices higher.
People sometimes add to inflation as they try to protect themselves from it. If
you have a job, you might ask for more pay. As a result, your employer might
have to raise prices to pay for your higher wages. This leads to more inflation.
2. Are the main points that the author includes on the first page of the
passage opinions or could they be proved by evidence? Are the
author’s words trying to convince readers to feel a certain way?
The main points are not opinions; they are facts about inflation that
could be proved with evidence. The author is explaining inflation, not
trying to convince readers of something.
3. In the text under the head “Spending Habits During Inflation,” what
are three ways the author says people change their spending
during inflation?
Some people will go without buying things. Some might borrow to buy
what they need. Some might make a big purchase now rather than later
because it will cost more later. People might spend more and save less.
4. Based on the information in the text and the words and details the
author uses, what is the author’s point of view about inflation? Is
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
3. Is the heading a strong one for this text? Why or why not?
Yes, it is a strong heading because it tells exactly what the text will
be about.
5. With inflation, the desire for goods and services is greater than the
economy’s ability to meet the demand.
2. I got new glasses because the doctor told me I am near sighted. nearsighted
3. How many sea shells did you collect at the beach? seashells
5. There was so much ice that I had to help scrape the wind shield. windshield
B. Read each pair of words in the row and circle the pair that
should be hyphenated. Then write the hyphenated compound on
the line.
Evidence is details and examples from a text that support a writer’s ideas. The
student who wrote the paragraph below cited evidence to support a claim about
the author’s point of view.
Write a paragraph about the text you have chosen. Cite evidence
from the text to analyze whether the author expresses a point of
view about the topic. Remember to use evidence to support your
claim and to avoid run-on sentences and comma splices.
Cite evidence from the text: Answers will vary but should include a topic
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
A. Read the draft model. Use the questions that follow the draft
to help you think about how you can add transitions to connect
related ideas.
Draft Model
Each year I go through my clothes and choose many to donate to charity.
I rarely wear these items. Other people could use them.
1. How can you add a sentence using the transition for instance to
show an example of the types of clothes that are donated?
3. What transition can you use to explain why the speaker rarely
wears the items? Make sure your transition connects a cause and
an effect.
Answers will vary but should include transitions to relate and clarify
1. (inscription) In order to know why the statue was built, we read the inscription
that was written on it .
2. (communal) After we got our food, we all sat down and ate at a communal
table .
5. (yields) The farmers were happy because there were large crop yields this year
.
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
7. (utilize) In order to build something, you need to utilize tools safely and
correctly .
Problem Solution
A Matter of Time
Olmec calendars combined two different calendars. Priests made the calendars
to keep track of ceremonies. One calendar had 260 days. They made another
calendar that had 360 days for other events. The two calendars together were
called the Long Count calendar. Long Count dates contained five simple
numbers made up of lines and dots. The dates also contained the number zero.
The Olmecs represented zero with a shell-shaped drawing. Archaeologists credit
the Olmecs with inventing zero.
Stone Sculptures
Huge stone faces were found at several Olmec sites. These strange stone
carvings range in size from five to nine feet tall. The images all have grim, flat
faces. Each head wears what seems to be a helmet. No one knows why.
750–1258
4. Give one example of how the timeline supports a fact in the text.
The timeline, like the text, gives the date of 711 when the Moors entered
Spain.
Use context clues and the information about Latin roots below
each passage to decide what each word in bold means. Write
the definition on the line. Possible responses provided.
3. “These strange stone carvings range in size from five to nine feet
tall. The images all have grim, flat faces.”
The Latin root imag means “likeness.” In the sentence above, what
does images mean?
sculptures
artisans mean?
people who are skilled
2. (knife) How many forks and knives do we need to set the table?
8. medium media
9. bacterium bacteria
Evidence is details and examples from a text that support a writer’s ideas. The
student who wrote the paragraph below cited evidence to show how the author
described a problem and any solutions to it.
Write a paragraph about the text you have chosen. Cite evidence
from the text to analyze how a problem is described and whether
any solutions are explained. Remember to maintain a formal style
and to use common and proper nouns correctly.
Cite evidence from the text: Answers will vary but should include a topic
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
A. Read the draft model. Use the questions that follow the draft to
help you think about ways to provide supporting details that will
tell the reader more about the main idea.
Draft Model
Inventors built the first computer to do calculations. Now people also use
computers for research and to keep in touch. These machines have Internet
and word processing software.
2. How big were the first computers? What kinds of calculations did
they perform?
1. aspiring, foundation
Learning what the city needed gave the aspiring mayor a good
foundation to run for office.
2. speculation, restrict
Speculation about how the children might behave caused their parents
to restrict where they could go.
3. principal, promote
The principal reason for the new law was to promote equality.
4. withstood, preceded
The tree withstood the hurricane that preceded the flood.
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Both
What is a Democracy?
The United States of America is a democracy. Most people have thought
12 so since the nation began. But what does democracy mean? The Greek
24 prefix demo- means “people.” The Greek root word cracy means “rule.”
35 So, the word democracy suggests a government ruled by the people.
46 What exactly does this mean in a country like ours?
159 business. Sometimes, town halls were used for worship services as
169 well, since they were the largest buildings in town. Early settlers looked
181 forward to town meeting days. The meetings were more than a time to
194 vote. Without telephones or other ways to keep people in touch, the town
207 meetings were also social gatherings for the public.
215 As New England grew, people with common interests settled in small
226 towns together, just as the Puritans did. That meant that for the most
239 part, everyone living in a town had the same goals. Voters met to solve
253 problems for the good of all, making it possible for people to participate
266 directly in legislation. In small towns this form of democracy worked.
to rate and accuracy. Stop after one minute. Fill out the chart.
3. The chart gives evidence of what fact that is not stated in the text?
The chart shows that there are both men and women on the Court.
3. “Voters met to solve problems for the good of all, making it possible
for people to participate directly in legislation.”
The Latin prefix leg- means “law.”
4. “As the need for government extended to cities, states, and the
nation as a whole, the town meeting became less practical.”
In extended, the Latin prefix ex- means “out.”
Verb + ed + ing
B. Read each sentence and circle the word that correctly uses
the inflectional ending. Then write the word on the line.
9. Travelers referred to the old map to find their way to the cave.
Evidence is details and examples from a text that support a writer’s ideas. The
student who wrote the paragraph below cited evidence to show how the author
compared and contrasted ideas to explain the topic.
Write a paragraph about the text you chose. Cite text evidence to
show how the author compared and contrasted ideas. Develop
your analysis with concrete details, and use singular and plural
nouns correctly.
Cite evidence from the text: Answers will vary but should include a topic
sentence, text evidence to support how the ideas are compared and
contrasted, and a strong concluding statement. Explanations should be
presented clearly with evidence, and singular and plural nouns should
be used correctly.
A. Read the draft model. Use the questions that follow the draft to
help you think about what supporting details can be added to tell
the reader more about the topic.
Draft Model
Last week, our class voted. Kids were on the ballot. Carla promised many
things. I voted for her. She won!
Answers will vary but should include details that provide important
information about the election.
1. Why might a car not be parked in an alcove? An alcove is a small space and a
car might not fit.
2. Where would you likely find commerce taking place? You can find commerce
taking place at a store.
3. What domestic item do you use that ancient people probably used? A bowl is a
domestic item that I use that ancient people probably used.
4. Why is a dog not considered an exotic pet? A dog is not an exotic pet because
it is not unusual to own one.
5. Why is it helpful to be fluent in Italian if you are visiting Italy? If you are fluent in
Italian you will understand what the people in Italy are saying.
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
6. What can make you feel better on a day when the heat is stifling? Going
swimming can make you feel better on a day when the heat is stifling.
8. What is of utmost importance if you have a test coming up? Studying is of utmost
importance if you have a test coming up.
206 myself in the field of archers. If only I could be there with my father
221 and brothers.
223 Father assigned me the farm chores and protection of the household
234 during any invasions. Even with those responsibilities, I made time for
245 target practice every day. My eldest brother had given me his old bow and
259 generously taught me the basics of archery. He said I was a natural archer.
2. How does Hasina’s use of foreign words make her seem like a real
character from history?
Possible response: She talks about sewing for the Pharaoh’s son. She
keeps her house “nefer.”
3. What does the text tell you about women of the time?
Possible response: The text tells you that women in ancient Egypt often
worked outside of the home.
Evidence is details and examples from a text that support a writer’s ideas. The
student who wrote the paragraph below cited evidence to show how the point
of view helps the author develop the main character and the plot.
A. Read the draft model. Use the questions that follow the draft
to help you think about ways to make the conclusion stronger.
Draft Model
It was time for Mario to return home. As he boarded the airplane, he turned
and waved back to us. He was now truly part of our family.
2. What descriptive words and phrases can you add to show the
intensity of Mario’s and the family’s feelings?
B. Now revise the draft by adding details that will help create
an interesting, satisfying conclusion to the story.
Answers will vary but should include details that connect previous
events to the conclusion and emotional and sensory details to create
1. benefit, expertise
It was a huge benefit having a neighbor with the expertise to fix things.
2. deftly, symmetry
The artist deftly created a sculpture that had both beauty and symmetry.
3. impudence, derision
They acted with derision and impudence when the man tripped and fell.
4. legacy, eaves
The architect left a legacy of building beautiful homes with decorative
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
eaves.
Approaching Zero
Basu counted the steps, doing quick measurements as he walked along
11 the south bank of India’s Ganges River, kicking up the hot, dusty ground.
24 He had arisen before daybreak, and the sun was now rising in the east.
38 By his calculations, he had walked 12,563 steps and covered about
49 one-quarter of the distance from his small village. By the time the sun was
63 directly overhead, he should finally reach the university at Patna. There he
75 hoped to find Aryabhata. Perhaps the great mathematician could help him
86 with the questions he’d been pondering: How do you measure the passing
98 of time and days? How do you determine the circumference of Earth? How
111 far away is the moon?
116 From what Basu had heard, Aryabhata had all of the answers, but the
129 master did not like to be disturbed. Basu’s parents had warned him not to
143 go. “Why would a wise scholar want to waste his time with a twelve-year-
157 old boy?” his father had chided. Basu had a burning desire to study math
170 and to one day write a book like Aryabhatiya, Aryabhata’s masterpiece.
181 According to the local scholars, the book described the earth as a
193 sphere that rotated around the sun, and it explained mathematics, time,
204 astronomy, and other mysteries of the universe.
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
211 Basu dragged a stick along the dirt, drawing a line. Was it a straight line
226 between where he just was and where he was going? He posed question
239 after question to himself to pass the time, keeping a running step count as
253 he went—18,231. The sun was just where Basu expected, casting a long
266 shadow from his stick.
Finally, just as the sun was overhead, Basu spotted a man crouched on a mat
by a small, low table. He could see the man was furiously writing with a long
iron spike that he dipped in ink, inscribing on the surface of hardened palm
leaves. Basu held his breath and took quiet, short steps, cutting the remaining
distance in half, and then in half again. Finally,
he was standing beside Aryabhata. Basu was
so close, he could see the mysterious numbers
and symbols.
Basu was invisible to Aryabhata, who was
immersed in his thoughts, but just then a beetle
flew off the spike and landed on Basu’s arm.
He brushed it off without thinking and jarred
Aryabhata’s hand, which skidded across the ink.
Aryabhata looked up in a flash of anger and
thundered, “Who are you?”
“I am just a merchant’s son,” confessed Basu,
“but I’ve come here desperate to benefit from
your knowledge and hoping to absorb a fraction
of your wisdom.”
Aryabhata fixed him with a hard stare and replied grudgingly, “All right. You
may ask me one question.”
Basu thought for a long moment. “I walked 50,348 steps to get here, and then
crossed your courtyard, cutting it in half, in half again, and again. Now our
2. What does the text tell you about life during the time of the Incas?
Possible response: Many Inca men were expected to work as laborers;
artists worked with gold.
Read each excerpt from the passage and the meaning of the
suffix of the word in bold. Then write a possible meaning for
the word in bold.
Possible responses provided.
1. Basu counted the steps, doing quick measurements as he
walked along the south bank of India’s Ganges River, kicking
up the hot, dusty ground.
–ment means “act of” or “state of”
state of measuring
A. Read each word below. Choose a word from the box that
rhymes with it and write the word on the line. Then underline the
open syllable in both words.
1. futile brutal
2. flavor favor
3. crocus focus
4. tidal vital
5. motor voter
Evidence is details and examples from a text that support a writer’s analysis.
The student who wrote the paragraph below cited evidence that supports his
or her ideas about the author’s use of point of view.
Write a paragraph about the story you have chosen. Cite text
evidence to analyze how the third-person point of view helped
you understand the characters and the plot. Remember to use
possessive nouns correctly.
Cite evidence from the text: Answers will vary but should include a topic
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
sentence, text evidence to support the student’s ideas about how the
point of view affects the story, and a strong concluding statement.
Evidence should be presented clearly, and possessive nouns should be
used correctly.
A. Read the draft model. Use the questions that follow the draft to
help you think about transitions to clarify shifts in time or setting.
Draft Model
Uncle Max agreed to show me the magic trick. I tried to learn how to hold
the coin the way he showed me. I got it, and I pulled the coin out of Uncle
Max’s ear.
1. When and why did Uncle Max agree to teach the narrator the trick?
2. What happened after Uncle Max agreed? How was the narrator
able to learn to do the trick?
Answers will vary but should include transitions that clarify shifts in
1. (majestic) During our travels, we saw huge, majestic trees in a national park
.
2. (forlorn) The lost dog had a sad and forlorn expression on its face
.
Detail
Detail
Detail
Theme
At Grandmother’s Pueblo
When I visit my grandmother’s pueblo,
6 I hear songs I can’t understand.
12 I see folks who are happy and smiling
20 Saying welcome to family land.
Museum Trip
While walking through the gallery, it seemed
That I was on a journey through the years.
Ancient statues stared ahead and dreamed.
Waiting, watching, beckoning each appeared.
Look at these and this and those things, they said,
As I saw the cases of golden things
That were useful to people so long dead,
Golden crowns and cups, masks and bowls and rings.
But then the afternoon grew late, and we
Had to leave this place of treasures and things rare.
And though we left there’s so much more to see.
I want to come back here again to share.
It makes me wonder what on Earth they’d say
If those people were here to tell us today.
The meter and rhyme scheme sound musical. Sonnet: It has fourteen
lines and a pattern of end rhymes. It uses pairs of stressed and
unstressed syllables.
2. Copy one line of the poem. Then place an accent mark above each
stressed syllable.
Possible response: “While walking through the gallery it seemed”
3. Write an example from the poem of four words that create a rhyme
scheme.
Possible response: said, things, dead, rings
Read the stanza from a lyric poem below. Then answer the
questions. Possible responses provided.
At Grandmother’s Pueblo
Nature proudly displays
Her work for us to savor.
When the sun bows low, I see
A rainbow like a party favor.
2. Which syllables in each line need to be stressed? Write the last line
of the stanza on the line below. Underline each syllable that needs
to be stressed.
A rainbow like a party favor.
4. Write a short poem about one of your favorite places. Write one
four-line stanza. Use an abcb rhyme scheme and a meter of
your choice.
Answers will vary but should have an abcb rhyme scheme and some
kind of meter.
4. I listen as if in a trance
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
A. Read the first syllables below. Then write the word from the
box that begins with the first syllable and ends with a consonant
+ le syllable.
1. throt- throttle
2. scram- scramble
3. squig- squiggle
4. noo- noodle
5. sim- simple
Evidence is details and examples from a text that support a writer’s ideas. The
P6_Text
student
P6_Textwho wrote the paragraph below cited evidence to show how the author
of a poem developed the theme.
Write a paragraph about the text you chose. Cite evidence from
the text to show how the author uses details to develop the
theme. For a poem, remember to include examples of literary
elements or figurative language. For a story, include key plot
events. Use appositives correctly.
Cite evidence from the text: Answers will vary but should include a topic
sentence, text evidence to support ideas about the author’s development
of the theme, and a strong concluding statement. Evidence should be
presented clearly, and appositives should be used correctly.
A. Read the draft model. Use the questions that follow the draft to
help you think of precise, vivid words you can add.
Draft Model
Wherever I go, I bring my sketchpad and special pencil. They are two of my
favorite possessions. The pages are blank until I draw a picture on them. This is
why I love my sketchbook so much.
1. What does the sketchbook look like? Why is the pencil special?
2. What descriptive words can show how the narrator feels about the
blank pages?
3. What precise, vivid words can describe the drawings the narrator
creates on the sketchbook pages?
Answers will vary but should include precise, vivid words and
descriptions.
2. unseemly, negotiate
It would be unseemly to try to negotiate a better deal on the purchase.
3. capacity, regulation
The regulation capacity of the room was clearly posted on the wall.
4. fallow, insight
The farmer’s explanation gave us insight as to why she let her fields lay
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Detail
Detail
Detail
Theme
Read the passage. Use the make, confirm, and revise predictions
strategy to help you understand the theme.
Stuck Together
Rosa entered her apartment building just as a woman with red hair was
13 coming out. The woman nodded at Rosa but didn’t say anything. Rosa
25 remembered seeing the woman when she was getting mail, but other than
37 that, Rosa had no idea who she was. Then again, Rosa didn’t know anyone
51 in the building. She and her mother had just moved in a month ago, and
66 while people weren’t rude, they weren’t exactly friendly, either. Everyone
76 kept to himself or herself. Rosa missed the people in her old building
89 where tenants knew one another and chatted in the lobby, knocked on
101 doors to borrow milk, and had a big holiday party annually.
112 Rosa pushed the “up” button on the elevator and allowed her backpack
124 to drop to the floor as she waited for the elevator to arrive. And waited.
139 And then she waited some more. “Oh no,” she muttered quietly to herself,
152 “not again.”
154 Rosa lived on the seventh floor. Sighing, she slung the strap of her
167 heavy backpack over her shoulder and trudged slowly up the stairs. By the
180 time she got to her floor, there were beads of sweat rolling down her face.
195 Rosa’s mother was inside the apartment, painting the walls. “Que pasa,
206 mija?” asked her mother.
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
“I’ve written to the landlord about how frequently this broken elevator
malfunctions,” said a man with a black briefcase. He pulled the red alarm button,
and it began to clang outside the door. “Now we just have to wait until someone
hears the signal and pushes a button for the elevator.”
Rosa looked at her mom, who smiled and said, “It doesn’t seem like the
landlord is listening to our complaints. Maybe if we all got together and
pressured him, he would fix the elevator.”
“I don’t know,” said a man in jogging shorts. “I don’t really like to get
involved in problems.”
Rosa smiled at him. “You’re stuck in an elevator. You’re already involved.”
She put out her hand. “I’m Rosa, in 7L, and this is my mom, Maria.”
The man shook Rosa’s hand. “Okay, you have a point. I’m Saul, 8R.”
One by one, everyone in the elevator introduced himself or herself, and as they
waited, they talked about the difficulties they’d been having with the elevator
and ways to get the landlord to fix it.
“Perhaps if we could write a letter and have everyone in the building sign it,
the landlord would listen,” someone suggested.
“We could say that we are going to contact the city’s housing department,”
Saul put in. “Or if we all say that we won’t pay our rent, I bet we get the
elevator fixed.”
“I can write the letter,” offered Rosa’s mother.
The other people in the elevator agreed to
review the letter and help get signatures from
2. What had happened when Rosa’s mother called the landlord about
the broken elevator?
Nothing. The landlord did not respond.
4. Based on the events of the story, what do you think the theme of
this story is?
When people have a common goal, they can work together to reach
it and become friendlier in the process.
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
1. List three text features that let you know this is realistic fiction.
Possible responses: narrator, dialogue, realistic characters and setting
2. From what point of view is the story told? How do you know?
The story is told from a first-person point of view. Rosa, the narrator,
4. How does the first sentence of the text foreshadow future events?
Rosa’s mother tells her that babysitting for her Italian cousin will help
Rosa practice her Italian. At the end of the story, Rosa speaks to her
cousin in Italian.
In each item below, underline the context clues that help define
the word in bold. Then write the word’s meaning on the line.
1. Rosa missed the people in her old building where tenants knew
one another and chatted in the lobby, knocked on doors to borrow
milk, and had a big holiday party annually.
people who live in apartment buildings
3. Sighing, she slung the strap of her heavy backpack over her
shoulder and trudged slowly up the stairs.
threw loosely
4. Sighing, she slung the strap of her backpack over her shoulder and
trudged slowly up the stairs. By the time she got to her floor, there
were beads of sweat rolling down her face.
walked slowly and heavily
A. Read each word below and listen for the sound of the vowel
team. Sort the words by writing them in the correct column
below. Underline the vowel team in each word.
B. Find the word in each row that has a vowel team used in the
chart above. Write the word on the line, divide the word into
syllables, and circle the vowel team.
pedigree
Evidence is details and examples from a text that support a writer’s ideas. The
student who wrote the paragraph below cited evidence to support an argument
about what the theme of a story is.
I think the theme of “Stuck Together” is that people
Topic
will work for a common cause when someone takes the
sentence
first step. I read that people in Rosa’s new building didn’t
usually talk to each other. They were all angry about
Evidence the broken elevator, but they had done little to solve the
problem. When some of them get stuck in the elevator,
Rosa’s mom speaks up. They decide her idea to work
Concluding together to get the elevator fixed is a good one. I think
statement events in the story support the message that people often
need a little prodding to work together.
Cite evidence from the text: Answers will vary but should include a topic
sentence, text evidence to support their claim about the development
of the theme, and a strong concluding statement. Evidence should
be presented clearly, and direct and indirect objects should be used
correctly.
A. Read the draft model. Use the questions that follow the draft
to help you think about transitional words and phrases that
will make it easier for readers to keep track of where and when
events take place.
Draft Model
It had snowed hard during the night. The snow was very deep. Sally and her
sisters built a snow fort. They saw that their elderly neighbors needed help
shoveling their sidewalk. Sally and her sisters discussed together the idea of
helping them.
1. What transitional words and phrases would show when Sally and
her sisters built the fort? What words and phrases would show
when other events happened?
3. What other words and phrases would help guide the reader
smoothly from one event to the next?
Answers will vary but should include transitional words and phrases
that help clarify when and where events occur.
1. (summon) In order to lift the heavy box, I had to summon all my strength
.
3. (dilemma) Having to decide which friend to invite to the game was a major
dilemma .
5. (vastness) After our ship left the port, I could see the vastness of the ocean
.
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
6. (recoiled) The boy recoiled when the slimy frog jumped out of the water
7. (persistent) In order to get this problem solved you will need to be persistent
and work hard .
8. (skewed) The path of the storm suddenly skewed away from the town
Detail
Detail
Detail
Theme
Read the passage. Use the make, confirm, and revise predictions
strategy to help you understand the theme.
“Or maybe they just need some really compelling motivation,” said
Poppy’s dad.
The following day at practice, Poppy made an announcement to the team.
“You know, you guys could be playing games that make your community proud.
You could be learning teamwork and cooperation skills that will help you your
whole life, and some of you could maybe be good enough to one day get a
basketball scholarship. Instead, you just want to fool around. You don’t care,
and since you don’t care, well, I don’t care either. So, I want to tell you that
today is my last day coaching you guys. Oh, and yeah, by the way, the center
has to find a replacement, and unless that happens, it will be your last week for
a while, as well.”
“Really?” asked Mike, looking crestfallen,
his usual grin gone. “But I like basketball.”
“Yeah, we all do. Don’t you think you’re
being a little mean?” asked Kia. “We’re just
kids.”
Poppy sighed, “Yep, kids that should try
harder and put in real effort. Now, line up
for layups. I’m still the coach for now.”
To Poppy’s surprise, the Junior Tigers
actually lined up without the usual shoving
and pushing. They took turns shooting at the basket in an almost orderly fashion,
and when Carl missed, Mike did not make fun of him.
3. How do the Junior Tigers change their behavior when they think
Poppy is going to quit?
The Junior Tigers begin to complain less, they treat each other better,
and they show more effort in practice.
Mustering Courage
On weekends, Julian toils hard at his landscaping job, mowing lawns, clipping
hedges, and heaving heavy loads of mulch all morning. By noon, he is starving,
so he heads toward the town deli to buy lunch. A long line confronts him, and
his stomach growls angrily. “Who’s next? What can I get for you?” the man at
the deli counter hollers.
People behind Julian start to shout their orders: “Tuna on whole wheat!”
“Hot pastrami on rye!” “Grilled cheese!” Julian gazes around and feels lost.
His English is improving, but at times his throat closes and his face reddens.
A woman says to him, “It’s your turn, dear. Go ahead. I will wait.”
Julian musters his courage. “Turkey on a roll!” he shouts.
“You got it, my friend,” answers the man.
Confident, Julian replies, “Thanks, buddy!”
1. List three text features that let you know this is realistic fiction.
Possible responses: realistic characters, plot, and setting
2. From what point of view is the story told? How do you know?
The story is told from the third-person limited point of view. The narrator
3. Choose a sentence from the text that contains strong verbs. How
does this sentence provide a vivid picture?
Possible response: “A long line confronts him, and his stomach growls
angrily.” The verbs create a tense moment for Julian in the deli.
4. What is the theme of the story? List one clue that the writer provides.
Possible response: The theme is to find courage to do something you’re
afraid of. The title, Mustering Courage, shows that Julian has to find
courage to speak English in public.
Read each passage. Underline the context clues that help you
figure out the meaning of each word in bold. Then write the
word’s meaning on the line.
1. Not only were the Junior Tigers not interested in dribbling drills,
but they also balked at running drills and shooting drills. Although
Poppy had tried to explain just how important the drills were to
performing well, the Junior Tigers just didn’t appear to care.
complained about
2. Poppy called out, “Kia, you’re begging for someone to steal the ball.
Pass lower! Rosa, stop fiddling with your hair and focus!”
fooling around
3. “Really?“ asked Mike, looking crestfallen, his usual grin gone. “But
I like basketball.”
unhappy
4. “Carl, don’t run with the ball, but don’t trip over it, either.” Mike, a
tall, skinny kid who enjoyed hogging the ball, smirked. “Yeah, Carl,
love your coordination.”
skill
usual shoving and pushing. They took turns shooting at the basket
in an almost orderly fashion.
way of doing things
3. Would you like oil and vinegar dressing on your salad? vinegar
B. Read the words in the box below. Sort the words by their
r-controlled vowel syllable. Write the words that have the same
final syllable in the correct column.
Evidence is details and examples from a text that support a writer’s ideas. The
student who wrote the paragraph below cited evidence to support an argument
about whether events in a story’s plot support a clear theme.
Cite evidence from the text: Answers will vary but should include a topic
sentence, text evidence to support ideas about the author’s development
of the plot to express a theme, and a strong concluding statement.
Evidence should be presented clearly, and verb tenses should be used
correctly.
A. Read the draft model. Use the questions that follow the draft to
help you think of ways to make the conclusion stronger.
Draft Model
Susan said her last lines in the play and the stage went dark. The lights came
back on, and the audience went wild with applause. She had done it!
1. How does Susan feel when she hears the audience’s reaction?
Why?
3. What other details could help clarify previous events and give
readers a sense of closure?
B. Now revise the draft by adding details that will help the reader
better understand how Susan feels and what she has learned.
Answers will vary but should include details that enhance the
conclusion by giving readers important information about Susan and
1. sharecropper, windswept
It was hard for the sharecropper to grow anything in the windswept
fields.
2. impoverished, unearthed
The unearthed treasure was going to help many families in the
impoverished town.
3. ingenuity, productivity
The ingenuity of the manager led to higher productivity in the factory.
4. abundant, solitude
The artist preferred an abundant amount of solitude when she painted.
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Event
48 A Water Crisis
51 In some countries, people spend hours a day carrying water to their
63 homes. Women and girls are often the ones assigned the chore of collecting
76 water. Because of this chore, the women cannot take jobs, which would help
89 their finances. The girls are unable to attend school, which would prepare
101 them for future opportunities. Sometimes they must walk long distances to
112 find water, but often the water is unhealthy. Where water is scarce, people
125 are usually poor. Where there is no clean water, people are often sick.
165 this concern. Many groups are actively raising money to build wells in remote
178 places. People are working together to provide clean water for those in need.
Teamwork
In a spirit of cooperation, the highway owners offered to help. They promised
to drill a borehole, a deep hole used to find a hidden source of water. The villagers
had a community center that was seldom used because there was no water for it.
Modderspruit decided the center would be a perfect location to drill.
A Satisfying Outcome
The villagers often use the community center now. Water is available for
bathrooms and showers. The children can play and attend school instead of
always carrying water. The villagers are grateful for all the people who helped
solve their problem.
2. List the events under the heading “Teamwork” that helped the
villagers of Modderspruit, South Africa, build a new well.
First the highway company offered to drill a borehole to find water.
Next the villagers chose their community center as the place to drill.
Then the water was found. The villagers decided to use a solar-powered
pump to get the water above ground. Then the solar pump and two
storage tanks were installed at the center. The borehole successfully
provided a lot of clean water.
3. What was the outcome of the steps used to solve the village’s
water problem?
The village now has its own source of clean water. The villagers have
water for bathrooms and showers, and children can play and go to
school instead of spending so much time carrying water from far away.
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
1. What two features of narrative nonfiction can you find in this text?
Possible response: The text gives factual information about a real
group of people and real events in story form. It expresses the author’s
point of view through the author’s voice and tone.
4. List two important facts from the text that are important to the story.
Possible response: The factory had been in Ocala for 30 years, and the
factory closed when the group decided to run their own pollution tests.
1. clean unclean
The water near the village was unclean.
2. helpful unhelpful
The man behind the counter was extremely unhelpful.
3. form transform
The caterpillar will transform into a butterfly.
4. port transport
The people transport the water in buckets.
5. available unavailable
The tutor was unavailable to answer our questions.
B. Read the words below. On the line provided write how (or
whether) the part of speech changes when the suffix changes.
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
6. sanitary sanitation
changes from an adjective to a noun
7. transport transportation
changes from a verb to a noun
8. plan planner
remains a noun or changes from a verb to a noun
9. outside outsiders
changes from an adjective or an adverb to a noun
A. Read the words in the box above. On the lines below, write
the words that have two syllables that are divided between
consonants. Mark the other words with an X.
dollar answer address
instead children always
B. In each row, choose the word with a vowel team that makes
the short vowel sound in bold. Write the word. Then underline the
two letters that make the vowel team.
Evidence is details and examples from a text that support a writer’s ideas. The
student who wrote the paragraph below cited evidence to analyze the author’s
use of sequence to explain how a problem was solved.
Write a paragraph about the text you have chosen. Cite evidence
from the text to show how the author uses sequence to help
readers understand a process. Remember to use transitions
when needed and to use main verbs and helping verbs correctly.
Cite evidence from the text: Answers will vary but should include a topic
sentence, text evidence to support ideas about the author’s use of a
sequential text structure, and a strong concluding statement. Evidence
should be presented clearly, and main and helping verbs should be used
correctly.
A. Read the draft model. Use the questions that follow the draft
to help you think about what relevant details and evidence you
can add.
Draft Model
Mom and Dad were tired because they had three kids and full-time jobs. I got
my big brothers to agree that we would cook dinner twice a week. Everything is
better now.
Answers will vary but should include relevant details about the
2. What might make someone a prominent citizen? Helping others might make
someone a prominent citizen.
Read the selection. Complete the cause and effect graphic organizer.
Cause Effect
Clemente quickly became a defender of his rights and the rights of others.
When he heard insults thrown at a teammate, Clemente let everyone know it
was wrong. He became a leader in the Major League’s union. He demanded fair
working conditions for all.
Reporters tried to nickname him “Bob” or “Bobby.” Clemente rejected those
American names. He said words to the effect of “I’m Puerto Rican and you can
call me Roberto.” He was proud of his heritage.
Play Ball
Clemente was a powerhouse. He was a hard hitter with a lifetime batting
average of .317. Clemente routinely kept hopeful batters from getting to base.
He could track down balls hit between right and center field with lightning
speed. Fans were awed by Clemente’s throwing arm.
Clemente won many awards. He took four National League batting titles.
Clemente was one of only ten players who had gotten 3,000 base hits.
He was awarded 12 Gold Gloves, an honor given to the best fielding players
in the league.
Making a Difference
Clemente was a planner and a doer.
4. What effect did Clemente’s career and life have on Latinos who
played professional baseball in later years?
Clemente broke through racial barriers and made it easier for other
Latino players.
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
4. He said words to the effect of “I’m Puerto Rican and you can call
me Roberto.” He was proud of his heritage.
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
A. Add the prefix to each word. Write the new word on the line.
1. un + known = unknown
2. in + credible = incredible
5. en + rich = enrich
6. un + sightly = unsightly
B. Read the prefixes and their meanings in the box above. Use
the prefixes to help you decode and understand the words below.
Circle the prefix in each word. Then write the meaning of each
word on the line.
Evidence is details and examples from a text that support a writer’s ideas.
The student who wrote the paragraph below cited evidence to explain how an
author used text structure to show causes and effects in a person’s life.
Write a paragraph about the text you have chosen. Cite evidence
from the text to show how the author used causes and effects to
help explain how a person lived. Remember to use evidence to
support your ideas and to use linking verbs correctly.
Cite evidence from the text: Answers will vary but should include a topic
sentence, text evidence to support ideas about the author’s use of cause
and effect to convey biographical information, and a strong concluding
statement. Evidence should be presented clearly, and linking verbs
should be used correctly.
A. Read the draft model. Use the questions that follow the draft to
help you think of ways to add a distinctive voice to the text.
Draft Model
The sky was dark. The wind blew hard. A tree crashed in the yard, and the
lights went out. My little brother started to cry, but Mom calmly lit candles and
started telling us stories.
1. How can you change the first sentence to give it an engaging style
and tone?
4. What details would show the author’s attitude toward the mother?
1. (initial) They had to come up with a new solution when their initial plan did not
work .
3. (irrational) The idea that cows will sprout wings and fly is irrational
4. (designate) I think the plan is to designate one person as the leader of the
group .
5. (optimal) My mother decided that the optimal time to leave for the trip was
early in the morning .
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
8. (invasive) The vines were pretty to look at, but they were invasive and ruined
the flower garden .
Read the selection. Complete the main idea and key details
graphic organizer.
Main Idea
Detail
Detail
Detail
Read the passage. Use the ask and answer questions strategy
to check your understanding of the text.
180 Plants store carbon dioxide (CO2). When forests rot or burn, they put
192 more CO2 in the atmosphere, which causes the “greenhouse effect.” Gases
203 like CO2 trap heat close to the earth. The gases work like a glass roof
218 in a greenhouse that holds in the sun’s heat. The greenhouse effect can
231 cause our climate to become warmer. People in Africa are learning how
243 to improve their environment by planting and protecting this important
253 resource.
4. What are two details that support the main idea of this passage?
Deforestation can contribute to the greenhouse effect, which can make
the climate warmer; RIPPLE, Dr. Wangari Maathai, and the African Wildlife
Foundation are working to reverse deforestation.
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
3. Is the heading a strong one for this text? Why or why not? Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
2. Such deforestation can cause dire results. Less rain, more heat,
and erosion are just a few of the grim effects of deforestation. S
extremely bad
If natural environments disappear, our situation will be dire.
They had the goal of increasing tree growth instead of letting the
forests shrink even more. A
decreasing, shrinking
We need to save our dwindling resources.
instruction .
connection .
expression .
8. observe observation
9. hesitate hesitation
Evidence is details and examples from a text that support a writer’s ideas. The
student who wrote the paragraph below cited evidence to support a claim about
the author’s choice of words to provide information and make a point.
Write a paragraph about the text you have chosen. Cite evidence
from the text to analyze whether the author’s choice of words
helps to convey the overall message. Remember to support your
claim with enough evidence and to use irregular verbs correctly.
Cite evidence from the text: Answers will vary but should include a topic
sentence, text evidence to support a claim about the author’s choice
of words in relation to the topic, and a strong concluding statement.
Evidence should be presented clearly, and irregular verbs should be
used correctly.
A. Read the draft model. Use the questions that follow the
draft to help you think about ways to add opposing claims and
counterarguments to help strengthen the writer’s argument.
Draft Model
We should all own a reusable shopping bag. This will keep plastic out of our
landfills.
Answers will vary but should include the addition of opposing claims
2. prolonged, inconvenience
The prolonged wait for my friend to arrive was becoming an
inconvenience.
3. alignment, periodic
We kept the car’s wheels in alignment by giving them a periodic
adjustment.
4. tenacity, eclipse
The girl’s tenacity kept her working on the difficult essay about the solar
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
eclipse.
Read the passage. Use the reread strategy to check details in the
text to make sure you understand it.
171 Most injuries occur when people try to exit or move within a building.
184 Broken ceilings and windows can injure the person fleeing. Rescue teams
195 from all over the world agree on one thing. To reduce injury and death,
209 people should take three simple steps. The earthquake plan is called
220 “Drop, Cover, and Hold On!” The first step is to drop down on your
234 hands and knees. This keeps you from falling if the floor is moving. The
248 next step is to take cover under a strong table or desk. Hold on to the
264 table tightly. If you don’t have a sturdy table, find the closest inside wall.
278 Cover your head and neck with your arms. This sounds easy, but without
291 practicing this procedure often, people may still panic and run.
G.K. Gilbert/USGS
are not as likely to collapse. The
stricter building codes have reduced
Reforestation in Guatemala
Entire villages in Guatemala can be wiped
out by mudslides. In 2005, Anne Hallum
witnessed the horrible effects. She recalled that
one couple lost their home and their children in
a mudslide. Deforestation, or cutting down trees,
is a huge cause of this problem. “We learned the
hard way that without trees, we are at risk,” said
José Avelino Boc, a lemon farmer and Alliance
member. Hallum, co-founder of the Alliance for
Lloyd Sutton/Alamy
International Reforestation (AIR), has taught
Guatemalan villagers to plant trees to protect
their forests and villages since 1992. Hallum
said, “Food, shade, fertilizer, and mudslide Replanting trees is one way
protection—the trees can do it all.” to protect villages from
mudslides.
2. What event does this text first describe? What positive actions
happened as a result of the event?
The text first describes a mudslide in Guatemala in 2005. The AIR
worked with villagers and helped them plant trees to stop mudslides.
1. In coastal areas, tsunamis can bring huge sea waves over the land.
To prepare for these disasters, people must be trained so lives can
be saved.
by the sea
3. The earthquake plan is called “Drop, Cover, and Hold On!” The first
step is to drop down on your hands and knees. This keeps you from
falling if the floor is moving. The next step is to take cover under a
strong table or desk. Hold on to the table tightly. If you don’t have
a sturdy table, find the closest inside wall. Cover your head and
neck with your arms. This sounds easy, but without practicing this
procedure often, people may still panic and run.
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
A. Read each word below. Choose a word from the box that
shows the word with the suffix -ion added to it. Then write the
word on the line.
1. explode explosion
2. permit permission
3. explain explanation
4. include inclusion
5. divide division
Evidence is details and examples from a text that support a writer’s ideas. The
paragraph below cites evidence to share an opinion about two points of view.
Write a paragraph about the texts you have chosen. Cite evidence
from the text that supports your opinion about how the two
authors express their points of view. Remember to pair pronouns
and antecedents clearly.
Cite evidence from the text: Answers will vary but should include a topic
sentence, text evidence to support a claim comparing the authors’ points
of view about the topics, and a strong concluding statement. Evidence
should be presented clearly, and pronouns and antecedents should be
used correctly.
A. Read the draft model. Use the questions that follow the draft to
help you think about how to make the order of importance clear
to the reader.
Draft Model
There are good reasons to have an earthquake kit. Lights may go out, so you
will need flashlights. Gas lines may break, so you will need ready-to-eat food.
Water may become undrinkable, so you will need bottled water.
1. What new programs would you like your school to implement? I would like my
school to implement more sports programs.
2. What does your peripheral vision help you to see? My peripheral vision helps
me to see things that are to the side of me.
the potential to do? An athlete who goes to practice every day has the
potential to become a better athlete.
6. How can you compensate for not doing a homework assignment? To compensate,
you can offer to do extra work and turn it in.
192 new world records for the 220-yard dash, the 220-yard low hurdles, and
204 the running broad jump. Owens’s success was not just a flash in the pan.
218 He was only warming up for the Olympics.
226 Hitler had made promises not to promote racism during the 1936
237 Olympics. He didn’t want to lose the chance to hold the Olympics in
250 Germany. Yet, when the time came, signs of Nazi beliefs were clearly
262 seen in banners, salutes, and symbols. The Nazis wanted to prove that
274 white, blue-eyed people were the best. It was in this tense, unwelcome
286 setting that Jesse Owens competed. Performing to the best of his abilities,
298 Owens proved the Nazis wrong before the whole world—not just once, but
311 four times.
Receiving Recognition
The man who had carried the weight of the world on his shoulders and
triumphed at the 1936 Olympics eventually got the honors he deserved. In
1976, Jesse Owens was finally invited to the White House. President Gerald
Ford presented him with the Medal of Freedom that year. After Owens’s death,
President George H. W. Bush awarded
him the Congressional Gold Medal
in 1990.
A. Reread the passage and answer the questions. Possible responses provided.
2. According to the author, how did Owens act upon his return to the
United States after the Olympics?
Owens acted with bold courage as he faced discrimination.
3. What does the author say about the honors that Owens received
from President Ford in 1976 and President Bush in 1990?
The author says that Owens deserved those honors but they were late in
coming. He should have been recognized years before.
1. Owens tied world records for the 100-yard dash. He set new world
records for the 220-yard dash, the 220-yard low hurdles, and the
running broad jump. Owens’s success was not just a flash in the
pan. He was only warming up for the Olympics.
success that happened once and not again
2. The man who had carried the weight of the world on his shoulders
and triumphed at the 1936 Olympics eventually got the honors he
deserved.
had a lot of things to be concerned about
1. flash in the pan: I hope that my success at baking cookies was not just a
flash in the pan.
2. carried the weight of the world on his/her shoulders: My mother has carried the
weight of the world on her shoulders for years.
3. go the extra mile: I’m going to go the extra mile with my extra credit
assignment.
A. For each word below, find the related word in the box and write
it on the line. Circle the vowel or vowel team that sounds different
from the original word.
1. nation national
2. compete competition
3. reside resident
4. invite invitation
5. crime criminal
6. metal metallic
B. Match each word in the left column with its related word in the
right column. Circle the vowel that changes its vowel sound.
8. nature decision
9. decide collision
Evidence is details and examples from a text that support a writer’s ideas. The
student who wrote the paragraph below cited evidence to show how an author
used details to support his or her point of view about the subject.
Write a paragraph about the text you have chosen. Cite evidence
from the text to show how the author used details to support
his or her point of view. Remember to use intensive or reflexive
pronouns correctly.
Cite evidence from the text: Answers will vary but should include a topic
sentence, text evidence to support ideas about the author’s point of
view, and a strong concluding statement. Evidence should be presented
clearly, and intensive or reflexive pronouns should be used correctly.
A. Read the draft model. Use the questions that follow the draft
to help you think about what transitions you can add to connect
ideas and indicate time order.
Draft Model
My brother was born healthy. He developed a heart problem. His weak heart
made him sick.
1. When was the brother born in the list of events? What transition
word or phrase could help the reader understand the order?
Answers will vary but should include transitions to connect ideas and
6. (benefactor) Our school needed money to buy books for the library, so we
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
7. (empathy) I was new at the school last year, so I had empathy for the new
student in my class.
Detail
Detail
Detail
Theme
Decisions
Scene 1: Shama’s bedroom in the afternoon. The walls are plastered
11 with posters depicting Shama’s favorite band, The Black Hats. Shama is
22 sitting at her desk, frantically typing on her computer while she talks on her
36 telephone.
37 Shama (worried): I can’t get on the ticket site. Something’s not
48 functioning properly. It’s just NOT right. What? Are you certain? (growing
59 more upset) The concert is sold out? Is there anything I can do? (brief
73 pause) Good-bye. (Hangs up the phone and lets out a wail. The door
86 opens, and Shama’s older brother, Danny, walks into her room.)
96 Danny: Are you okay?
100 Shama: Not okay—a total wreck, actually. The concert is sold out. (She
113 abruptly begins to bawl.) I desperately wanted to go.
122 Danny: Yeah, your anticipation level was up there. I’m sorry.
132 Shama (sniffling and wiping away her tears): Oh, well, Ms. Allie
143 wanted to know if I could babysit the twins that night because it’s her
157 wedding anniversary. I suppose now I can tell her “yes.”
167 Danny: Better you than me. Those twins are an absolute nightmare. I
179 babysat them once and vowed never to do it again.
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
189 Scene 2: It’s a few weeks later, and Shama is on her bed, reading a book.
205 We hear her mother calling.
210 Mother’s Voice: Shama? (Sound of footsteps pounding up the stairs.)
220 That racket you hear is Rhonda running up the stairs.
230 Rhonda (excitedly): I have unbelievably awesome news! Someone gave
239 my aunt tickets to the concert tonight, and she has no desire to go, so
254 guess which lucky duo gets them?
260 Shama (jumping up in excitement): Yes! (grimacing and letting out a
271 groan) Oh no! I told my neighbor I would babysit.
3. In Scene 4, how does Danny react when Shama first asks him
to babysit in her place so she can go to the concert? What does
Shama promise to do to get him to agree?
Danny refuses at first. After Shama promises to clean his room for a
month, Danny agrees to babysit so she can go to the concert.
Hard Rock!
SCENE 2 The basement of Scott’s house; Scott tunes his guitar and Jake
adjusts his drum set.
SCOTT (strumming the guitar): Hey, Jake. Are you ready to hear the new
song I wrote?
JAKE: Sure, why not? Let’s hear it.
Scott turns his amplifier up and begins to strum loudly and sing in a raspy
voice. As the song increases in volume and intensity, Jake gets up and paces
around the room uncomfortably. He taps his foot nervously as Scott finishes the
song with three loud chords—bomp, bomp, BOHHHHMP—and a fierce scream
into the microphone.
SCOTT (breaking the sudden silence): So . . . what do you think? It’ll be our
first big hit, right?
JAKE (stroking his chin, as if deep in thought): Um, well, it is original. I
mean, I’ve never heard anything quite like it before . . . (His voice trails off.)
SCOTT: Awesome! I knew you’d like it.
1. List three text features that let you know this text is drama.
dialogue, stage directions, scene
3. Where in the play do you think this scene takes place? Explain.
Possible response: I think the scene takes place near the beginning
because it is only Scene 2.
7. (sight/site) The new school will be built on the site of the old school.
The new school will be out of sight after we turn the next corner.
A. Read each sentence. Circle the word that has a prefix. Then
write the meaning of the word on the line.
1. The players thought it was unfair that the same pitcher ended
each game.
not fair
B. Write the prefix and the suffix for each word. Then write the word
Evidence is details and examples from a text that support a writer’s ideas.
The student who wrote the paragraph below cited evidence to show how a
character’s dialogue and actions help develop the theme of a play.
Write a paragraph about the play you have chosen. Cite evidence
from the text to show how a character’s dialogue and actions
help to show what the theme of the play is. Remember to use
possessive pronouns correctly.
Cite evidence from the text: Answers will vary but should include a topic
sentence, text evidence to support an analysis of how a character’s
dialogue and actions convey the theme, and a strong concluding
statement. Evidence should be presented clearly, and possessive
pronouns should be used correctly.
A. Read the draft model. Use the questions that follow the draft
to help you think about how adding dialogue would help develop
the characters.
Draft Model
“Let’s do something to help Lucy with her math,” Hiram suggested. Jarel
asked, “What should we do?”
3. What other words could Jarel and Hiram say to show how each one
feels about Lucy?
Answers will vary but should include dialogue that helps to develop the
Detail
Detail
Detail
Theme
DELAYED
DELAYED, DELAYED, DELAYED read the Departure Board.
7 All flights in and out of Chicago were stalled
16 by the howling winds outside.
45 Suddenly the Departure Board flickered and Rosie held her breath.
55 DELAYED blinked and changed . . . to CANCELLED.
61 —STUCK, JUST MY LUCK!
3. In the last four stanzas, what does Rosie do? What does she think
in the last stanza?
Rosie realizes Estrella is scared and offers to help her. She talks to the
person at the counter, and the two girls watch the snow together. Rosie
thinks that waiting together will be better than waiting alone.
Worlds Apart
I hope the seat next to me stays empty!
I’d love to get some reading done in flight.
I’ll just sit down, spread out my things,
And open my novel, Worlds Apart.
2. Based on this interior monologue, how would you describe the main character?
Possible response: She is a little selfish but has a sense of humor.
3. What does the last stanza tell you about the characters?
Possible response: Even though they are strangers, they have
something in common.
A. Homographs are words that are spelled the same but have
different meanings. Write a new sentence using a homograph of
each word in bold. Possible responses provided.
1. All flights in and out of Chicago were stalled by the howling winds outside.
The road winds up the steep mountain.
6. As the fierce winds blow, the car winds along the mountain road.
movements of air; moves on a curving path
7. After I change this dollar, I will have change for the vending machine.
make different in some way; coins
8. The speaker just said, “No one would be hungry in a just world.”
only or recently; fair
A. Sort each word in the box based on its prefix. Write each word
in the correct column.
B. Read each sentence. Circle the word that has a prefix. Then
write the meaning of the prefix on the line.
Evidence is details and examples from a text that support a writer’s ideas. The
student who wrote the paragraph below cited evidence to show how an author
develops the theme of a story by describing how characters’ feelings change.
Write a paragraph about the text you have chosen. Cite evidence
from the text to show how the author’s description of characters’
feelings helps to convey the theme. Remember to use correct
pronoun-verb agreement.
Cite evidence from the text: Answers will vary but should include a topic
sentence, text evidence to support an analysis of theme through the
depiction of characters, and a strong concluding statement. Evidence
should be presented clearly, and pronouns and verbs should agree.
A. Read the draft model. Use the questions that follow the draft to
help you add details and events to develop the plot.
Draft Model
Jojo watched as the movers carried the boxes into the house. She wished she
were still in her old home in her old neighborhood. A boy Jojo’s age came out
from next door.
2. (lounge) At my school, the teachers relax and eat their lunch in the teacher’s
lounge .
.
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Dear Lola,
2 It’s been a full day since you’ve gone missing and
12 I’ve been a bundle of nerves.
18 Time and again I strain to hear you scratching,
27 scratching at the door. Or see your face as you
37 come barreling down the street.
42 I’ve put up posters and pounded the pavement
50 for hours, wishing I had gotten that back gate
59 fixed faster. Then you would still be here, softly
68 snoring in your battered, blue bed, instead of
76 outside scared and alone. I miss you, Lola.
84 I’m wishing on a star that I find you SOON!
94 Love, Carolyn
96 Dear Carolyn,
98 You won’t believe the adventure
103 I’ve been having! It’s been a wild ride!
111 The gate was open, so I raced right out
120 and chased a squirrel for miles. After that,
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
2. Who is the speaker in the second letter of the poem? What does
the second letter tell you about this speaker?
Lola, Carolyn’s dog, is the speaker in the second letter. Lola is excited. She
has been having a big adventure since she ran out of Carolyn’s backyard.
3. What point of view is each letter written from? How do you know?
They are both in first-person point of view. I know because both speakers
refer to themselves as “I,” and each speaker is a character in the story
within her own letter.
4. What do you learn about the story because of this point of view?
I get to see two sides of the story, which the speakers cannot see: Carolyn
is very worried that Lola is lost and afraid. However, Lola is well cared for
and seems to be having a great time.
Cheering Up Callie
Callie was sullen, sad
Since her friend Frances had moved far away.
Her brother Ben wanted to cheer her up,
But nothing he said seemed suitably soothing.
Callie just sat in a chair, staring out the window.
Then Ben had an idea;
He started making funny faces and silly sounds,
Flipping backward like a jumping monkey.
He cracked her up with his antics,
And at last, she burst into giggles.
Narrative poetry tells a story. This poem tells the story of Callie, who is
sad because her friend Frances has moved far away. Her brother Ben
cheers her up.
3. Write two examples of alliteration used in the poem. Circle the letter
or letters of each repeated sound.
Possible response: “seemed suitably soothing”
Possible response: “friend Frances had moved far”
Read the lines of the free verse poem below. Then answer
the questions. Possible responses provided.
1. Find two examples of alliteration in the lines above. Write them below.
raced right; past a poster with a picture
Read each passage. Use context clues to help you figure out the
meaning of each idiom in bold. Then write the idiom’s meaning
on the line. Possible responses provided.
A. Read each sentence. Underline the word that has a suffix that
causes consonant alternation. Then choose the related base
word from the box above and write the word on the line.
3. I was surprised the magician had tricks that were so clever! magic
5. The mayor had an official ceremony her first day on the job. office
6. The b is silent in the base word, but not in the word with the
suffix added.
8. The suffix creates the sh sound, but the base word has the
s sound.
Evidence is details and examples from a text that support a writer’s ideas.
The student who wrote the paragraph below cited evidence to show how the
author’s choice of words helped to convey a poem’s meaning.
Cite evidence from the text: Answers will vary but should include a topic
sentence, text evidence to support an analysis of the author’s word
choice in a poem, and a strong concluding statement. Evidence should
be presented clearly with transitions, and pronouns should be used
correctly.
A. Read the draft model. Use the questions that follow the draft
to help you add sensory language to create a more vivid picture
in the reader’s mind.
Draft Model
The spade digs in the ground.
It lifts the crumbling clods of dirt.
3. When were the seeds planted? What do the seeds look like in
the dirt?
4. In the last line, exactly how does the soil smell like spring?
Answers will vary but should include the addition of sensory language
to give readers a fuller experience of what is happening in the poem.
2. desolate, somber
The desolate landscape put us in a somber mood.
3. valiant, steadfast
The valiant warrior was steadfast in his dedication to saving the queen
from the enemy.
4. oblivious, exploits
The hero was oblivious to the fact that her latest exploits would change
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Character
Setting
Problem
Events
Solution
Read the passage. Use the make, confirm, and revise predictions
strategy to check your understanding as you read.
218 wore her hair gray and thinning, lined her face with the wisdom of years,
232 and used a stick to walk.
238 Athena approached Arachne and spoke to her. “Your skill as a weaver
250 is renowned, and I can see that you do your craft well. However, it would
265 serve you to be more humble and not set yourself above the gods and
279 goddesses. You should yield the goddess Athena’s place to her and take
291 back your boastful words. I’m sure Athena would pardon you if you made
304 amends to her.”
Arachne stared at the old woman and said disdainfully, “I don’t need anyone’s
advice but my own. Athena is welcome to come here and try and match my
skills, unless of course she is afraid of losing.”
At those bold and foolish words, the old woman cast off her disguise and said,
“It is I, Athena, and since it is a contest you want, it is a contest you shall get.”
Arachne blushed when she realized to whom she was speaking, but she did not
change her resolve. The contest began at once.
The goddess and mortal took their places at looms. They wove thread in and
out at a furious pace, and it didn’t take long for images to begin appearing on the
cloth, such was the skill of the weavers.
Athena’s images portrayed the power of the gods against various mortals who
had displeased them. Her images were meant as a warning to Arachne that her
pride was both unwise and dangerous.
Arachne ignored the warning, and the images she wove were scenes of the
gods and goddesses doing foolish things. The gods were shown as feeble and
reckless. Arachne’s work was flawless and beautiful but full of scorn for the
gods and goddesses.
Incensed at Arachne’s disrespect, Athena ripped up Arachne’s cloth. Arachne
cried out at seeing her work destroyed. In response, Athena said to her, “You
are foolish and vain, but I can see you love
your craft, so I will take pity on you and not
kill you. Instead, I will let you spin forever.”
With those words, she sprinkled a magic juice
2. She even went so far as to claim that her skills were superior to
those of Athena, disrespectfully mocking the goddess by declaring,
“Let the goddess try to match her skills against mine.”
Origin: Latin superiorem meaning “higher”
3. At those bold and foolish words, the old woman cast off her
disguise and said, “It is I, Athena, and since it is a contest you
want, it is a contest you shall get.”
Origin: Ancient French, deguiser, meaning “a change from the
usual dress or appearance”
A. Find the homophone pairs in the box. Write each pair on a line.
Students’ responses may appear in a different order than shown here.
1. naval, navel
2. miner, minor
3. vane, vein
4. sheer, shear
5. pane, pain
B. Draw a line from each word in the left column to its homophone
in the right column. Then choose one homophone pair and use
both words in a sentence. Possible response provided.
6. principle vain
7. aisle idle
8. lesson principal
11. The school principal was a woman of principle and did not punish the
students when she learned the truth.
Evidence is details and examples from a text that support a writer’s ideas. The
student who wrote the paragraph below cited evidence to analyze the plot and
explain the way a character solved a problem.
Cite evidence from the text: Answers will vary but should include a topic
sentence, text evidence to support an analysis of how the author used
a character’s problem to develop the plot, and a strong concluding
statement. Evidence should be presented clearly, and adjectives should
be used correctly and effectively.
A. Read the draft model. Use the questions that follow the draft
to help you think about what transitions you can add to indicate
shifts in time or setting and to connect plot events.
Draft Model
Jacob heard Dragon was threatening the kingdom. He decided to visit Dragon.
He left for the journey to Dragon’s cave. Jacob arrived at the cave.
1. What transitional words and phrases would help show readers when
it was that Jacob heard about Dragon threatening the kingdom?
What transitions would show when Jacob decided to visit Dragon?
Answers will vary but should include the addition of transitions that clarify
5. (rigors) The travelers were worried about facing the rigors of the long, hard
journey .
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
6. (stoop) The sisters liked to sit on the stoop and talk to their neighbors
7. (undaunted) The girl knew the class would be difficult, but she was undaunted
and signed up for it anyway .
Setting
Event Character’s
Reaction
Event Character’s
Reaction
Event Character’s
Reaction
Read the passage. Use the make, confirm, and revise predictions
strategy to check your understanding as you read.
Following a Star
Henry walked carefully through the dark woods. He wished he could
11 progress faster, but he recalled his mother’s words, haste makes waste.
22 It would be dangerous to draw attention to himself. The woods were not
35 a safe place for a runaway slave. Nowhere was. His only hope was to
49 travel safely on the Underground Railroad to Canada and freedom. Each
60 home on the line would provide protection from those who would whip or
73 imprison him—or worse—if they caught him.
81 Suddenly, a twig snapped nearby, and Henry jumped. “Oh, no!” he
92 thought, his heart pounding within his chest. He squeezed his eyes shut
104 tight and told himself, “A coward dies a thousand deaths; a brave man
117 dies but once.” He turned around, anticipating an angry slave catcher, but
129 instead he saw the worried but friendly face of a boy not much older than
144 himself. “I thought…”
147 “Shh!” the boy hushed Henry, then led him to a large oak.
159 Next to the tree was a woman who stood just a little taller than Henry.
174 He didn’t need to see her clearly to know that this figure was the renowned
189 Harriet Tubman, the former slave who had guided so many other slaves to
202 freedom. She was holding a folded sheet of paper in her hand.
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
214 “I was told that this letter is a warning to folks that you are an escaped
230 slave,” Harriet told Henry quietly. “I will tell you how to make your way
244 along the Underground Railroad.”
248 Then in a calm voice, Tubman explained how to get to the first station.
262 “Look for a lit lantern hanging outside a home.” She reminded Henry that
275 along with those who would help him, there were also those who could
288 destroy him—wild animals and people.
294 “Mrs. Tubman, please take me with you!” Henry blurted out.
“Hush up! I’m sorry, Henry,” Harriet Tubman said quietly, glancing at the
letter in her hand. Harriet knew that escorting Henry along with the other boy,
Timothy, would only put him—and them—in even more danger. “You’ve got to
find it in you to be brave.”
“But how will I know which direction to
go in?” Henry asked.
“Follow the North Star, and always be
remembering, stay alert, and understand
that your very life depends on your actions.
Didn’t your mama ever tell you danger
foreseen is half avoided?”
Henry thanked Harriet Tubman and began
his journey. He knew he couldn’t stay in the
woods much longer. He needed a clear view
of the sky so he could see the North Star.
As Henry moved closer to the edge of the
woods, the moonlight came down on the trees. It created shadows that turned the
trees into snarling dogs and men with sticks and ropes. The images filled Henry
with a twisting fear. Thinking about the punishments he would face if he were
captured terrified him. He began to wonder if he should turn back and return to
the plantation. He might still receive a beating, but it would be nothing like what
would happen if he were captured.
Still, life at the plantation was very hard. Although he was just a teenager,
3. In the text in the middle of the second page, how do the shadows in
the woods affect Henry after he leaves Harriet Tubman? What does
he start to think he should do?
The shadows frighten Henry because they remind him of dogs and men
who would hurt him if they captured him. Henry starts thinking about
going back to the plantation.
He remembers words his mother said about being brave and going
forward. These memories give him the determination and courage to
keep heading toward freedom.
2. What important information about the main character and the plot
does the letter reveal?
It shows Rebecca Miller is a young woman who believes slavery should
be abolished; It shows the reason for her absence is to support the
abolitionist movement.
3. How does the use of dialect help you understand the time period?
Possible response: It shows how people speak in Pennsylvania in 1838.
It also shows that they care about the abolitionist movement.
Read each passage below. Using context clues to help you, write
a definition of each adage or proverb in bold.
Possible responses provided.
1. Henry walked carefully through the dark woods. He wished he
could progress faster, but he recalled his mother’s words, haste
makes waste. It would be dangerous to draw attention to himself.
If you rush, you’ll make careless mistakes.
3. “Follow the North Star, and always be remembering, stay alert, and
understand that your very life depends on your actions. Didn’t your
mama ever tell you danger foreseen is half avoided?”
Be prepared and you will be able to prevent or avoid danger.
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
4. Unsure of what to do, Henry hung his head, and with a heavy
sigh he thought of something else his mama used to say, nothing
ventured, nothing gained. Henry had the experience of being a
slave his whole life, and he knew that he just HAD to be free!
If you don’t take a risk for something worthwhile, you won’t gain anything.
5. Henry looked up at the sky and searched until he found the North
Star shining down on him like a ray of promise. Fortune favors
the bold, thought Henry, and he took off to follow the North Star
to freedom.
Good luck comes to those who are brave.
bazar
¯ ¯ in Persian means “market” plat in French means “flat”
iglu in Inuit means “house” pudelhund in German means “to
splash about” plus “dog”
kruisen in Dutch means “to cross”
1. The igloo kept the family warm even in extremely cold weather.
2. Our family took a cruise down the river during spring break.
bazar:
¯ ¯ in Persian, it means “market”
Evidence is details and examples from a text that support a writer’s ideas.
The student who wrote the paragraph below cited evidence to analyze how a
character changes as a result of events in the plot.
Cite evidence from the text: Answers will vary but should include a topic
sentence, text evidence to support an analysis of how events in the
plot affect the characters, and a strong concluding statement. Evidence
should be presented clearly with precise language, and demonstrative
adjectives should be used correctly.
A. Read the draft model. Use the questions that follow the draft
to help you think about how you can add strong, vivid words to
help readers visualize the setting and the characters.
Draft Model
Song desperately looked for her sister, but the forest hid her well. Song called
out her sister’s name. The only answer was the sound of an owl. Song walked
carefully through the trees.
1. What strong verbs could you use to describe how Song looks
and sounds as she searches and calls out?
2. What vivid words could you use to help readers visualize the
forest and understand what Song feels?
3. How do you want the sound of the owl to affect readers? What
specific words could help you describe the owl’s sound to get
that effect?
B. Now revise the draft by adding strong, vivid words that will
help readers better visualize the setting and the action and to
understand how Song is feeling.
Answers will vary but should include the addition of vivid, strong verbs Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
and adjectives that will help the reader visualize the scene and the
character and that will convey the mood of the scene.
Cause Effect
201 a kind of marsh grass growing around the Nile River called papyrus. To
214 make papyrus paper, the Egyptians cut thin strips of grass and soaked them
227 in water. Soaking the strips softened them. To make a flat surface, they
240 laid the strips at right angles to each other and pounded them into a thin
255 sheet. The heat of the sun dried and stiffened the sheets. Dried papyrus
268 was a much lighter substance than stone. It could easily be carried from
281 place to place in rolled sheets called scrolls.
Clay Tablets
Near Egypt and about the same time, the
ancient Mesopotamians made a form of writing
called cuneiform, or wedge-shaped writing.
Like the Egyptians, the Mesopotamians used
materials from their rivers to make writing
materials. The end of a reed made a wedge-
shaped impression in the wet clay. The drying
of the clay made the writing harden and become
permanent. But it could still be carried from one
place to another.
In fact, some historians think that one of the earliest uses of writing in
Mesopotamia was to note lists of goods. These lists were sent along with the goods
when they were shipped. Because the writing on the dry clay could not be changed,
if something was missing from the shipment, the person receiving it would know!
Going Paperless?
The amount of paper we use today adds up to a lot of chopped down trees.
One paper innovation in recent years has been the use of renewable plant fibers
such as bamboo. Bamboo grows fast, while trees take a long time to grow. Now
that we use computers to write with, one day, we may not require paper at all!
2. What was an effect of the Egyptians carving their writing into the
stone of temples and monuments?
The effect was that the writing became as permanent as the buildings
themselves.
4. What caused the plant fibers that Ts’ai Lun worked with to become
thin and threadlike?
The cause was that Lun pounded the soaked, softened fibers with a
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
wooden tool.
2. Besides providing the topic, what does the heading tell you?
The abacus is the oldest counting machine.
cause: cutting and soaking strips, laying them out and pounding them
3. The drying of the clay made the writing harden and become
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
permanent.
4. Silk was also used to make books, but it made them costly.
A. Read the words in the box above. Sort them based on their
Latin roots. Write each word in the correct column.
2. People filled the auditorium before the show. a place to hear performances
3. At the meet, the gymnasts showed how flexible they are. able to bend
4. This rug was imported from India. carried (brought) from another country
Evidence is details and examples from a text that support a writer’s ideas. The
student who wrote the paragraph below cited evidence to support a claim about
the author’s use of cause-and-effect relationships to explain the topic.
Write a paragraph about the text you have chosen. Cite evidence
from the text to support your argument about the author’s
descriptions of cause-and-effect relationships. Remember to use
comparative adjectives correctly.
Cite evidence from the text: Answers will vary but should include a topic
sentence, text evidence to support an argument about the author’s
descriptions of cause-and-effect relationships, and a strong concluding
statement. Evidence should be presented clearly, and comparative
adjectives should be used correctly.
A. Read the draft model. Use the questions that follow the draft
to help you think about how to best organize the text so that
ideas are logically connected.
Draft Model
The washing machine was a very important invention. It made life easier
for many people. Before, clothes were washed by hand. This took hours. Now
washing machines could do most of the work.
3. What words or phrases can you use to signal the order of events?
B. Now revise the draft by adding signal words that will help
the reader understand the order of events and the relationships
between ideas.
Answers will vary but should include the use of signal words and
2. (deduction) The scientist was able to make a reasonable deduction about life
on the newly discovered planet .
3. (drones) In the next room, the motor of the heater drones on and on
4. (galaxy) There are many stars in the sky that are part of our galaxy
5. (colleagues) We weren’t sure what to do, so we asked our colleagues for help
with the task .
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
7. (sustain) Most plants and animals need water in order sustain life
Event
93 Going High-Tech
95 In 2000 archeologist Sarah Parcak began searching for traces of ancient
106 villages in Egypt. She knew that buildings could have been buried in the
119 Nile River floodplain. The shifting desert sands could have covered over
130 whole settlements. However, Parcak wanted to try a high-tech approach
140 to help pinpoint, or narrow down, possible sites. Parcak was familiar with
152 satellite imaging for small projects. She wanted to apply it more broadly
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Purestock/SuperStock
eager to see how this technology
will reveal more about life in
ancient Egypt.
Archeologists predict there will be many more uses for satellite technology.
Today the Egyptian government uses satellite imaging to protect their ancient
sites. If there is looting, the authorities can be alerted. This may help keep down
such theft in the tombs. Archeologists can also use satellites to study sites in
war-torn countries, where ground visits are difficult. Another archeologist has
learned how ancient water canals helped the Mayans farm.
Satellites were first developed in connection with space exploration. They are
also helping us get to know our own planet better. Sometimes you have to step
back to see the big picture.
2. What signal words tell you how long Parcak and her team worked
with the satellite images of the Nile floodplain? What did the team
of archeologists do with the images?
The signal words are For over a year. They studied and compared the
images for over a year.
4. How many years after Parcak began searching for ancient villages
did she and her team begin digging at the site of Tanis? How do
you know?
They began digging eleven years after she began searching. Paragraph 2
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
1. How is the information in the text organized? How does it help you?
It is organized sequentially. It shows how one step led to another in the
discovery process.
2. What inventions helped Kennard and Scoville make their discovery? Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
3. What part of the process helped confirm the identity of the ship?
Using the ROV was the part of the process that confirmed the
ship’s identity.
Sentence: The dog was in pursuit of the cat but had no success.
2. They dig for clues about ancient people whose cultures have
vanished and are gone from view.
Definition: disappeared
Sentence: When the magician opened her hand, the coin had vanished.
3. They carefully removed dirt from relics. They hoped these objects
from the past would unlock the mysteries of ancient civilizations.
4. Satellite images reveal secrets hidden below the earth. They show
in a picture what the human eye sometimes cannot see.
Definition: pictures
Definition:
find, narrow down
B. Complete each sentence with a word from the box. Use the
Evidence is details and examples from a text that support a writer’s ideas. The
student who wrote the paragraph below analyzed the author’s use of sequence
to explain a topic.
Write a paragraph about the text you have chosen. Cite evidence
from the text to analyze the author’s use of sequence to explain
a topic. Remember to use clear transitions and to use more and
most correctly.
Cite evidence from the text: Answers will vary but should include a topic
sentence, text evidence to support an analysis of the author’s use
of sequence to explain a topic, and a strong concluding statement.
Evidence should be presented clearly with transitions, and more and
most should be used correctly.
A. Read the draft model. Use the questions that follow the draft
to help you think about how to strengthen the organization of
the paragraph’s main idea and supporting details.
Draft Model
I think we should visit the moon again. The last time a human walked on
the moon was in 1972. Since that time, there have been many advances in
technology.
1. What words or phrases could you add to make the topic sentence
clearer?
4. What sentence could you add to the end to make the reader want
to read the next paragraph?
Answers will vary but should include a compelling topic sentence and
clear support for the argument for revisiting the moon.
192 the night sky. It would be easy to get lost out in the universe. SkyServer
207 provides games and projects to keep computer astronauts on course.
217 Since 2009 NASA and Microsoft have worked together to make
227 planetary images and data available to the public. The result is the
239 WorldWide Telescope. Its creators call it “the world’s best telescope.”
249 This online tool gathers information from telescopes and observatories
258 throughout the world. Guided tours take you on a space journey billions of
271 years into the past. One feature even lets you see into the future. You can
286 view the planets’ positions from any place on Earth at any time.
Virtual Orbiting
Bruce Irving is one of NASA’s Solar System Ambassadors. He is a skillful
author and teacher of computer space explorers. His free, online books help
people to use Dr. Martin Schweiger’s space simulation program called Orbiter.
You can experience a ride in a spaceship by using pre-recorded flights. Launch
and re-entry modeling make for realistic space travel. Later on, you can learn
how to plan your own trip to Mars. Or you can see Jupiter from your virtual
cockpit. Orbiter has enough levels of
learning to challenge even advanced users.
It’s easy to get interested in space
exploration and flight simulation.
2. What details does the author include about what you can do with
the program Celestia?
You can plot locations and travel between planets, and there is an easy
“Go To” feature to let you travel to stars, planets, or moons.
3. What words that the author uses to describe Stellarium give you
evidence about the author’s view of the program?
The words “easy-to-use” and “enjoy the wonder” give evidence about the
author’s point of view.
4. How would you describe the author’s point of view about computer
programs that simulate space exploration?
The author thinks these programs are a good way for non-scientists to
learn about the solar system and to see what space travel is like.
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
50
three-legged craft, and is four feet tall and
40
eight feet wide. During tests in 2011, the lander
30
reached an altitude of 100 feet, hovered a
20
while, and then landed safely. An on-board pre-
10
programmed computer guides “Mighty Eagle,” Altitude First Second Third
our newest advance in space exploration. (in feet) test test test
3. Based on the information in the text, is the heading a strong one? Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Read each sentence. Then explain how the tone of the sentence
would change if the words in bold were replaced with the words
in parentheses. Possible responses provided.
1. Other programs let you soar through the universe from home like an
astronaut. (fly)
“Fly” has less of a connotation of freedom and joy than “soar.”
A. Read each sentence and look for words with the suffix -ive,
-age, or -ize. Underline the suffix. Then write the word on the line.
5. The passage across the sea seemed like it lasted for ages. passage
B. Read the words in the box. Then sort the words based on their
suffixes in the chart below.
Evidence is details and examples from a text that support a writer’s ideas. The
student who wrote the paragraph below cited evidence to support an opinion
about the author’s point of view.
Write a paragraph about the text you chose. Cite evidence from
the text to support your argument about the author’s point of
view. Remember to use concrete details and to use comparative
forms of good and bad correctly.
Cite evidence from the text: Answers will vary but should include a topic
sentence, text evidence to support an argument about the author’s
point of view, and a strong concluding statement. Evidence should be
presented clearly with concrete details, and comparative forms of good
and bad should be used correctly.
A. Read the draft model. Use the questions that follow the draft
to help you revise the draft by replacing less-precise words with
content words about the technical subject.
Draft Model
My favorite piece of new technology is a tablet computer. It has a fast processor
and programmable keys. It also has lots of memory.
2. How can you use content words to be more specific about the
amount of memory the tablet has?
3. What other content words can you add to the draft? For example,
does the tablet have a camera? Does it have any special apps?
2. commodity, distribution
The plan called for an even distribution of each type of commodity.
3. edible, replenished
When it was empty, the bowl was replenished with a fresh supply of
edible plants.
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
4. ornate, dominant
The dominant leader carried an ornate sword to show his power.
Read the selection. Complete the main idea and key details
graphic organizer.
Main Idea
Detail
Detail
Detail
Read the passage. Use the ask and answer questions strategy to
check for understanding as you read.
sun. It then becomes a yellow greasy liquid that can be used as energy. For some
people, the question remains: How much environmental damage will lithium
mining cause?
Read each sentence. Use the chart below to help you figure out
the meaning of each word in bold. Then write the root of each
word and a new sentence using that word.
Possible responses provided.
root: vert
root: flec
root: ology
root: scrib
root: sign
A. Read each word in bold. Then circle the related word with the
suffix -ible or -able.
B. Read each clue. Then choose a word from the box that
matches it. Write the word on the line and circle the suffix.
Evidence is details and examples from a text that support a writer’s ideas.
The student who wrote the paragraph below cited evidence that supports an
argument about the author’s use of main ideas and key details.
Write a paragraph about the text you have chosen. Cite evidence
from the text to analyze how well the main ideas helped you
understand the topic. Remember to support your argument
with clear reasons and relevant evidence, and to use adverbs
correctly.
Cite evidence from the text: Answers will vary but should include a topic
sentence, text evidence to support an argument about the author’s use
of details to express main ideas, and a strong concluding statement.
Evidence should be presented clearly, and adverbs should be used
correctly.
A. Read the draft model. Use the questions that follow the draft to
help you think about how to vary sentence length and sentence
structure.
Draft Model
We need to protect our water supply. People, animals, and plants will die
without it. We should stop pollution.
1. What new details could you add to the first sentence to grab the
reader’s attention? How could adding this information make the first
sentence a compound sentence?
2. What kind of place is a populous city? A populous city is one that has a large
number of people living in it.
8. If a fire is undiminished, does it give off less heat than before? If the fire is
undiminished, it has not gotten smaller and does not give off less heat.
Cause Effect
Read the passage. Use the ask and answer questions strategy to
check your understanding as you read.
199 A tailor on the eighth floor heard the first cry of fire. He and the
214 manager grabbed buckets and began dousing the flames with water. A
225 feast for the hungry fire, long rope lines of shirtwaist garments hung above
238 sewing tables. While the men tossed water on the fire, the rope burned in
252 two. As a result, the flaming blouses fell onto electric sewing machines
264 and wooden tables below. Soon the cloth-filled room was an uncontrolled
275 wildfire.
2. Once the fire began, what was the effect of having cloth, thread,
and blouses all over the factory?
The effect was that all the cloth in the room burned easily so the fire
spread. Flaming blouses fell onto sewing machines and wooden tables
and the fire became much worse; it became an uncontrolled wildfire.
Baltimore in Flames
For firefighters at Engine 15 in Baltimore, Maryland, February 7, 1904,
seemed like an ordinary Sunday morning. Everything changed at 10:48 a.m.
when they received a fire alarm from John Hurst and Company. Soon after
the fire engine arrived at the building, a
basement fire caused an explosion in the
elevator shaft. From there, the fire spread
[LC-F8-44294]
over a mile and more of water front, is left
in smoking, hideous ruins.” As destructive
as the fire was, the city of Baltimore Smoke and ruins from the great
quickly began to rebuild and recover. Baltimore fire of 1904
2. What information does the primary source quotation add to the text?
It tells how widespread the fire was and how awful the city
looked afterward.
Read each passage below. Use context clues to figure out the
meaning of each adage or proverb in bold. Write the meaning of
each one in a complete sentence. Underline the context clues
that helped you understand the adage or proverb.
Possible responses provided.
1. As clouds gather before a storm, the first sparks of flame
foreshadowed an unthinkable disaster in New York City.
Many things happened to show there would be a disaster.
2. In this factory, advice when most needed was least heeded. There
had been other fires at the Triangle Factory. Experts had called
for more safety measures. In 1909 union workers protested the
conditions in a strike. Their suggestions were ignored.
When someone needed to listen to other people the most, they didn’t.
3. The owners were not convicted of a crime, but public outrage did
lead to reform. Workers organized, and political leaders took action.
Many would say that the reforms were better late than never.
It’s better to fix things, even if problems have already happened.
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
4. For the women who lost their lives, however, it was too little
too late.
There was not enough help and not soon enough.
A. Read each adjective in bold. Then circle the word with the
suffix that changes the adjective to a noun. Underline the suffix.
5. The programmers persisted until they found a solution. They were very
persistent .
6. City leaders proudly reported there were fewer violent incidents this year.
7. The noisy crows disappeared from the trees last week. The neighborhood is much
8. The food baking in the oven was deliciously fragrant. The fragrance
9. Experts on the topic conferred for days to find a solution. In the end, their
conference was quite successful.
Evidence is details and examples from a text that support a writer’s ideas. The
student who wrote the paragraph below cited evidence to compare the use of
primary source information in two historical accounts.
Write a paragraph about the two texts you have chosen. Cite
evidence from the texts to support your claim about the use of
primary sources in both. Remember to use transitions to show
how ideas are related and to compare with adverbs correctly.
Cite evidence from the text: Answers will vary but should include a topic
sentence, text evidence to support an argument evaluating two authors’
use of primary sources, and a strong concluding statement. Evidence
should be presented clearly, and adverbs should be used correctly.
A. Read the draft model. Use the questions that follow the draft
to help you think about how to make the style and tone more
objective.
Draft Model
Cars kept zooming through our neighborhood like mad and not stopping at the
stop sign. It was crazy dangerous to cross the streets.
2. Which words and phrases in the draft should be replaced or left out
to create a more objective tone?
3. Would changing the narrator’s voice help make the draft more
objective? If so, what words and phrases should be changed?
B. Now revise the draft by changing the style and tone of the
piece to give it a more formal and objective voice.
Answers will vary but should include the substitution of more objective,
1. (foliage) We went for a walk in the forest to look at the beautiful fall foliage
.
2. (saturated) After the river flooded, the ground was saturated with water
3. (resilient) The weeds in his yard were resilient and difficult to get rid of
4. (alternative) If you don’t want to explore the caves with us, you will need to find
an alternative activity .
5. (hypothesis) The biology student hoped the results of her experiment would
support her hypothesis .
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
6. (protein) In order to be healthy, you need to make sure you have protein in
your diet .
7. (extract) The miners are trying to extract the valuable minerals from
the ground .
8. (correspond) Please check to make sure that your tickets correspond to the
seat numbers .
Read the selection. Complete the main idea and key details
graphic organizer.
Main Idea
Detail
Detail
Detail
161 air supply. He envied the freedom of the fish. However, there was no
174 equipment that allowed divers to breathe without hoses or tubes attached
185 to an air supply above the surface. Those lines fastened divers to a vessel
199 that carried their bulky air-supply equipment. In 1943 Cousteau and
209 Emile Gagnan invented a self-contained underwater breathing system.
217 They called the device the Aqua-Lung. This gear ushered in a new era in
231 underwater exploration. The equipment offered a way for divers to get air
243 under water without being connected to an air source above.
253 The new gear became known as Self-Contained Underwater Breathing
262 Apparatus, or SCUBA. The breathing apparatus fed air to divers at the
274 same pressure as the water around them. It allowed divers to spend more
287 time below. Scuba gear changed the way Cousteau and others explored
298 the oceans.
4. Look at the second paragraph under the heading “From the Sea to
TV.” Write one key detail and the main idea of that paragraph.
Key details: Calypso carried underwater cameras and diving gear; a
shark cage was lashed to the deck; an observation room was added to
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
the vessel that was large enough for two of the crew to film under water.
Main idea: Cousteau outfitted Calypso as a laboratory.
Read each passage. Underline the context clues that help you
figure out the meaning of each word in bold. Then answer the
question below the passage. Possible responses provided.
On what part of your body would you wear goggles? over your eyes
3. He needed a vessel, a boat of just the right size from which he could
dive. In 1950 Cousteau acquired a small ship named Calypso.
A. Read the words in the box. Sort the words by their Greek
suffixes. Write each word in the correct column below.
Greek Suffixes
• -ician means “a specialist in” • -phobia means “an abnormal fear”
• -crat and -cracy mean “rule” • -ist means “one who practices”
• -logy and -ologist mean “science
B. Find the word in each row that matches the clue in bold. Write the
word on the line and underline its suffix. Use the meanings of the
Greek suffixes to help you.
aquaphobia
1. fear of water aquaphobia anthropology
democracy
2. ruled by the people chemist democracy
cardiology
4. science of the heart cardiologist cardiology
Evidence is details and examples from a text that support a writer’s ideas. The
student who wrote the paragraph below cited evidence to analyze the author’s
use of details to develop a main idea.
Write a paragraph about the text you have chosen. Cite evidence
from the text to support your analysis of the author’s use of details
to develop a main idea. Remember to include relevant examples and
to use negatives correctly.
Cite evidence from the text: Answers will vary but should include a topic
sentence, text evidence to support an analysis of the author’s use of
details to express a main idea, and a strong concluding statement.
Evidence should be presented clearly with transitions, and negatives
should be used correctly.
A. Read the draft model. Use the questions that follow the draft to
help you think about using sequence to order steps in a process
to help readers understand how and why something was done.
Draft Model
To make a goldfish home, you need a bowl or tank, purified water, and special
gravel. Rinse the tank with some purified water. Clean the gravel with purified
water. Put the gravel in the tank. Fill the tank with more purified water.
1. What word or phrase could you add to signal the first step in
making a goldfish home?
2. What words or phrases could you use to signal the second and
third steps in the process?
3. What word or phrase can you use to signal the last step in
the process?
B. Now revise the draft by adding words and phrases that will
help the reader understand the sequence of steps involved in
setting up a goldfish home.
1. excavation, intriguing
During our excavation of the site, we uncovered some intriguing ancient
objects.
2. meticulously, bedrock
At the building site we meticulously recorded the locations where we hit
bedrock.
3. methodical, intrinsic
The methodical way we searched was intrinsic to our discovery of the
legendary cave.
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
4. exquisite, embark
The queen put on her most exquisite jewelry as she got ready to embark
on her visit to the neighboring kingdom.
Event
2. About how long after Libby developed the idea of carbon dating did
scientists find signs of humans inside the cave? How do you know?
The archaeologists found signs of life in the cave about 30 to 40
years after Libby developed carbon dating. I subtracted the year when
Libby developed his idea (1947) from the approximate year when
archaeologists discovered the cave (in the 1980s).
humans were in the cave about 12,000 years ago; then a more advanced
method of carbon dating was developed; finally archaeologists used
that technique to learn that the fabric was also 12,000 years old.
CAROLUS/Pixtal/agefotostock
paintings. A process called radiocarbon
dating was used to identify the age of
the artwork. This process tested the
charcoal used to create the paintings
and confirmed that they were at least A prehistoric wall painting from the Niaux
14,000 years old. Cave in France
3. What idea from the text does the photograph help you to visualize?
It helps me visualize what the wall drawings look like.
1. For many years, archaeologists did not have a good way to tell
how old their finds were.
2. Then in 1947 a scientist named Willard Libby was trying to find out
the age of fossils for a paleontology study.
tech = skill
a skilled way of doing something
4. Carbon dating has given scientists a way to peer into the past—
sort of like having a telescope on long ago.
B. Write another word that has each of the following roots. Use a
dictionary if necessary.
1. tele television
2. tech technical
3. ology biology
1. im + patiently = impatiently
2. ac + commodate = accommodate
3. il + logical = illogical
4. ar + rest = arrest
5. ac + company = accompany
6. im + migration = immigration
Evidence is details and examples from a text that support a writer’s ideas. The
student who wrote the paragraph below analyzed the author’s use of sequence
to explain a topic.
Write a paragraph about the text you have chosen. Cite evidence
from the text to analyze the author’s use of sequence to explain a
topic. Remember to use clear transitions and to use prepositional
phrases correctly.
Cite evidence from the text: Answers will vary but should include a topic
sentence, text evidence to support an analysis of the author’s use
of sequence to explain a topic, and a strong concluding statement.
Evidence should be presented clearly with transitions, and prepositional
phrases should be used correctly.
A. Read the draft model. Use the questions that follow the draft
to help you think about how to choose time-order words to show
the sequence of steps in a process.
Draft Model
Marsha wanted to paint her desk. She prepared the area by putting down
newspaper. She sanded the desk. She cleaned the surfaces gently. She let the
desk dry. She started painting.
1. What time-order word or phrase could you use to show the first
thing Marsha did to prepare the area for painting her desk?
2. What time-order words and phrases could you use to clarify the
order of the next three steps Marsha took to prepare the desk for
painting?
3. What time-order word or phrase could you add to identify the last
thing Marsha did in this paragraph?
1. (unfettered) I let my dog out of its cage so he was unfettered and free to
walk around
.
4. (horizons) Learning how to speak a new language can help broaden your
horizons .
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Detail
Detail
Detail
Theme
Photodisc/Punchstock
84 No matter what songs they sang.
90 You saw to it that all of your people had choices.
101 You followed the path you chose for yourself
109 As surely as the stars follow their paths across the sky.
120 The worries of your life are behind you, Mr. Lincoln,
130 Though once they lay heavy on your heart—
138 As weighty as mountains of stone on the horizon,
147 As numerous as snowflakes covering a burial ground.
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
155 The union has lasted far beyond four score and seven years,
166 but you can rest till time and tide are done
176 and let your thoughts wander wherever they will.
3. What does the phrase “The worries of your life are behind
you” mean?
“The worries of your life are behind you” means that Lincoln is
no longer alive.
To an Artist
The city is bustling, noisy, and bright
With trucks, cars, and taxicabs, both day and night,
And with people so anxious to get here or there,
As they text on their cell phones and fuss with their hair.
On they go, pounding the pavement and street.
On they go, wearing their shoes off their feet.
At a corner an artist stands, paintbrush in hand,
A statue of silence observing the land.
Like a wizard, he captures a moment—Look! There!
Beauty on canvas; most pass, unaware.
4. Choose one powerful image from the text. What message do you
think the poet tries to communicate with that image?
Possible response: A statue of silence observing the land. The painter is
quiet and observant while others rush past, not noticing the beauty.
Read the lines of the ode below. Then answer the questions.
Possible responses provided.
Ode to Mr. Lincoln
True False
The statue’s hands and arms are extremely firm and solid.
True False
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
True False
Abraham Lincoln had a lot of very serious issues to worry about.
Read each sentence below. Use the chart to underline the word
that comes from one of the Greek or Roman names. Then circle
the part of the word that it shares with the name from mythology.
Evidence is details and examples from a text that support a writer’s ideas. The
student who wrote the paragraph below cited evidence to support an argument
about what the theme of a poem is.
Cite evidence from the text: Answers will vary but should include a topic
sentence, text evidence to support an argument about what the theme
of a poem is, and a strong concluding statement. Evidence should be
presented clearly, and sentences should be combined correctly.
A. Read the draft model. Use the questions that follow the draft
to help you choose words with connotations that accurately
express the speaker’s feelings.
Draft Model
I like to look at clouds as they move across the sky. They look like a good
place to lie down and take a nap or read a book.
1. Why do the clouds look like a good place to lie down and take a
nap? What words make you think of a relaxing place?
2. How might it feel to lie down on the clouds? What words will best
convey how the speaker feels about lying in the clouds?
3. How would you describe time passed in the clouds? What words
best convey the sort of experience the speaker might have on
a cloud?