Grade Level Reading Questions -- Part 1 Chapters 1-6

Focus: characterization, setting, point of view

Answer all questions in a COMPLETE SENTENCE(S) unless asked to list or multiple choice. 1. What is the setting? __________________________________________________________________________________________ 2. What does the setting tell you about the neighborhood? _________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 3. Why does Kim plant the beans? _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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4. How does Kim’s home reflect her Vietnamese culture? _______________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Kim

Pg. 1 - 4

_____5. What is the best summary statement for this chapter? A. Kim sneaks out of her house and goes to the vacant lot across the street from her apartment. She

digs six holes and plants lima beans to connect with her farmer father. B. Kim looks at the photo of her father and is sad that she has no memories of him. He died before she was born, yet her mother and sister cry over the loss still.

C. Kim is sad that she never knew her father who died before she was born. In an effort to connect with her farmer father, she plants lima beans in the dirty, rundown vacant lot near her house. D. Kim hears her mother and sister crying on the anniversary of her father’s death. Because she is sad that she never know him, Kim begins to cry too. 6. What is point of view? ________________________________________________________________________________________ 7. From what point of view is this chapter told? ______________________________________________________________

How do you know? ____________________________________________________________________________________________ What does a reader gain from first person point of view?_________________________________________________

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8. What is a pronoun? _____________________________________________________________________________________________

9. Cite 5 different first person pronouns from this chapter. Include the page # in ( ).

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

lima bean

plant

Focus: figurative language, stereotyping, foreshadowing , turning point

1. The neighborhood is described as being "like a cheap hotel.” This is an example of: A. metaphor B. simile C. personification D. hyperbole 2. Why is it like a cheap hotel? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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3. What does Ana think the little girl Kim is doing in the vacant lot?

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_____4. You can conclude that Ana believes that… A. young, ethnic people in her neighborhood are often up to no good. B. she needs to help the police catch criminals. C. she should move to a better neighborhood. D. she should continue to keep spying on the lot to find more criminal activity _____ 5. Which passage from the chapter (textual evidence) best supports the idea that Ana feels terrible about digging up Kim’s beans? (circle all that apply)

A. I thought of calling up the police. Then I saw her there the next morning, and I decided I’d solve the case myself.

B. I couldn’t see what she was doing. My curiosity was like a fever inside me. C. Then the truth of it slapped me full in the face. I said to myself, “What have you done?” D. I felt like I’d read through her secret diary and had ripped out a page without meaning to.

6. Why does Ana get binoculars? Think carefully (symbolism, theme, & turning point)!! _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ana pg. 5 - 10

The subject of a sentence tells who or what the sentence is about. Nouns and pronouns can be subjects of sentences. The verb of the sentence tells what the subject is doing (action verb) or is like (linking verb). Underline the subject of each sentence once and the verb twice. Remember there can be more that on subject (compound subject) and more than one verb (compound verb) and that subjects and verbs are NOT in prepositional phrases. Example: I do love to sit and look out the window. (to sit is an infinitive -- not the verb!)

1. The fruit sellers’ carts and coal wagons were pulled down the street by horses back then (6). 2. Gibb Street became the line between the blacks and the whites, like a border between countries (6). 3. She was working in the dirt and looking around suspiciously all the time (7). 4. The next moment, she disappeared like a rabbit (8). 5. My curiosity was like a fever inside me (8). 6. I tried a new spot and found another, then a third (9). 7. Then the truth of it slapped me full in the face (9). 8. The next morning she was back (10).

Focus: theme, allusion, foreshadowing, figurative language

1. Why is Wendell sad? ________________________________________________________

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_____ 2. Look at this line from the chapter. “That’s how I got the news about our boy, shot dead like a

dog in the street” (11). What does this simile tell the reader?

A. Wendell and his family really like dogs.

B. A dog was found dead along with Wendell’s son.

C. There is little regard for life in this rough neighborhood.

D. There are many deaths on Gibb Street .

3. What is Wendell’s relationship to Ana? _______________________________________________________

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4. What does this tell you about Wendell? (indirect characterization)

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_____ 5. From Kim’s reaction to seeing Wendell watering her plants, you can infer – A. that Kim knows and doesn’t like Wendell. B. that Wendell doesn’t do nice things for people very often. C. that Kim is scared because in this neighborhood there are not many acts of kindness. D. that Kim is angry that Wendell has discovered her garden but is too afraid to say so.

6. What is an allusion? ________________________________________________________________________________

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Wendell pg. 11 - 16

7. What is the allusion in this chapter? _____________________________________________________________

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8. What does he learn (theme) from Kim when he thinks…"And a child shall lead them"? (15)

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_____ 9. At the end of the chapter you can conclude A. that Wendell no longer feels sorry for himself and plans to make positive changes in his life.

B. that Wendell will no longer allow Ana to boss him around. C. that Kim is so scared that she will never come back to water her seeds again. D. that Wendell will never go back to the vacant lot again.

10. What is something in your life that you can change for the better? _____________________________

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Sentences have a subject, verb, and express a complete thought. A fragment is a group of words punctuated like a sentence, but is not one because it is missing a subject, verb, or is not a complete thought. Identify the groups of words below as a sentence or fragment. Write S for sentence or F for fragment. _____1. And the word last year about my wife’s car wreck (11).

_____2. They’re dying! (12)

_____3. The plants! (12)

_____ 4. I was mad (12).

_____ 5. Leaves shaped like spades in a deck of cards (14).

_____ 6. Definitely beans (14).

_____ 7. I smiled again (15).

_____ 8. Then, I did (15).

_____ 9. Can change it big (15).

_____ 10. The lot had three buildings on three sides (16).

11. Why do you think the author chose to use so many fragments in this chapter?

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Focus: characterization, figurative language,

theme

1. On page 17 Gonzalo says, "The older you are, the younger you get when you move to the United States." What does he mean by this?

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2. What can Gonzalo do that his father and great-uncle cannot? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. What can the great uncle do that Gonzalo cannot? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. Which words help you understand what the word bodega (18) means? A. down the block B. only buy food C. lowered his eyes D. mumbles and smiles

5. What is Gonzalo’s great-uncle’s life like before the garden? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Gonzalo pg. 17 - 22

6. What is Tio Juan’s life like after he finds the garden? (theme) ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Adjectives describe nouns or pronouns. They tell which one, what kind, or how many. Adjectives can be used to compare. When comparing things, there are two types of adjectives called

comparative and superlative adjectives.

I am shorter than my brother, but my sister is the shortest in my family. comparative superlative

Comparative adjectives are used when comparing only two people or things. To form the comparative of an

adjective, usually add –er to the end of the adjective. However, sometimes, instead of –er the word more is

used in longer multi-syllable words before the adjective to show comparative.

Superlative adjectives are used when comparing more than two people or things. To form the superlative of

an adjective, usually add –est to the end of the adjective. However, sometimes, instead of –est the word most is

used in longer multi-syllable words before the adjective to show comparative.

Circle the comparing adjective in the sentences below and identify if it is comparative or superlative. 1. His English was worse than a kindergartener’s (18). ______________________________________ 2. Tio Juan was the oldest man in his pueblo. (18). ________________________________________ 3. I wished we were farther from the street… (21). ________________________________________

Write the comparative and superlative forms of the adjectives listed below. adjective comparative superlative 4. sad _______________________ _______________________ 5. small _______________________ _______________________ 6. expensive _______________________ _______________________ 7. good _______________________ _______________________ 8. dirty _______________________ _______________________ Fill in the blank with the correct form of the adjective. 9. Gonzalo is __________________ than Kim, who is the ____________________ of all the characters. (age)

Focus: irony, symbolism, figurative language

1. How does Leona get the trash removed? _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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2. What does this tell you about her? (indirect characterization) ___________________________________

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Explain these symbols:

3. goldenrod: ____________________________________________________________________________________________

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4. trash bag: _____________________________________________________________________________________________

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5. saxophone key: _______________________________________________________________________________________

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Leona pg. 23 - 28

goldenrod

6. You can conclude that the people in Loena’s neighborhood are stereotyped as

A. poor, uncaring slobs who don’t care if their neighborhood is dirty. B. hard-working immigrants who need a bit of help. C. unhealthy people who need medical care. D. spoiled, ungrateful people who don’t deserve any help.

7. What is irony? ______________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 8. What is ironic about Leona’s taking the bag of trash to the Public Health Department?

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9. Short answer response: In one word, how would you describe the character of Leona?

Follow these steps: 1. Answer the question. 2. Cite textual evidence. 3. Connect the quote with your answer.

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Focus: figurative language, allusion, irony

1. Sam compares himself to a ________________________ mending

__________________ (metaphor) because he tries to mend or “fix” the world by bringing people together.

He hopes the _______________________ will “fix” the neighborhood by bringing the people together.

2. Why does Sam compare the Gibb Street garden to the Garden of Eden? (allusion)

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3. Instead of being paradise, how is the garden beginning to reflect problems in the neighborhood? List 3 problems happening in the garden: (irony)

A. ________________________________________________________________________________________

B. _______________________________________________________________________________________

C. ______________________________________________________________________________________

_____4. What is the best ending for this summary of this chapter?

Sam, a retired social worker, is excited about the garden. He sees it as an opportunity to bring all the different people of the neighborhood together. Sam works in the garden with people of different cultures and believes that it is a Garden of Eden. ___________________________________

A. People threw trash out their windows and into the garden. B. A homeless man, unhappy that the couch had been removed from the lot, ripped out people’s

plants. C. Sam had to haul water to the garden in a wagon because there was not water in the vacant lot. D. Sam discovers, however, that the garden is merely a small version of the neighborhood with all its

segregation, distrust, and troubles. 5. Sam sees the garden as a “paradise,” a place of perfection. What is “paradise” to you?

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SAM

pg. 29 - 35

29

6. Vocabulary: matching - write the letter on the line. A. herring(29) B. pacifism (30) C. Garden of Eden (32)

D. spigot (32) E. coolies (33) F. Tower of Babel (35)

_____ an unskilled laborer employed cheaply. _____ a type of fish _____ an enormous tower built at the city of Babylon. _____ opposition to war or violence as a means of resolving disputes. ______ in the Old Testament Book of Genesis a Biblical earthly paradise; any state or place of complete peace and happiness. _____ a faucet for controlling the flow of liquid from a pipe or the like. Read this to help understand allusion…

The narrative of the city of Babel is recorded in Genesis 11:1-

9. Everyone on earth spoke the same language. As people

migrated from the east, they settled in the land of Shinar.

People there sought to make bricks and build a city and a

tower with its top in the sky, to make a name for themselves,

so that they not be scattered over the world. God came down

to look at the city and tower, and remarked that as one people

with one language, nothing that they sought would be out of

their reach. God went down and confounded their speech, so

that they could not understand each other, and scattered them

over the face of the earth, and they stopped building the city.

Thus the city was called Babel.