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Name_______________________________

WINTER BREAK READING AND SOCIAL STUDIES HOMEWORK

ACTIVITIES ANSWER KEY

Grade 4

December 2008 – January 2009

Prince George’s County Public Schools Division of Academics

Department of Curriculum and Instruction

Activities are open-ended. Answers will vary based on experiences of students. The Social Studies answer key begins on pg. 20.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Winter Break Reading Activities……………………………… 4 Reading Response Pages……………………………………… 14 Social Studies Informational Text..…………..……………… 16 Independent Reading Log…………………………………….. 23

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WINTER BREAK READING HOMEWORK ACTIVITIES

DIRECTIONS Complete any three (3) activities from pages 5-15. Write your

responses on the Response Pages provided at the end of the packet (pages 14-15). Activities can be from one or more than one category.

Each bullet represents an activity. Students are to return the completed Response Pages to their teachers on January 5, 2009. The activities will be part of the homework grade for the second quarter. Parents are encouraged to assist in the following ways:

• Make a plan to complete the activities during the Winter Break.

• Provide a quiet space and time for your child to work on the homework.

• Review and discuss your child’s responses. Provide positive feedback.

• Praise sincere effort and independence on these activities.

• Sign the Student Response Sheets after your child has completed the assignments. Feel free to write a comment to your child’s teacher.

• Insure that this packet is in plain view on the breakfast table on January 5,

2009 so it may be returned on time!

• Encourage daily reading of 20 -30 minutes of a self-selected book. Record the books read on the independent reading log attached (page 24).

• Save this packet and enjoy some of the activities in it with your child at other

appropriate times throughout the year.

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NEWSPAPER ACTIVITIES

On a sheet of paper write the letters of the alphabet down the page. Next to each, write at least 2 words you can find in the newspaper that start with that letter. Be sure you can read the words you write down.

Find synonyms in the newspaper. Cut them out and paste them together. Find at least 5 synonym pairs.

Read the comics. Decide which is the funniest. Cut it out and write a paragraph explaining why you think this comic is funny.

Create your own comic about your family, winter break, or some other event in your life.

TRAVEL OR WAITING ACTIVITIES

After you play the game, write a paragraph explaining what you liked and didn’t like about the game. How would you change it to make it more fun?

SENSES GAME. Each person describes how one thing they did today smelled, tasted, looked, felt, and/or sounded. The others guess what they did.

LICENSE PLATE SAYINGS: Make up a saying using the letters of license plates you see on the road. Example: GPE 623 = goofy purple elephant.

ALPHABET OBJECTS: Start with the letter A, and find something you see from the car starting with that letter. Then go on to B, C, etc.

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COOKING ACTIVITIES

Make a shopping list for a holiday meal. After helping to cook the meal, write a paragraph describing the meal. Use senses words: how it looked, smelled, tasted, felt, and sounded at your meal.

Help an adult cook a favorite recipe. Write down the recipe. Write a paragraph about your experience using the recipe to cook. Include which parts of the recipe were easy to follow, and which parts were difficult, and any changes you would make in the way the recipe was written.

MOVIE REVIEW ACTIVITY

Write a review of a movie you saw over the winter break. Include in your review a short summary of the movie, and whether or not you recommend the movie to others. Support your review with examples from the movie. If you like, include an illustration.

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POETRY ACTIVITIES

Use one of the poems in this packet, or choose your own

favorite poem or holiday song.

Read the poem aloud. Practice reading it FLUENTLY: with expression, making it sound like you think the poet meant each word to sound. Then read it aloud to someone else. Be ready to read it to your class when you return to school.

Talk about what the poem meant to you and why you liked it. Ask a family member or friend to share his/her ideas about the poem. How are your ideas alike or different from your family member or friend? Write a paragraph comparing your thoughts about the poem.

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What I Love About Winter

Frozen lakes Hot pancakes Lots of snow Hot cocoa Skates and skis Evergreen trees Funny hats Thermostats Sunset blaze Holidays Snowball fights Fireplace nights Chimneys steaming Winter dreaming By Douglas Florian

Sweater Weather

When we have inclement weather Clearly you should wear a sweather. Or should I say wear a sweater When the weather’s cold and wetter? Whether the weather’s wetter or better, It’s better to weather the weather with sweaters. By Douglas Florian

From: Teaching With the Rib Tickling Poetry of Douglas Florian (Scholastic)

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Mr. Nobody

I know a funny little man As quiet as a mouse, Who does the mischief that is done In everybody’s house! There’s no one who ever sees his face, And yet we all agree That every plate we break was cracked By Mr. Nobody. It’s he who always tears our books, Who leaves the door ajar. He pulls the buttons from our shirts, And scatters pins afar. He puts damp wood upon the fire, That kettles cannot boil; His are the feet that bring in mud And all the carpets soil. The finger marks upon the door By none of us are made; We never leave the blinds unclosed, To let the curtains fade. The ink we never spill; the boots That lying ‘round you see Are not our boots—they all belong To Mr. Nobody. From: Sing a Song of Poetry by Gay Su Pinnell and Irene C. Fountas

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Celebrate!

Celebrate the heroes who stood before a crowd and spoke of peace and freedom- equality, out loud. Celebrate the valiant who found the strength within to stay where they weren’t welcome and force change to begin. Celebrate the leaders, who tired but never quit and risked their lives for freedom, for they believed in it. Honor all the people, together and alone, who stood with dignity to claim what was their right to own. From: The Big Book of Classroom Poems By: Kathleen M. Hollenbeck (Scholastic)

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TELEVISION ACTIVITIES

Identify the different parts of the story you are watching: setting, main characters, conflict, plot, climax, and resolution. (See definitions of these terms below.)

Use the character traits list attached to describe at least two characters from the show you watch. Support your opinion with examples of what the characters did in the show.

Tell how a character in the show made you feel (happy, angry, confused, etc.). Support your response with examples of what the characters did in the program.

STORY STRUCTURE

(For Analyzing TV Show)

Setting: When and where the story takes place. Main Characters: The people who play the main roles in the story. The “good guys” are called PROTAGONISTS; the “bad guys” are ANTAGONISTS. Conflict: The problem; the main thing that needs to be solved or resolved in the story. Plot: The main events that occur in order to resolve the conflict. Climax: The height of the action; what happens at the most exciting part to resolve the conflict. (This doesn’t have to be physical action; it can be how a character resolves a problem like making up with a friend or learning a lesson.) Resolution: How the story ends and all parts come together.

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Character Traits (for TV Shows)

A B C D E amusing able awesome admirable adorable affectionate agile agreeable amazing animated astonishing athletic attentive aware accomplished active

beautiful benevolent blissful boisterous bold brave bright beloved

calm capable carefree captivating casual charitable cheerful careful clairvoyant comfortable compatible civilized clever comical competent confident considerate courteous creative committed

darling dauntless decisive delightful delicate devoted different dignified diligent disciplined driven daring

eager earnest eccentric effective efficient emotional eloquent enchanting encouraging energetic enjoyable enthusiastic entertaining expressive exuberant evasive easy-going

F G H I J

faithful famous fashionable fearless flashy forgiving formal friendly fun funny fun-loving fabulous flamboyant forceful

gallant glorious good gorgeous graceful grateful gutsy great giving greathearted grounded gentle

handsome handy happy harmless heroic hilarious honest humble humorous high-minded honorable humorous

inhibited illustrious imaginative impressive innocent intellectual intelligent irresistible immaculate individual

jolly joyful just jovial jumpy joyous jaunty

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K

L

M

N

O

knowing keen knowledgeable kind

liberal lively logical loving lovely lamblike leader lean

magnanimous majestic marvelous mature merry mighty mild model motivated musical mysterious magic masterful meek mellow

natural neat neighborly naïve noble notorious nurturing

obedient obliging observant opinionated orderly organized original outrageous outstanding open-hearted open-minded open

P Q R S T particular passionate patient peaceful perceptive perfect poetic poignant polite popular positive powerful practical precious profound pure promising

quick-witted quaint quizzical qualified quick quiet

radiant radical rare reasonable refined refreshing reliable remarkable respectable romantic

scrupulous sensible sensitive sentimental serious sharp silly splendid sincere skillful smart smug sociable successful strong

talented talkative tender thoughtful trendy true terrific

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

understanding unique useful unbelievable

verbal vigorous vivacious valuable venturesome vibrant vital

warm watchful welcoming wholesome wild wise witty wonderful worldly

yielding

zealous zestful zany

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NAME: ______________________________

MY RESPONSE PAGES

Use these pages to write the responses for the 3 activities

you chose.

ACTIVITY 1: _____________________________________________ __________________________________________________________

_______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ ACTIVITY 2: _____________________________________________ __________________________________________________________

_______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________

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ACTIVITY 3: _____________________________________________ __________________________________________________________

_______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ Parent/Guardian Signature: ______________________________ (Please feel free to add any comments to your child’s teacher here.)

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SOCIAL STUDIES INFORMATIONAL TEXT General Directions

• Read the selection carefully so that you can do your best when answering the selected response (SR) and brief constructed response (BCR) questions.

• Write your responses in this booklet, unless your teacher gives you other directions.

• For SRs circle the answer that is your choice. • For BCRs, use the response box. It is approximately the same

amount of space you will have on the MSA. Be sure to answer all parts of the question completely and provide appropriate details and examples.

• You will see arrows at the bottom right corner of some pages. This tells you that the task continues onto the next page.

Helpful Hints

• This packet will be graded by your teacher and added to your

overall homework grade. You want to complete it and take care to do a good job.

• Carefully review the Questions to Remember When Answering Brief Constructed Responses on page 19 before and after you have answered the BCR. This will help you be sure that you have written the best response you can!

• To help get ready for the MSA, try to time yourself : o Each of the reading selections is less than ten minutes; o Each SR should take 1 minute, 30 seconds; o For each BCR, you may have 7 minutes. o Each selection is marked with the maximum number of

minutes permitted for reading and responding to the questions for that selection.

Practice now will make the MSA easier!

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Comprehending Informational Texts Comprehension means “understanding.” You have to do more than just read the words on a test. You have to understand how the words go together and what it all means. Here are some key skills necessary for comprehending reading selections and answering questions. Main Idea The main idea of a paragraph or article is what the author wants you to remember most. The main idea can come at the beginning, middle, or end. When you finish reading a paragraph, a selection, or even a book, you should be able to say, “The author’s main idea is _____.” Details All the specific information that a writer includes is there so that the main idea is clear. As you read, you have to pay attention to the details and facts in order to make sense of the main idea. Inferences and Conclusions This is where the author wants you to be part of the story or article. You have to put details or references of something you have seen or read with something you already know to make inferences, draw conclusions, or make generalizations about what you are reading. Making Predictions Predicting what will happen next in a selection means you understand the parts and details of what you are reading and you use what you know to make a guess about what will happen next. Sequence and Chronological Order What happened first? Then what? It’s not always easy to figure out the sequence or order in a reading selection. Clue words (such as “first,” “then,” and “later”) and hints can help you. Prior Knowledge Use what you already know to help you make sense of a reading selection. You know more than you think! Summarizing and Paraphrasing You may need to summarize to answer questions in writing. When you summarize, you retell the main ideas, events, or facts in your own words. The key to summarizing is picking out only the key points. When you paraphrase, you use your own words to tell about what you have read, seen, or heard. Paraphrasing can help whenever you’re having trouble understanding a written passage or graphic.

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DIRECTIONS: Read this selection and answer the questions that follow. (21 minutes)

Who Was Lord Baltimore?

In England a person of high social standing can have a title, which makes him a member of nobility. The nobility is a step below royalty, the words that describes the king and queen and their families. Lord, lady, sir, dame, baron, and baroness are examples to titles that members of the nobility can use with their names. Titles can be inherited or granted by the king. Some titled people also own a large estate and use the title with the name of the estate instead of with their names. Sir George Calvert was England’s secretary of state under King James I. He had received the title Lord Baltimore, along with a great estate in Ireland, from King Charles I. Such titles and estates are passed from father to eldest son. Younger sons do not get the title. So a younger brother of a Lord Baltimore simply used his family name, Calvert.

Vocabulary nobility- a group of people in England that are born to a family with great power baron- a nobleman who is a member of the House of Lords (branch of government in England) baroness- wife of a baron estate-a piece of land, especially with a large house on it secretary of state- one of several government officials in England Protestant-a believer in a Protestant (non-Catholic) religion.

Cecilius (Cecil) Calvert, second Lord Baltimore

(source: Maryland Archives)

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The first Lord Baltimore died in 1632. The title passed to his eldest son, Cecilius, who became the second Lord Baltimore and the first Lord Proprietor of the Maryland colony. The younger brother of Cecilius, Leonard Calvert, became the first governor of the Maryland colony and held that office for about 12 years. The second Lord Baltimore died in 1675, and the title passed to his son, Charles Calvert. Before Charles Calvert became the third Lord Baltimore, he also served as Maryland’s governor from 1662 to 1675. He lived until 1714, but lost the colony when Maryland Protestants rebelled in 1689. His son, Benedict Calvert, became the fourth Lord Baltimore, and regained Maryland because he had converted to the Church of England. However, he lived barely a year after his father’s death, so his young son, also named Charles Calvert, became the fifth Lord Baltimore. Calvert’s guardian had to serve in his place as Lord Proprietor of Maryland until the boy reached adulthood. The fifth Lord Baltimore lived until 1751, but visited the colony only once, in 1732. The town of Baltimore [referred to presently as Baltimore City] was named for him. Frederick Calvert, the sixth and last Lord Baltimore, paid little attention to the colony during his 20 years as Lord Proprietor, and died in 1771 without leaving a legal heir to the title. All of the Calverts who held the title and ruled Maryland are sometimes referred to as a group, the “Lords Baltimore” or the “Lords Proprietor.”

Excerpted from 13 Colonies: Maryland, The History of Maryland Colony, 1634-1776

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Directions: Answer the following questions based on the reading selection. 1. In what order is the selection Who Was Lord Baltimore? organized?

A. cause and effect B. similarities and differences C. main idea and supporting details D. sequential order

2. The author includes the introduction in order to tell A. about Lord Baltimore’s B. where Lords are from C. about nobility D. how princes make laws 3. Which of the following is the best summary of the article? A. Lord Baltimore was a noble man from England. B. Calvert was given land from the king. C. The title Lord Baltimore is passed down. D. Lord Baltimore was Protestant. 4. Read the sentence in the box below. Choose the word or group of words that means the same, or about the same, as the underlined word. Then circle the answer you have chosen. In which sentence does the word title mean the same thing as the sentence above? A. The title of the story is “Charlotte’s Web.” B. Did you get a title for the car yet? C. He has earned the title prince. D. Did you put a proper title on your story?

The title passed to his eldest son, Cecilius, who became the second Lord Baltimore.

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STUDENT RESPONSES AND THE MSA READING RUBRIC

Writing is a performance activity that allows students to reflect and elaborate on how they think and what they know. It is important to extend student understanding of the expectations of the rubric with repeated opportunities to write 5-7 minute Brief Constructed Responses.

The MSA Reading Rubric is one that many schools are using not only in Reading/English/ Language Arts, but across the curricula. Your teacher will use the MSA Reading Rubric to score the BCR in this packet.

As you complete your BCR response, you should refer back to this page so that you can check your response against Questions to Remember When Answering Brief Constructed Responses.

Questions to Remember When Answering

Brief Constructed Responses

1) Can my teacher tell that I read the passage?

2) Did I answer the question?

3) Did I support my answer with information (details) from the text?

4) Did I make a relevant inference or interpretation when answering my question?

Adapted from Maryland State Department of Education June 2006

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5. Explain whether the title Who Was Lord Baltimore? is an appropriate title for this selection. In your response, use information from the article that supports your explanation. Write your answer in the box below.

I think the title of this article is an appropriate title because it asks the question who

was Lord Baltimore. In the article Lord Baltimore was many people. This is because

the title was passed from father to eldest son. The younger sons do not get the title. I

read that the first Lord Baltimore’s title was passed on to his eldest son Cecelius when

his father died. Each Lord of Baltimore continued to pass his title to his eldest son until

the sixth and last Lord Baltimore died. He did not pass on his title. The article tells

that this group of men who held this title is sometimes referred to as the “Lords

Baltimore”.

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READING LOG

Name: ___________________________________ Booklists may be found at The Prince George’s County Memorial Library System—Kid Center www.pgcmls.info, The International Reading Association www.reading.org, and Houghton Mifflin Reading www.eduplace.com. Date Book Author Pages Read Comments

Parent/Guardian’s Signature: _______________________________