Reading - Group 2

Week 10

monday

The Giant’s Boy by Joy Cowley

The giant's boy felt stormy. He frowned at the black clouds.

He stamped thunder and lightning.

He shouted hail

He yelled a gale.

He cried rain, rain, rain.

“What a storm!” the people said, and they ran into their houses.

“Poor boy!” said the giant. “Let me hug you better.”

The wind stopped. The rain stopped. “I feel better now,” said the giant’s boy.

The giant’s boy stood on his head and smiled a rainbow.

The giant’s boy danced a blue sky.

The giant’s boy laughed and laughed a sunshine day.


Read the passage carefully and answer these questions in full sentences


  1. What happened when the giant’s boy stamped?

    1. Hail

    2. Thunder and lightning

    3. Rain, rain, rain


  1. What happened when the giant’s boy yelled?

    1. Hail

    2. Black clouds

    3. A gale


  1. Circle the word that means wild weather.

“What a storm!” the people said, and they ran to their houses.


  1. What does the giant’s boy make with his smile?


  1. What did the giant’s boy do to make a sunshine day?


  1. Name 3 types of weather the giant’s boy made when he was mad.


  1. Who made the giant’s boy feel better and what was the result?


Match the words below

tuesday

The Thing About Cats


In the dim light, a cat moves easily. Their big green eyes shine bright;y. They can see the way home. Cats’ eyes work well in dim light. They can hunt and they have the skills.

In the centre of a cat’s eye in a black slit. These slits are called pupils. In dim light, a cat’s pupils can become large and round. This lets in more light so the cat can see.

Cats walk on soft padded paws. Mice never hear them coming - until it’s too late. The soft pads are like cushions. They protect the cat’s bones. Have you ever noticed that cats land on their feet when they jump down? This is a good skill!

“Can I get through this space?” the cat thinks. Cats use their whiskers to measure spaces. Their longest whiskers are the width of the cat’s body. It must be useful to have whiskers for measuring.

Whiskers help cats when they are walking in the dark, too. They can feel when something is close to their face.

Cats have many skills. Their special skills have helped them for thousands of years. Cats have better hearing than we do. They have a better sense of smell, too.

A cat’s tail helps them to balance on a fence. It helps them to leap and catch prey. If a cat doesn't want to be touched, they might flick their tail.

Sometimes cats wrap their tails around their body to keep warm. Tails are useful.

Cats can twist and turn their bodies. This is because cats have more bones.

Cats are very fast runners. They can run 40 kilometers an hour. This is faster than fast human runners.

Cats like to hunt. They use all their skills. They lie low and move quickly along the ground. This is called stalking.

Kittens practise hunting and fighting skills when they play.

CAts are mysterious animals. Their eyes can sometimes show their feelings. Their pupils become large when they are excited. They might become narrow slits when they are angry. When a cat is relaxed, they might look at you with half-closed eyes. Try half-closing your eyes, too. Look back at the cat and blink slowly. If the cat returns your blink, this is a kitty kiss. It means the cat trusts you!


Read the passage carefully and answer these questions in full sentences


  1. What skills does a cat NOT need when hunting?

  1. Good eyesight

  2. Using their tail

  3. Walking quietly


2. What helps cats find their way in tight spaces?

  1. Their paws

  2. Their whiskers

  3. Their tail


3. Describe a cats eyes when they are:

  1. Relaxed -______________________________________

  2. In dim light -______________________________________

  3. In bright lights -______________________________________


4. What can you tell from a cat’s eyes?

  1. If they are warm

  2. If they are angry

  3. If they are balanced


5. What is another word for padded used in the story?


6. What was the most interesting fact you learnt from the story and why?

wednesday

Dragon with a Cold by Joy Cowley

When our dragon got a cold, we had a big problem. Every time the dragon coughed, he burnt the wallpaper. When he sneeded, he cooked the apples on the apple tree.

The dragon couldn’t sniff without burning himself. Dozens of handkerchiefs and paper tissues went up in flames.

“I hate to say this,” said Mum, “but that dragon is a pain.”

The dragon went to bed. He moaned and groaned and said he had a temperature. We put a thermometer in his mouth. The thermometer melted.

We put a cold cloth on the dragon’s head and warm socks on his feet. He still moaned and groaned.

We said to him, “You’re not the only dragon in the world to get a cold.”


We thought some flowers might cheer him up, so we got him some daisies. We didn’t know that daisies made his sneezing worse.

Ah-ah-ah-choo!

The dragon set fire to the blankets.


Mum was tired of the smell of burning. “Today I’ll take him to the doctor,” she said.

The dragon made a fuss. He didn’t want to see the doctor.

“It’s the doctor or the fire brigade,” said Mum. “Take your pick.”

The dragon got dressed and went with Mum to see the doctor.


The doctor was very nice to our dragon. She didn’t say anything when he sneezed all over her desk. The doctor gave mum a bag of lemons.

“Lots of lemon drinks, she said. “That will make him feel better,”


The dragon did get better. But guess what? We caught his cold.


Read the passage carefully and answer these questions in full sentences


  1. Make some words that rhyme with old

_________ ___________ ____________ ___________


  1. Why was the dragon with a cold a big problem?

  1. He moaned and groaned

  2. He needed water

  3. Every time he coughed, sneezed and sniffed, something caught fire


3. What did the family use to take the dragon’s temperature?


4. What surprising thing happened after that?


5. How was the dragon’s cold cured?

  1. With lemon drink

  2. With cooked apples

  3. With daisies


6. The children told the dragon that he wasn’t the only dragon in the world to get a cold. What did they mean?


7. What do you think the dragon did for the family when they caught his cold?

thursday

Hāngī

What is a Hāngī?

Hāngī is a traditional Māori style of cooking that has been used for hundreds of year.s it is still used in New Zealand today.

It is a special way of cooking food under the ground using red hot rocks and steam.


How is a Hāngī Made?

First, a pit big enough for all the food is dug. Then, a fire is made at the bottom of the pit. Next, rocks are piled on top of the fire. Once the fire has burnt out, the rocks are white hot. Food is then placed in the hāngī. The food is covered with wet cloths and dirt. The food is left to cook for at least 3 hours. It is then uncovered and served as a meal.


History of the Hāngī

The hāngī was very spiritual. Māori only took as much food from the land or the sea as was needed. Māori tradition said that if anyone walked over the hāngī while the food was inside cooking, the food was seen as spoiled and was uneatable.

Moa and seals were commonly cooked in hāngī, along with foods such as fern-root, bulrush, pigeon, tūī and parrot.


Read the passage carefully and answer these questions in full sentences


  1. People from which culture use a hāngī to cook food?


  1. What cooks the food in a hāngī?


  1. Rewrite ‘How a hāngī is made’ as instructions.

Step 1:

Step 2:

Step 3:

Step 4:

Step 5:


  1. What did people believe would happen to the food in a hāngī if someone walked over the pit?


  1. Why do you think moa, seal, pigeon and tūī are no longer cooked in a hāngī?

friday

King Midas and the Golden Touch


This is a myth from ancient Greece. It is about a king who wants to be rich.


King Midas was a kind man but he loved gold too much and he wanted more. One day a wizard came to thank King Midas for a kind deed he had done. The wizard told the king that he would grant him one wish. Because he loved gold so much, King Midas wished that everything he wanted would turn to gold. He wanted to be the richest man in the world. As soon as the king made his wish, the table that he was touching turned to gold. King Midas was very happy. “I will be the richest man in all the world!” he said. King Midas ran around the castle excitedly, touching things and turning them to gold.

He was the happiest king in all the world until he was hungry and picked up an apple to eat. The apple turned to gold so he couldn’t eat it. Worried, the king picked up a goblet of water, but it too turned to gold so he couldn’t drink it.

At that moment the king’ daughter came into the room. She rant to hug her father.

“No!” shouted the king. “If I touch you, you will turn to gold!”

The queen ran to stop her daughter. The queen, the princess and the king all realised what this meant and they were sad.

The king pleaded with the wizard to undo the wish. “What use is all this gold in the world if I can’t eat, drink and hug my daughter?” he said.

“You are right,” said the wizard. “You must go to the river and wash your hands.”

As King Midas washed his hands, all the gold flowed from them. It was carried downstream by the water.

The king, the queen and the princess were very happy that the king could now touch things without turning them to gold. The people were happy too because they could now take gold from the river to buy things they needed.


Read the passage carefully and answer these questions in full sentences


  1. Summarise what happened at the beginning, middle and end of the story.

2. What is the moral of this story?


3. What does ‘the Golden Touch’ mean?

  1. King Midas likes to hug his daughter who has golden hair

  2. King Midas makes everything he touches turn to golf

  3. The wizard can grant wishes for gold


4. The king pleaded with the wizard to undo the wish

What is another word that means the same as pleaded?


5. If you had one wish, what would it be and why?