Week 7

Toby

Toby walked into the library, still laughing over a joke his friend Harry had told him during class. Mrs. Taylor, who was carefully placing books back on the shelf, glared at Toby and tapped a sign on the wall. Toby gave a sheepish smile and hurried on towards the back of the library. Toby was normally out kicking the ball with friends during lunch, but his report was due tomorrow, and he was more than a little behind in his work. In fact, all he had done so far was choose an animal. He had planned on asking for help finding a book, however the scowl still hadn’t left Mrs. Taylor’s face, so he wasn’t sure that was a good idea.

Toby found the picture books. He then found the young adult books. Eventually, after wandering around for what felt like a very long time, Toby spotted a poster of a blue whale. Hopeful that he had found the non-fiction section, he walked towards it. Bingo! he thought to himself.

He turned his head to the side and began to read the spines of the books. He saw a book on crocodiles, one on geckos, and another on lizards. He quickly realised he was in the reptile section. He needed mammals, and so moved to the next shelf. Again, he read the spines. Apes… horses…wombats. Bingo! This was the shelf he needed. Now he just needed to find giant pandas. He kept looking, and looking, and looking.

Questions:

1. Why was Toby in the library?

2. What animal was Toby writing a report on?

3. What do you think the sign Mrs Taylor tapped said?

4. Which word from the story means ‘frown’?

5. Why did Toby decide not to ask Mrs Taylor for help finding the book?

6. What do you think Toby is going to do after leaving the library? Why do you think this?

Bonus Fun: Draw a map showing the layout of your school library.

Inside your nose, there are hundreds of tiny hairs. These hairs filter the air you breathe. Sometimes dust and pollen find their way through these hairs and bother your nasal passages. The nerves in the lining of your nose tell your brain that something is invading your body.

Your brain, lungs, nose, mouth, and the muscles of your upper body work together to blow away the invaders with a sneeze. When you sneeze, germs from your nose get blown into the air. Using a tissue or “sneezing into your sleeve” captures most of these germs. It is very important to wash your hands after you sneeze into them, especially during cold and flu season.

Do you ever sneeze when you walk into bright sunlight? About 25% of people experience this phenomenon. Scientists believe that the brain gets confused when signals from the optic nerve trigger the sneezing reflex in direct sunlight. This usually runs in families.

If someone nearby sneezes, remember to tell them “Gesundheit!” That is a funny-looking word which is pronounced “gezz-oont-hite.” It is the German word that wishes someone good health after sneezing.

Questions:

1. Which parts of your body work together when you sneeze?

2. What does the German word gesundheit mean?

1. I wish you good health.

2. I wish you God’s blessings.

3. I wish you a good day.

4. I wish you would stop sneezing.

3. Why do some people sneeze when they walk into bright sunlight?

4. Complete a web like the one below with information from the article.

Match the meaning:

Match each word from the reading passage with the correct definition.

Bonus Fun: Create a poster that shows ways to stop germs from spreading.

Opposite day

by Ken Nesbitt

It’s Opposite Day!

It’s Opposite Day!

The day to do things

in the opposite way.

I wear my pants backward.

My shirt’s inside out.

I scream to talk softly.

I whisper to shout.

I write with my foot and

I kick with my hand.

I stare with my eyes closed.

I sit down to stand.

I drink from a plate and

I eat from a cup.

I climb into bed when

it’s time to wake up.

I frown when I’m happy.

I smile when I’m sad.

I say, “I like liver,

but ice cream is bad.”

I claim that it’s dark

when it’s sunny and bright.

If something is black,

I insist that it’s white.

I stand still for dancing.

When running, I crawl.

So please understand:

I don’t like you at all.

Questions:

1. Practise reading the poem out loud with a partner 3 times. Can you use the expression in your voice to act out the different things the author mentions in the poem?

2. Write down the rhyming words in the poem. Can you see a pattern?

3. What do you think an ‘opposite day’ is?

4. What does the author mean by “so please understand I don’t like you at all.”

5. What would you do on opposite day and why?

7. Bonus Fun: Draw a picture of what you would look like on opposite day?

Cake? At least the first ten minutes would go by quickly. Erik hung his coat on the rack by the door and saw a strange looking key hanging on a hook. “Grandpa Bill, what’s this funny key for?”

“That’s a skeleton key. It opens the best room in this house,” Grandpa Bill whispered so no one else could hear. “It’s the room I go to when your grandmother tries to make me help with the dishes.”

“What’s so special about the room?” Erik asked.

“It’s a game room,” Grandpa Bill said. “Take the key and see if you can find the room by the time I finish my tea.”

Erik grabbed the key and stared at it. “A skeleton key? It looks old.” Erik decided the oldest things in the house were probably upstairs in the walk-up attic. He headed past the dining room and to the stairs.

​​Grandpa Bill sipped his tea and shook his head.

Erik knew that meant he was going the wrong way. He headed back to the front door where he’d found the key.

Erik thought about the oldest part of a house. “The basement! It’s the first part that’s built.” He rushed to the basement door and looked at the lock. It was different from a normal lock. He slid the key inside and turned it. With a click, the door opened.

Erik switched on the light and walked down the stairs. The basement was one giant room with a pool table in the middle and a dartboard on the far wall.

“Awesome!” Erik said.

“Ever learn to play pool?” Grandpa Bill asked, coming down the stairs.

“No,” Erik said.

“Well then, grab a cue from the rack and I’ll teach you.”

Erik smiled. The next four hours were going to fly by.

Questions:

1. What is the setting of this story? (Where does it take place?)

2. Why didn't Erik want to visit his grandparents' house at the beginning of the story

3. Grandpa told Erik that the skeleton key opened…

a. a trunk with secrets

b. the basement door

c. the attic door

d. a game room

4. Why did Erik think the key would open the attic door?

Choose the best definition for the underlined word in each sentence.

1. Erik and his grandfather played a game of pool.

1. a hole in the ground filled with water

2. a game where a large ball is shot into a goal

3. a game where a stick is used to shoot balls across a table

2. Grandpa Bill grabbed a cue from the rack.

1. a ball used to play pool

2. b. a stick used to play pool

3. c. a storage container for pool equipment

3. Erik noticed a dartboard on the wall in Grandpa Bill's game room.

1. a square box where darts are kept

2. b. a piece of wood used to keep score while playing darts

3. c. a target made of cork that is used in a game of dart

Bonus Fun: On a sheet of lined paper, write a continuation of this story. Tell what happens from the time Erik starts playing pool to the time he leaves.