Reading Comprehension Worksheets for Grade 5

Fifth Grade Reading Packet: Week of 4/20/2020

Day 1 • Character Analysis practice • Narrator and Point of View practice Day 2 • Context Clues 1 practice • Add The Quotation Marks practice Day 3 • Read The Goose Voyage and answer questions • Begin working on Friends prompt Day 4 • Context Clues 2 practice • Continue working on Friends prompt Day 5 • Read The Story of Regulus and answer questions • Finish working on Friends prompt

Don’t forget to read for 20 minutes daily!

Character analysis

Reading Comprehension Worksheet

Practice

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Character analysis is thinking about what a character does to understand what kind of person they are.

Character traits are words that describe the kind of person someone is.

Here a few examples of character traits: active calm determined grouchy rude adventurous caring energetic helpful shy bossy curious fair honest stubborn brave dependable funny mean understanding

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here is a description of a book that you might like to read. Think about what each character does, and what this tells you about what kind of person they are.

Introduction to Hotel for Dogs Hotel for Dogs is a funny book written by Lois Duncan. It doesn’t start out funny, though. Bruce and Andi’s family has just moved to a new town. Bruce is in sixth grade, and Andi is in fourth. They are staying at their aunt’s house until their parents find a new house. Bruce and Andi aren’t very happy about this because their dog Bebe can’t stay at Aunt Alice’s house with them. Aunt Alice is allergic to dogs. On the first day at Aunt Alice’s house, their aunt introduces Bruce and Andi to Jerry, who lives next door. Jerry is Bruce’s age, and he has a dog named Red Rover. Later that day, Bruce and Andi see Jerry and Red Rover again, in Jerry’s front yard. Jerry is pushing Red Rover to try to make him pull a wagon. Bruce runs over to Jerry and tells him that Red Rover will not like him if he keeps treating him that way, but Jerry tells Bruce to mind his own business. Jerry shoves Andi out of the way and starts to leave. He calls Red Rover to come with him. But Red Rover just moves over closer to Bruce. Bruce and Andi miss Bebe. When Andi walks home from school each day, she pretends that Bebe is walking along behind her. One rainy morning, Andi sees a cute little white dog sitting on Aunt Alice’s porch to keep dry. She picks up the little dog and pets it. She wishes she could keep it. When she comes home from school that day and goes to her closet, there on the floor is the little white dog. And three tiny puppies! Andi doesn’t know what to do. She knows the dog can’t stay in Aunt Alice’s house. She is afraid if she tells Bruce he will tell their parents, and then the dog and her puppies will have to go.

Online reading & math for K-5 © www.k5learning.com

What finally happens is that when Andi tells Bruce, he helps her keep the secret. They find a house nearby with no one living in it and take the little dog and its puppies there. They make a nice bed for the dogs, and every day they take them food, and play with them. They are also careful to keep the house clean. Then Red Rover runs away from Jerry, and shows up at the house where Bruce and Andi are keeping the little white dog and her puppies. They let Red Rover stay there too. The house is becoming a regular dog hotel! Before long more dogs are added, and Bruce and Andi let two friends in on the secret. The two friends are a big help, but things just keep getting crazier and crazier. To find out more about all that, you’ll have to read Hotel for Dogs.

Think about what the characters did, and what this shows the character is like.

what the character did what the character is like 1. Bruce and Andi saw Jerry hitting Red Rover with a A. brave stick. What does this show that Jerry is like? B. mean C. active 2. Bruce told Jerry he shouldn’t hit Red Rover. What A. bossy does this show that Bruce is like? B. curious C. brave 3. Jerry told Bruce to mind his own business, and A. rude shoved Andi out of the way. What does this show B. funny that Jerry is like? C. calm 4. Andi was afraid that Bruce would tell their parents A. brave about the little white dog and its puppies. What B. honest does this show that Bruce is like? C. shy

5. Andi told Bruce about the dog and its puppies, and A. energetic Bruce kept the secret. What does this show that B. bossy Bruce is like? C. helpful

6. Bruce and Andi took the dogs food every day, and A. funny played with them. What does this show that Bruce B. calm and Andi are like? C. dependable

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

7. What is one other character trait that could be used to describe what Bruce is like?

8. What is one other character trait that could be used to describe what Andi is like?

9. What is one other character trait that could be used to describe what Jerry is like?

Online reading & math for K-5 © www.k5learning.com Name: ______Narrator and Point of View

n every story there is a storyteller, called a narrator. The narrator tells “Squire Trelawney, Doctor the actions, the characters and the setting of the story. In fction, the Livesey, and the rest of these narrator is not the same as the author. An author creates a narrator. For gentlemen having asked me to I write down the whole particulars example, in Treasure Island the narrator who tell the story is Jim Hawkins, the son of an innkeeper. The author who wrote the book is Robert Louis about Treasure Island, from the Stevenson. Jim says in the frst lines of the book: beginning to the end...”

He goes on to mention that he is writing the story in the part in it. A third person narrator only uses he, she or it, 1700s. Robert Louis Stevenson was not born until 1850, and never me or I. Like a frst person narration, the author still wrote Treasure Island in 1883. creates the narrator. An example of a third person narration is The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum. There are two main types of narrators: frst person and third person. A frst person narrator is usually a part of the “When Dorothy stood in the doorway and looked around, story. This narrator uses I and me in the text. Treasure Island she could see nothing but the great gray prairie on every is a frst person narration, or story told by Jim, who is a side.” character in the story and uses I and me. Another example The author uses she when talking about Dorothy, the main from the book: character. The only time that I or me is used in the story is in “I was standing at the door for a moment, full of sad conversations. thoughts about my father, when I saw someone drawing Remember: In frst person, the narrator is usually a main slowly near along the road.” character and uses I and me. A third person narrator is the most common in fction. This In third person narrations, the narrator is not a main narrator is not a character or at least not a main character. character and uses she, he, they or it. I and me is used only This narrator watches what goes on, but does not take a in conversations.

Below are some passages from books. Read them and write what type of narration it is: frst person or third person.

1. At half-past nine, that night, Tom and Sid were sent to bed, as usual. They said their prayers, and Sid was soon asleep. Tom lay awake and waited, in restless impatience. (The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain)

2. There were six young colts in the meadow besides me; they were older than I was; some were nearly as large as grown-up horses. I used to run with them, and had great fun; we used to gallop all together round and round the feld as hard as we could go. (Black Beauty by Anna Sewell)

3. To begin my life with the beginning of my life, I record that I was born (as I have been informed and believe) on a Friday, at twelve o’clock at night. It was remarked that the clock began to strike, and I began to cry, simultaneously. (David Copperfeld by Charles Dickens)

4. Since his papa’s death, Cedric had found out that it was best not to talk to his mamma about him. When his father was ill, Cedric had been sent away, and when he had returned, everything was over... (Little Lord Fauntleroy by Frances Hodgson Burnett)

Context clues

Reading Comprehension Worksheet

Practice

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Context clues are hints to the meaning of a difficult word. These hints can be in the same sentence or in the sentences before or after the sentence that uses the difficult word.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As you read about sound, pay attention to the underlined words, and any hints to the meaning of these words.

What is Sound? The world around us is filled with sound. There are loud sounds and soft sounds. There are pleasant sounds and unpleasant sounds. At this very moment, you are surrounded by sound. Where does sound come from? How does it get to your ears? Why are there different kinds of sound? The study of these questions about sound is called acoustics. Imagine a cymbal hit with a drumstick. The cymbal shakes rapidly, and this vibration causes the tiny particles in the air around it to vibrate. These vibrating air particles, called molecules, bump into the air particles next to them and make them vibrate. This spreading vibration moves outward in every direction from the cymbal in waves. When a small object is made to vibrate, the sound waves move up and down very quickly. This produces a high-pitched sound, like a high note in a song. When a large object is made to vibrate, the sound waves move up and down more slowly. This produces a low-pitched sound, like a low note in a song. Hitting a small cymbal makes a more high-pitched sound than hitting a large cymbal. The volume of a sound depends upon the amount of energy, or force, applied to the object that is caused to vibrate. If the cymbal is hit very hard with the drumstick, the volume of the sound is louder than if it is hit lightly. The sound wave created by a hard hit carries the energy of the hit along with it. When a sound wave hits an object, the force that the sound wave carries causes movement in the object it hits. An extremely loud sound wave, such as the sound of thunder, can actually make the ground shake.

Online reading & math for K-5 © www.k5learning.com

Select which context clues give a hint to the meaning of each of these words.

1. acoustics

A. …filled with sounds… B. …surrounded by sound… C. …study of…

2. vibration

A. …hit with a drumstick… B. …shakes rapidly… C. …bump into…

3. high-pitched

A. ,,,move up and down… B. …made to vibrate… C. ,,,high note in a song…

4. low-pitched

A. …move up and down… B. …made to vibrate... C. …low note in a song…

5. volume

A. …sound is louder… B. …hit very hard… C. …hit lightly…

6. energy

A. ...or force… B. …depends upon… C. …caused to vibrate…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

7. In the third paragraph, what word tells you that there is a context clue for the meaning of the terms “high-pitched” and “low-pitched”?

Online reading & math for K-5 © www.k5learning.com Name: ______

Add the Quotation Marks

Below are sentences with direct quotations. Rewrite each sentence, adding the quotation marks before and after the quotation.

1) Phillip said, I think we’re going to the movies. ______2) My vote goes to Belinda, said George. ______3) Robert asked, What time is it? ______4) Let’s each lunch, said Denise, I’m hungry. ______5) I never met a man I didn’t like, said Will Rogers. ______6) I like your shoes, exclaimed Carrie, where did you get them? ______7) Thank you for the nice present! said Emma. ______8) Liam asked Wesley, Do you want to come with us? ______

Grade 5 Reading Comprehension Worksheet

Read the short story. Then answer each question.

The Goose Voyage “Are you ready Greg?” Shane asked. “It’s going to be one long adventure!”

“I was born ready!” I answered. We were all getting ready for our yearly migration south. The days were growing shorter, the weather was getting colder, and we all just felt like it was time to move. Somehow, we all knew there’d be more food and we’d be more comfortable if we flew south for the winter. This was mine and Shane’s first time migrating. We were a little nervous about going, but everyone in the flock reassured us that we’d know exactly what to do when the time came. We had a lot of questions: why do we go south every year; what happens on the way; and how do we know when we’re there? We got a lot of different answers, so we still weren’t exactly sure what to expect. “Well, let’s go!” Shane said. We met up with the rest of the flock. Shane’s mom was going to be the point of the flock first. We were all going to fly in a “V” shape, because they all said it makes it easier on everyone else to fly behind the point. Almost everyone would take a turn being the point, so that no one goose would get too tired. Shane’s mom took off, and we all followed. Higher and higher we flew, then everyone started leveling off. We were in our “V!” Flying always felt great, it was fun to look at everything far below us, and it felt good to stretch out our wings. Soon enough, I could see why we were flying in the “V.” Flying for this long was tiring, but it was much easier to fly in the “V” than by myself! It was also pretty cold up here, which wasn’t too bad, but wasn’t exactly fun either.

Reading and Math for K-5 © www.k5learning.com

Grade 5 Reading Comprehension Worksheet

On and on and on we went. Nothing exciting happened, we were just flying along for miles. It was too hard to talk to each other, we just followed the point. I was getting really hungry, and couldn’t wait for a break. Finally, we started heading down to land. I knew somehow that this wasn’t our final destination, but I was glad for the break.

I went to find Shane as soon as we landed, but my mom and dad stopped me to ask how I was doing. “I’m fine,” I answered. “Migrating isn’t as exciting as I thought it would be.”

“Be glad for that, Greg,” Mom answered. “If it’s exciting, that means there are problems. Problems are great in stories you hear, but it’s stressful to be in those situations. I’m happy with a boring migration!”

Dad agreed with mom. “OK,” I sighed, “I’m going to find Shane.” Shane was by the water, eating some plants.

“How’s the migration going for you so far?” I asked him.

“I’m glad we have a break, we need it. I’m shaken up!” he answered.

“Shaken up? Why? It’s been pretty boring so far!” I said.

“Didn’t you see the eagle? It was coming after us! It almost got Lucy!” Shane exclaimed. “What? I didn’t see that! What happened?”

“Well, I must have been flying behind you if you didn’t see it. We were just minding our own business, when my dad spotted the eagle. We decided to move closer together, but Lucy didn’t notice. The eagle started circling above her, then it dove! Luckily we all honked, and she got out of the way, but it was a close call! I’m ready to be done migrating,” said Shane. I thought about how terrified Lucy must have been, and if I’d have seen it, I’d probably be just as shaken up as Shane. I was glad I didn’t see it.

“Hopefully that will be the only crazy thing that happens during this migration,” I said. “Let’s get some rest. We have another busy day of flying tomorrow.”

Reading and Math for K-5 © www.k5learning.com

Grade 5 Reading Comprehension Worksheet

Questions:

1. How have Greg and Shane’s migration experiences been different thus far? ______

______

2. Retell the story in your own words.

______

3. What does “final destination” mean in the 6th paragraph? How do you know?

______

4. How would a different point of view have changed the story?

______

5. What problems could Greg and Shane encounter on day 2 of their migration? Create your own ending, including the problems they encounter and how they make it to their destination.

______

Reading and Math for K-5 © www.k5learning.com

Even the best of friends have the occasional argument. Write about a time when you got into a dispute with a friend. How did the situation get resolved? Use the space below to answer. Use additional paper if necessary.

______Context Clues Fifth Grade Vocabulary Worksheet

Read each sentence and determine the meaning of the word using cross sentence clues. Explain what clues helped you work out the meaning of the word.

The bird dove under the water, and came up a minute later with a fish in its mouth. Definition of dove: ______

What clues in the sentence lead you to your definition?

In following with our family tradition, my mother and I go shopping on Christmas Eve every single year.

Definition of tradition: ______

What clues in the sentence lead you to your definition?

The United States enjoyed a period of economic growth and prosperity in the 1950s when the average American family had 30% more wealth than after World War II. Definition of economic: ______

What clues in the sentence lead you to your definition?

Careful navigation through the mountainous terrain allowed the hikers to get to the summit in a record time. Definition of navigation: ______

What clues in the sentence lead you to your definition?

Online reading & math for k-5 www.k5learning.com

Grade 5 Reading Comprehension Worksheet

Read the short story. Then answer each question.

The Story of Regulus On the other side of the sea from Rome, there was once a great city named Carthage. The Roman people were never very friendly to the people of Carthage, and at last a war began between them. For a long time, it was hard to tell which would prove the stronger. First the Romans would win a battle, and then the men of Carthage would win a battle; and so the war went on for many years. Among the Romans there was a brave general named Regulus,—a man of whom it was said that he never broke his word. It so happened after a while, that Regulus was taken prisoner and carried to Carthage. Ill and very lonely, he dreamed of his wife and little children so far away beyond the sea; he had but little hope of ever seeing them again. He loved his home dearly, but he believed that his first duty was to his country; and so he had left all to fight in this cruel war.

He had lost a battle, it is true, and had been taken prisoner. Yet he knew that the Romans were gaining ground, and the people of Carthage were afraid of being beaten in the end. They had gone into other countries to hire soldiers to help them, but, even with these soldiers, they would not be able to fight much longer against Rome.

One day, some of the rulers of Carthage came to the prison to talk with Regulus.

“We would like to make peace with the Roman people,” they said, “and we are sure that if your rulers at home knew how the war is going, they would be glad to make peace with us. We will set you free and let you go home, if you will agree to do as we say.” “What is that?” asked Regulus.

Grade 5 Reading Comprehension Worksheet

“In the first place,” they said, “you must tell the Romans about the battles which you have lost, and you must make it plain to them that they have not gained anything by the war. In the second place, you must promise us that if they will not make peace, you will come back to your prison.”

“Very well,” said Regulus. “I promise you that if they will not make peace, I will come back to prison.”

And so they let him go because they knew that a great Roman would keep his word. When he came to Rome, all the people greeted him gladly. His wife and children were very happy because they thought that they would not be parted again. The white-haired Fathers who made the laws for the city came to see him. They asked him about the war.

“I was sent from Carthage to ask you to make peace,” he said. “However, it will not be wise to make peace. True, we have been beaten in a few battles, but our army is gaining ground every day. The people of Carthage are afraid, and they should be. Keep on with the war a little while longer, and Carthage shall be yours. As for me, I have come to bid my wife and children and Rome farewell. Tomorrow I will start back to Carthage and to prison as I have promised.”

Then the Fathers tried to persuade him to stay.“Let us send another man in your place,” they said.

“Shall a Roman not keep his word?” asked Regulus. “I am ill, and at the best, have not long to live. I will go back as I promised.” His wife and little children wept, and his sons begged him not to leave them again.

“I have given my word,” said Regulus. “The rest will be taken care of.” Then he bade them goodbye and went bravely back to the prison and the cruel death which he expected.

This was the kind of courage that made Rome the greatest city in the world.

Grade 5 Reading Comprehension Worksheet

Questions:

1. How does Regulus feel about the war?

______

2. Why do you think Regulus tells the Romans to attack even though it means he must return to jail?

______

3. What you think Regulus means when he tells his family at the end “The rest will be taken care of”?

______

4. Why did Carthage go to other countries to hire soldiers?

______