Fiction

EXTENSIVE READING

The following fiction stories are provided for grade 2 to grade 5

The teacher and the students may find other sources as the reading materials
 Fiction
Grade 2

The teacher and the students may find other sources as the reading materials
 The Vegetable Thief

The Vegetable Thief

by Kyria Abrahams

Someone has been stealing from the community garden. Micky and Marnie want to find out who it is.

Marnie and Micky are brother and sister. They live in Irvine, California and volunteer at the community
garden. Every day after school, they water the squash and the lettuce. They work hard and watch the trees
grow. The vegetables are donated to food banks, so people don't go hungry.

Today, the food started to disappear. Marnie is the first to notice. She starts to water the squash like she always
does. But instead of a plot of squash, there is only an empty hole.

"The...the...squash!" Marnie stammers.

"The squash has been squashed!" says Micky.

"We have to tell an adult!"

Across the field, they spot their neighbor, Hank. Hank is 80 years old and moving very slowly. Hank has
trouble hearing.

"Hank, Hank! Someone is stealing vegetables!"

"Eh? I can't hear ya," he says, putting his hand to his ear.

"Someone stole all the squash!" says Marnie.

"Eh? Someone scalded the wash?"

"There's a thief!"

"I'm no chief!" Hank says. "Now get back to work, ya slackers!"

"Hank can't hear a word we're saying!" says Micky. He kicks a rock with his foot. Thud!

ReadWorks.org · © 2014 ReadWorks®, Inc. All rights reserved.

 The Vegetable Thief

A small rabbit comes out from underneath some lettuce. The rabbit is rubbing his head. The rabbit gives them a
mean look and then hops away. His white, fluffy tail is shining in the sun.

"If I didn't know better, I'd think that rabbit is mad at you," says Marnie.

Marnie and Micky walk away with their heads low. Missing squash and an angry rabbit? This day is going
terribly. They get on their bikes and ride home along the bike path. The wind is in their hair, and it feels like
they are flying. For a moment, they forget all about the missing vegetables.

The sun is starting to set in the sky when they finally get back home. They are late for dinner.

"I told you to be home at 5:00!" Mom says.

"But Mom! There's a thief at the garden! He stole our squash!"

"Missing squash, you say?" she says. "Well, wasn't the squash your responsibility?"

"Uh, I guess so," says Marnie. "It is our responsibility to water it!"

"Then it's your responsibility if someone steals it. It's also your responsibility to get home on time."

Marnie looks down at her plate and lets out a large gasp. Her plate is filled with yellow squash. Micky and
Marnie look at each other.

"You don't think Mom could be the squash thief, do you?" asks Marnie.

"Geez, I sure hope not," says Micky.

There's so much squash on their plates, they aren't sure what to believe.

The next day, they go back to the garden. Again, no one else is there except old Hank. This time, there are two
empty plots. Now all the broccoli is missing, too.

"This is outrageous!" cries Marnie. "We are the only people who know this is happening! But no one will listen
to us because we're kids!"

"It's not fair being a kid," says Micky. "Everybody thinks we're making up stories."

Micky kicks a rock again. Once again, the rock goes under some lettuce. THUD! Another rabbit comes out,
rubbing his head.

"What on earth..." says Micky. "How could I possibly hit the same rabbit twice in two days?"

The rabbit turns and hops away, showing a fluffy, black tail.

"Wait. That rabbit yesterday had a white tail. This rabbit has a black one. This is a different rabbit!"

"Follow him!"

The two siblings chase the rabbit. As they run, other rabbits appear from their hiding spots in the lettuce. Soon,
there are hundreds of rabbits. Marnie and Micky are no longer chasing one rabbit. Now, they are being chased
by the rabbits!

ReadWorks.org · © 2014 ReadWorks®, Inc. All rights reserved.

 The Vegetable Thief

Rabbits in front! Rabbits behind!

"Run away from the rabbits!" yells Marnie.

"How? They're everywhere!"

"Make a quick right! Jump! Now!" Marnie says. They jump to the right. The rabbits keep running right by
them. The siblings hide underneath a patch of green beans.

"Look!" Micky says, pointing straight ahead.

The rabbits are still running. The rabbits are also stealing. As they run, they grab stalks of leafy greens in their
mouths. This is daylight robbery!

"I guess we found our thieves," Marnie says. "And it's not Mom!"

"Unless Mom is a rabbit!" says Micky.

"It's too bad we're kids. No one will believe us." Marnie says.

"Ahem!" A loud voice echoes above them. "I believe you."

Old Hank is standing there. He saw the whole thing.

"Now do you see, Hank?" asks Marnie.

"I may be deaf, but I ain't blind," says Hank. "I admit I thought it was you kids who were stealing those
vegetables. I've been trying to catch you in the act! But now I see the truth. It's these rabbits!"

"We know who the real thieves are!" says Micky. "We need to protect our vegetables."

"That's true," says Hank. "The rabbits certainly are flexible."

"No!" says Micky and Marnie. "The vegetables!"

"Respectable?" asks Hank.

"The garden!" the children yell at the top of their lungs.

"The varmints? They're not respectable! They steal!"

"We need to build a fence!" yells Mickey.

"Learn to dance?" asks Hank. "I'm not teaching you how to dance! We need to build a fence!"

"Oh, forget it!" says Marnie.

"Forget it, is right" says Hank. "Now quit dancing and let's build a fence!"

"Tomorrow!" the kids say. "We've done quite enough for today!"

Micky and Marnie get on their bikes and ride home. For the time being, they forget all about the vegetable
thieves and the naughty rabbits. They are flying through the air.

ReadWorks.org · © 2014 ReadWorks®, Inc. All rights reserved.

 The Vegetable Thief - Comprehension Questions

Name: ___________________________________ Date: _______________

1. Where do Marnie and Micky volunteer?

A. a nearby food bank

B. their local library
C. a community garden
D. an after school program

2. What is the main problem that Marnie and Micky are dealing with?

A. a water shortage
B. getting home late
C. stolen vegetables
D. being very hungry

3. After Marnie and Micky find out the rabbits are eating the vegetables in the community
garden, Micky suggests they build a fence. Based on this information, how might the
fence be useful?

A. The fence will help Marnie and Micky protect the rabbits from other animals.
B. The fence will help Marnie and Micky water the vegetables more quickly.
C. The fence will help keep the rabbits away from the vegetables.
D. The fence will help keep other people away from the vegetables.

4. Why do Micky and Marnie think the rabbits stole the squash and the broccoli?

A. Hank tells them that he saw the rabbits steal the squash and the broccoli.
B. They see the rabbits stealing squash and broccoli as they are running away.
C. They know that rabbits like to eat squash and broccoli.
D. They see the rabbits stealing leafy greens in the community garden.

5. What is this passage mainly about?

A. the work done at food banks

B. the relationships two siblings have with their mom
C. how different people in a community respond to a recent disappearance of vegetables
D. how two siblings figure out who is stealing vegetables from the community garden

ReadWorks.org · © 2017 ReadWorks®, Inc. All rights reserved.

 The Vegetable Thief - Comprehension Questions

6. The passage begins with the following sentences: "Someone has been stealing from
the community garden. Micky and Marnie want to find out who it is."

Why does the author begin the passage this way?

A. to let the reader know the main conflict

B. to explain how the problem will be solved
C. to list all of the characters in the story
D. to give a hint to the reader about who is stealing

7. Choose the word that best completes the sentence.

Marnie and Micky's mother served a lot of squash for dinner the day the squash was
missing. __________, Marnie and Micky thought she was the vegetable thief.

A. However
B. As a result
C. Although
D. On the other hand

8. Marnie and Micky think there is a thief stealing the vegetables from the community
garden. Who do they try and tell about this?

(written answer)

9. Why does Hank have a hard time understanding what Marnie and Micky try to tell him?

(written answer)

10. What challenges do Marnie and Micky experience in their search for the vegetable
thief? Use information from the passage to support your answer.

(written answer)

ReadWorks.org · © 2017 ReadWorks®, Inc. All rights reserved.

 Too Much Chocolate

Too Much Chocolate

by W.M. Akers

"They should have never left me alone with you," said Keira. "That was a bad mistake."

Keira was speaking to a bag of chocolate. It was under her brother's bed. It was a green bag, and it was almost
full. Tyler had not eaten much of his Halloween candy. Now he would never get the chance.

Halloween was three days ago. Keira had dressed as a bumblebee. Her brother had gone as a clown. They
walked up and down their street and the two next to it. Every house they went to gave them candy. Some gave
them lollipops. Some gave them caramel. But Keira's favorite was the houses that gave them chocolate.

Keira loved chocolate. She liked milk chocolate and dark chocolate. She liked white chocolate and
coffee-flavored chocolate. She liked chocolate drops, chocolate bars, chocolate oranges and chocolate eggs.
She liked chocolate so much that, by the day after Halloween, she had no chocolate left.

Tyler ate more slowly. He saved his candy. He ate just one or two pieces at a time. Last year, he made his
Halloween candy last all the way to Thanksgiving. That made Keira mad. It was not fair that he could have
candy for weeks and weeks, and she had none. That wouldn't happen this year.

Tyler had a friend over. Keira had been watching them. When they went to the backyard to play, she sneaked
up the stairs. She opened Tyler's door. She crept over to his bed. And now she was going to eat his chocolate.

"You're all mine," she said, and laughed a sneaky laugh.

She unwrapped the first piece. It was a chocolate-covered cherry. She ate it.

"Mmmm," she said. "Mmmmmm."

The next piece was a chocolate egg with marshmallow goo inside. She bit into it, and some of the
marshmallow got onto her chin. She ate the rest of it.

"Marshmallow goo is the best," she said.

Next she ate a chocolate shaped like a flower. Then she ate a chocolate shaped like a bunny rabbit. She ate
chocolates with raisins inside, and chocolates with pink fluff, and some chocolates that had nothing inside
them at all. Finally, she was going to eat all the chocolate she wanted.

ReadWorks.org · © 2013 ReadWorks®, Inc. All rights reserved.

 Too Much Chocolate

After a few minutes of eating, she heard footsteps on the stairs. She tried to get away, but her stomach was too
full. Tyler came into the room. He looked mad.

"Hey!" he said. "What are you doing with my candy?!"

Keira tried to speak but she was too full. She stood up, and fell back down again.

"Oooooof," she groaned. Her face was covered with chocolate. Her hands were sticky. She even had chocolate
in her hair. "I don't feel so good," she said. "I think I ate too much chocolate."

Tyler started laughing. He laughed until he fell down too.

"Well!" he said. "I think you learned your lesson!"

Keira's stomach felt like it was going to burst. She felt terrible. She would never steal Tyler's candy again.

ReadWorks.org · © 2013 ReadWorks®, Inc. All rights reserved.

 Too Much Chocolate - Comprehension Questions

Name: ___________________________________ Date: _______________

1. What kind of candy does Keira love?

A. chocolate
B. caramel
C. lollipops

2. When in the story does Tyler come back to his room?

A. the beginning of the story

B. the middle of the story
C. the end of the story

3. Read this sentence about Keira: "She liked chocolate so much that, by the day after
Halloween, she had no chocolate left."

What can be concluded from this information?

A. Keira got caramel on Halloween. She ate it slowly.

B. Keira got chocolate on Halloween. She ate all of it by the next day.
C. Keira did not get any chocolate on Halloween. She ate her brother's chocolate the next day.

4. Why might Tyler eat his candy slowly?

A. Tyler likes making his candy last a long time.

B. Tyler likes eating a lot of candy at once.
C. Tyler does not like chocolate, caramel, or lollipops.

5. What is a main idea of the story?

A. A boy does something good and gets a reward.

B. A girl does something bad and learns a lesson.
C. Two children are mean to each other and get hurt.

6. Read these sentences: "Keira's stomach felt like it was going to burst. She felt terrible.
She would never steal Tyler's candy again."

What does the word "terrible "mean?

ReadWorks.org · © 2017 ReadWorks®, Inc. All rights reserved.

 Too Much Chocolate - Comprehension Questions

A. very sleepy
B. very good
C. very bad

7. Choose the answer that best completes the sentence below.

Keira eats her brother's chocolate _______ she eats her own.

A. before
B. after
C. last

8. What is the name of Keira's brother?

(written answer)

9. How does Keira feel at the end of the story?

(written answer)

10. Read the last sentence of the story: "She would never steal Tyler's candy again." Is it
true that Keira will never steal Tyler's candy again? Explain why or why not, using
evidence from the story.

(written answer)

ReadWorks.org · © 2017 ReadWorks®, Inc. All rights reserved.

 Fiction
Grade 3

The teacher and students may find other sources as the reading materials
 A Day on the Slopes

A Day on the Slopes

by Jaclyn Einis

No matter how many times Bobby rode the chairlift, he always got frightened when he looked down. If he
stared down long enough to get that tingly feeling, he'd grip the bar in front of him, take stock of the bar
between his two legs, and reassure himself that he was secure.

Conversation helped distract him. He loved meeting people from all over the country, and even the world, on
the chairlift. Games helped distract him, too. "I spy in my little eye, something...orange," Bobby challenged.

"The plastic fence down there," guessed Dad.

"Nope!"

"The square with the number on that pole," Dad said, pointing to one of the big poles holding up the chairlift.

"Nope."

"The stripe on that guy's jacket in front of us."

"Nope."

"Um...the sunshine?"

"No way. The sun looks more yellow than orange right now, Dad."

"Okay, fine. I give up!" Dad said, throwing his head back in defeat.

"The writing on the band of your goggles!"

"Tricky, tricky. I'll stump you next time."

Bobby loved winning, but he was no longer focused on playing "I Spy." They were close to the top.

"Ready?" Dad asked.

"Ready," Bobby replied, removing his hands from the bar and skis from the little footrests connected to the bar
between his legs.

Dad pulled the bar up and over their heads, and they looked forward. Skis straight and poles held tightly, they
pushed themselves away from the seat and down the small hill their skis touched at the top.

This was Bobby's second time skiing, and he was getting the hang of it. During his first time skiing, Dad taught
him how to do the "pizza," skiing with his skis in a wedge like a slice of pizza. Bobby had advanced since then
and could now do the "french fries," skiing with his skis parallel and straight like two french fries side by side.
When he felt himself going too fast, he would point his skis to the side instead of down the mountain. That
would help bring him to a stop.

Normally, Bobby stayed far away from the forest, while avoiding big groups of people and ice. Luckily, there
was a lot of powdery Colorado snow on this mountain and definitely not as much ice as there was on the
mountain he had skied in New England.

ReadWorks.org · © 2014 ReadWorks®, Inc. All rights reserved.

 A Day on the Slopes

"Want to try skiing the glades?" Dad asked when they had stopped for a rest mid-trail. Dad nodded to where a
path veered off the trail and into the woods. Bobby saw a few skiers follow the path into the trees. About 10
seconds later, they popped out a little ways down the trail.

Bobby felt nervous and excited. "Let's do it!" he said with a grin.

"Okay, you go, and I'll be right behind you. Don't go too fast. Keep your eyes on the trail, and try to stay
focused and relaxed."

"Here we go!" Bobby hollered as he glided to the side of the trail, his skis falling in line with a path on the left
that gradually curved into the woods. There were trees on either side of Bobby, and the narrow path dipped
down and then up a bit, down and then up. It felt like a waterslide but better, because he was in control. There
was one last bump on the path, where it exited the woods. When Bobby got to it, he had gained some speed
and even got a few inches of air. He wobbled for a second, but quickly regained his balance.

"Awesome!" he thought.

They were near the bottom of the hill, and the lifts were about to close.

"Up for one more run?" Dad asked.

"No time for talking!" Bobby said, hurrying back to the chairlift.

ReadWorks.org · © 2014 ReadWorks®, Inc. All rights reserved.

 A Day on the Slopes - Comprehension Questions

Name: ___________________________________ Date: _______________

1. Which winter sport are Bobby and his dad doing?

A. skiing
B. snowboarding
C. sledding
D. snowshoeing

2. Bobby gets frightened when he rides the chairlift. How does Bobby deal with this
problem?

A. Bobby closes his eyes.

B. Bobby hums to himself.
C. Bobby plays games and talks.
D. Bobby holds on to his dad.

3. Bobby has gotten better at skiing since the first time he skied. What evidence from the
passage best supports this conclusion?

A. "Luckily, there was lots of powdery Colorado snow on this mountain, and definitely not as
much ice as there was on the mountains he had skied in New England."
B. "During his first time skiing, Dad taught him how to do the 'pizza,' skiing with his skis in a
wedge like a slice of pizza. Bobby had advanced since then and could now do the 'french fries,'
skiing with his skis parallel and straight like two french fries side by side."
C. "When he felt himself going too fast, he would point his skis to the side instead of down the
mountain. That would help bring him to a stop."
D. "When Bobby got to it, he had gained some speed and even got a few inches of air. He
wobbled for a second, but quickly regained his balance."

4. How can Bobby best be described?

A. timid
B. crafty
C. aggressive
D. adventurous

5. What is this story mostly about?

A. Bobby and his dad spend the day skiing.

ReadWorks.org · © 2017 ReadWorks®, Inc. All rights reserved.

 A Day on the Slopes - Comprehension Questions

B. Bobby gets over his fear of the chairlift.

C. Bobby's dad teaches him how to ski.
D. Bobby and his dad play "I Spy" on the chairlift.

6. Read the following sentences: "No matter how many times Bobby rode the chairlift, he
always got frightened when he looked down. If he stared down long enough to get that
tingly feeling, he'd grip the bar in front of him, take stock of the bar between his two legs,
and reassure himself that he was secure."

As used in this sentence, what does the word "reassure" most nearly mean?

A. to believe something false

B. to do something that makes you stop worrying
C. to do something that makes you scared and uneasy
D. to face your fears

7. Choose the answer that best completes the sentence below.

__________ Bobby gets frightened when riding chairlifts, he goes on the lifts anyway.

A. Therefore
B. Meanwhile
C. Above all
D. Even though

8. Before the beginning of this story, how many times has Bobby gone skiing?

(written answer)

9. How does Bobby feel before and after skiing the glades?

(written answer)

10. "Bobby is an adventurous boy who tries new things." Explain whether you agree or
disagree with this statement and why. Support your answer using details from the
passage.

(written answer)

ReadWorks.org · © 2017 ReadWorks®, Inc. All rights reserved.

 Fiction
Grade 4

The teacher and the students may find other sources as the reading materials
 Experiments

Experiments
by ReadWorks

"Eew, gross, Joey," said Kayla.

Joey, once again, had taken his entire lunch plate and mixed all the food together. It was his favorite thing to
do at camp. Today they had spaghetti and meatballs, green beans, cornbread, and chocolate cake for dessert.
Joey had started by mashing the cornbread and chocolate cake together. Then he stirred the green beans into
the spaghetti. Finally, he took the mashed-up chocolate corn-cake combination and sprinkled it on top of the
spaghetti and meatballs and green beans. Joey now had one dish: chocolate corn-cake-flavored spaghetti and
green-bean meatballs.

Joey did something like this pretty much every day. "It's an experiment," he told the table. "Like what we do in
class. It's fun." Joey was into experiments, which usually consisted of taking one or more things, and
combining them somehow-mixing together dirt and sand, stirring glue into a glass of water, combining the
different kinds of paint in the art room (which usually resulted in brown), and mixing all his food together.
This wasn't even the grossest experiment Joey did at lunch. The worst was when he took the mashed-up food
and dunked it in his milk. Sometimes the milk would turn different colors. Sometimes the mashed-up food
would float, sometimes it would sink and sometimes it would dissolve. Sometimes part of it would dissolve
and part wouldn't, like the time he shoved a mashed-up blueberry cake into his glass of milk. The cake part had
gotten soggy and dissolved, but the blueberries had stayed together and just floated around in the milk. The
only way Joey knew this is because he'd tried a sip and gotten a couple blueberries. He couldn't actually see
them in the milk because it had turned a brownish-blue. Joey would usually take a sip as part of the
experiment, and would try to get the other kids at the table to try it too. Joey sometimes offered a dollar to
anyone who could drink three sips, but nobody ever could. Joey's experiments almost always tasted absolutely
horrible.

Joey offered a bite of the chocolate corn-cake flavored spaghetti and green-bean meatballs to the other kids at
his table. Jeanette took him up on it. She was the only one who sometimes liked Joey's experiments. But even
she couldn't eat more than a bite. Which meant the table would lose their "wasted food challenge"-again.

As part of camp lunch, all the tables weighed their leftovers at the end of the meal. One by one the tables

ReadWorks.org · © 2013 ReadWorks®, Inc. All rights reserved.

 Experiments

would line up, scrape their plates into a garbage can, and then the garbage can would be weighed. The garbage
can itself weighed three pounds exactly, so that was deducted from the total. Whichever table had the least
amount of wasted food got to be first in line the next day at lunch. Whoever had the most amount of wasted
food had to stay and help with the dishes. Each table had the same amount of campers, to be fair. The tables
were each named after a different kind of tree that was found at the camp. Joey's table was the Scrub Pine table.
Scrub Pine table had lost so many times that everyone called them the Scrub all-the-time table.

Everyone blamed Joey. He was always the one with all the leftover food. But Joey insisted it wasn't his fault.
He had a trick. Before each weighing, he always mashed up his concoction into the smallest ball possible.
Almost everyone else's plate was strewn with uneaten food. Joey just had a ball in the corner of the plate.

Scrub Pine table had already done dishes four days in a row, and it looked like it was about to be five. So
DeSean decided to conduct an experiment of his own. "Hey, I'm going to ask the kitchen staff if we can weigh
each plate separately this time," he said. "Then we'll know whose fault this is." This was fine with Joey. He
was sure he wasn't the problem. "And whoever leaves the most food has to clean the sinks at the end." This
was the worst job, the one all the kids tried to get out of. After the dishes, the sinks were always lined with a
wet, grimy mess of food scum.

One by one they weighed their plates. DeSean's weighed ¼ pound. So did Jeanette's. Kayla's didn't weigh
anything. Everyone else's plate weighed ½ pound or less. Except Joey's. Joey's weighed one and ¾ pounds.

The whole table looked at Joey. "But how?" he said. "I made the ball so small!"

"It doesn't work like that" said DeSean. "It doesn't matter how small you make the ball. You're just shifting it
around. It's still the same amount of food, and weighs the same."

Joey hated cleaning the sink scum. So he tried one more thing. "But, c'mon. You guys never help me eat my
experiments" he said. "I help you with your plates." This was true. Joey was usually so hungry after he had
ruined his own lunch that the others at the table took pity on him and let him have some of theirs. "So we
should all do the sinks."

Nobody was impressed by this argument. Everyone rolled their eyes at Joey. "You're doing the sinks," said
Kayla. "And we're all tired of doing dishes. From now on, no more experiments that are too gross to eat."

ReadWorks.org · © 2013 ReadWorks®, Inc. All rights reserved.

 Experiments - Comprehension Questions

Name: ___________________________________ Date: _______________

1. What does Joey do with the food on his lunch plate?

A. He mixes it all together.

B. He eats it very quickly.
C. He throws it at the people sitting around him.
D. He eats the chocolate cake but not the green beans.

2. In this story, staying after lunch to help with the dishes is an effect. What is the cause?

A. sharing food with other people at lunch

B. mixing food together to create new tastes
C. eating at the lunch table with the largest amount of wasted food
D. coming up with the idea of stirring glue into glasses of water for fun

3. Mashing his food up into the smallest ball possible does not make Joey's plate weigh
less.

What evidence from the passage supports this statement?

A. Joey tells other people from his table that they should help him clean the sinks because he
helps eat their food.
B. Joey combines the food on his lunch plate into a single dish: chocolate corn-cake-flavored
spaghetti and green-bean meatballs.
C. Joey's experiments almost always taste horrible, but there is one person at his table who
sometimes likes them.
D. Joey's plate weighs one and ¾ pounds, while the plates of everyone else at his table weigh ½
pound or less.

4. What could be a reason that Joey's table keeps losing the wasted food challenge?

A. Joey likes to mix together dirt and sand, stir glue into glasses of water, and combine all his
food at lunch.
B. The weight of Joey's uneaten food makes the total weight of his table's plates higher than
the total weight of plates at other tables.
C. The worst part about doing the dishes is having to clean the wet, grimy mess of food scum
out of the sinks at the end.
D. DeSean decides to conduct an experiment to figure out whose fault it is that the Scrub Pine
table keeps losing the wasted food challenge at lunch.

5. What is this story mainly about?

ReadWorks.org · © 2017 ReadWorks®, Inc. All rights reserved.

 Experiments - Comprehension Questions

A. Joey's food experiments and DeSean's weight experiment

B. how to make chocolate corn-cake-flavored spaghetti and green-bean meatballs
C. how to make chocolate corn-cake-flavored spaghetti and green-bean meatballs
D. the reasons that Kayla thinks Joey's food experiments are gross

6. Read the following sentences: "So DeSean decided to conduct an experiment of his
own. 'Hey, I'm going to ask the kitchen staff if we can weigh each plate separately this
time,' he said. 'Then we'll know whose fault this is.'"

What does the word experiment mean?

A. a problem that occurs when no one is expecting it

B. one or more actions taken in order to find something out
C. a type of behavior that is harmful to the person doing it
D. an agreement made between two or more people to solve a problem

7. Choose the answer that best completes the sentence below.

Most campers do not want to try Joey's food experiments _______ they are too gross to
eat.

A. although
B. because
C. before
D. especially

8. According to the passage, what do Joey's experiments usually consist of? Give one
example.

(written answer)

9. What experiment does DeSean decide to conduct?

(written answer)

10. How are Joey's experiments and DeSean's experiment alike?

(written answer)

ReadWorks.org · © 2017 ReadWorks®, Inc. All rights reserved.

 Fiction
Grade 5

The teacher and students may find other sources as the reading materials
 Cats Can Save the Day

Cats Can Save the Day

by Daniel Scheffler

It was Saturday morning in the Da Silva household, and Bianca was daydreaming as she waited for her family
to come down for breakfast. Her mind was filled with the things she learned at school that week and what she
would do for the weekend. Her mind was so busy, and she had so many rushing thoughts, that she didn't see
the neighbor's cat climb through the window. The next minute, the spotty cat was curling around Bianca's legs.
Bianca, as if falling from the sky, snapped out of her daydream and saw the feline smiling up at her.

"Purr, purr, purr."

"Oh, hello, Mister Chopsticks! I have missed your little visits," Bianca exclaimed.

The cat reminded her of the visit to her grandmother in Portugal last summer. Granny Da Silva lives near the
ocean in a small beach cottage and had four cats that were all the size of dogs. Bianca couldn't believe her eyes
when she first saw them. The one, obviously the ruler of the lot, filled an entire comfy chair in her granny's
lounge. Bianca tried to pick him up but he was just too heavy. His name was Pedro, and he just flopped down
and rolled onto his back with his white tummy showing, ready for Bianca to give it a scratch.

Bianca's sister, mother, and father were allergic to cats. They would start sneezing and their eyes would water
terribly. So the family was not allowed to have its own cats. Bianca loved the opportunity to pat Chopsticks.
He came to visit often when her family wasn't around, searching for scraps and, of course, some loving. Bianca
handed that out easily, as she just adored the little guy. She jumped up from her chair, and opened the
enormous double door fridge to grab some of last night's chicken for the cat. Chopsticks knew what was
coming, so he purred harder and looked very excited.

Bianca felt good to be able to love someone else's cat this way, and wondered if Chopsticks had the same kind
of love from the neighbors. She never really saw the next-door neighbors so she couldn't imagine Chopsticks's
life with them. As usual, Bianca started dreaming about what happened next door. She imagined the neighbors
were at work all day and never home to look after the cat. She imagined Chopsticks's bowl to be overflowing
with kibbles, poured into it just once a week, carelessly.

Bianca's daydreaming was always like this. She would start thinking about something and the next moment,
minutes would have gone by, and she would totally have lost her bearings. Sometimes she would snap back to

ReadWorks.org · © 2013 ReadWorks®, Inc. All rights reserved.

 Cats Can Save the Day

reality and have space travelled, or been at a concert in the park, or even swimming with sharks in the ocean.
Her mother always told her to use her daydreams as inspiration for her drawings. Bianca had wanted to be an
artist since a young age. When she was very little, she would make scribbles on everything, always scribbling
wherever she could. Now that she was older, she started to draw her daydreams with some amazing results.

Her creative energy was flowing, and her brain was still, as if in meditation, when she was drawing. After
daydreaming, she would head to her tiny bedroom and lie on the floor listening to the radio, just drawing for
hours, with no breaks-not even to eat. She used colors and pencils and paints, and whatever she could find. For
her it was sheer bliss. She never felt so alive as when she was expressing this creative vigor in her.

Chopsticks was a big inspiration to her, and she started drawing comics where Chopsticks was the hero and
would have to save the neighboring cats from disaster. Sometimes Chopsticks, in the green cape she designed
for him, would have to rescue some young kittens from a burning building, or even a female cat that got stuck
up in a tree. She took Chopsticks on these crazy adventures that she drew stories of, and that was her favorite
thing to do in the whole world.

"I wonder what will be your next adventure, Chopsticks?" said Bianca.

The cat just purred as he ate his pieces of chicken from the saucer Bianca had put down for him. She was
thinking how Chopsticks could be happy from getting just a tidbit of chicken, and how he looked totally
satisfied.

Bianca poured some milk and cereal into a bowl for herself. She had waited for too long now; her family was
obviously still sleeping with no intention of getting up so early. She pulled out some paper and started drawing
with colored pencils. She started dreaming up a whole new storyline for Chopsticks. First she was going to
give him a brand new suit, not just a cape.

Chopsticks suddenly became Captain Chopsticks in Bianca's drawings, and she filled pages and pages of him
flying all over the world, helping fellow cats. Bianca laughed out loud as she drew some booties for Captain
Chopsticks-she had decided a superhero cat needed to have protection for his little paws. She made them
silvery and shiny; leather boots that looked like they could propel the cat into the space age, or at least up to the
moon.

Captain Chopsticks was on the Great Wall of China helping cats stuck out in the rain, and he was in Australia
running next to kangaroos to bring home a litter of kittens. The hero was all around the globe, even in the
Amazon, saving a bunch of adventure-seeking cats stuck on a little canoe. And so the drawings went on.
Bianca had endless ideas, and they just came to her as she was sitting in the brightly lit kitchen.

Bianca started to question whether she would like to live a similar life, like Captain Chopsticks, and travel the
world saving people. And that led her to the next daydream of her in a superhero suit flying across the world
saving people in distress.

"That's a funny image, Chopsticks-me, in a tight pink Lycra suit!" Bianca laughed.

But Chopsticks just licked his paws and stared at her. He stopped for a moment as if to laugh with her, but he
didn't in the end. He just continued to lick himself clean.

"Well thanks for the comments, Chopsticks," Bianca said to the cat.

"Who are you talking to?" Bianca's father said, suddenly.

ReadWorks.org · © 2013 ReadWorks®, Inc. All rights reserved.

 Cats Can Save the Day

"Oh, no one. I was just drawing," said Bianca.

Chopsticks quickly jumped out the window and made himself scarce. He knew that Bianca might adore him,
but the rest of the family not as much. Bianca finished her cereal, and kept drawing as her father peered over
her shoulder looking at her work.

"I can't believe how amazing your drawings are, my girl," he said.

"Thank you," Bianca replied.

"Where do you get the inspiration for this Captain Chopsticks? He looks like a real action hero star," he said.

"Oh you know, from cats stuck in memory," Bianca said with a little smile.

The family suddenly all came down, and Bianca moved her drawings aside to spend time with everyone.
Coffee and croissants were going around the table as everyone laughed and chatted about the perfect weekend
ahead. Bianca listened for a second, but almost immediately went back into her daydream.

ReadWorks.org · © 2013 ReadWorks®, Inc. All rights reserved.

 Cats Can Save the Day - Comprehension Questions

Name: ___________________________________ Date: _______________

1. What is Chopsticks?

A. Chopsticks is a kangaroo in Australia.

B. Chopsticks is a cat that visits Bianca.
C. Chopsticks is a cat that lives with Granny Da Silva.
D. Chopsticks is a kitten in a burning building.

2. When in the story does Bianca daydream?

A. in the beginning of the story ONLY

B. in the middle of the story ONLY
C. in the beginning and end of the story ONLY
D. in the beginning, middle, and end of the story

3. Bianca daydreams a lot.

What evidence from the passage supports this statement?

A. Bianca daydreams about what happens next door and dreams up a new storyline for
Chopsticks.
B. Bianca cannot believe her eyes when she sees how big Granny Da Silva's cats are.
C. Bianca's sister, mother, and father are allergic to cats, so her family does not have any cats.
D. After Chopsticks arrives, Bianca jumps up from her chair and opens the fridge to grab some
chicken for the cat.

4. What might be one reason that Bianca's drawings are amazing?

A. She loves the opportunity to pat Chopsticks.

B. She is waiting for her family to come down for breakfast.
C. She has drawn a lot ever since she was little.
D. She visited her grandmother in Portugal last summer.

5. What is a theme of this story?

A. the pains and struggles of growing up

B. the importance of choosing your friends carefully
C. the importance of a good education

ReadWorks.org · © 2017 ReadWorks®, Inc. All rights reserved.

 Cats Can Save the Day - Comprehension Questions

D. the connections between life and art

6. Read the following sentence: "She started dreaming up a whole new storyline for
Chopsticks. First she was going to give him a brand new suit, not just a cape."

What does the phrase dreaming up mean?

A. burning or setting on fire

B. making food or cooking
C. making up or imagining
D. cleaning up or organizing

7. Choose the answer that best completes the sentence below.

First, Bianca daydreams about Chopsticks saving others; ______, she daydreams about
herself saving others.

A. next
B. earlier
C. such as
D. primarily

8. Name two things that Bianca daydreams about.

(written answer)

9. What does Bianca draw?

(written answer)

10. How are daydreams a link, or connection, between Bianca's life and her drawings?
Explain your answer with evidence from the passage.

(written answer)

ReadWorks.org · © 2017 ReadWorks®, Inc. All rights reserved.