24 Nonfiction Passages for Test Practice

1 New York Toronto London Auckland SydneyMexico City New Delhi Hong Kong Buenos Aires24 Nonfiction Passages 24 Nonfiction Passages for Tfor Test Practiceest PracticeGrades 4 5by Michael Priestley24 Nonfiction Passages for Test Practice : Grades 4-5 Michael Priestley, Scholastic Teaching ResourcesScholastic Inc. grants teachers permission to photocopy the designated reproducible pagesfrom this book for classroom use. No other part of this publication may be reproduced inwhole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means,electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission ofthe publisher.

2 For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., 555 Broadway,New York, NY design by Sol sInterior design by Creative Pages, illustrations by Kate Flanagan, page 6; Greg Harris, pages 10, 20, 40; Neil Riley, page 40 Interior photos by Chris Cole/Duomo /Corbis, page 5; Hulton Archive, pages 6, 16, 36;Duomo/Corbis, page 24; Stock Montage, Inc., Chicago, page 44 ISBN 0-439-25609-7 Copyright 2002 by Michael Priestley. All rights in the Nonfiction Passages for Test Practice : Grades 4-5 Michael Priestley, Scholastic Teaching Resources!24 Nonfiction Passages for Test PracticeGrades 4 5 ContentsIntroduction ..41.

3 Biography: A soccer Superstar ..52. Informational article: Where Did We Get That Word? ..63. Letter to Mr. Peralta ..84. How-to guide: Secret Messages ..95. News story: The AmistadSails Again ..106. Announcement: Get Ready for the Talent Show ..127. Informational article: Fighting Fires ..138. Essay: On Being Yourself ..149. Biography: Sequoyah ..1610. Review: The World of Harry Potter ..1811. Franny s Journal ..1912. Informational article: A Park in Danger ..2013. How-to guide: How to Make a Swan ..2214. Biography: A Hero for the World ..2415. Comparison/Contrast: Whales and Dolphins.

4 2616. A Letter from Washington, ..2817. A Kid Pages Interview ..3018. Editorial: School Uniforms? Think Again! ..3219. Textbook article: Kingdoms of Gold: The Empires of West Africa ..3420. Speech: I Will Fight No More Forever ..3621. Advertisement: Crockett Travel Agency ..3822. Informational article: Beekeeping Basics ..4023. Autobiography: How I Came to the Museum ..4224. Comparison/Contrast: Bridging the Gaps in New York City ..44 Answer Key ..46" #24 Nonfiction Passages for Test Practice : Grades 4-5 Michael Priestley, Scholastic Teaching Resources4 IntrIntroduction to Toduction to TeacherseachersTo d a y s s t u d e n t s r e c e i v e i n f o r m a t i o n f r o m a n e v e r - i n c r e a s i n g n u m b e r o f s o u r c e s.

5 To m a n a g ethis overload of information, students must be able to distinguish between what is important and what is not a key skill in reading Nonfiction . They must understand what they read in traditional forms of Nonfiction , such as textbooks and news articles, but they must also comprehend newer forms of Nonfiction , such as advertisements on Web sites and e-mail on theInternet. Many students can benefit from reading more Nonfiction , but finding good examples of Nonfiction for instruction at different grade levels can be to Use This BookThe purpose of this book is to provide interesting, well-written Nonfiction selections for students to read.

6 These selections can be used for Practice and instruction in reading Nonfiction ,and they can be used to help prepare students for taking tests that include Nonfiction book provides 24 grade-appropriate Nonfiction texts in a wide variety of genres, frominformational articles, letters, and biographies to e-mail announcements and how-to text (of one page or two pages) focuses on a high-interest topic and has: a prereading question to help students focus on what they read. a set of 2 6 comprehension questions that resemble the kinds of questions students willsee on standardized questions with these texts are designed to measure critical thinking and comprehensionskills, such as summarizing information, drawing conclusions, and evaluating an author s purposeand point of view.

7 These questions will help you assess students comprehension of the materialand will help students Practice answering test questions. For different Passages , questions includemultiple-choice items, short-answer items, and written-response items that require longeranswers. (You will find answers to these questions in the Answer Key beginning on page 46.)Extending ActivitiesFor some of these richly detailed texts, you may want to have students go beyond answeringonly the questions that are provided. For example, for any given text you could have studentswrite a summary of the selection in their own words or rewrite the passage from a different point of view.

8 For some pairs of texts, you might have students compare and contrast the two selections. For other texts, you might want to create writing prompts and have students writefull-length essays about what they have learned. Students will benefit from reading and analyzing these texts, discussing them in class or in small groups, and writing about them in a variety of Nonfiction Passages for Test Practice : Grades 4-5 Michael Priestley, Scholastic Teaching ResourcesName Date Te x t 1 Who is Brandi Chastain?he United States and China weretied 4 4 in the final game of theWo m e n s Wo r l d C u p s o c c e r m a t c h .More than 90,000 fans packed the RoseBowl in California, where the game wasbeing played.

9 Another forty millionpeople were watching on TV. All eyeswere on Brandi Chastain, who wasabout to take her turn in the penaltykick shoot-out that would decide thewinner. The ball flew into the upperright corner of the net. She had scored agoal! The team won 5 4!Making that final goal to win the 1999Wo r l d C u p m a y w e l l h a v e b e e n t h ehighlight of Chastain s career as a soccerplayer. But it was not her only had been a soccer star in high schooland college. She played on a winningWo r l d C u p t e a m i n 1 9 9 1 . A t t h e 1 9 9 6 Olympic games, when the women steam won the gold medal, Chastainplayed every minute of every was at the center of her , there were nowomen s professional teams in theUnited States for this talented athlete tojoin.

10 In 1993, Chastain played for oneseason on a professional team in was voted the team s most valuableplayer. But when she returned home,she could not continue playing socceras a professional. Then at last, in May 2000, a UnitedStates professional league for women wasformed. The Women s United SoccerAssociation (WUSA) set up eight m e n f r o m t h e 1 9 9 9 Wo r l d C u p t e a mwere assigned to differentteams in the new Chastain wasassigned to play forSan Francisco. Wo u l d s h e m i n dplaying against herformer teammates?Not likely! As usual,Brandi Chastainwelcomed the chance to play againsttough opponents and Brandi Chastain made the most famous goal of hercareer, she was playing against former can you tell about the 1999 World Cup team fromthis article?