The Sparrow Family: story-reading skills · Answer guide

Lesson 1 · Find characters and actions

Identify who acts and use words from an original story as evidence.

1. Who brings soil in our original story?

   Answer: Arun. The story states that Arun brings soil.

2. Who plants the bean seed?

   Answer: Mina. The story says Mina puts the seed in the soil.

3. Which is an object in this story?

   Answer: pot. Pot is the object used for planting.

Discuss: After the official reading, name two characters and point to a page detail for one action. For our original story, draw Mina’s pot and label the seed.

Teaching note: An answer should use the story’s information. A likely guess is not the same as a stated detail. Open responses need discussion; they are not automatically marked.

Adult observation

Ask the learner to explain and show the goal using a fresh example.

• Uses the target word appropriately
• Explains or demonstrates with support as needed

Adult observation; multiple-choice scores alone do not establish speaking or writing mastery

Lesson 2 · Retell a beginning, middle and end

Sequence four stated events without reversing cause and order.

1. Which event comes first in our four-card retelling?

   Answer: plant the seed. Planting begins this retelling.

2. What happens after planting in our story?

   Answer: water the soil. Watering follows planting in the account.

3. When does the shoot appear?

   Answer: several days later. The story explicitly says several days later.

Discuss: Make four original story cards and explain their order to an adult. Then retell three events from the linked source story without copying its sentences.

Teaching note: A story sequence says what happened in that account. A shoot does not appear instantly just because the next picture shows it. Open responses need discussion; they are not automatically marked.

Adult observation

Ask the learner to explain and show the goal using a fresh example.

• Uses the target word appropriately
• Explains or demonstrates with support as needed

Adult observation; multiple-choice scores alone do not establish speaking or writing mastery

Lesson 3 · Explain with a story clue

Distinguish a stated fact from a reasonable idea supported by a clue.

1. Why does Mina label the pot in the ending?

   Answer: to tell it from the other pot. The ending gives identification as the reason.

2. Which word can introduce a reason?

   Answer: because. Because links a statement with its reason.

3. How many pots stand together at the end?

   Answer: two. The ending says two pots.

Discuss: After the linked source story, ask one “why” question and identify a supporting detail. Then say which detail is stated and which idea you inferred.

Teaching note: A new example is not automatically part of the story. Say when you are making a connection beyond the given events. Open responses need discussion; they are not automatically marked.

Adult observation

Ask the learner to explain and show the goal using a fresh example.

• Uses the target word appropriately
• Explains or demonstrates with support as needed

Adult observation; multiple-choice scores alone do not establish speaking or writing mastery

Final check · Set 1

Try one set after the lessons. Use the other set after reviewing any errors.

1. Which detail is not given in part 1?

   the pot’s colour. No colour is stated for the pot.

2. How are Arun and Mina related in our story?

   Arun is Mina’s cousin.. Part 1 identifies Arun as her cousin.

3. Which event is last in this account?

   make a label. The children make a label after the shoot appears.

4. Which order matches the story?

   plant, water, shoot, label. This sequence follows the stated order.

5. Which claim is stated in the garden ending?

   Mina writes BEAN on a label.. The BEAN label is explicitly mentioned.

6. The pencil-box idea is ___.

   a new application. The lesson transfers the idea to a new object.

Final check · Set 2

Try one set after the lessons. Use the other set after reviewing any errors.

1. What best supports an answer about who brings soil?

   the sentence naming Arun’s action. The story sentence directly supplies the evidence.

2. If the story does not tell Mina’s age, what should we say?

   The story does not tell us.. There is not enough information to give an age.

3. What does “several days later” tell us?

   Time passes.. The phrase marks a period of waiting.

4. Can a retelling use new words while keeping the same events?

   Yes. A retelling can be in the learner’s own words.

5. Which reason has supporting evidence?

   The label helps identify the pot.. The text states that the label helps tell the pots apart.

6. What should a reader do when explaining an answer?

   Give a relevant story detail.. A supporting detail makes the reasoning clear.