Literacy ActivitiesGrade 5, Week 9

Imagery, Comprehension, and Prepositions

Day Topic Pages

Day 1 Imagery 2–3

Day 2 Imagery 4–5

Day 3 Comprehension: Answering Questions (Informational Text) 6–8

Day 4 Comprehension: Answering Questions (Informational Text) 9–11

Day 5 Prepositions/Prepositional Phrases 12–13

Day 1Imagery consists of words, phrases, and sentences

that help create a picture in the reader’s mind.Imagery appeals to the reader’s senses.

Draw a picture based on each passage below. Your picture should highlight the sensory language from the passage.

Grade 5 Literacy, Week 9, Page 2

1. The bright, yellow sun shined through the puffy, white clouds after the ear-splitting, booming thunderstorm.

2. The sweet, sugary smell of my grandmother’s gooey, layered, rich, chocolate cake fills the house.

Day 1 (continued)

Grade 5 Literacy, Week 9, Page 3

Read each text below. Circle the words that appealto the reader’s senses.

1. Jorge wakes up every morning to the mouth-watering, delicious

smell of salty, cheesy scrambled eggs. He quickly hops out of bed,

throws on his soft, comfortable t-shirt, and races to the kitchen

table. He can’t wait to take a giant bite of the warm, fluffy eggs.

2. Tiffany gently opens the heavy door and walks into the movie

theater. She is greeted by the crackling sound of popcorn being

made and the salty smell of melted butter. She buys her ticket

and settles into the plump, cozy chair.

3. The bright, shining sun rises slowly over the horizon. The trees rustle

softly in the wind and the squirrels quietly eat their tasty acorns.

The dew glistens on the short blades of grass. Sara loves mornings.

4. The thunderous applause was deafening. Carol stood proudly on

the stage, next to her shiny, sturdy piano. She looked out at the

radiant faces in the crowd. She sat down at her piano and took a

deep breath. Her fingers touched the cold keys and she began

playing blissful, soothing music.

Day 2

Grade 5 Literacy, Week 9, Page 4

Rewrite each sentence below to appeal to the reader’s senses.Use the words from the Word Bank to help.

1. Jessica walked past the flowers.

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2. Frank swims in the water.

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3. Anna took a bite of the apple.

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4. Dawn petted her dog.

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5. Pearl heard thunder.

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Word Bank

juicy floral fresh garbled rotten minty

cold shiny muffled delicious booming soft

fluffy loud crisp sweet warm ear-splitting

Frank swims in the shiny, cold water.

Jessica walked past the fresh, blooming flowers.

Anna took a bite out of the crisp, delicious apple.

Dawn petted her fluffy, sweet dog.

Pearl heard booming, loud thunder.

Day 2 (continued)

Grade 5 Literacy, Week 9, Page 5

Write a story about each image thatwill appeal to the reader’s senses.

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The elephant was excited to grab a fresh, green

snack. He grabbed a huge pile of tasty, crisp

grass and held it under his trunk. It was a perfect

start to a warm, summer morning.

The massive, rambling waterfall echeod through

the forest. I could see the blue, clear water

through the trees. It was a brisk morning,

perfect for a long hike.

Day 3Read the text. Then, answer the questions on the next page.

Grade 5 Literacy, Week 9, Page 6

A prickly giant lives in Arizona. It risesas high as 78 feet, which is as tall as 2telephone poles stacked on each other. It can weigh as much as 4,800 pounds, which is about the weight of a car. This green giant isn’t just big, it’s also very old. The biggest ones are about 200 years in age.

So, exactly what is this supersize desert dweller? It is the saguaro cactus.

The saguaro cactus only lives in southern Arizona and northern Mexico, in the Sonoran Desert. The saguaro can be as tall and skinny as a pencil or it can also grow many arms that stick out from its body.

A cactus lives in a desert, so it needs to be able to store water. The saguaro’s body stores water with its pleats, or ribs, which expand withwater when it rains. The pleats shrink back in when the weather gets dry.

Saguaros are covered in rows of hard, spiky needles. They help protect the plant from being eaten by animals. Since these plants are filled with water, they would naturally be very attractive to desert animals. Therefore, the needles deter animalsfrom chowing down on a saguaro snack!

Facts about the saguaro cactus

Height Can get as tall as 78 feet

Weight Can get as heavy as 4,800 pounds

Number of Arms As many as 50

Age Up to 200 years old

Rising Above the Desert Floor

Ribs and Needles

Day 3 (continued)

Grade 5 Literacy, Week 9, Page 7

1. Where is the saguaro cactus found?

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2. What does the saguaro cactus store inside?

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3. What covers the saguaro cactus?

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4. Why would animals be attracted to the saguaro cactus?

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5. How big can a saguaro cactus grow?

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The saguaro cactus is found in southern Arizona and northern Mexico.

The saguaro cactus stores water with its ribs.

The saguaro cactus is covered in rows of hard, spiky needles.

Animals would be attracted to the saguaro cactus because they are filled with water.

A saguaro cactus can grow as tall as 78 feet and can get as heavy as 4,800 pounds.

Day 3 (continued)

Grade 5 Literacy, Week 9, Page 8

1. Question: _____________________________________________________

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Answer: ______________________________________________________

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2. Question: _____________________________________________________

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Answer: ______________________________________________________

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3. Question: _____________________________________________________

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Answer: ______________________________________________________

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Write 3 additional questions about the saguaro cactus that can be answered by using the text. Use a question word like

who, what, where, when, or why. Then, answer the questions.

How old can saguaro cactuses be?

Saguaro cactuses can live for 200 years.

What desert could you find saguaro cactuses living in?

You could find saguaro cactuses in the Sonoran Desert.

Why are saguaro cactuses covered in hard, spiky needles?

The saguaro cactus uses its needles to defend against animals trying to take its water.

Day 4Read the text. Then, answer the questions on the next page.

Grade 5 Literacy, Week 9, Page 9

In 1848, a spark of gold changed history. It all started with a man in California who was working to build a sawmill on a river. Suddenly, he saw something shiny in the water. When he looked more closely, he realized that he had found bits of gold!

Word spread quickly about the gold in the river. People hurried to California from all over the country, hoping to find gold and get rich. Thousands of people traveled there, and new towns grew to support them. At first, people simply took gold out of the water, but as the gold became harder to find, they began mining the land. They used machines to dig for gold deep in the ground.

Years passed and soon most of the gold was gone and the mining had badly hurt the land. Still, people kept going west in search of more gold. As a result, the state of California grew, and today, it has more people than any other U.S. state.

Day 4 (continued)

Grade 5 Literacy, Week 9, Page 10

1. When did the man in California first find gold?

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2. Where did the man find gold in California?

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3. Who else came to find gold?a. piratesb. people from all over the countryc. a few people from the west

4. What did people use to dig for gold?

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5. What did mining do to the land?

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6. Write a question that you have about the text. Use a question

word like who, what, where, when, or why.

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The man in California first found gold in 1848.

The man in California found gold in a river.

People used machines to dig for gold.

Mining had hurt the land.

Why did people still go west to find gold after most of the gold was gone?

Day 4 (continued)

Grade 5 Literacy, Week 9, Page 11

Think about your favorite animal. What makes it special?List 3 facts about the animal.

Fact 1: ____________________________________________________________

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Fact 2: ____________________________________________________________

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Fact 3: ____________________________________________________________

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Write 3 questions that someone could answer about your favorite animal by reading your facts.

Question 1: _______________________________________________________

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Question 2: _______________________________________________________

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Question 3: _______________________________________________________

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Dogs can run 19 miles an hour.

Dogs can see in the dark better than humans.

Adult dogs have 42 teeth.

How fast can dogs run?

Can dogs see better than people?

How many teeth do dogs have?

Day 5Prepositions are words that describe a relationship

between 2 or more things in a sentence. They usually tell when something happened or where it can be found.

Circle the prepositions in each sentence.

Grade 5 Literacy, Week 9, Page 12

1. David leaped across the puddle on his way to school.

2. When I give my dog, Zeus, a treat, he likes to hide behind the

couch and eat it.

3. I bike past the fire station on my way to Jenny’s house.

4. Raphael likes to sit between Tiana and Joanna during math class.

5. We walk over the bridge to get to the pond.

6. Jacob likes eating ice cream after dinner.

7. Sanmeet lives beside Eugene on Hastings Street.

8. The cat sometimes sleeps under the bed.

9. The bird peeks his head through the leaves to see

what we are doing.

10. The picture is hanging above the dresser.

11. Before school, I always make a fruit smoothie.

12. Blake likes to keep her sweaters next to her shirts in her dresser.

Choose a preposition and an object from the list below. Then, write 5 sentences using the preposition and object pairs.

Day 5 (continued)

Grade 5 Literacy, Week 9, Page 13

1. _____________________________________________________________

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2. _____________________________________________________________

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3. _____________________________________________________________

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4. _____________________________________________________________

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5. _____________________________________________________________

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Prepositionsaboveduringover

betweenacrossafter

Objectsthe moviethe tree

the flowerthe riverschool

the table

We watched the planes fly high above the tree.

It was distracting hearing everyone talk during the movie.

Ashley planned on studying after school.

There were two huge birds that flew over the river.

There was a delicious plate of nachos across the table.