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Unit 4: Poetry CFA
Read the following poems about snow falling. Then carefully answer the questions that follow.
December Moon
Explorer
By Mary Sarton
By Alan Brownjohn
Before going to bed
After a fall of snow
I look out on the field
Shining there in the moonlight
So calm, untouched and white
Snow silence fills my head
After I leave the window.
Hours later near dawn
When I look down again
The whole landscape has changed
The perfect surface gone
Criss-crossed and written on
Where the wild creatures ranged
While the moon rose and shone.
How much can come, how much can go
When the December moon is bright,
What worlds of play we’ll never know
Sleeping away the cold white night
After a fall of snow.
Two o’clock:
Let out of the back door of the house, our cat
Is practicing the snow.
The layer of white makes a small, straight, crumbling cliff
Where we open the back door inwards. The cat
Sniffs it with suspicion, learns you can just about
Pat the flaking snow with a careful dab. Then,
A little bolder, he dints it with one whole foot
- and withdraws it, curls it as if slightly lame,
And looks down at it, oddly. The snow is
Different from anything else, not like
A rug, or a stretch of lino*, or an armchair to claw upon
And be told to Get off!
The snow is peculiar, but not forbidden. The cat
Is welcome to go out in the snow. Does
The snow welcome the cat?
He thinks, looks, tries again.
Three paces out of the door, his white feet find
You sink a little way all the time, it is slow and cold, but it
Doesn’t particularly hurt. Perhaps you can even enjoy it, as something new.
So he walks on, precisely, on the tips of very cautious paws…
Half-past three, the cat stretched warm indoors.
From the bedroom window we can see his explorations
-From door to fence, from fence to gate, from gate to wall to tree, and back,
Are long patterned tracks and trade-routes of round paw-marks
Which fresh snow is quietly filling.
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*lino – type of floor covering
1. The word that best describes how the speaker in “December Moon” feels after seeing the snow
“criss-crossed and written on”?
A.
B.
C.
D.
fearful
playful
lonesome
curious
2. The author’s main purpose for writing the poem “December Moon” is
A.
B.
C.
D.
to describe how quickly the snow can change.
to explain why creatures make tracks in the snow.
to describe how the bright moon keeps the speaker awake.
to tell about a dog who does not bark at other creatures.
3. The setting of “December Moon” is best described as
A.
B.
C.
D.
cheerful.
mysterious.
protected.
dangerous.
4. Based on information in “Explorer,” the cat has never
A.
B.
C.
D.
looked out the window.
stretched out indoors.
walked in the snow.
clawed the armchair.
5. The theme of “Explorer” is
A.
B.
C.
D.
nature can be beautiful.
making discoveries is exciting.
animals deserve a loving home.
the bond between people and animals is special.
Questions 6 and 7 relate to BOTH poems.
6. In both poems, the snow is
A.
B.
C.
D.
falling from the sky.
making crumbling cliffs.
shining in the moonlight.
changing the landscape.
7. The speaker in “December Moon” and the cat in “Explorer” are similar because
A.
B.
C.
D.
both go outside in the snow.
both leave tracks in the snow.
both wonder about the snow.
both observe animals in the snow.
On the next several pages are a poem and a passage. Read the poem and answer questions 9 - 13.
Then read the passage and answer questions 13-15.
Bone Puzzle
By Antonio Valdez
Here’s a thighbone, or so I think.
This one goes with the jawbone, or so I think.
This is some sort of a leg bone, or so I think.
“Put me with the hip bone,” one of the bones,
Gleaming white, shiny and rock hard,
Seems to say.
Slowly, steadily, yet surely,
The puzzle takes shape
With diligence and hard work.
What was once a pile of bones,
Dug up from the yielding earth,
Dusted off with brushes as fine as silk,
Carefully crated and carted away,
Shipped safely to a faraway museum,
Is now something else, something more.
Something amazing to behold.
The first step was to figure out
Which bones, strong and solid,
Would make up the spine of the great dinosaur.
As bone fits against bone,
A three-dimensional puzzle takes shape.
The whispering skeleton wants to share its secrets.
I can almost hear the giant lizard roar.
I can almost see it run through the jungle.
Chasing something?
Running from something?
It’s hard to know for certain.
I know that we’ll never know for sure
What happened to the dinosaurs.
But maybe, when my bone puzzle is complete,
Some solutions to this mystery will come to light.
8. The speaker thought he
A. might be able to tell if the giant lizard was running from something.
B. should start by putting together the bones of the spine.
C. could hear one of the bones explain how to put the spine together.
D. should ask people in a museum to help put the bones together.
9. The brushes with such fine bristles were used on the bones to
A. remove all the dirt from the bones.
B. get the bones to shine.
C. make the bones seem more valuable.
D. help ship the bones.
10.
“The whispering skeleton” is an example of
A. metaphor.
B. alliteration.
C. simile.
D. personification.
11.
The point of view of the poem is
A. narrator.
B. first person.
C. second person.
D. third person.
12.
This poem is mostly about a person who
A. wants to travel back in time to see dinosaurs run wild.
B. enjoys digging in the ground to find dinosaur bones.
C. plans to put together many different kinds of puzzles.
D. studies bones to learn more about the mysteries of dinosaurs.
A Skeleton Puzzle
By Sam R. McColl
Have you ever seen the skeleton of a
dinosaur up close? Dinosaurs can be pretty
scary, but also pretty interesting. Have you
ever wondered what it would take to build
one? A team of scientists and students at
the University of California Museum of
paleontology did just that. They were given
casts of the bones of a Tyrannosaurus rex
from a paleontologist in Bozeman, Montana.
The California team wanted to reconstruct
the T. Rex’s skeleton. Putting together
dinosaur bones is not easy task.
Sorting Those Dirty Bones
The first step was to make sure all of the
bones were in order. The ones arrived in a
twelve-foot-long wooden crate. The team
gently unpacked each piece. There were
3,000 bone pieces in the box. One by one,
the team made sure that no bones were
broken. The team knew how important it
was to handle each fragment with care.
They took their time to sort everything out.
Next, each of the bones had to be washed,
filed down, and painted by hand. The
shipped bones still had markings on them
from the molds that had been used to shape
them. They had to be smoothed out and
given the color of real dinosaur bones.
Strike a Pose
The team had to figure how the T. rex
should stand. In order to do this, they
created an internal framework. They used
steel tubing. The team planned to attach the
bones to this framework. The team decided
to build the framework to make the T. rex
look like it was running after prey. They
imagined that long legs striding, graceful
and strong like an antelope. They imagined
the giant tail sticking straight out. This pose
was sure to appeal to all the museum’s
visitors.
The Framework
Next, the team had to figure out how they
were going to keep the frame together. One
team member, Mark Good win, decided that
welding the frame together would make the
fame really solid. Mark had to weld the
pieces of steel tubing together at all of the
places where bones would meet. Think of
these connections as the T. rex’s joints, like
your knees, elbows, and shoulders. Every
single joint needed to be welded. The
welding was a very important part of the
work.
The Building Begins
When the welding was done, the team
finally had the major framework in place.
Now they could begin the process of
attaching the bones. The bones were drilled
with holes for the framework to occupy.
Slowly, the skeleton came together’ leg
bones, the tibia and fibula, took their first
step in ages. The skeleton became really
lifelike when the workers attached the T.
rex’s skull. Al construction progressed, the
traffic around the growing T. rex increased.
Everyone was excited to see the skeleton this
ancient beast from before their eyes.
Finishing Up
After all of the bones were in place, the
Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton was complete!
The skeleton, in all its glory, now stands
guard over the entrance of the Valley Life
Sciences Building at the University of
California Museum of Paleontology. The
team has since added skeletons of other
dinosaurs to complete this prehistoric
picture and make it even more lifelike.
Questions 13 and 14 relate to BOTH the poem and the passage.
13. The poem and the passage are alike because they both
A. contain only fact about dinosaurs.
B. are written in the same style.
C. try to convince the reader to visit a museum.
D. are about similar topics.
14. Which statement describes on difference between the poem and the passage?
A. The passage gives specific details about a process.
B. The passage uses more figurative language.
C. The poem describes an exhibit at a specific museum.
D. The poem gives more scientific facts.
15. Compare and contrast how the author’s of “Bone Puzzle” and “A Skeleton Puzzle” view
dinosaurs. Use one example from each piece to support your response.
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ELA 6 Unit 4 CFA Answer Key
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
D
A
B
C
B
D
C
B
A
D
B
D
D
A
OE
6.RL.6 Point of View
6.RL.2 Theme
6.RL.5 Analyze
6.RL.1 Inferences
6.RL.2 Theme
6.RL.9 Compare/Contrast
6.RL.9 Compare/Contrast
6.RL.6 Point of View
6.RL.1 Inferences
6.RL.4 Figurative Language
6.RL.6 Point of View
6.RL.2 Key Idea
6.RL.9 Compare/Contrast
6.RL.9 Compare/Contrast
6.RL.9 Compare/Contrast
ELA 6 Unit 4 CFA Answer Key
Score
3
Descriptors
The response includes two examples (one from each piece)
AND
The response includes clear explanations of text connections
The response includes one example from one of the pieces
2
AND
The response includes at least one example from the text to support the the
explanation
The response has no examples
1
OR
No explanation to support the response
0
Inaccurate in all aspects