Selection: F-26

F-26

Grade level: 6

Word count: 1548 words

Author: Cullen Murphy

Synopsis: What is a huge cookie-shaped slab of earth doing in the middle of nowhere?

Excerpt: The "something" turned out to be a flat, right-side-up slab of earth. It was about two feet thick, with a pear-shaped crown of mowed grain and wild grass. It was ten feet long at its longest point and almost eight feet at its widest point. Its rim, Rick recalled, had a smooth wall, and it looked as if it had been cut by a giant pear-shaped cookie cutter.

Question: The slab of earth that Rick Timm found in the middle of the wheat field

1. looked like a giant pear-shaped cookie.
2. appeared to be made of solid rock.
3. consisted of a small patch of wild grass.
4. was shaped like a large dairy cow.

Selection: F-18

F-18

Grade level: 6

Word count: 1774 words

Author: Mary R. Dunn

Synopsis: There is a lot of action going on inside Earth.

Question: How would this image have looked different 250 million years ago?

1. Earth would have only one big landform.
2. The continents would be tiny islands.
3. There would be more than seven continents.
4. Earth's surface would be covered in lava.

Selection: F-28

F-28

Grade level: 6

Word count: 1784 words

Author: Anonymous

Synopsis: After Loki delivers the goddess Idun into the hands of the evil giant, he must develop a tricky plot to get her, and her apples, back again.

Excerpt: One thing the gods prized above their other treasures in Asgard, their heavenly home, was the beautiful fruit of the goddess Idun. The fruit was kept by the goddess in a golden chest and given to the gods to keep them forever young and fair. Without these apples all their power could not have kept them from getting old like the lowliest of mortals. Without these apples of Idun, Asgard itself would have lost its charm, for what would heaven be without youth and beauty forever shining through it?

Little by little the light of youth and beauty faded from the home of the gods, and they themselves became old and tired. Their strong, young faces were lined with care and wrinkled by age. Their dark locks passed from gray to white. Their flashing eyes became dim and hollow. Idun's husband, the god of poetry, could make no music while his beautiful wife was gone he knew not where.

Question: What do these two excerpts tell the reader about the change that the loss of the apples of Idun had on the heavenly kingdom of Asgard?

1. It became a place where joy was replaced by worry.
2. It became a place where everyone remained young and fair.
3. It became a place where music and poetry were banned.
4. It became a place where the gods could be happy.

Selection: F-5

F-5

Grade level: 6

Word count: 1658 words

Author: Ben Robinson

Synopsis: Fencing is an Olympic sport that offers athletes an opportunity to learn the skills of the gladiators.

Excerpt: Times were anything but easy for Keeth. With all the odds stacked against him and so much sadness in his life, he could have very well quit the sport of fencing, but he was not to be defeated. For Keeth, neither quitting nor failure was an option. He devoted himself to the sport of fencing more intensely than ever. He used the training and competitions to distract himself from his grief, and to prove that his parents were right to get him into the sport in the first place.

Question: Which two details contribute to the reader's understanding of Keeth Smart's character?

1. He never considered quitting or failing.
2. He put a lot of effort into his training.
3. He took a break from competitions.
4. He never was confident in his skills.
5. He was slow to recognize his potential.

Selection: F-43

F-43

Grade level: 6

Word count: 1518 words

Author: Deirdre Bligh

Synopsis: Eclipses are rare events. From ancient times to the present, they have fascinated people around the globe.

Excerpt: The people of ancient China thought an eclipse was a dragon eating the sun. In fact, the ancient Chinese word for eclipse means, "to eat." They also thought this same dragon attacked the moon during a lunar eclipse.

The people of Korea had a myth about eclipses. In this myth, a king ordered two fire dogs to capture the sun or the moon. Each time they took a bite out of the sun or moon, an eclipse took place.

The ancient Vikings of northern Europe thought an eclipse happened when a pair of sky wolves took a bite out of the sun or moon. And the people of Vietnam once believed a similar story, but in their myth a frog or toad ate the moon.

Question: Ancient civilizations created stories to explain what happened to the sun during an eclipse. A common theme among these stories is

1. an animal ate the sun.
2. the sun grows stronger.
3. humans ran away from the sun.
4. a god scared away the sun.