Annotated Teacher’s Edition

• Decoding/Structural Analysis
• Fluency
• Vocabulary/Vocabulary Strategies
• Comprehension
• Writing
• Take-Home Stories
 Dear Family Member or Caregiver:

Welcome! This year your child will be building

important reading skills. By working together, you
and your child can become partners in learning.

Each week your child will bring home

• a Fluency passage that he or she will read
to you.
• a Take-Home Story for the two of you to read
together and discuss.

Using these brief texts, you can help your child

review vocabulary words and practice key reading
skills taught that week.

Your interest, praise, and encouragement are sure

to lead to your child’s success in school. Here’s to
an exciting year of learning!

Yours truly,

Published by Macmillan/McGraw-Hill, of McGraw-Hill Education, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.,

Two Penn Plaza, New York, New York 10121.

Copyright © by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or
distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written
consent of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., including, but not limited to, network storage or transmission, or
broadcast for distance learning.

Printed in the United States of America

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 HES 14 13 12 11 10
 Contents
Unit 1
Week 1: Lessons 1–5 Missing on Mud Hill
Decoding: Short vowels, Consonant blends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Fluency: Speed drill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Structural Analysis: Inflectional endings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Vocabulary: Dictionary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Comprehension: Character, Setting, Plot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Take-Home Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Writing: Organization Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Week 2: Lessons 6–10 A Trip to Seattle’s Past
Decoding: Long vowels (silent e) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Fluency: Timed reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Structural Analysis: Compound words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Vocabulary: Word parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Comprehension: Character, Setting, Plot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Take-Home Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Writing: Organization Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Mid-Unit Additional Instruction: Character, Setting, Plot . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Mid-Unit Additional Instruction: Character, Setting, Plot . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Week 3: Lessons 11–15 Antarctica: A Trip to the South Pole
Decoding: Digraphs ph, sh, th, wh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Fluency: Speed drill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Structural Analysis: Multisyllable words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Vocabulary: Context clues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Comprehension: Main Idea and Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Take-Home Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Writing: Sequence chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Week 4: Lessons 16–20 The Kingfisher’s Dream
Decoding: Long e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Fluency: Timed reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Structural Analysis: Prefixes un-, re- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Vocabulary: Context clues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Comprehension: Cause and Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Take-Home Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Writing: Cluster map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Week 5: Lessons 21–25 Hope Remains for the Butterflies
Decoding: Long a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Fluency: Phrase cues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Structural Analysis: Prefix mis- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Vocabulary: Analogies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Comprehension: Main Idea and Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Take-Home Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Writing: Organization map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
End-of-Unit Additional Instruction: Main Idea and Details . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
End-of-Unit Additional Instruction: Cause and Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
End-of-Unit Additional Instruction: Main Idea and Details . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
End-of-Unit Review: Decoding/Structural Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

iii
 Unit 2
Week 1: Lessons 1–5 Kylee’s New Team
Decoding: Long i . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Fluency: Speed drill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Structural Analysis: Inflectional endings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Vocabulary: Word parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Comprehension: Make Inferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Take-Home Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Writing: Cluster map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Week 2: Lessons 6–10 Citizens of Space
Decoding: Soft c and g . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Fluency: Timed reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Structural Analysis: Multisyllable words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Vocabulary: Dictionary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Comprehension: Make Inferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Take-Home Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Writing: Organization map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Mid-Unit Additional Instruction: Make Inferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Mid-Unit Additional Instruction: Make Inferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Week 3: Lessons 11–15 Hurricane Watch
Decoding: Digraphs ch, tch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Fluency: Speed drill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Structural Analysis: Suffixes -er, -or . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Vocabulary: Context clues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Comprehension: Make Generalizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Take-Home Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Writing: Organization map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Week 4: Lessons 16–20 A Road to Happiness
Decoding: Long o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Fluency: Timed reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Structural Analysis: Contractions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Vocabulary: Dictionary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Comprehension: Problem and Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Take-Home Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Writing: Cluster map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Week 5: Lessons 21–25 Saint Bernards: Saving Lives in the Mountains
Decoding: Diphthongs ow, ou . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Fluency: Phrase cues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Structural Analysis: Suffixes -ly, -ful, -fully . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Vocabulary: Thesaurus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Comprehension: Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Take-Home Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Writing: Organization map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
End-of-Unit Additional Instruction: Make Generalizations . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
End-of-Unit Additional Instruction: Problem and Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
End-of-Unit Additional Instruction: Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
End-of-Unit Review: Decoding/Structural Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

iv
 Unit 3
Week 1: Lessons 1–5 A Gift for Moon Shadow
Decoding: Variant vowel oo, ue, ew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Fluency: Speed drill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Structural Analysis: Compound words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Vocabulary: Word parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Comprehension: Character, Setting, Plot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Take-Home Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Writing: Character web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Week 2: Lessons 6–10 A Smart Start
Decoding: r-Controlled vowels ar, air, are, ear, ere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Fluency: Timed reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Structural Analysis: Comparative Suffixes -er, -est . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Vocabulary: Dictionary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Comprehension: Draw Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Take-Home Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Writing: Dialogue chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Mid-Unit Additional Instruction: Character, Setting, Plot . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Mid-Unit Additional Instruction: Draw Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Week 3: Lessons 11–15 A Need for Energy
Decoding: r-Controlled vowels er, ir, or, ur, ar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Fluency: Speed drill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Structural Analysis: Prefix de- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Vocabulary: Context clues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Comprehension: Cause and Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Take-Home Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Writing: Story map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Week 4: Lessons 16–20 Digging Up History
Decoding: r-Controlled vowels or, ore, oar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Fluency: Timed reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Structural Analysis: Suffixes -able, -ible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Vocabulary: Word parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Comprehension: Summarize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Take-Home Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Writing: Story map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Week 5: Lessons 21–25 The Show Must Go On
Decoding: Silent consonants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Fluency: Phrase cues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Structural Analysis: Multisyllable words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Vocabulary: Analogies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Comprehension: Draw Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Take-Home Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Writing: Cluster map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
End-of-Unit Additional Instruction: Cause and Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
End-of-Unit Additional Instruction: Summarize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
End-of-Unit Additional Instruction: Draw Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
End-of-Unit Review: Decoding/Structural Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

v
 Unit 4
Week 1: Lessons 1–5 Jackie Robinson and the Joy of Baseball
Decoding: Diphthongs oi, oy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Fluency: Speed drill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Structural Analysis: Prefixes con-, com- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Vocabulary: Context clues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Comprehension: Author’s Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Take-Home Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Writing: Organization map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Week 2: Lessons 6–10 Jacques Cousteau: Scientist Below Sea Level
Decoding: Words ending with -el, -al, -le . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Fluency: Timed reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Structural Analysis: Compound words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Vocabulary: Word parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Comprehension: Fact and Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Take-Home Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Writing: Cluster map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Mid-Unit Additional Instruction: Author’s Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Mid-Unit Additional Instruction: Fact and Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Week 3: Lessons 11–15 Gandhi’s Causes
Decoding: Variant vowels au, aw, al, ough, augh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Fluency: Speed drill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Structural Analysis: Suffix -ment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Vocabulary: Dictionary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Comprehension: Compare and Contrast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Take-Home Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Writing: KWL chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Week 4: Lessons 16–20 Extreme Sports
Decoding: Triple consonant blends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Fluency: Timed reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Structural Analysis: Multisyllable words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Vocabulary: Analogies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Comprehension: Fact and Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Take-Home Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Writing: Organization map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Week 5: Lessons 21–25 Hooked on Dancing
Decoding: Variant vowel oo, ou . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Fluency: Phrase cues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Structural Analysis: Prefix ex- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

Vocabulary: Dictionary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Comprehension: Author’s Perspective. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Take-Home Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Writing: Organization map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
End-of-Unit Additional Instruction: Compare and Contrast . . . . . . . . . . . 169
End-of-Unit Additional Instruction: Fact and Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
End-of-Unit Additional Instruction: Author’s Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
End-of-Unit Review: Decoding/Structural Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

vi
 Unit 5
Week 1: Lessons 1–5 Anne Sullivan: A Valuable Teacher
Decoding: Short a, Long a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Fluency: Speed drill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Structural Analysis: Prefixes and Suffixes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Vocabulary: Word parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Comprehension: Author’s Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Take-Home Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
Writing: Informal /formal language chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Week 2: Lessons 6–10 A Trip to Find Rain
Decoding: Short i, Long i . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
Fluency: Timed reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Structural Analysis: Suffixes -tion, -sion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Vocabulary: Word parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Comprehension: Compare and Contrast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Take-Home Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Writing: Venn diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Mid-Unit Additional Instruction: Author’s Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Mid-Unit Additional Instruction: Compare and Contrast . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Week 3: Lessons 11–15 The Weekend Treat
Decoding: Short e, Long e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Fluency: Speed drill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Structural Analysis: Greek and Latin roots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Vocabulary: Word parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Comprehension: Persuasion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
Take-Home Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
Writing: Venn diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
Week 4: Lessons 16–20 A Collection of Thoughts
Decoding: Short o, Long o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
Fluency: Timed reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Structural Analysis: Prefixes il-, im-, in-, ir-. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Vocabulary: Thesaurus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Comprehension: Make Judgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
Take-Home Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Writing: Comparison chart. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Week 5: Lessons 21–25 Candace Cable Zooms Forward
Decoding: Variant vowels oo, ou; oo, ue, ew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Fluency: Phrase cues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
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Structural Analysis: r-Controlled vowels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

Vocabulary: Context clues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Comprehension: Summarize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Take-Home Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
Writing: Before/after chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
End-of-Unit Additional Instruction: Persuasion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
End-of-Unit Additional Instruction: Make Judgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
End-of-Unit Additional Instruction: Summarize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
End-of-Unit Review: Decoding/Structural Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

vii
 Unit 6
Week 1: Lessons 1–5 The Great Wall of China
Decoding: Schwa endings r, l, n . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
Fluency: Speed drill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Structural Analysis: Suffixes -ant, -ent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
Vocabulary: Word parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Comprehension: Make Generalizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
Take-Home Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Writing: Sequence chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
Week 2: Lessons 6–10 A Tough Act to Follow
Decoding: Diphthongs ou, ow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Fluency: Timed reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
Structural Analysis: Greek and Latin roots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Vocabulary: Thesaurus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
Comprehension: Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Take-Home Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
Writing: Sequence chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Mid-Unit Additional Instruction: Make Generalizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
Mid-Unit Additional Instruction: Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Week 3: Lessons 11–15 Writing from Drawings to Alphabets
Decoding: Digraphs ph, sh, th, wh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
Fluency: Speed drill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
Structural Analysis: Suffixes -ous, -eous, -ious . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
Vocabulary: Word parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Comprehension: Problem and Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
Take-Home Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
Writing: Sequence chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
Week 4: Lessons 16–20 Updating the Printing Process
Decoding: Long and short vowels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
Fluency: Timed reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
Structural Analysis: Multisyllable words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
Vocabulary: Word parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
Comprehension: Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Take-Home Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
Writing: Strong words chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
Week 5: Lessons 21–25 A Signal of Smoke
Decoding: Long and short vowels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
Fluency: Phrase cues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Structural Analysis: Multisyllable words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246

Vocabulary: Dictionary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
Comprehension: Theme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
Take-Home Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
Writing: Cluster map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
End-of-Unit Additional Instruction: Problem and Solution . . . . . . . . . . . 251
End-of-Unit Additional Instruction: Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
End-of-Unit Additional Instruction: Theme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
End-of-Unit Review: Decoding/Structural Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254

viii
 Practice
Decoding:
Name Short Vowels,
Consonant Blends

In a consonant blend you can hear the sound of each

consonant. Examples are st, pl, and dr.

A. Underline the consonant blends in the words below. Then circle the
short vowel sound in each word.
flap g
grass drop cliff p
plum
slip track bring crab stop

B. Circle each word from d t p l u m s t s

Part A in the puzzle. Look
for the consonant blends c r b r i n g r t
to help you. r a a t f f l c c

a c s g r a s s l

b k d r o p i t i

v f l a p n p o f

k r l c s l i p f

C. Use the correct words from

Part A to complete each sentence.

1. Tom cut the g r ass for my dad.

2. I will s t op and not swim so I can eat.

3. Jack will b r i n g Fran to the pet shop.

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

4. The c l i f f had a big drop.

5. A c r ab is in the sand.

Grade 6/Unit 1/Week 1 9

 Practice
Name Fluency:
Speed Drill

A. As you read, pay attention to end punctuation, pauses, stops, and

intonation.
Rob sat with Pam. “The kids will find us,” said Rob. Just then
13 a bat zipped past. It made Pam jump. It nabbed a bug and left.
27 Next, a skunk stopped on a log. It sniffed and crossed the grass.
40 When it kept going, Pam and Rob were glad.
49 Rob got up and added sticks to the fire. A twig snapped. Pam
62 and Rob kept still. A bigger snap made them jump.
72 “Pam! Rob!” Jill led the kids from camp onto the grass. In
84 back of them was Mr. Lind. “Are you OK? What happened?” they
96 asked excitedly. Pam and Rob were glad to see Jill. 106

B. Read these words to yourself. Then have a partner time you.

Do it two more times to see if you can beat your score!

path rest cliff rock mud

back sped grip spot skunk

snap lend clip flop snug

slack trend spilt blond tuck

grand speck trick stomp slump © Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Record Your Scores

Time 1: Time 2: Time 3:

At Home: Read the passage again and talk about what

10 Grade 6/Unit 1/Week 1 happened to Pam.
 Practice
Name Structural Analysis:
Inflectional Endings

Add -ed, -ing, -s, or -es to the end of a word to change the
meaning.

A. Fill in the missing parts to make the bold-faced word.

1. Min kicked the ball and ran.

kick + ed = kicked

2. Mom was helping Ben make his bed.

help + ing = helping

3. It was spinning a web.

spin + n + ing = spinning

4. Is Jim hiding from Rosa?

hide - e + ing = hiding

5. She tosses paper into the trash can from her seat.

toss + es = tosses
B. Write two sentences about being at home. Use the word resting
in one sentence. Use the word talked in the other.
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

1. ________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

2. _ _______________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

Grade 6/Unit 1/Week 1 11

 Practice
Name Vocabulary:
Dictionary

A. Vocabulary Words Circle the word or phrase in the group that

does not belong with the bold-faced word.

1. regretted was sorry wanted felt bad

2. edge end rim crack
3. nervous calm jumpy worried
4. excitedly happy tired joyful
5. rashly slow not careful quick

6. Which would Pam say excitedly? Explain on the lines below.

a. “I found Wild Cat Rock!” b. “Jill said a rock is on Mud Hill.”

B. Vocabulary Strategy: Dictionary Use a dictionary to look

up each word in bold. Draw a line from the bold word to its meaning
on the right.

1. The dress did not fit her. the right size

He ran each day and was very fit. in good health

2. Sam only had a drop of water to drink. to let something fall

Did you drop the cup of milk? a small amount of liquid
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

3. We saw tracks in the snow. a mark left by a person

Look before crossing a track. or animal
a set of rails on which
trains move

12 Grade 6/Unit 1/Week 1

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Graphic Organizer

After reading “Missing on Mud Hill,” fill in the Story Map to help you
analyze the characters, setting, and plot.

Characters
Pam, Rob, Mr. Lind, Jill

Setting
Mud Hill

Problem
Pam hurts her arm when she falls off her bike.

Events
Pam and Rob go biking on Mud Hill.

Pam falls off her bike and hurts her arm.

Rob stays with Pam and keeps her safe.

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Solution
The other kids from camp find Pam and Rob.

Grade 6/Unit 1/Week 1 13

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Take-Home Story

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

The Edge of Crag Hill

Pat ggrabbed at the edge

g of a rock on Cragg Hill. He lifted
p putting his foot upp a bit. Then he looked down. He
himself up,
saw a bigg drop
p down. Pat’s hands felt cold. His gglasses fogged
gg up.p
g nervous. He regretted
He could not see very well. Pat got g climbing
Cragg Hill on a cold day. Would he get
g help?p

Then Pat heard a yyell. He yelled

y back. A man sat on topp of Cragg
Hill. The man tossed a rope to Pat. Pat ggrabbed it and held on as the
gg him upp to the hilltop.
man tugged p Pat was all right!

1. Underline words in the story that have short vowels.

2. Circle the words with inflectional endings.

3. Where does the story take place?

on the side of Crag Hill

4. How does Pat feel at the end of the story?

thankful, safe, glad

5. Pat gets because he is scared.
nervous rash happy © Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

At Home: Reread the story and talk about Pat’s problem.

14 Grade 6/Unit 1/Week 1
 Practice
Name Writing:
Graphic Organizer

To help you plan your writing, fill in an organization map.

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Grade 6/Unit 1/Week 1 15

 Practice
Name Decoding:
Silent e

A silent e at the end of a word can make the vowel say its name.

A. Underline the long vowels in the words below.

cape eve glide spoke cute
pace trapeze wipe close huge

B. Use the words from Part A to complete the sentences and puzzle.

Across 1 1
h u g e
1. The pumpkin was
in size. l
2 2
w i p e
2. I my glasses with
a napkin. d v
3 3
t r a p e z e e
3. Look, that man is
swinging from a ! a
4

4. The cat is soft and .

c u t e
5 4
c l o s e
5. The game was but
we lost. a p
p o
Down e k
1. I felt my skates e
across the ice.
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

2. December 31 is New Year’s .

3. Wow, you ran at a fast !

4. My dad about his job to the class.

5. My costume has a red .

16 Grade 6/Unit 1/Week 2

 Practice
Name Fluency:
Timed Reading

A. Have a partner time you as you read the passage.

Record your scores below.
One day, a man named John Back made homemade paste on a
12 stove. When John went to another place in the shop, he left the paste
26 pot untended on the fire. The hot paste spilled over the sides of the pot.
41 It made the fire swell in size.
48 At last, John saw the fire. He tipped a bucket of water on it, but
63 it did not help. John felt panic and left the shop fast. The accident in
78 John’s shop started a big fire. Shops and homes went up in flames.
91 Firemen stopped the blaze after a time, but it had burned lots in the
105 city. 106

Record Your Scores

First Read: Words Read Time

Second Read: Words Read Time

B. Partners Use this chart to check your partner’s reading.

Speed too slow too fast just right

Paid attention to never sometimes always

periods, commas,
end punctuation
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Accuracy skipped words self-corrected read every word

Read with feeling never sometimes always

At Home: Take turns reading the passage aloud. Then talk

about what happened. Grade 6/Unit 1/Week 2 17
 Practice
Name Structural Analysis:
Compound Words

A compound word is a word made up of two smaller words.

A. Write the two words that make the bold-faced word.

Example:

bathtub bath tub

1. homesick home sick

2. handstand hand stand
3. cupcakes cup cakes
4. backpack back pack
5. sunrise sun rise

B. Use the correct word from Part A to complete each sentence.

1. Mom stuffed my backpack full of books.

2. Dan woke up before sunrise .

3. Kate can do a handstand by herself in gym class.

4. I wanted to leave camp because I was homesick .

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

5. He ate five cupcakes within an hour!

18 Grade 6/Unit 1/Week 2

 Practice
Name Vocabulary:
Word Parts

A. Vocabulary Words Circle the word or phrase in the group that

does not belong with the bold-faced word.

1. blaze flame soft hot

2. accident mistake upset plan
3. basement home under top
4. flooding lost water damp
5. tourists visit home trips

6. Which can be carried? Tell why on the lines below.

a. a dump truck b. a toy truck

B. Vocabulary Strategy: Word Parts Write the letter of the

meaning on the right that matches the word on the left.

1. pancake a a. flat cake made on top of a stove

2. nutshell e b. the time when the sun goes down

3. anthill c c. a hill of sand made by ants

4. sunset b d. small yellow fish

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

5. goldfish d e. a case that holds a nut

Grade 6/Unit 1/Week 2 19

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Graphic Organizer

After reading “A Trip to Seattle’s Past,” fill in this Character, Setting,

Plot Chart to help you analyze the characters, setting, and plot.

Character Setting Plot

• the narrator • Seattle in the • The narrator’s
and her present family takes a
family tour of Seattle.
• Dan the tour A guide talks
guide about its past.

• Seattle in the • People sell

1880s logs, ships,
and fish.
Seattle grows.

• John Back • A fire starts

and burns
homes and
shops.

• To stop
flooding,
streets are
made higher.
Shops end up
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

in basements.

• Bill Speidel • Tourists

go under
sidewalks to
visit old shops.

20 Grade 6/Unit 1/Week 2

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Take-Home Story

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

Mud Angels in Florence, Italy

In 1966, flooding in downtown Florence made history.

Basements were filled with mud and water. As people saw the water
rise, they thought the city was lost.
p Some tourists were called “mud angels”
But there was hope!
because they helped the city. They carried many important books
and artwork to safe places, saving them from the water. These
things were a big part of the city’s history. Today, these works are
safe and used to teach about the past.

My Uncle Mike likes to visit the city of Florence. He thinks I

should go there someday, too.

1. Underline words in the passage that contain long a, e, i, o, or u with

silent e.

2. Circle the compound words in the passage.

3. What is the setting of the story?

Florence, Italy in 1966

4. How did the “mud angels” help the city?

They saved important books and artworks.

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

5. go to cities to see things from the past.

Tourists Teachers Mothers

At Home: Reread the passage and discuss something new

that you learned. Grade 6/Unit 1/Week 2 21
 Practice
Name Writing:
Graphic Organizer

To help you plan your writing, fill in an organization map.

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

22 Grade 6/Unit 1/Week 2

 Practice
Comprehension:
Name Plot, Character, Setting
Review

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

All Wet

Ben did not know the water in the river was so fast. Then
the raft tipped over. Ben was glad he had a life jacket. Now he This
sat on a rock in the river. He was nervous, wet, and cold. action is the
first in a series
“Ben!” his mom said. Ben saw his mom tie a rope to a of events.
tree. Dad tossed the rope, but it hit the water.

“Try again!” Ben called excitedly. Dad did it again. This time
Ben got the rope and tied it to himself. He slid off the rock. Water
got on his pants. Ben could not swim well.

Mom and Dad tugged the rope and pulled Ben to land. Ben
said, “Am I glad to see you!”

1. Underline the words that describe the setting in the passage.

2. Put a box around Ben’s feelings in the passage.

3. Summarize the plot of the passage.

Ben’s raft tips into the water. His mom and dad
get him. Ben is glad.
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Mid-Unit Additional Instruction

Grade 6/Unit 1/Week 1 23
 Practice
Comprehension:
Name Plot, Character, Setting
Review

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

A Trip to Mesa Verde

Mesa
Rick Rockland came to Mesa Verde, Colorado. Rick Verde is a
wanted to find things in Mesa Verde that had never been found place in the
before. story.

Mesa Verde is an old village that was made more than 700
years ago. People who lived there built houses in caves and under
cliffs. But they had to leave Mesa Verde after a time because there
was no more water. It was a lost city. Since then, people have looked
for things left behind in Mesa Verde. Rick was excited to see what
he could find!

1. Underline the main character’s name every time it appears in the

passage.

2. Put a box around words that tell about the setting in the passage.

3. Why did Rick Rockland want to go to Mesa Verde?

He wanted to find things that nobody had ever

found before.

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Mid-Unit Additional Instruction

24 Grade 6/Unit 1/Week 2
 Practice
Name Decoding:
Digraphs

Consonant digraphs are two consonants together that make

one sound. Th, sh, wh, and ph are consonant digraphs.

A. Underline the consonant digraphs in the words below.

fish shop wash which thank
p
phone crush think p
graph shape

B. Circle each word in d s e s s h a p e

the puzzle. Look for the
consonant digraphs to t h a n k d r d t
help you. h o a c r u s h k

i p l e g r a p h

n t b f y k s f a

k a s i w h i c h

h w a s h j t h n

t d h h p h o n e

C. Use the correct words from Part A to complete each sentence.

1. I got grapes at a food s h o p.

2. You must always t h i n k before you speak.
3. I stepped on the can to c r u s h it.
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

4. We use g r a p h paper in math class.

Write the letters from the boxes above on the lines. It spells a
secret message!
Call me from your new p h o n e.
4 3 1 2

Grade 6/Unit 1/Week 3 25

 Practice
Name Fluency:
Speed Drill

A. As you read, pay attention to accuracy.

Antarctica is not like other places.
6 In summer, as the ice melts, Antarctica gets small. In winter the
18 land gets big as the sea around it freezes. Antarctica can grow up to 10
33 million square miles in winter.
38 Antarctica is a land of midnight sun. In summer the sun shines all
51 day. A late sunset takes place. The nights can last less than an hour.
65 In winter, the sun can come up for an hour. Days are dark in winter.
80 In summer, sun melts a top layer of ice. When big chunks of ice melt,
95 ice can slide in to the sea. These chunks of ice are called icebergs. 109

B. Read these words to yourself. Then have a partner time you.

Do it two more times to see if you can beat your score!

whip phone whine brake crack

shape crash photo invite plum

thick graph theft cube drink

than whales shave theme trust

ships these method slope flunk

Record Your Scores

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Time 1: Time 2: Time 3:

At Home: Reread the passage and talk about what you

26 Grade 6/Unit 1/Week 3 know about Antarctica.
 Practice
Name Structural Analysis:
Multi-Syllable Words

A closed syllable is a syllable that ends in a consonant. Most

closed syllables have a short vowel sound.

A. Rewrite the word. Then place a line between the syllables.

Example:

basket bas/ket

1. tennis ten/nis
2. dentist den/tist
3. plastic plas/tic
4. hundred hun/dred
5. discuss dis/cuss

B. Use the correct words from Part A to complete each sentence.

1. You will need a racket and a ball to play tennis .

2. He said he was one hundred years old!

3. A lot of things are made with plastic .

discuss
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

4. It will help you to the problem with a pal.

5. When was the last time you went to the dentist ?

Grade 6/Unit 1/Week 3 27

 Practice
Name Vocabulary:
Context Clues

A. Vocabulary Words Check true or false for each statement.

1. Ice is the solid state of water. ✓true false

3. Scientists are often learning new things. ✓true false

2. You see rare animals all the time. true ✓ false

4. When it is midnight, the clock says 11:00. true ✓false

5. A hurricane is an extreme storm. ✓true false

B. Vocabulary Strategy: Context Clues Underline the context

clues that help you figure out each bold-faced word.

The scientists wanted to studyy the comet, so they were up past

midnight. The sky y would be dark then. They stood at the telescope
and looked into it. They saw a rare thing—a comet in the sky! A
comet is an odd mass of ice and gas. That body y of flying
y g frozen
water was an extreme thing that few had seen.

Use the correct bold-faced word from above to complete each

sentence.

1. The sky is not well lit at midnight .

2. To fish in winter, we cut a hole in the ice on the lake.

3. You were lucky to see a comet because they are rare .

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

4. Dan and Jim jumped into a big mass of leaves.

5. Tom can do extreme stunts on his bike.

28 Grade 6/Unit 1/Week 3

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Graphic Organizer

After reading “Antarctica: A Trip to the South Pole,” write the main
idea of the passage and the details that support it in the Main Idea Web.

Antarctica
changes
Antarctica is shape in the The sun
a very cold summer and shines all
place. winter. day in the
summer.

Main Idea

Antarctica is a rare land.

The sun Antarctica is

comes up home to
for just one Antarctica penguins,
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

hour in the has caves seals, and

winter. and lakes, whales, but
but no not people.
plants.

Sample responses are provided.

Grade 6/Unit 1/Week 3 29

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Take-Home Story

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

A Trip to Greenland

Greenland is a rugged
gg land north of the United States. The
weather is not as extreme as it is in Antarctica, but it can still be
very cold.

Robert E. Peary was the first man to go around Greenland. He

found out that Greenland has water on all sides. It is because of
Peary that scientists know about Greenland.

Scientists found that most of Greenland is ice with rock at its

base. The ice changes shape p in the summer.
mm Some of the ice melts,
and falls off. Tourists go to see this land at this time.

1. Underline words in the passage that contain digraphs th, sh, wh, or ph.

2. Find the words rugged and summer in the passage. Place a line
between the syllables in each word.

3. What is the main idea of the second paragraph?

Peary was the first man to go around Greenland.

4. Is the last sentence a main idea or a supporting detail?

supporting detail
5. Greenland’s weather is because it is very cold.
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

green small extreme

At Home: Reread the passage and talk about the details

30 Grade 6/Unit 1/Week 3 you learned about Greenland.
 Practice
Name Writing: Graphic
Organizer

To help you plan your writing, fill in a sequence chart.

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Grade 6/Unit 1/Week 3 31

 Practice
Name Decoding:
Long e

The letters e, ee, y, ey, and ea can all stand for the long e sound.

A. Circle the word that best completes each sentence.

Write the word on the line.

1. Put on your winter jacket because it is freezing outside!

feed freezing
g fast

2. When I give the rabbit lettuce, she squeaks .

steep
p sings squeaks
q

3. After Jack gave it a fish, the seal swam away.

seal song seat

4. My brother’s favorite treat is ice cream.

treat time team

5. The door is locked, so you will have to use a key to open it.
net key
y keepp

6. I told him to meet me at Pam’s home.

tea see me

7. Last night Patrick had a dream that he was hiking up a hill.

dream sheep
p green
g

8. Before I walk my puppy , I must feed him.

candyy penny
p y puppy
p ppy
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

B. Go back and underline the long e words in the choices above.

32 Grade 6/Unit 1/Week 4

 Practice
Name Fluency:
Timed Reading

A. Have a partner time you as you read the passage.

Record your scores below.
“The Sky Queen makes her home up there with the sun, white
12 clouds, and wet rain,” Kip said.
18 Kip’s pals began to feel that their land was not nice. Unlike
30 the Sky Queen’s clean place, it was hot and dusty in a lot of places.
45 Kip’s pals were unhappy with the hot days of their land.
56 “Can we replace, or change, our homes with homes in the
67 sky?” Kangaroo asked.
68 “I will think of a plan,” Kip said. “Meet me under my tree at
82 dusk.”
83 After the sun set and the land became dark, Kip’s pals met him
96 at his tree. One at a time they came out into the starry night. 112

Record Your Scores

First Read: Words Read Time

Second Read: Words Read Time

B. Partners Use this chart to check your partner’s reading.

Speed too slow too fast just right

Paid attention to never sometimes always

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

periods, commas,
end punctuation

Accuracy skipped words self-corrected read every word

Read with feeling never sometimes always

At Home: Take turns rereading the passage aloud. Then

talk about the Sky Queen. Grade 6/Unit 1/Week 4 33
 Practice
Name Structural Analysis:
Prefixes

The prefix re- means “to do something again.” The prefix un-
means “not” and changes a word’s meaning to its opposite.

A. Combine the prefix and the root to make a new word.

1. un lucky unlucky

2. re read reread

3. real un unreal

4. kind un unkind

5. name re rename

B. Use the correct words from Part A to complete each sentence.

1. When I finish a story I reread it to find clues to the plot.

2. She is unlucky because she never wins games.

3. Tess is nice and never unkind .

4. We will rename our dog Fluffy.

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

5. That story cannot be true because it is unreal .

34 Grade 6/Unit 1/Week 4

 Practice
Name Vocabulary:
Context Clues

tales peak exists horizon worry dusk

A. Vocabulary Words Choose the correct word from above to

complete each statement.

Example:
We saw the sun begin to dip below the horizon .

1. The hikers hoped to get up to the peak soon.

2. The gates to the park close at dusk .

3. After her long trip, Jenny had many tales to tell.

B. Vocabulary Strategy: Context Clues Underline the context

clues that help you figure out each bold-faced word.

From the mountain peak, we could see all the way to the
horizon, where the skyy and earth seemed to meet. “The tales we
will tell!” said Jack. I smiled, thinking about his stories. But I could
not stop thinking about the coming dusk. Climbing in the dark
made me worry. “Do not be upset,”p Jack said. “A way out exists.
There must be a path here somewhere. We can camp here tonight
and go down in the morning.”

Use the correct bold-faced word from above to complete

each sentence.
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

1. At dawn, the sun rises over the horizon .

2. This crosswalk exists so that we may cross Main Street safely.

3. Sue began to worry that she had lost her keys.

Grade 6/Unit 1/Week 4 35

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Graphic Organizer

After reading “The Kingfisher’s Dream,” fill in the Cause and Effect
Chart to help you analyze the events and why they happened.

Cause Effect

Kip the kingfisher hears Kip wants to move into

the story of the Sky the sky to live with the
Queen. Sky Queen.

Kip tells his pals about the Kip’s pals would rather
Sky Queen. live with the Sky Queen
than on land.

Kip and his pals need a Kip and his pals build
plan to move into the sky. a pile of sticks that will
reach to the sky.

The Sky Queen tells Kip Kip and his pals are
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

great things about the happy living on the land.

land.

Sample responses are provided.

36 Grade 6/Unit 1/Week 4

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Take-Home Story

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

Kip’s Song

Each time dusk changed to night, and the sun slipped beneath
y from the top, or peak,
the horizon, Kip sang loudly p of his tree.
Kangaroo said, “Please be quiet!” Kip tried but was unable to sing
y Kip started to worry.
softly! y He did not want to be unkind to his
friend.
Q
Kip called to Sky Queen, “I want a softer voice!” Sky Q
Queen
granted Kip’s wish. But then Kip’s voice was too soft! Kangaroo
g y since Kip did not seem to speak.
thought Kip was angry, p

p
So, Kip wished to get his voice replaced. Q
Sky Queen pp
reappeared
and granted his wish. From then on, Kip asked Kangaroo if it was
okay to sing a storyy from his tree. Kip and Kangaroo were friends
again!

1. Underline words in the passage that contain the long e patterns

(e, ee, ea, ey, y).

2. Circle the words with the prefixes re- and un- in the passage.

3. What caused Kip to make his first wish?

Kip did not want his singing to upset Kangaroo.

4. What effect does the Sky Queen have on Kip?
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

She takes away his voice and then gives it back.

5. Kip does not have to be upset or anymore.
worry smile cry

At Home: Reread the passage and talk about what makes

the Sky Queen special. Grade 6/Unit 1/Week 4 37
 Practice
Name Writing: Graphic
Organizer

To help you plan your writing, fill in a cluster map.

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

38 Grade 6/Unit 1/Week 4

 Practice
Name Decoding:
Long a

The letters a, ai, aigh, eigh, and ay can stand for the long a sound.

A. Underline the letters that stand for long a in the words below.
swayy rayy train claim lady
awayy displayy waist crazy basic

B. Read the clues. Then use the words to complete the sentences.

Across 1
l
1. Help! My dog ran ! 1 2
a w a y a
3
2. My photos are on in the a c d
hallway. 2
d i s p l a y
3. Lee rode the to New York. s a
4 3 5
4. The tree began to in the b t r a i n
wind.
a a m
4
5. I think it is if you do not s w a y
study before a test!
i
5

Down c r a z y
1. Who is that in the red hat?

2. He put a belt around his .

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

3. I would like to my prize.

4. I can play a few notes on the piano.

5. The bright of sunshine is hurting my eyes.

Grade 6/Unit 1/Week 5 39

 Practice
Name Fluency:
Phrase Cues

A. Use this passage for a choral reading or Readers Theater.

Save the Butterflies!
Butterflies are graceful and dainty animals. Their vivid wings
9 have lots of color, and people like to look at them. But things might
23 not stay that way unless we give butterflies our aid.
33 With your help, we may still enjoy gazing at butterflies for many
45 more years!
47 1. Treat butterflies fairly. Do not swat at them or grab them. When
60 walking outside, make sure you do not step on any butterflies.
71 2. Do not cut down milkweed plants or use spray to kill them.
84 Monarch butterflies need milkweed plants to maintain their way of
94 life. They lay their eggs on milkweed leaves. Without milkweed,
103 there will be no butterflies. 109

B. Read these silly sentences aloud. Pause when you see (/) and stop
when you see (//). Change your voice when you see a question mark (?)
or an exclamation point (!).

1. Hey!// You may want/ to say/ the sky/ is gray.//

2. Is there/ some grain/ on the quaint/ freight train?//

3. It is unkind/ and unfair/ to mistreat/ a teddy bear!//

4. The lady/ eats bacon/ at the table/ with the baby.//

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

5. See that?// The zebra/ is afraid/ of the beast.//

6. He ran straight/ to the gate/ so he would not have to wait.//

At Home: Read these silly sentences to a family member or

40 Grade 6/Unit 1/Week 5 friend and make up some of your own together.
 Practice
Name Structural Analysis:
Prefix mis-

The prefix mis- in front of a word means wrongly. For example,

misstep means to take a wrong step.

A. Combine the words together in their correct form.

Example:

mis match mismatch

1. mis read misread

2. dial mis misdial

3. place mis misplace

4. print mis misprint

5. spell mis misspell

B. Fill in the blanks with the word from Part A that makes sense.

1. Did you misspell any words in the note you wrote?

misdial
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

2. People our phone number a lot.

3. There was a mistake in the book. It was a misprint .

4. Mae misread the note because she couldn’t read Jay’s handwriting.

5. I can’t find my keys. I often misplace them.

Grade 6/Unit 1/Week 5 41

 Practice
Name Vocabulary:
Analogies

A. Vocabulary Words Check yes or no for each question.

1. Can sinks drain? ✓yes no

2. If cats stray, do they stay with their owners? yes ✓no

3. Can better grades be attained if you study? ✓yes no

4. Do many birds migrate? ✓yes no

5. Do you put clothes on the floor to maintain your room? yes ✓no
6. Is a whale a dainty animal? yes ✓no
B. Vocabulary Strategy: Analogies Choose the correct
bold-faced word from Part A to complete each statement below.

1. On is to off as big is to dainty .

2. Up is to down as remain is to migrate .

3. Rise is to fall as fi ll is to drain .

4. Hit is to missed as failed is to attained .

5. Happy is to sad as stay close is to stray .

6. Over is to under as mistreat is to maintain .

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

42 Grade 6/Unit 1/Week 5

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Graphic Organizer

In the middle oval of the Main Idea Web, write the main idea of
“Hope Remains for the Butterflies.” In the other ovals, write details that
support the main idea.

Caterpillars
turn into Monarch
Butterflies
butterflies butterflies
start their
inside their migrate many
lives as
pupas. miles south in
caterpillars.
the winter.

Main Idea
Butterflies are
interesting animals that we
should protect.

People should Monarch

maintain the butterflies
milkweed Butterflies
lay eggs on
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

plants and migrate back

milkweed
trees that north when
plants.
butterflies the weather
need. gets warmer.

Sample responses are provided.

Grade 6/Unit 1/Week 5 43

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Take-Home Story

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

Animals Need Our Help

Some animals need our help to continue their wayy of life. Some
y like butterflies. Others are big, and can weigh many
are dainty,
tons, like whales. They all need places to live.

When forests are cut or wetlands are drained, some animals can
g
no longer obtain the basics of life. Animals that migrate need paths
y They may
to travel. Roads and buildings can block their way. y stray
y
and face risks.

People should not mistreat or misuse land. If we do not help

maintain the world around us, these animals mayy go awayy forever.

1. Underline words in the passage that contain long a spelled a, ai, ay, eigh,
or aigh.

2. Circle the words with the prefix mis- in the passage.

3. What are two animals that need our help?

butterflies, whales
4. What is the main idea of the passage?

People need to take care of the world around

them to help save animals
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

5. Something that is small is .

dainty beast danger

At Home: Reread the passage and talk about three

44 Grade 6/Unit 1/Week 5 interesting facts you learned.
 Practice
Name Writing: Graphic
Organizer

To help you plan your writing, fill in an organization map.

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Grade 6/Unit 1/Week 5 45

 Practice
Comprehension:
Name Main Idea and Details
Review

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

Icebergs

There are manyy excitingg facts

g When the sun
about icebergs.
shines, icebergs can fall off from
Antarctica and slide into the water.
Some are bigger than 50 feet long
and rise 17 feet over the water.
Under the water, icebergs are even
bigger!

Icebergs can be fun to look at, but they are not always safe.
Ships sometimes crash into them. One ship, the Titanic, went down
in 1912 after crashing into an iceberg.

1. Underline the sentence that states the main idea of the

first paragraph.

2. Put a box around the main idea in the second paragraph.

3. Write the details that support the main idea of the

second paragraph.

Ships crash into icebergs. The Titanic sank

after crashing into an iceberg.
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

End-of-Unit Additional Instruction

46 Grade 6/Unit 1/Week 3
 Practice
Comprehension:
Name Cause and Effect
Review

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

The Dog Star

Some tales are told over and over again.

In one tale a dog, Keel, wants to see inside
the sky at dusk, because he thinks that such
a place exists. So Keel goes to the peak of a
hill just as the sun slips past the horizon.

Keel jumps and sees reds and pinks, but

not the inside of the sky. This makes him
worry. So, he leaps into the sky again! Keel
becomes a star! As a result, the “Dog Star” got its name.

1. Underline the following clue words or phrases in the passage:

so because as a result

2. Put a box around the effects in the passage.

3. Now write the cause of each effect on the lines.

Keel wants to see the inside of the sky. Keel

jumps. Keel does not see the inside of the sky.
Then, he jumps into the sky. Keel becomes a star.
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

End-of-Unit Additional Instruction

Grade 6/Unit 1/Week 4 47
 Practice
Comprehension:
Name Main Idea and Details
Review

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

Swift Foxes
Main
The lives of Swift foxes are at risk. Only small groups of ideas are
Swift foxes are left in the wild. One problem for the foxes is usually general
the fact that much of their land is now used to raise crops. statements.
Farmers have removed the foxes’ dens to plant food for people.
The foxes have lost their homes.
Details
Another pproblem for the foxes is the fact that ppeople
p and usually
support the
animals hunt them. Swift foxes are dainty and small. Big
main idea as
animals can take hold of the foxes when they stray from this sentence
their dens to eat. Because of these risks, there may soon be does.
no more Swift foxes.

1. Underline the sentence in the second paragraph that states the main
idea.

2. Put boxes around details that support the main idea in the
second paragraph.

3. Write the main idea of the passage on the lines:

Swift foxes are in danger of dying out.

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

End-of-Unit Additional Instruction

48 Grade 6/Unit 1/Week 5
 Practice
Decoding/Structural
Name Analysis:
Cumulative Review

A. Draw lines to separate the two words that make up compound

words. Circle words that have prefixes. Then underline digraphs.
/
driveway dizzy rethink /
homesick shocked
misread sneezes whales training unlike

B. Circle each word r e t h i n k t s l a

in the puzzle.
e s i x m i s r e a d

w h a l e s t a j m r

l o p k u n l i k e i

a c n i n e s n r m v

n k g s e e r i c t e

b e d i z z y n h o w

v d d w f e k g p s a

i h o m e s i c k e y

C. Use the correct word from Part A to complete each sentence.

1. Would you r e t h i nk your answer please?

2. Wh a l e s swim in water.

3. The whole team went through t r a i n i n g.

4. She always s nee z es more than once.
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Write the boxed letters from the numbered lines above on the
numbered spaces below. Read the secret message!
Sch oo l i s coo l!
4 1 2 3 4 2

End-of-Unit Additional Instruction

Grade 6/Unit 1/Weeks 1–5 49
 Practice
Name Decoding:
Long i

The letter i has the long i sound by itself in tidy. The long i sound
can also be spelled igh, as in sight, ie, as in pie, and y, as in cry.

A. Underline the letters that spell the long i sound in the words below.
g
flight tryy g
might dries g
sigh
pilot silent item y
reply p
pie

B. In the puzzle at the d t r y u m n t s

right, circle each word
from Part A. Look for d r e r m s i g h
the spellings i, igh, ie, r a p p i f l s d
and y to help you.
i f l i g h t i r

e k y l h p i l i

s f l o t n p e s

k r i t e m i n e

p i e w c l a t k

C. Use the correct words from Part A to complete each sentence.

1. The p i l o t makes sure the plane is safe.

2. Because the room was s i l en t , I did not think anyone was in it.
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

3. I wanted to t r y riding to the top of the hill.

4. Mom would s i g h when I did not listen.

Write the boxed letters on the numbered lines below to read
a secret message!
It is good to be o n t i me!
1 2 3 4

50 Grade 6/Unit 2/Week 1

 Practice
Name Fluency:
Speed Drill

A. As you read, pay attention to pauses, stops, and end punctuation.

Kylee sat on her bed and looked at the view. She had to
13 admit, it was a nice sight. Then there was a tap on the door.
27 Kylee rushed to greet the guest. It was Beth, a girl who lived
40 on a farm beside Kylee’s home. Beth was in the same grade as
53 Kylee, and she came to welcome her. The kids began to chat.
65 They liked a lot of the same things. They both liked basketball.
77 Kylee and Beth quickly became pals that summer.
85 Then one day in the last week of summer, Beth declared,
96 “Class starts this Friday! I cannot wait for school to begin, can
108 you?” 109

B. Read these words to yourself. Then have a partner time you.

Do it two more times to see if you can beat your score!

sighed lights flight stain flee

bright sight reply drain recess

pie tiny shiny straight peach

flies tie ally eight key

cry try nylon gray hobby

Record Your Scores

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Time 1: Time 2: Time 3:

At Home: Reread the passage and then create two

sentences using the words in the list. Grade 6/Unit 2/Week 1 51
 Practice
Name Structural Analysis:
Inflectional Endings

Sometimes when you add -es or -ed to the end of a word, you
first have to change a y to an i.

A. Fill in the missing parts to make the bold-faced word. The first two
have been done for you.

1. Joel was so upset that he cried.

cry – y + ied = cried

2. Piper empties the basket of paper every day.

empty – y + ies = empties

3. The class copied the homework from the chart to their books.
copy – y + ied = copied
4. Everyone in class studies very hard.
study – y + ies = studies
5. Mom dries the clothes outside on the clothes line.
dry – y + ies = dries
B. Write two sentences about teams. Use the word tried
in one sentence. Use the word fl ies in the other.

1. ________________________________________________________________
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

________________________________________________________________

2. ________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

52 Grade 6/Unit 2/Week 1

 Practice
Name Vocabulary:
Word Parts

guest fault view explore concerns

A. Vocabulary Words Choose the correct word from above to

complete each statement.

Example:
Neat is to messy as smooth is to rumpled .

1. Start is to beginning as sight is to view .

2. Class is to student as party is to guest .

3. Think is to thoughts as worry is to concerns .

B. Vocabulary Strategy: Word Parts Underline the words that

have the inflectional endings -s, -es, -ed, or -ing.

A guest entered the classroom and we all stared at him. We

didn’t know who the man was. It was the teacher’s fault for not
telling us he was comingg before he showed up. There were many
concerns about why he was here at first. Then, we learned he was a
scientist. He asked us to explore the classroom and notice the view
from the window. Then he told us this is what he does as a scientist:
notice everything!

Use the correct underlined word from above to complete each

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

sentence.

1. We stared at him, because we did not know who he was.

2. Rich asked to sit in the front so he could see.

3. Mave was telling us all about her baby brother.

Grade 6/Unit 2/Week 1 53

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Graphic Organizer

After reading “Kylee’s New Team,” fill in the Inferences Chart to help
you make inferences about the story.

Text Clues and Prior

Inference
Knowledge
Kylee lived in the city for Kylee is not happy about
10 years and misses her moving to a new place.
friends back home.

Irene passed the ball to Irene is selfish and does

Kylee just twice in five not work well with the rest
games. of the team.

Irene does not like Kylee Irene misses her friend.

because she replaced
Irene’s friend on the team.
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Kylee passes the ball to Irene and Kylee have

Irene to help win the last learned how to work as a
game. team.

These are sample clues and inferences.

54 Grade 6/Unit 2/Week 1

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Take-Home Story

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

Team Spirit

Kylee
y and Irene were planning a summer basketball camp for
second graders when the phone rang. It was Coach Cline,, with a few
y not to place fault on anyone, including
reminders. She told them to try
each other. She also told them to work together and have fun!
y and Irene still had concerns. They might
Kylee g have a guest,
like Coach Cline,, come help them. Kylee
y and Irene knew that good
g They wanted the kids
basketball teams work together and do not fight.
y and Irene tried to think of fun
to have fun working as a team. Kylee
games to play on the first day. They made up their minds to have
y and Irene no longer had any worries!
three-legged races. Kylee

1. Underline the words in the passage that have the long i sound.

2. Circle the words where y changed to i when -es or -ed was added.

3. How could having a three-legged race help kids work as a team?

They are tied together and will fall if they do not

work as a team.
4. Why would Coach Cline call?

She wants to make sure the girls play together

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

as a team and do not fight.

5. The coach might be a at camp.
team fault guest

At Home: Reread the passage and talk about the most

interesting idea from the story. Grade 6/Unit 2/Week 1 55
 Practice
Name Writing:
Graphic Organizer

To help you plan your writing, fill in a cluster map.

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

56 Grade 6/Unit 2/Week 1

 Practice
Name Decoding:
Soft c and g

Soft g sounds like j as in large. Soft c sounds like s as in city.

A. Underline the soft g or soft c in the words below.

fence g
stage chance g
gentle fancy
pace cent peace g
suggest g
cage

B. Read the clues. Then use the words from Part A to complete the
puzzle.

Across s 1

1. Patty ran at a fast . 4

t f
2. You have a good .
1
p a c e
3
3. The hamster lives in a . f g n
2
c h a n c e c
4. Did you the party’s 5
theme? e n e g
3

Down n c a g e e
6

1. Page was nervous on t y p n

4
the . s u g g e s t
2. A penny has a value of a l
one . c e
3. She likes to wear e
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

dresses.

4. He put a around the yard.

5. The new rider got a horse.

6. Everyone worked for .

Grade 6/Unit 2/Week 2 57

 Practice
Name Fluency:
Timed Reading

A. Have a partner time you as you read the passage.

Record your scores below.
“I had fun at the last stop,” Cindy said. “It was neat that the pilots
15 spent time with our science club.”
21 “The best thing was the map reading contest,” added Gene. “We
32 could all locate Mars on the space map. But I was amazed that Ginny
46 located the Hub so quickly.”
51 “And right in front of us is the real Hub,” cried Cindy. She had to
66 remind Gene to snap his seat belt. “I can’t wait to catch sight of our
81 science club device on display!”
86 Once the shuttle docked, people crossed a bridge to the Hub’s lab.
98 To be certain that visitors did not get sick in space, they were tested.
112 “What an exciting trip!” said Cindy. 118

Record Your Scores

First Read: Words Read Time

Second Read: Words Read Time

B. Partners Use this chart to check your partner’s reading.

Speed too slow too fast just right

Paid attention to never sometimes always

periods, commas,
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

end punctuation

Accuracy skipped words self-corrected read every word

Read with feeling never sometimes always

At Home: Reread the passage and talk about how you

58 Grade 6/Unit 2/Week 2 would feel about going to Mars.
 Practice
Name Structural Analysis:
Multi-Syllable Words

Closed syllables end in a consonant and usually have a short

vowel sound, as in top•ic. Open syllables end in a vowel and
usually have a long vowel sound, as in to•tal.

A. Draw a line between the two syllables in each word. Then write
whether the word begins with an open or a closed syllable. Circle each
open syllable in the words at the left.

Example:

pic/nic closed
/
1. basic
as open
/
2. seven closed
/
3. panic closed
/
4. local
oc open
5. cop/y
py
p closed

B. Use the correct word from above to complete each sentence.

1. Only the local bus stops at Elm Street.

2. There were seven people in the room.

Copy
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

3. the sentence onto your paper.

4. It is better to be calm than to panic .

5. Food is a basic human need.

Grade 6/Unit 2/Week 2 59

 Practice
Name Vocabulary:
Dictionary

model device pack pilots hub citizen

A. Vocabulary Words Use the correct word from the box above to
complete each sentence.

1. The mall is a hub for shoppers.

2. My toy airplane is a model of a real airplane.

3. A seat belt is a device that keeps you safe in the car.

4. I am a citizen of Spain.

5. After I fell, Jen put ice into a pack for me.

6. The pilots greeted us as we got on the plane.

B. Vocabulary Strategy: Dictionary Try pronouncing the

words below. Then look up each word in the dictionary and copy the
pronunciation key beside it.

Example:

exclaim [ek sklām´]

1. concerns kәn sûrnz´

2. delight di ll̄ t´
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

3. engine en´ jin

4. decide di sl̄ d´
5. glance glans

60 Grade 6/Unit 2/Week 2

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Graphic Organizer

Fill out the Inferences Diagram below to help you make inferences
based on “Citizens of Space.”

Evidence Inference

The Jet Pack 500 The Jet Pack 500

was invented after was hard to make.
many tries.

Cindy wants to stay Cindy is excited

on Mars for a year. about the trip to Mars.
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

These are sample inferences from the story.

Grade 6/Unit 2/Week 2 61

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Take-Home Story

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

Pants That Walk!

Cindy’s
y science club decided to enter a space
p tools contest. A club
gg
member suggested p
that they invent space pants that walk for you. So
g help for those in space.
they did it! The pants are a huge p Their ppace will
no longer be a worry. The club made models to fit every type of shape.
The pants adjust to gravity, too.

These fancyy pants are quite a device! TThey allow you to climb over
fences and walk up hills without falling. They work great forr pilots,
p g
passengers, pace pack for
or citizens in the Hub. They fit easily in a sp
p
your next trip to space!

1. Underline words in the passage that contain soft c or soft g.

2. Circle multisyllable words that begin with an open syllable.

3. How are the pants useful?

They walk for you so you will not get tired or fall.
4. Why did the science club invent space pants?

to enter a contest
5. People who fly planes are .
citizens fathers pilots
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

6. How would the pants help you to walk on Mars and other planets?

They would help you explore hills and craters

without falling.

At Home: Reread the passage and talk about what is most

62 Grade 6/Unit 2/Week 2 interesting to you about the passage.
 Practice
Name Writing:
Graphic Organizer

To help you plan your writing, fill in an organization map.

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Grade 6/Unit 2/Week 2 63

 Practice
Comprehension:
Name Make Inferences
Review

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

Cleaning Up
Based on this
A group of kids worked together to help clean Trent sentence, you
School. Everyone had a different job. Patrick picked up can infer that the
trash from the ground. Gabby washed windows. Kent school was not
swept the floor. Billy painted the walls. Sam dusted the clean.
closets and bookshelves. They spent all day cleaning and
did not even complain.

When the kids were done cleaning, g, many y ppeople

p admired the
school. Theyy told the kids that they
y did a ggreat jjob. The kids smiled
at each other since they knew the reason for their success.

1. Underline the sentences that help you infer that Trent School
looked good after it was cleaned.

2. Put a box around the clues that tell you that the group split the job into
parts so that they could clean everything that was dirty.

3. What can you infer needed cleaning in Trent School before the kids
began to work?

Since there was trash on the ground, the windows

were dirty, the walls needed new paint, and the
closets and bookshelves were dusty, all of those
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

parts of Trent School needed cleaning.

Mid-Unit Additional Instruction

64 Grade 6/Unit 2/Week 2
 Practice
Comprehension:
Name Make Inferences
Review

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

A Space Trip
Patty and Ron are going on a trip
around the solar system in a rocket.
They will visit all eight planets. They Saturn

Pluto Earth
may even visit Pluto. Jupiter
Sun
Mercury Mars
First, their space ship will be Venus

arriving at a hub near Mars. The hub Uranus

is called TR345. From there they will Neptune

head to Mars and then on to Jupiter and

Saturn.
Patty could not sit still as she put on her
seat belt. She kept looking out the window. As the clouds swept past,
Patty looked at Ron. He was asleep. Patty gave her friend a shake to
wake him.

1. Underline the sentences that help you infer that Patty is excited
about the trip.

2. Put a box around the sentence that helps you infer Ron is not as
excited about the trip as Patty.

3. Based on the passage, how do you think Patty will act when they
reach Mars? Why?

Patty was excited when the trip began, so she

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

will be even more excited when they land on

Mars.

Mid-Unit Additional Instruction

Grade 6/Unit 2/Week 2 65
 Practice
Name Decoding:
Digraphs

Digraphs are groups of letters that work together to make one

sound. Examples are ch, as in chin, and tch, as in latch.

A. Circle the word that best completes each sentence.

Write the word on the line.

1. Rod likes to watch cars pass from his porch.

p
cross watch clutch

2. Mitch walked along the beach .

beach speech
p reach

3. Jane told her dog, Patch, to fetch the stick.

chirp
p chip
p fetch

4. Chase liked cooking in the kitchen more than Gretchen.

crunch kitchen hatch

5. Jill liked to eat chilled peaches .

p
peaches beet chat

6. We looked for pumpkins in the pumpkin patch .

notch patch
p itch

7. Charlie’s favorite dinner food is chicken .

latch witch cchicken

8. We chose to go to the store with him, but we did not have to go.
chose charm chat
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

B. Go back and underline the words in part A that have ch and tch
digraphs.

66 Grade 6/Unit 2/Week 3

 Practice
Name Fluency:
Speed Drill

A. As you read, pay attention to your speed and tempo.

When it is time to leave a place where a hurricane might
12 land, people pack up their pets. Pets cannot protect themselves in
23 a big storm. It can take days for a storm to pass, and pets cannot
38 be left alone. Pets need help to stay safe.
47 People must drive to safe places. Hotels that are not close
58 to the storm will have many visitors. Some people will stay in
70 shelters. These hubs are set up for people to sleep in until the
83 storm has passed.
86 If there is not much time to leave, people must stay inside
98 their homes. When the storm hits, people must stay away from
109 glass windows and doors. 113

B. Read these words to yourself. Then have a partner time you.

Do it two more times to see if you can beat your score!

inches reaches charm cycle sight

each merchant chill fence pilot

beach which catch gem shy

watch patches kitchen agent light

switch stretch batch logic sky

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Record Your Scores

Time 1: Time 2: Time 3:

At Home: Reread the passage several times aloud to a

family member or friend. Grade 6/Unit 2/Week 3 67
 Practice
Name Structural Analysis:
Suffixes

The suffixes -er and -or can mean “one who.” These suffixes
can be used to tell what a person does for work or for a hobby.
Examples are the words waiter and actor.

A. Read each description on the left and write the job title that
matches it on the right.

Example:

one who teaches teacher

1. one who directs director
2. one who sings singer
3. one who washes dishes dishwasher
4. one who paints painter
5. one who makes matches matchmaker

B. Use your answers from part A to complete each sentence.

1. The dishwasher made sure there were plenty of clean glasses.

2. The man who teaches our art class is also a painter .

3. Lots of people sing, but Charlie is the best singer I know.

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

4. Someone who tries to put people together is a matchmaker.

5. Terry told everyone what to do. She was a great director .

68 Grade 6/Unit 2/Week 3

 Practice
Name Vocabulary:
Context Clues

A. Vocabulary Words Check true or false for each statement.

1. To protect yourself from cold, you can wear a coat. ✓true false

2. When you calm someone, you make them excited. true ✓false
3. Reporters do not write news stories. true ✓false
4. When a hurricane hits, people need to protect their homes and
businesses. ✓true false

5. It is good to be on top of a shelter when it is raining. true ✓false

B. Vocabulary Strategy: Context Clues Underline the context
clues that help you figure out each bold-faced word.

Schools make every effort to protect students from fires and storms.
y safe! Fire drills can help prevent an accident. They
p tant to stay
It is impor
keep p ppeople
p from getting
g g nervous in a real fire. Teachers can also calm
their students. Some schools must also have hurricane drills. A school,
like most shelters, can provide a safe pplace to stayy during such a storm.

Use the correct bold-faced word from above to complete each sentence.

1. My teacher closed the blinds to protect us from the sun.

2. Wind and rain from the hurricane battered the coast.

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

3. You cannot prevent a storm from hitting land.

4. Mia had to calm her excited sister before they went into the
amusement park.

5. Chelsea looked for shelter to get out of the rain.

Grade 6/Unit 2/Week 3 69

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Graphic Organizer

After reading “Hurricane Watch,” fill in the Making Generalizations

Chart to help you make generalizations about the selection.

Important Information Generalization

Inches of rain drop from the People are often left

sky. Rain fills homes and homeless after a hurricane.
highways. Wind rips at trees
and homes.

People must drive to safe It is never safe to stay in

places. Some people will an area where a hurricane
stay in shelters. is expected.

In an instant, wind and Many homes can be

waves ram down things in carried away by flooded
their paths. rivers.

Fences need to be fixed and Volunteers are usually

glass needs to be replaced. needed to help with a lot of
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Trees are replanted. things.

These are sample generalizations.

70 Grade 6/Unit 2/Week 3

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Take-Home Story

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

Picking up the Pieces

Hurricanes are powerful storms that can damage cities and

towns. Owners of stores and houses try to protect them from
hurricanes, but this does not always prevent much harm. Hurricanes
can ruin long stretches of beaches. Often, towns need to rebuild
from scratch.

There are ways you can assist. If you live nearby, you can join
otherr helpers and fix homes. You can give supplies, such as bottled
water and clothes, to people in need. You may choose to use your
home to shelter visitors who have no place to stay. During these
times, many workers must combine their efforts.

1. Underline words in the passage that have the ch or tch patterns.

2. Circle the words in the passage that have the suffix -er or -or.

3. What generalization can you make about what happens when owners of
stores and houses try to protect them from hurricanes?

These attempts do not always prevent much harm.

4. What generalization can you make about assisting in a hurricane?

People can usually help others in a number of ways.

5. means to keep
p something safe.
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

explore prevent protect

At Home: Reread the passage and talk about what you

learned. Grade 6/Unit 2/Week 3 71
 Practice
Name Writing:
Graphic Organizer

To help you plan your writing, fill in an organization map.

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

72 Grade 6/Unit 2/Week 3

 Practice
Name Decoding:
Long o

The long o sound can be spelled o, oa, ow, and oe. Examples are
focus, goat, fellow, and toe.

A. Underline the letters that spell the long o sound in the words below.
oatmeal photograph snow loan moan
program yellow goes tow window

B. Read the clues. Then use the words from Part A to complete the
puzzle.

Across 1 1
t o w
1. The truck came to the car.
i
2. Moe always took at least one n
family . 3
d o
3. The bananas were golden . 2
p h o t o g r a p h
4. Bo heard me in pain. r w t
5

Down o m s
1. She glanced out the . g g e n6

4
r l o a o
2. The TV was on after we 3
went to bed. a o y e l l o w
4

3. Tim loves to eat . m o a n s

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

n
4. Was that for five dollars?

5. The was two feet deep!

6. My mom to the grocery store every Tuesday.

Grade 6/Unit 2/Week 4 73

 Practice
Name Fluency:
Timed Reading

A. Have a partner time you as you read the passage.

Record your scores below.
Princess Rose had waited a long time to meet a prince. She wanted
13 to become queen and begin the next phase of her life. But meeting the
27 right prince wasn’t as simple as Rose had hoped. She wanted a refined
40 and polite fellow. “I am beginning to think no prince is out there for
54 me!” she groaned.
57 Rose’s pal Joan was upset by Rose’s moans. “I know a lot of
70 old tales,” Joan said. “In one, a princess kisses a toad and he turns
84 into a prince!” Rose didn’t think kissing toads was the best way. But
97 since she had waited so long, she was willing to try it. “Okay,” said
111 Rose. 112

Record Your Scores

First Read: Words Read Time

Second Read: Words Read Time

B. Partners Use this chart to check your partner’s reading.

Speed too slow too fast just right

Paid attention to never sometimes always

periods, commas,
end punctuation
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Accuracy skipped words self-corrected read every word

Read with feeling never sometimes always

At Home: Reread the passage aloud and talk about what

74 Grade 6/Unit 2/Week 4 you think might happen.
 Practice
Name Structural Analysis:
Contractions

Contractions combine two words using an apostrophe.

The apostrophe usually takes the place of a vowel in the second
word. Example: hasn’t = has + not

A. Draw a line to match each pair of words with its contraction.

1. could not didn’t

2. was not isn’t

3. is not couldn’t

4. have not haven’t

5. did not wasn’t

B. Read each sentence. Write the contraction for each pair of

underlined words.

1. Winning is not everything. isn’t

2. Joe would not want to leave. wouldn’t
3. I do not wish to go. don’t
4. She has not taken out a loan. hasn’t
5. Leah does not want a new stove. doesn’t
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Grade 6/Unit 2/Week 4 75

 Practice
Name Vocabulary:
Dictionary

A. Vocabulary Words Circle the word or phrase in the group that

does not belong with the bold-faced word.

1. shepherd sheep tend sip

2. fetch get leave bring
3. honor bash treat well respect
4. simple plain basic tiny
5. polite rude well-mannered nice
6. phase time stage light

7. Which of the following could be simple? Explain on the lines below.

a. making a meal for 100 people b. opening a door

B. Vocabulary Strategy: Dictionary Find the meaning of

the bold-faced idiom on the left. Draw a line from the phrase to its
meaning.

1. She was not a happy camper when a. get a fast start with of
she dropped the eggs on the floor. lots of zest

2. We will hit the ground running b. upset, mad

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

and finish the project on time.

3. Ms. Smith gets to class early so she can c. peace and stillness
enjoy the calm before the storm.

76 Grade 6/Unit 2/Week 4

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Graphic Organizer

Fill in the Problem and Solution Chart as you read “The Road to
Happiness.”

Problem
Rose wants to meet a prince.

Attempt Outcome

Rose kisses a toad. The toad does not

become a prince.

Attempt Outcome

Rose travels the Rose meets a kind

kingdom to look for shepherd, Toby.
a prince.

Solution
Toby’s kind acts let him become a prince again.
Rose has found a prince she likes.
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Sample responses are provided.

Grade 6/Unit 2/Week 4 77

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Take-Home Story

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

Table Manners

One day, Princess Rose asked a simple shepherd named Tobyy to

y said, “II can’t ggo. I would be like a bull in a
dine at the palace. Toby
k
china shop! I don’t know the polite way to eat.”

Rose replied, “Don’t w worry, I will show you. And my father won’t
let you feel out of place!”
p
But Princess Rose was on pins and needles. She spoke to the king.
y The king agreed.
“Will you honor my wish and be nice to Toby?”

At the meal, Tobyy picked up his bowl and let all its contents slide
right down his throat! The king was dumb struck, but he smiled, picked
up his bowl, and swallowed his soup the same way!

1. Underline words in the passage that have the long o sound.

2. Circle the contractions in the passage.

3. Why didn’t Toby want to eat dinner with Rose and the king?

He was worried about his table manners.

4. How did the king help Toby?

He ate his soup the same way so Toby would

not be embarrassed.
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

5. means “nice and showing respect.”

Polite Rude Fetch

At Home: Reread the story and talk about the characters.

78 Grade 6/Unit 2/Week 4
 Practice
Name Writing:
Graphic Organizer

To help you plan your writing, fill in a cluster map.

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Grade 6/Unit 2/Week 4 79

 Practice
Name Decoding:
Diphthongs

Diphthongs ou and ow make the same sound. Examples include

the vowel sounds in round and brown.

A. Underline the ou and ow spellings in the words below.

clown round yowl crowd cloud
ground town found outfit mouse

B. Circle each of the d r e s m w o b c

words from Part A.
Look for the ow and ou c l o w n y o w l
spellings to help you. v c m o u s e c o

g r o u n d a m u

i o b t p a x m d

v w w f o u n d a

k d b i r o u n d

s d h t o w n t b

C. Use the correct words from Part A to complete each sentence.

1. Do you like her ou t f i t today?

2. That plane never left the g r o u n d!

3. There was a little m ouse in the kitchen cabinet.
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

4. There was quite a c r o w d at the festival.

Write the boxed letters from the numbered lines above on the
numbered spaces below. Read the secret message!
W o w, li f e, i s g ood!
4 4 1 3 2

80 Grade 6/Unit 2/Week 5

 Practice
Name Fluency:
Phrase Cues

A. Use this passage for a choral reading or Readers Theater.

Barry: A Top Dog

Barry is the most famous Saint Bernard. He lived with the

11 monks about 200 years ago. Barry showed honor and skill as a
23 rescue dog. He had fine hearing. He could detect the sound of a
36 person’s breathing deep within a snow drift. Many people were
46 saved as a result.
50 One time, Barry went out after a heavy snowfall. The snow had
62 drifted, and even more snow had slid down the hillside. Then Barry
74 heard something. He sprinted off to a spot and began to dig.
86 Barry found a boy inside a big drift. The boy was chilled to the
100 bone, but he was still alive. Barry had fetched him just in time! 113

B. Read these silly sentences aloud. Pause when you see (/) and stop
when you see (//). Change your voice when you read a question mark
(?) or an exclamation point (!).

1. How did/ that brown hound/ hear the sounds/ from town?//

2. Oh, no!// The goat/ will not follow/ the road.//

3. Watch this!// I will switch/ the latch/ in the kitchen.//

4. A gerbil/ could not/ slice an orange/ with scissors.//

5. Why/ do I like/ the bright lights/ tonight?//

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

At Home: Reread the passage and discuss what you

learned about Barry. Grade 6/Unit 2/Week 5 81
 Practice
Name Structural Analysis:
Suffixes -ly, -ful, -fully

Words that end with the suffixes -ly, -ful, and -fully usually
describe something, someone, or the way something is done.

A. Fill in the missing parts to make the bold-faced word.

1. He walked slowly.

slow + ly = slowly

2. After eating such fine food, Joe said it was just delightful.
delight + ful = delightful

3. Flo gladly wore the crown for the day.

glad + ly = gladly
4. When Jill saw the smiling faces, she went in hopefully.

hope + fully = hopefully

5. Mary politely asked José for his phone number.

polite + ly = politely
B. Write two sentences about a snowy day. Use the word delightful in
one sentence. Use the word slowly in the other.

1. ________________________________________________________________
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

________________________________________________________________

2. ________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

82 Grade 6/Unit 2/Week 5

 Practice
Name Vocabulary:
Thesaurus/Dictionary

scours famous results rescues drift foundation

A. Vocabulary Words Use the correct word from above to complete

each sentence.

Martha 1. rescues dogs in Texas. Some dogs end up at

Martha’s shelter as a 2. result of neglect by their owners.

Martha also 3. scours her area, looking for dogs in need

of help.

Martha created a nice home for the dogs that needed help. She is

now 4. famous in Texas because she has almost 300 dogs!

Martha started a 5. foundation to raise money so that she can

keep the dogs safe.

B. Vocabulary Strategy: Thesaurus/Dictionary The words and

phrases in the box were listed in a thesaurus as synonyms for the
bold-faced words. Use the words in the box to answer the questions.

find bashful often shy many times

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

1. What are two synonyms for timid? bashful, shy

2. What is another word that means locate? find

3. What are two synonyms for frequently? often, many times

Grade 6/Unit 2/Week 5 83

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Graphic Organizer

After reading “Saint Bernards: Saving Lives in the Mountains,” fill in

the Sequence Chart.

Event
Barry went out to the mountains after an avalanche.

Barry sprinted off to a spot and began to dig.

Barry found a boy trapped in a big drift.

Barry brought the boy to safety.

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

These are sample events from the story.

84 Grade 6/Unit 2/Week 5

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Take-Home Story

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

The Barry Foundation

About 50 years ago, planes replaced Saint Bernards as the best way
to rescue people in the Alps. Then, in the fall of 2004, the monkss sadly
announced they could not pay thee nearly $3,000 a day needed to keep the
Saint Bernards. They regretfully put the remaining 15 Saint Bernards up
for sale.

In January 2005, a group of people started the Barry Foundation,

named after the famous Saint Bernard. The foundation paid for the dogs
andd happily
h y cares for them. Each summer they allow the dogs to return
to the thankful monks for the crowds of tourists. As a result of the Barry
Foundation, thesee delightful dogs
d can still be found in the Alps, and they
are now in safe hands.

1. Underline words in the passage that have the ou or ow diphthong.

2. Circle the words in the passage that have the suffix -ly, -ful, or -fully.

3. What happens now that the Barry Foundation has paid for the Saint
Bernards?
They take care of them and bring them back to
the Alps each summer.

4. What events made the monks sell the Saint Bernards?

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Saint Bernards were no longer needed for rescues,

and they began to cost too much to keep.
5. means “well-known.”
Drift Strange Famous

At Home: Reread the passage and tell a family member

what you learned about Saint Bernards. Grade 6/Unit 2/Week 5 85
 Practice
Name Writing:
Graphic Organizer

To help you plan your writing, fill in an organization map.

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

86 Grade 6/Unit 2/Week 5

 Practice
Comprehension:
Name Make Generalizations
Review

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

This Lending a Hand

is a clue
word. Lisa was always upset about what she saw on the news. There
were so many people in her town who needed help. Lisa wanted
to help make people’s lives better. Lisa’s mother told her about all
of the clubs Lisa might join. Lisa’s mother said that most of them
y helped people in need.
usually

Lisa signed up for a club that seemed to help the town the most.
They cleaned up parks so that every y person would enjoy them. They
also visited ill people in the hospital. Lisa thought she would never
be able to help so many people, but she was proud that she had.

1. Underline the following clue words in the passage:

every never usually most all

2. Put a box around the sentence that has a generalization in it and

explains why Lisa signed up for the club that she did.

3. Why might Lisa have thought that she would never be able to
help so many people?

There were so many people in her town who

needed help.
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

End-of-Unit Additional Instruction

Grade 6/Unit 2/Week 3 87
 Practice
Comprehension:
Name Problem and Solution
Review

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

The Princess’s Party

The princess was sitting by herself at the table. She jabbed

her plate with a knife. No one had shown up to her party! She This
asked the king to send someone to find out why. Right away, states a
five men rode five white steeds out of the gate. problem.

In a flash, one of the men rushed back and yelled, “It’s a

dragon at the gate!” “So that’s why no one came to the party!”
said the princess. But it was just her pet dragon looking for fun,
so she gave him his favorite toy. Once the dragon had a toy to
keep him busy, the people were not so afraid. They all ended up
at the princess’s party!

1. What attempt was made to solve the princess’s first problem?

The king sent men to find out why no one had

shown up to her party.
2. Draw a box around the second problem in the passage.

3. What was the solution to the second problem?

The princess gave her pet dragon a toy to

play with so he wouldn’t bother the people
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

coming her party.

End-of-Unit Additional Instruction

88 Grade 6/Unit 2/Week 4
 Practice
Comprehension:
Name Sequence
Review

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

Ready to Run!
This
is a Training sled dogs is hard work!
signal
First, a trainer has to pick the right
word.
types of dogs. Then,, the dogs should
be trained to be relaxed with the
ropes. Next, the trainer needs to find
a lead dog. A lead dog is the one that
listens to the trainer’s calls. These
calls tell the lead dog to turn, stop, or
go faster. A trainer must have a lot of
y they will be ready
patience to get the dogs to work together. Finally,
to race!

1. Underline the following signal words in the passage:

finally next then

2. Put a box around each of the steps needed to train sled dogs.

3. What does the trainer do after he trains the dogs to be

relaxed with the sled ropes?

The trainer finds a lead dog to listen to the calls.

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

End-of-Unit Additional Instruction

Grade 6/Unit 2/Week 5 89
 Practice
Decoding/Structural
Name Analysis:
Cumulative Review

A. In the words below, underline any inflectional endings, such as -es

and -ed; circle any suffixes; and draw a box around any letters that
make the same vowel sound as in loud and cow.
chases ound
sou coach agent brown
row
cent pitcher tried wly
slowly spy

B. Read the clues. Then use the words from Part A to complete the
puzzle.

Across
1
1. Move to be safe. s
2

2. Ann didn’t want to spend a . s p

1
s l o w l y
3. She over and over and 2
finally got it! c e n t u
3
p n
4. The dog always the cat. 3 4
t r i e d a
5. The helped me play better.
t g
4
6. The dog was black and . c h a s e s
5
c o a c h n
Down
1. The knows some secrets.
e t
6
b r o w n
2. That was a loud .

3. The on the red team was

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

really good.

4. My uncle has an because

he is an actor.

End-of-Unit Additional Instruction

90 Grade 6/Unit 2/Weeks 1–5
 Practice
Name Decoding:
Variant Vowel

The vowel sound /ü/ in boot, glue, and threw makes the same
sound as the u in fl ute.

A. Underline the letters that make the /ü/ sound in the words below.
raccoon threw clues spool
true noodles blue blew

B. Read the clues. Then read the words above to complete the
sentences and the puzzle.

Across 1

1. The wind several leaves off

b l e w
the elm tree. l
2. Nate the ball across the field
u
2 3
to Frances. t h r e w
3. We found many that might r a
3 4
help us solve the mystery. u c l u e s
4. They had with cheese for e c p
lunch. o o
Down o o
4
1. It was cloudy all last week, but n o o d l e s
today the sky is bright .
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

2. Dan never told a lie, so I knew

his story was .

3. The has a bushy tail.

4. Kim needed a of thread.

Grade 6/Unit 3/Week 1 91

 Practice
Name Fluency:
Speed Drill

A. As you read, pay attention to pauses, stops, and end punctuation.

Moon Shadow kept her promise. She watched the road each
10 day until the moonlight replaced the sunlight in the blue sky.
21 Days flew by and became years, and Cloud Chaser did not
32 return. But Moon Shadow did not give up hope that her groom
44 would make it home safely. Her love for Cloud Chaser grew.
55 Villagers gave Moon Shadow a coat when it got cool. They
66 gave her food and tried to take her away from the road. But Moon
80 Shadow wanted to be there when Cloud Chaser came home.
90 Meanwhile, Cloud Chaser scoured many lands for a way to
100 reach the sun. Nothing stopped him from his goal. He thought
111 about Moon Shadow each day. But he could not go back without a
124 nice gift. 126

B. Read these words to yourself. Then have a partner time you.

Do it two more times to see if you can beat your score!

moon true drew frown glows

groom glue chew growl oats

proof due stew sound robot

soon blue knew pounce zone

mood sue threw pouch elbow

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Record Your Scores

Time 1: Time 2: Time 3:

At Home: Reread the passage several times aloud and stop

92 Grade 6/Unit 3/Week 1 at each end punctuation mark.
 Practice
Name Structural Analysis:
Compound Words

Compound words are words made up of two smaller words.

A. Draw a line to match each pair of words to form a compound word.

class dream
tooth hive
day room
back seat
bee brush

B. Read each sentence. Write the two words that make each
compound word.

1. I keep many books on a shelf in my bedroom.

bed + room

2. She lived in the city but wanted to be by the seacoast.

sea + coast

3. She fixed the roof so the raindrops would not get in.

rain + drops
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

4. It was hard to see the raccoons in the dim moonlight.

moon + light

Grade 6/Unit 3/Week 1 93

 Practice
Name Vocabulary:
Word Parts

A. Vocabulary Words Circle the word or phrase in the group that

does not belong with the bold-faced word.

1. activity game time hobby

2. details question facts information
3. bestow give donate take
4. recognized noticed overlooked knew
5. approached moved away came near moved close
6. provide give win present

B. Vocabulary Strategy: Word Parts Write the letter of the base

word on the right that matches the word on the left.

1. reheating c a. luck

2. gladly e b. spell

3. misspelled b c. heat

4. unlucky a d. smooth

5. smoothly d e. glad

6. misplaced f f. place © Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

94 Grade 6/Unit 3/Week 1

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Graphic Organizer

After reading “A Gift for Moon Shadow,” fill in the Character, Setting,
Plot Chart to help you retell the most important parts of the story.

Characters Setting Plot

Moon Shadow A quiet village Cloud Chaser and

Moon Shadow
are two friends
who want to get
married.

Cloud Chaser Cloud Chaser

wants to give
Moon Shadow the
sun as a wedding
gift.

Cloud Chaser was

gone for many
years. He could
not get the sun
but returned home
with many stories.
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

The stories
became Moon
Shadow’s
wedding gift.

Grade 6/Unit 3/Week 1 95

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Take-Home Story

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

Cloud Chaser’s Journey

After many years, Cloud Chaser still did not have the sun to
g
bestow upon his bride, Moon Shadow. The groom approached a
town near the seacoast and asked the tribe if they could provide any
help. They said he must climb the tallest mountain to get as close
to the blue sky as he could. Cloud Chaser climbed the mountain in
g Soon he had reached the top.
sunlight and moonlight.

Still, Cloud Chaser could not reach the sun. He tried to get it
loose from the sky by throwing rocks. He threw a rope and tried to
loopp the sun. He used every tool he had, but nothing worked. Cloud
Chaser knew that his journey would not end here. He hoped for
better luck at his next stop.

1. Underline words in the passage that have the vowel sound /ü/, as in boot,
glue, and chew.

2. Circle the compound words in the passage.

3. What did the tribe tell Cloud Chaser to do?

climb the tallest mountain
4. What does Cloud Chaser decide at the end of the story?

that he must continue his journey

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

5. means give.
jar bestow approached

At Home: Reread the passage and talk about how Cloud

96 Grade 6/Unit 3/Week 1 Chaser tried to capture the sun.
 Practice
Name Writing:
Graphic Organizer

To help you plan your writing, fill in a character web.

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Grade 6/Unit 3/Week 1 97

 Practice
Name Decoding:
r-Controlled Vowels

When the letter r follows a vowel, the sound of that vowel

changes. The sound /är/ is heard in words such as mark and
chart. The sound /âr/ is heard in words such as chair, where,
pear, and share.

A. Draw a line under the word that best completes each sentence.
Write the word on the line.

1. It is hard for me to wake up before sunrise!

sharp hard lard

2. He found a tear in his new shirt.

tear wear bear

3. We will compare the prices of the two bikes.

compare
co pa ae spare beware

4. Preston plays drums in a marching band.

starving harming marching
g

5. I think that it was unfair of them not to tell us.

midair unfair despair

6. The chickens and pigs stay near the barn .

lark barn shard

7. Mark told us where he was going last night.

where there elsewhere

8. Before you play the game, you need a partner to play with.
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

harp part partner

p

B. Go back and circle the /är/ and /âr/ sounds in the answer choices
above.

98 Grade 6/Unit 3/Week 2

 Practice
Name Fluency:
Timed Reading

A. Have a partner time you as you read the passage.

Record your scores below.
Mrs. Ricardo was startled to see that Marcy had dozed off
11 again. Marcy was one of her best students, and she used to be one
25 of the most active kids in the class. But lately she had fallen asleep
39 in class several times. Marcy’s grades were not as good as they had
52 been. She had done poorly on her recent projects and tests. What
64 was going on with Marcy?
69 Mrs. Ricardo did not know why Marcy was so sleepy all of a
82 sudden. She did not like to see her students struggle. Mrs. Ricardo
94 poked Marcy’s arm to jar her out of sleep. She told Marcy to visit
108 the school nurse. Maybe Nurse Garza could solve the problem!
118 What do you think is wrong with Marcy? What can they do to
131 solve the problem? 134

Record Your Scores

First Read: Words Read Time

Second Read: Words Read Time

B. Partners Use this chart to check your partner’s reading.

Speed too slow too fast just right

Paid attention to never sometimes always

periods, commas,
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

end punctuation

Accuracy skipped words self-corrected read every word

Read with feeling never sometimes always

At Home: Reread the passage several times and talk about

what you liked about it. Grade 6/Unit 3/Week 2 99
 Practice
Name Structural Analysis:
Comparatives

You use the suffix -er to mean “more than.” You use the suffix
-est to mean “the most.”

A. Fill in the missing parts to make the bold-faced word.

1. She walked faster than he did.

fast + er = faster

2. The dog was happiest after Lars fed him.

happy – y + iest = happiest

3. We took books out of the box to make it lighter.

light + er = lighter

4. That was the wildest ride I’ve ever been on!

wild + est = wildest

5. Martha won the contest for the funniest hat.

funny – y + iest = funniest

B. Write two sentences about dreams. Use the word funniest in one
sentence. Use the word happier in the other.
1. ________________________________________________________________
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

________________________________________________________________

2. ________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

100 Grade 6/Unit 3/Week 2

 Practice
Name Vocabulary:
Dictionary

several target active research perform curiosity

A. Vocabulary Words Use the correct word from above to complete

each sentence.

There was a lot of 1. curiosity in our city about why

people shop where they do. A team decided to 2. research the

topic. They made sure to 3. perform the right number of tests

and surveys to find out what shoppers want and need in a store. Many

shoppers became 4. active in the study. The research lasted

5. several days as many different people were questioned.

In the end, the team reached their 6. target . They had an

answer for why people shopped at certain stores.

B. Vocabulary Strategy: Dictionary Use the dictionary entry to

answer the questions.

1. What is the origin of target?

target (tär/git) noun Origin: from Old

Old English for small shield English targe, small shield:

1 a person, object, or place selected as

the aim of an attack. 2 an objective
2. What part of speech is target?
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

or result towards which efforts are

noun directed. 3 a board marked with

circles, aimed at in archery or
shooting.
3. How many syllables are in target?
two

Grade 6/Unit 3/Week 2 101

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Graphic Organizer

After reading “A Smart Start,” fill in the Conclusions Chart. Use the
chart to help you draw conclusions about the story.

What I Know Text Evidence Conclusions

Not getting Marcy keeps Marcy is not

enough sleep at falling asleep in getting enough
night makes you class. sleep at night.
tired during the
day.

Eating a lot of Marcy does not Marcy is not

snacks can make eat much of her hungry at dinner
you less hungry dinner. because she ate
at dinner time. so many snacks.

Libraries have Marcy’s mother Marcy wants to

books with a lot of drives her to the find information
information. library. about how to get
more sleep.

Getting more Marcy is able to Marcy is getting

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

sleep helps you remember what more sleep.

remember things she studied.
better.

Sample responses are provided.

102 Grade 6/Unit 3/Week 2

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Take-Home Story

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

The Secret to Success

“Oh no!” said Carlos,, holding his research paper. “I needed to

perform better on this paper, but I was so tired that I couldn’t write
p in his eyes.
clearly.” He had a look of despair

“I used to have that problem, too,” said Marcy. y “It was hard for
me to fall asleep at night. I used to stare at the ceiling.”

“What should I do?” asked Carlos.

“There are several ways to get more sleep,” said Marcy. y “You
g bedtime each night. You should not stay up
should have a target
long after dark. Also, it is a smart idea to keep active during the day
instead of sitting around and watching TV. And don’t eat too much
junk food!”
p and
“Thanks!” said Carlos. “With your advice, I will be sharper
happier next time.”

1. Underline words in the passage that have the r-controlled vowel sounds
/är/ and /âr/.

2. Circle the comparative suffixes -er and -est in the passage.

3. Why didn’t Carlos do well on the paper?

He was too tired to write clearly.

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

4. What conclusions can you draw about Marcy’s character?

She solves her own problems and helps other people.

5. means something to aim for.
target several active

At Home: Reread the passage and talk about what you

learned about feeling more energetic during the day. Grade 6/Unit 3/Week 2 103
 Practice
Name Writing:
Graphic Organizer

To help you plan your writing, fill in a dialogue chart.

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

104 Grade 6/Unit 3/Week 2

 Practice
Comprehension:
Name Character, Setting, Plot
Review

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

The Rain Feast

It had not rained

i for weeks in the Southwest, and This
the villagers were worried. The villagers needed rain in detail
order to plant crops and grow food. They asked the chief, helps you
Noble Fox, what to do. He had come home after visiting identify a major
many villages far away. “Do not worry,” Noble Fox said. plot event.
“The rain will come soon, and it will last for many days. I
saw clouds behind me as I approached our village. Then we
will grow food and have a feast to celebrate.”

That night in the Southwest, it began to rain. It did not stop

raining for many days, just as Noble Fox had said. The villagers
could grow food again, and soon they would enjoy a huge feast!

1. Underline the main character’s name every time it appears in the

passage.

2. Put a box around the setting every time it is mentioned.

3. What is the plot of this story?

The villagers are worried because they do not

have rain to grow food. Noble Fox tells them that
the rain will come. The rain does come and the
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

villagers plan a feast.

Mid-Unit Additional Instruction

Grade 6/Unit 3/Week 1 105
 Practice
Comprehension:
Name Draw Conclusions
Review

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

The Letter

“I can’t see my friends anymore,

now that we’ve moved so far away,”
said Billy.

“I’m sorry we had to move,” replied

Billy’s mom. “You know, when I was
your age, I used to write letters to my
friends to keep in touch. Today, you can
go on the computer and chat and share
pictures.”

Billy began to think about what his mother had told him. His
friends would be so surprised if he wrote them a letter!
Billy decided to write a letter to his best friend, Mark. He
y
addressed the envelope, put a stamp on it, and mailed it. A few days
later, Billyy got
g a letter back from Mark!

1. Underline the sentence that helps you conclude that Mark got
Billy’s letter.

2. Put a box around the sentences that help you conclude that
Billy didn’t want to move.

3. What conclusion can you draw about how Mark felt about getting
a letter?
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Since Mark wrote a letter back, he must

have liked getting the letter.

Mid-Unit Additional Instruction

106 Grade 6/Unit 3/Week 2
 Practice
Name Decoding:
r-Controlled Vowels

When a vowel is followed by an r, as in her, fi r, work, and burn,

the vowel sound changes. These are r-controlled vowels.

A. Underline the er, ir, or, and ur patterns in the words below.
current term urgent circus concern
perfume world birth burned surf

B. Circle the words from c u r r e n t b p

part A in the puzzle.
Look for the er, ir, or, and i a b r s b r u e
ur patterns to help you. r l a t t i a r r

c o n c e r n n f

u t b h r t x e u

s u r f m h d d m

k u r g e n t h e

s s w o r l d f t

C. Use the correct words from part A to complete each sentence.

1. I am learning how to s u r f in the sea.

2. Not everyone in the c i r cus was a clown.

3. When Ben’s mother saw the cut, her face showed c o n c e r n.

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

4. The candle b u r n e d all night.

Write the boxed letters from the numbered lines above on the
numbered spaces. Read the secret message!
Clos e r t o p e r f e c t!
2 3 4 1 3 4 1 4 2

Grade 6/Unit 3/Week 3 107

 Practice
Name Fluency:
Speed Drill

A. As you read, pay attention to your speed.

Fossil fuels are common energy sources. They are made of
10 plants and animals from millions of years ago. After these plants
21 and animals died, dirt covered them in swamps, and their remains
32 decomposed. Then the land heated, and pressure was added. As a
43 result coal, natural gas, and oil were formed.
51 Fossil fuels are found all over the globe. People drill and dig
63 deep into the Earth’s crust to get fossil fuels. Then they are burned
76 at power plants in order to make electricity for homes. This is the
89 most common method Americans use to get power. But power
99 plants make the air unclean because fossil fuels release harmful
109 gases when they are burned. As a result, these gases pollute air,
121 making it harmful to breathe. 126

B. Read these words to yourself. Then have a partner time you.

Repeat this two more times to see if you can improve your score!

term worms turned harsh news

burned birds lurch wear balloon

person first glares chair true

turbine circus where target ooze

thirsty perfect party armor broom

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Record Your Scores

Time 1: Time 2: Time 3:

At Home: Reread the passage several times aloud and talk

108 Grade 6/Unit 3/Week 3 about energy.
 Practice
Name Structural Analysis:
Prefix de-

When the prefix de- is added to the beginning of a word, it often

makes the word have the opposite meaning.

A. Use the shapes to help you place the word parts in the correct order.

Example:

frost de ed defrosted

1. de throne dethrone

2. bone de debone

3. frost ing de defrosting

4. form de ed deformed

5. ed de claw declawed

B. Use the correct words from above to complete each sentence.

1. We had our cat declawed .

defrosting
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

2. The meat was in the refrigerator.

3. After it broke, the clay horse was deformed .

4. They had to debone the fish before they cooked it.

5. They stopped a plot to dethrone the king.

Grade 6/Unit 3/Week 3 109

 Practice
Name Vocabulary:
Context Clues

A. Vocabulary Words Check true or false for each statement.

1. Most library books are renewable. ✓true false

2. The environment is just the streets near you. true ✓false

3. Sources are a good place to find information. ✓true false

4. Humans need oxygen to breathe. ✓true false

5. There is energy all around us. ✓true false
6. Burning fossil fuels will never pollute the air. true ✓false
B. Vocabulary Strategy: Context Clues Underline the words
in each sentence that provide context clues to the meaning of the
bold-faced word.

1. Shawn wasn’t sure which of his library books were renewable, but he
knew some could not be taken out a second time.

2. He wanted to keep the book on protecting the environment, because

his report on the world’s wildlife and plants that are in danger was due
next week.

3. Shawn had read a lot about the way that oxygen is changed to become
ozone in a layer of gases high above the earth.

4. One of his favorite topics was about finding other sources to use instead
of fossil fuels, which are what most places burn for electric power.
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

5. Shawn found out that the need for energy has increased as more people
around the globe need to light their homes and run cars and the other
machines that are part of modern life.

110 Grade 6/Unit 3/Week 3

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Graphic Organizer

After reading “A Need for Energy,” fill in the Cause and Effect Chart to
help you analyze the events and why they happened.

Cause Effect

Animals died. They were The animal remains

covered in dirt, and became coal, natural gas,
pressure was added. and oil.

Fossil fuels release The gases pollute the air

harmful gases when they and make it difficult to
are burned. breathe.

Harmful gases make the The thin ozone layer

ozone layer thin. cannot block out the sun’s
harmful rays, and people
get sick.

Tankers spill oil into the The oil kills fish, birds,
seas. and plants that need clean
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

water to live.

These are sample cause and effect relationships from

the selection.

Grade 6/Unit 3/Week 3 111

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Take-Home Story

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

The Power Plant

Power plants are important for creating energy.gy Power plants

gy First, the fuel is
turn fossil fuels, like coal and oil, into energy.
burned. The heat turns water into steam. Then the steam pushes a
turbine, which is a large fan that makes electricity. This is how fuels
p
become sources of power around the world.
p
Power plants are made to give us power, but they also hurt
the environment. Power plants release unsafe gases into the air
when they burn fuels. The gases decompose the ozone layer.y This
weakens our planet’s protection against the sun’s harmful rays.
People, plants, and animals can get sick as a result. There are good
things and bad things about ppower plants.

1. Underline words in the passage that have the vowel sound /ûr/, as in her,
fi r, work, and burn.

2. Circle any words with the prefix de- in the passage.

3. What is the result when fuel is burned in a power plant?

The heat that is made turns water into steam.

4. What can happen if the Earth is not protected from the sun’s harmful rays?

People, plants, and animals can get sick.

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

5. A is a supply or the origin of something.

source layer turbine

At Home: Reread the passage and talk about what you

112 Grade 6/Unit 3/Week 3 learned.
 Practice
Name Writing:
Graphic Organizer

To help you plan your writing, fill in a story map.

Characters

Setting

Problem

Events
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Solution

Grade 6/Unit 3/Week 3 113

 Practice
Name Decoding:
r-Controlled Vowels

When a vowel is followed by an r, as in for, store, or board, the

vowel sound changes. These are r-controlled vowels.

A. Choose the word that has the or, ore, oar sound and use it to
complete each sentence. Write the word on the line.

1. The bookstore had to order more books for the students.

cart show order

2. The sun rises in the morning .

fog morning afternoon

3. Tori’s legs were sore after she jogged three miles.

sore slow starved

4. I am so bored that I am falling asleep!

warm thrown bored

5. They always hung out on the porch before dinner.

window porch stone

6. My mom told me that when I fall into a deep sleep, I snore .

smirk scowl snore

7. Before the Olympics begin, the torch is lit.

torch fire flame

8. I saw the birds soar through the sky.

zone soar root
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

B. Go back and circle all the other words above that have the or, ore,
oar sound.

114 Grade 6/Unit 3/Week 4

 Practice
Name Fluency:
Timed Reading

A. Have a partner time you as you read the passage.

Record your scores below.
Archaeologists are scientists who seek out artworks and everyday
9 objects made by people in ancient times. The job is hard. Some of the
23 objects are buried deep in the earth. Archaeologists use shovels and
34 other tools to uncover them. Still, the job can be exciting. At times, a
48 team at a dig site finds things it did not expect. Some of these things
63 can be in such good condition they look almost new.
73 Before they can dig, the archaeologists in charge must explain
83 their plans. They submit a report outlining what they intend to look
95 for. It is then up to the local government to decide whether the land
109 can be dug up or not. Archaeologists may also need the support of the
123 people living nearby. When the plan is approved, archaeologists do not
134 delay in starting to dig. 139

Record Your Scores

First Read: Words Read Time

Second Read: Words Read Time

B. Partners Use this chart to check your partner’s reading.

Speed too slow too fast just right

Paid attention to never sometimes always

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

periods, commas,
end punctuation

Accuracy skipped words self-corrected read every word

Read with feeling never sometimes always

At Home: Reread the passage several times and talk about

the importance of archaeology. Grade 6/Unit 3/Week 4 115
 Practice
Name Structural Analysis:
Suffixes

A suffix is one or more letters added to the end of a word. The

suffixes -able and -ible mean “is able to be.” Examples are
movable and collectible.

A. Fill in the missing parts to make the word in bold.

1. It is regrettable that so much time was wasted.

regret + t + able = regrettable

2. This silk shirt is washable.

wash + able = washable

3. I didn’t enjoy the book because the main characters weren’t likable.
like – e + able = likable

4. Connor’s jacket was reversible.

reverse – e + ible = reversible

5. His absence from school was excusable.

excuse – e + able = excusable
B. Write two sentences about a sport. Use the word fl exible in one
sentence. Use the word movable in the other.
1. ________________________________________________________________
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

________________________________________________________________

2. ________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

116 Grade 6/Unit 3/Week 4

 Practice
Name Vocabulary:
Word Parts

A. Vocabulary Words Check yes or no for each question.

1. Can we change the way things happened in history? yes ✓no

2. Can sneezing occur if your nose is stuffed? ✓yes no

3. If you prolong doing your chores, will they definitely get easier?

yes ✓no
4. Is it true that rain sometimes filters through a window screen?

✓ yes no

5. Is it good to give support to a friend in need? ✓yes no

6. Are gardens always surrounded by walls? yes ✓no

B. Vocabulary Strategy: Word Parts For each numbered word,

write the letter of its meaning.

1. misbehave c a. to unravel or loosen

2. reread e b. to open or lay flat

3. unroll a c. to ignore the rules, or behave badly

4. repaint f d. changed from the original form

5. deformed d e. to read again

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

6. unfold b f. to paint again

7. mislead g g. to direct the wrong way, or inform badly

Grade 6/Unit 3/Week 4 117

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Graphic Organizer

After reading “Digging Up History,” fill in the Summary Chart to help

you tell the most important parts in a few words.

Archaeologists are scientists who dig in the ground to find

objects made by people long ago. Digs take place around
the globe.

Archaeologists use different tools to locate and clean

objects. Then they compare the objects and try to figure
out how they were used.

At one big dig in Jamestown, Virginia, archaeologists have

found many objects and the remains of a church. What
they learn about early inhabitants of the town is used to
restore it.

Summary

Archaeologists find and study objects and buildings

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

made by people in the past. Dig sites, such as the one at

Jamestown, Virginia, help us learn important and exciting
facts about history.

Sample answers are provided.

118 Grade 6/Unit 3/Week 4

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Take-Home Story

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

Jamestown

Jamestown, Virginia, was the first English town to be built

in what is now the United States. In fact, it was a town before
the United States became a country! Life was hard for people in
Jamestown. Winter storms were cold and winds roared. It was hard
to store food, so people sometimes went hungry. The water that
surrounded the town was undrinkable and made people sick.

Still, people were not always unhappy and found ways to

prolong their stay by making Jamestown more livable. Blacksmiths
and carpenters made supplies to help support the town. People made
sure to reuse and not mishandle tools. They also played games to
make their lives more enjoyable. Archaeologists have found that
Jamestown is an uncommon place which forms a link to our past.

1. Underline words in the passage that have the or, ore, oar sound.

2. Circle the words with the suffix -able in the passage.

3. How did Jamestown’s people help make the town more livable?

They made supplies and used tools more than

once. They played games.
4. How was life hard for people in Jamestown?
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Winters were cold and stormy. People went

hungry, and the water around Jamestown made
people sick.
5. means to help.
surround support enjoy

At Home: Reread the passage and talk about what you

learned about Jamestown. Grade 6/Unit 3/Week 4 119
 Practice
Name Writing:
Graphic Organizer

To help you plan your writing, fill in a story map.

Characters

Setting

Problem

Events

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Solution

120 Grade 6/Unit 3/Week 4

 Practice
Name Decoding:
Silent Consonants

Sometimes a word has a letter that is silent. Examples are knee,

wrap, gnat, and lamb.

A. Underline the silent consonants in the words below.

knight knock wreck wrong write
climb gnaw
g know thumb sign
g

B. Read the clues. Then use the words from part A to complete
the sentences and solve the puzzle.

Across 1
g n a w
3

1. We watched our dog on a 1

bone. r w
2 4
k n o c k r
2. The mailman had to .
n n n i
3. That was a horrible car . i g o t
3 5
4. She broke her trying to g w r e c k
catch a baseball. h l
4 5
5. Don’t your name yet. t h u m b s i g n
Down m
1. Kristen loves to in her b
journal.
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

2. The left the castle to save the kingdom.

3. Clive made a turn.

4. What do you about rocks?

5. Watch me that tree.

Grade 6/Unit 3/Week 5 121

 Practice
Name Fluency:
Phrase Cues

A. Use this passage for a choral reading or Readers Theater.

All in a Day’s Work

CAST
Nick Wright
Setting: Nick’s house. Wright helps Nick learn his lines for the
11 school play.
13 NICK: Oh no! I will never be able to memorize all these lines.
26 WRIGHT: It’s okay. We will practice some more. Soon, you
35 will know these lines by heart. I promise!
44 NICK: They are hard to remember. How am I going to do it?
57 WRIGHT: You just need to get into character. Then the lines
68 will feel as natural as having a chat with a friend.
79 NICK: But what if I get the lines wrong? I will stick out like a
94 sore thumb! Everyone will laugh at me.
101 WRIGHT: Relax. Nobody will laugh at you. The audience is
111 there to have a good time, not to be mean. They will not make fun
126 of you.
128 NICK: I guess you are right. I should not worry. 138

B. Read these silly sentences aloud. Pause when you see (/) and stop
when you see (//). Change your voice when you read a question mark
(?) or an exclamation point (!).
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

1. Did you know/ the lamb/ has a wrinkle/ on her knee?//

2. I went/ to the store/ for more/ roast pork.//

3. Is that bird/ in a herd/ of thirty stern turkeys?//

4. Arf! Arf!// The dark dog/ barked/ at the car.//

5. Oops!// The groom/ popped the balloons/ with his broom.//

At Home: Reread the play and share the lines with a family
122 Grade 6/Unit 3/Week 5 member or friend.
 Practice
Name Structural Analysis
Multisyllable Words

In many words that have more than one syllable, the final syllable is
unaccented. Examples are the final syllables in written, metal, travel,
and bubble.

A. Separate each word into two syllables. Then circle the unaccented
syllable.
Example:
travel trav/el
/
1. kitten kit/ten
/ten
2. tunnel tun/nel
/n
3. jungle /g
g
jun/gle
4. towel /e
tow/el
5. total /
to/tal

B. Use the correct word from part A to complete each sentence.

1. I used a towel to dry myself off.

2. When we were in the jungle , we saw a tiger.

3. The kitten purred when I petted her.

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

4. That tunnel goes under a river.

5. To find the total price, add the price of each item.

Grade 6/Unit 3/Week 5 123

 Practice
Name Vocabulary:
Analogies

A. Vocabulary Words Circle the word or phrase in the group that

does not belong with the bold-faced word.

1. doubts worries concerns hopes

2. audience teachers watchers clapping
3. imagination dreams facts fables
4. character player actor setting
5. relax slow down rest pace

6. Which would you rather memorize? Tell why on the lines below.
a. all your vocabulary words b. all the textbooks in the world

B. Vocabulary Strategy: Analogies Read each sentence. Then

find the synonym for the bold-faced word from the words on the right.
Write the letter of the correct answer on the line.

1. Students are to learners as a. sisters

audience is to b . b. watchers
c. speakers
2. Practice is to prepare as memorize is to a . a. learn
b. forget
c. lose
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

3. Tale is to fable as character is to c . a. prop

b. costume
c. person

124 Grade 6/Unit 3/Week 5

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Graphic Organizer

After reading “The Show Must Go On,” fill in the Conclusions Chart to
help you draw conclusions about the play.

Text Clues Conclusion

Patty wants to be the main Patty thinks she is better at

character and says Nick will acting in a play than Nick
wreck the play. is.

Nick is shaking, his hands Nick is nervous about being

are numb, and his belly able to remember his lines
feels like it is twisted. in front of an audience.

In Nick’s dream, everyone Nick is worried about what

laughs at him for forgetting may happen if he forgets
his lines and the teacher his lines.
says she will take the part
away from him.

Nick remembers his last Nick is able to remember

line when he feels his lucky his lines when he relaxes
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

dollar and sees Wright off and has confidence in

stage. himself.

These are sample text clues from the play.

Grade 6/Unit 3/Week 5 125

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Take-Home Story

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

Wright Writes a Play

“This is a great play, Wright!”

g said Nick.
“Do you really think so?” asked Wright.g “I have my doubts that
g”
the audience will like it. I hope I am wrong.

“Relax!” said Nick. “I know people will love this play. It is very
well written. How did you come up with the story?”
g answered. “I just used a little
“It was simple,” Wright
imagination. Once I knew what was going to happen, it was easy to
write.”

“I can’t wait for our class to act out your play on stage!” Nick
said. “I hope I can play the main character. He is a lot like me.”
g agreed. “It’s going to be a lot of
“I can’t wait, either,” Wright
fun.”

1. Underline words in the passage that start with silent consonants.

2. Circle the words in the passage that end with unaccented syllables -en
and -le.

3. How did Wright come up with the story for his play?
He used his imagination.
4. Why does Nick want to play the main character?
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

because the main character is a lot like Nick

5. means to calm down.
relax imagine doubt

At Home: Reread the passage and discuss how Nick makes

126 Grade 6/Unit 3/Week 5 Wright feel better.
 Practice
Name Writing:
Graphic Organizer

To help you plan your writing, fill in a cluster map.

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Grade 6/Unit 3/Week 5 127

 Practice
Comprehension:
Name Cause and Effect
Review

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

Keep Your Energy Up! This

phrase is
In order tto live our lives as best we can, we need to a signal for a
have energy in our bodies. Without energy, it is hard to stay cause-and-effect
awake and prepared. relationship.

The best way to keep your energy up is to get exercise

because it keeps your body in motion. There are many ways to
exercise. You can walk, jog, or play sports. Exercising a lot causes
your muscles to become stronger. As a result, you should feel good
and ready to face the day. If you do not give your body plenty of
work, then it will be harder for your body to stay active during the
day.

1. Underline the following signal words or phrases in the passage:

as a result because then causes

2. Put a box around the sentence that states the effect of making
your muscles strong.

3. What is the effect of not having energy?

It is hard to stay awake and prepared.

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

End-of-Unit Additional Instruction

128 Grade 6/Unit 3/Week 3
 Practice
Comprehension:
Name Summarize
Review

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

Tools of the Trade

Summarizing
Archaeologists use many tools to find lost objects. each paragraph
Three of the most important tools are shovels, brushes, will help you
and filters. summarize the
passage.
Archaeologists use shovels to take away layers of dirt
and dig many feet underground. When they find an object,
they use brushes to clear the dirt off of it. They use filters
to find small objects. The filters let the dirt out, but hold the
small objects so scientists can study them. To sum up, p each tool
serves a different purpose.

All in all, shovels, brushes, and filters are three important

tools for archaeology.

1. Underline the following signal phrases in the passage:

to sum up all in all

2. Put a box around the sentence that best summarizes the passage.

3. How could you summarize the second paragraph in one sentence?

Archaeologists use shovels to dig into the

ground, brushes to wipe away dirt, and filters to
find small objects.
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

End-of-Unit Additional Instruction

Grade 6/Unit 3/Week 4 129
 Practice
Comprehension:
Name Draw Conclusions
Review

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

A Day at the Theater

Sally sighed loudly. Her parents

had dragged her to see a play. Sally
hoped it would not last long. The
lights went dim, and Sally saw two
actors dressed in odd costumes.
Behind them was a large set.
y
As the play went on, Sally’s
g
smile grew g The actors
larger.
were veryy talented, and theyy made
y
everyone g Sally was upset that
laugh.
the play ended so soon. She wanted
to stay at the theater!

1. Underline the text clues that lead you to conclude that the play
was funny.

2. Put a box around the text clues that lead you to conclude that
Sally did not want to go to the play.

3. What conclusion can you draw from the last two sentences?

Sally enjoyed the play after all. © Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

End-of-Unit Additional Instruction

130 Grade 6/Unit 3/Week 5
 Practice
Decoding/Structural
Name Analysis:
Cumulative Review

Draw a line under the word that best completes each sentence.
Write the word on the line.

1. Dave didn’t like the cartoon, so he said it was horrible .

horrible stored porch

2. She wanted to know what Adeet had written on his paper.

wronged written hidden

3. This test was harder than the last one.

smarter hardest harder

4. The lake shimmered in the moonlight .

moonlight
g cartoon raccoon

5. Do turtles have thumbs ?

thumbs climbs lambs

6. The trip we took to the zoo was memorable because it was our first
school trip.
movable memorable readable

7. My bedroom is darker than yours because my curtains

are thicker.
lighter darkest darker

8. Because Fran can hold her breath the longest of all the
swimmers, she won the swim meet.
shortest longest
g longer
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

End-of-Unit Additional Instruction

Grade 6/Unit 3/Weeks 1–5 131
 Practice
Name Decoding:
Diphthongs

Diphthongs oi and oy make the same sound. Examples are oil

and boy.

A. Underline oi and oy in the words below.

boiled coins noise y
boys y
toys
y
royal y
destroy y
annoyed point moist

B. Circle each word in d r e b o y s t t

the puzzle. Look for the
diphthongs to help you. b o i l e d r o o

c y d e s t r o y

o a v p s t a s s

i l b o p l w y s

n a w i n o i s e

s n a n n o y e d

w d h t m o i s t
C. Use the correct
words from above to complete each sentence.

1. She b o i l e d an egg.
2. Mom was annoyed at what the newspaper said.

3. The princess was part of the r oy a l family.

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

4. There were a lot of different t o ys to play with in his room.

Use the boxed letters from the lines above to complete the message.
Don’t let rain d e l a y having a fun day!
1 2 3 4

132 Grade 6/Unit 4/Week 1

 Practice
Name Fluency:
Speed Drill

A. As you read, pay attention to intonation, end punctuation, pauses,

and stops.
Many baseball players are great. But Jackie Robinson was special.
10 He was the first African American to play major league baseball.
21 Before Jackie, African Americans could play only in separate
30 leagues. There were separate schools, restaurants, and hotels for
39 different races. On many city buses, African Americans had to sit in
51 the back.
53 Jackie joined the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. Would the fans
63 accept an African-American player? Jackie’s manager thought so. He
72 told Jackie to “have enough courage not to fight back.” Despite some jeers,
85 Jackie did not get annoyed. He played so well that he was named
98 rookie of the year!
102 Jackie Robinson set many records. He was chosen for the Hall of
114 Fame. But he did something more important. He showed that talent is
126 what matters the most. He changed sports in America forever. 136

B. Read these words to yourself. Then have a partner time you.

Do it two more times to see if you can beat your score!

joyful noise oyster known store

loyal choice destroy knapsack bored

voyage point moist sign pork

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

enjoy spoil recoil wrong soar

employed joined avoid thumb horse

Record Your Scores

Time 1: Time 2: Time 3:

At Home: Reread the passage a few times and then make

up two sentences using some of the words in Part B. Grade 6/Unit 4/Week 1 133
 Practice
Name Structural Analysis:
Prefixes com-, con-

The prefixes con-, as in concert, and com-, as in compete, often

mean "with" or "together" when added to a root word. Use com-
before root words that begin with b, m, or p.

A. Fill in the missing word parts to make the bold-faced word.

1. To make a cake, first bine sugar and butter.

com + bine = combine

2. After talking it over, the buddies got past their minor flict.
con + flict = conflict
3. The two best teams will compete for a prize.
com + pete = compete

4. I will pare both dresses to see which one I like better.

com + pare = compare
5. We connected all the puzzle pieces together.
con + nect + ed = connected

B. Write two sentences about sports. Use the word combine in one
sentence. Use the word compete in the other.

1. ________________________________________________________________
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

2. ________________________________________________________________

134 Grade 6/Unit 4/Week 1

 Practice
Name Vocabulary:
Context Clues

A. Vocabulary Words Check true or false for each statement.

1. A loyal pal is usually a good pal to have. ✓true false

2. It is nice to get jeers from a crowd. true ✓ false

3. Staying poised can be hard if you are nervous. ✓true false

4. A football player might retire after injuring his knees. ✓true false

5. If a bird is released from its cage, it is still trapped. true ✓ false

B. Vocabulary Strategy: Context Clues Underline any context

clues that help you define the bold-faced vocabulary words.

Joy remained poised, or calm, as her dance teacher inspected

her form. Joy tried to avoid her teacher as she kept still, and turned
awayy from him. But now, Joy didn't hear any jeers, or taunts, about
her form. After some instruction from her teacher, Joy finally
released her pose. As her arms dropped,
pp her teacher said, “I can tell
that you have been loyal to your practice schedule. My form was not
pp dancingg and retired. Good job.” Joy was
this good after I stopped
excited that all of her hard work had paid off!

Write the vocabulary word that best completes each sentence.

1. Joy was loyal to the people who helped her dance so well.

2. Joy stood poised and ready to begin dancing on stage.

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

3. If you are retired , you no longer dance in public.

4. Joy wanted to avoid eye contact with her teacher.

5. It is not fun to hear jeers from people watching you dance.

Grade 6/Unit 4/Week 1 135

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Graphic Organizer

After reading “Jackie Robinson and the Joy of Baseball,” fill in the
Author’s Purpose Chart to help you identify the author's purpose.

Clues Author’s Purpose

As a child, Jackie avoided To inform and show what

fights. He smiled, stayed made Jackie Robinson a
poised, and helped others. sports hero and a great
leader for civil rights.

Jackie got awards in many

different sports and set
records in high school.

When he was in the army,

Jackie sat at the front of
the bus to show that some
rules were unfair.

When Jackie became the

first African-American
baseball player, he
ignored the jeers.
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Jackie helped
African Americans get
employed as coaches and
managers.

These are sample clues to the author’s purpose.

136 Grade 6/Unit 4/Week 1

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Take-Home Story

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

Jackie’s First Day

On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson played his first game in

major-league baseball. Many players and fans were unhappy. They
thought that the major leagues should include only white players.
Jackie was an African American.

Jackie had to hear the fans' jeers and taunts. His manager had
told him to be brave enough “not to fight back.” Throughout that
p
first game, Jackie stayed poised. He avoided conflict. He did not
p the joy
let any jeers or other noise spoil j y of baseball. Jackie enjoyed
j y
competing and was committed to the game.

Jackie scored the winning run that day. He made history. Jackie
played baseball with the Brooklyn Dodgers for ten more years and
then retired.

1. Underline words in the passage that have the oi or oy pattern.

2. Circle words in the passage that have the prefix con- or com-.

3. Is the purpose of this passage to entertain, inform, or persuade?

inform
4. What is the purpose of the second paragraph?
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

to inform us about the problems Jackie faced

and how he handled them
5. means to stay away from.
spoil avoid enjoy

At Home: Reread the passage and talk about what you think
is most interesting about Jackie Robinson. Grade 6/Unit 4/Week 1 137
 Practice
Name Writing:
Graphic Organizer

To help you plan your writing, fill in an organization map.

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

138 Grade 6/Unit 4/Week 1

 Practice
Name Decoding:
-el, -al, -le

In words that end in -el, -al, and -le, the last syllable is usually not
stressed.

A. Draw a line under the word that best completes each sentence.
Then write the word on the line.

1. Nora could not ride her bike because the pedal was broken.
pedal peddle metal
p

2. I had to triple the size of the list to include everyone.

gobble sell triple
p

3. Marissa lost her sandal at the beach.

sandal handle sample

4. The bells on the horse’s harness jingle .

giggle jingle
j g joggle

5. Did you get that online or at a local store?

local level several

6. Randi had to cancel the pool party because of the rain.

legal cancel hazel

7. Justin had to paddle the boat to shore.

paddle seal candle
p

8. Heather was gentle with the new kitten so it wouldn’t get hurt.
kettle circle gentle
g
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

B. Go back and circle the unstressed syllables -el, -al, and -le in the
word choices above.

Grade 6/Unit 4/Week 2 139

 Practice
Name Fluency:
Timed Reading

A. Have a partner time you as you read the passage.

Record your scores below.
Jacques Cousteau loved the sea from the time he was a
11 little boy. His interest began during a swim in the sea with
23 one of his friends. Cousteau saw wonderful creatures in this
33 mysterious underwater world, and he was anxious to learn all
43 he could about the sea.
48 Cousteau invented several tools that helped him explore the
57 sea like nobody had before. He and his partner made a scuba
69 tank filled with air that helped divers breathe underwater for
79 long periods of time. He also helped create a wet suit to keep
92 people warm in cold water. His team made diving pods that
103 looked like flying saucers. Cousteau was able to help many
113 people. Thanks to Cousteau’s inventions, we have learned so
122 much about the sea! 126

Record Your Scores

First Read: Words Read Time

Second Read: Words Read Time

B. Partners Use this chart to check your partner’s reading.

Speed too slow too fast just right

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Paid attention to never sometimes always

periods, commas,
end punctuation

Accuracy skipped words self-corrected read every word

Read with feeling never sometimes always

At Home: Reread the passage with a family member and

140 Grade 6/Unit 4/Week 2 talk about Cousteau’s inventions.
 Practice
Name Structural Analysis:
Compound Words

Compound words are made by joining two words together.

A. Read the words in each shape. Draw a line between two words that
can be used to make a compound word. Then write the compound
words on the lines.

1. dresser grass hairdresser

2. thunder under thunderstorm

3. hopper hair grasshopper

4. ground storm underground

5. snake out rattlesnake

6. number rattle outnumber

B. Complete each sentence with the correct word from part A.

1. There was a little grasshopper on our porch.

2. The tree’s roots were underground , so we couldn’t see them.

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

3. The girls outnumber the boys in our class.

4. The thunderstorm made the house shake.

5. The rattlesnake slid through the grass.

Grade 6/Unit 4/Week 2 141

 Practice
Name Vocabulary:
Word Parts

A. Vocabulary Words Circle the word in each group that does not
belong with the bold-faced word.

1. vessel car ship boat

2. chemicals scientists chickens chemistry
3. inventions gadgets copies devices
4. mysterious strange different well-known
5. gear tools facts supplies

6. Which might be part of your camping gear? Explain on the lines below.
a. a backpack b. a bear

B. Vocabulary Strategy: Word Parts Write the letter of the

meaning on the right that matches the word on the left.

c 1. leader a. in a brave way

e 2. moveable b. in a way that shows a good mood

b 3. cheerfully c. one who takes charge of others

d 4. flavorful d. full of taste

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

a 5. boldly e. able to be taken to a different place

142 Grade 6/Unit 4/Week 2

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Graphic Organizer

After reading “Jacques Cousteau: Scientist Below Sea Level,” fill in the
Fact and Opinion Chart to help you identify facts and opinions.

Fact Opinion

Jacques Cousteau was a The deep sea is a

French scientist who studied mysterious place.
the sea and made films
about it.

Cousteau and his partner Cousteau led an exciting

created inventions such as life and made many
the scuba tank and the wet discoveries.
suit to help divers explore
the world under the sea.

They made a round, Most people would be too

metal house and attempted afraid to live in dark, cold
to live beneath the sea for water.
weeks.

Cousteau changed an army Companies felt that it would

ship into a traveling vessel
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

take too much money to

where he made films to show stop polluting.
what was happening to the
sea. Companies did not stop
polluting.
Sample responses are provided.

Grade 6/Unit 4/Week 2 143

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Take-Home Story

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

Cousteau’s Fight

Jacques Cousteau had seen many interesting and mysterious

sights when he explored the ocean as a diver. But he also knew that
underwater life was in big trouble because of pollution. Fish and
plants were being killed. Cousteau wanted to stop companies from
releasing deadly chemicals into the water. He was worried about
what they were doing. Cousteau knew we had to be more careful
when it came to protecting the seas.

Cousteau began making several films from an army vessel.

Soon he was able to spread his message. He found that many
people were misinformed about pollution. His photographs showed
how much damage it caused to undersea life. The films shocked
p knew something must be done.
everyone who watched them. People
Lawmakers passed laws to prevent pollution. Cousteau was given
many awards and medals for his efforts to protect sea life.

1. Underline words in the passage that have an unstressed syllable spelled

-el, -al, or -le.

2. Circle the compound words in the passage.

3. “Cousteau began making several films from an army vessel.” Is this

sentence a fact or an opinion?

fact
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

4. “The films shocked everyone who watched them.” Is this sentence a fact
or an opinion?

opinion
5. Something that is hard to explain is .
mysterious harmful nice

At Home: Reread the passage and talk about what you

144 Grade 6/Unit 4/Week 2 found to be most interesting.
 Practice
Name Writing:
Graphic Organizer

To help you plan your writing, fill in a cluster map.

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Grade 6/Unit 4/Week 2 145

 Practice
Comprehension:
Name Author’s Purpose
Review

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

Chasing a Dream

All kids have dreams about what they

want to be when they grow up. Jim Abbott
wanted to play baseball, but he had been
born without a right hand. As a result, people
told him that he could never play baseball.

But Jim did not give up. He practiced a

lot and learned how to play without his right
hand. He was so good that he went straight
to the major leagues after college.

Jim pitched for 11 years with much success. He once pitched a

no-hitter, which is quite rare and valued in baseball. Jim’s storyy is
p of what might
an example g happen
pp when ppeoplep follow their dreams.

1. What is the author’s purpose?

to inform
2. Underline a sentence that tells what the reader can learn from
Jim’s story.

3. Put a box around the parts of the text that tell about Jim’s hard work. © Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Mid-Unit Additional Instruction

146 Grade 6/Unit 4/Week 1
 Practice
Comprehension:
Name Fact and Opinion
Review

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

A Call for Help

This
Pollution in the sea is the biggest problem in the world. word
p
Sea life, such as coral and fish, can be killed when companies makes the
dumpp harmful chemicals into the water. sentence an
opinion.
Jacques Cousteau made films to tell the public about the
dangers of pollution. He used an army ship as a vessel on which to
make his films. Cousteau was the most famous scientist of his time.

Everybody was amazed by Cousteau’s films. Soon, the

government passed laws to protect sea life. People saw that it is
important to take care of the sea. The animals that live in the ocean
are the most mysterious and interesting living things on the planet.

1. Which sentence in the first paragraph is a fact? Underline this

sentence.

2. Which sentence in the second paragraph is an opinion? Put a

box around this sentence.

3. Is the last sentence of the passage a fact or an opinion? How do

you know?

It is an opinion. It is something the author

believes. The word “most” is a clue that it is not
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

a fact that can be proven.

Mid-Unit Additional Instruction

Grade 6/Unit 4/Week 2 147
 Practice
Name Decoding:
Variant Vowels

Examples of words with the vowel sound /ô/ are pause, saw,
taught, bought and tall.

A. Underline the au, aw, augh, ough, and al patterns in the words below.
g
fought shawl saucer false g
caught
because small crawl laundry walnut

B. Read the clues. Then use the words from part A to complete the puzzle.

Across 1 3
s f o u g h t
1. Dan a big 1

fish. c a u g h t a
2
a s m a l l
2. She wasn’t
big. She was w a s
. 4
w a l n u t e
4
3. We hard to c l
win the game. 5
b e c a u s e
4. A is a type
of nut.
r u
n
5. They went
they wanted to d
6
go. c r a w l
6. She had to y
on her knees.
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Down
1. She wore a to stay warm.

2. She put the cat’s milk in a .

3. He said something that was not true. It was .

4. The washing machine cleans our .

148 Grade 6/Unit 4/Week 3

 Practice
Name Fluency:
Speed Drill

A. As you read, pay attention to end punctuation, pauses, and stops.

In the early 1900s, India was controlled by the British.
10 The British took many basic freedoms away from the Indian
20 people. Indians were forced to read and write in English
30 instead of in their own language. The British also passed
40 unfair laws. One of these laws forced Indians to buy salt from
52 the government. India also had a class system that was very
63 unfair. The upper class looked down on the lower class.
73 Mohandas Gandhi was upset about all of these things.
82 He thought all people should have rights, and they should be
93 treated with respect. What did Gandhi do? He began to protest.
104 He was always peaceful with his protests, and he never used
115 force. Gandhi wanted to show people that British rule in India
126 should come to an end. 131

B. Read these words to yourself. Then have a partner time you.

Do it two more times to see if you can beat your score!

drawing caught bought void cancel

flawed talk dawn oink vessel

halt called false coil pedal

causes salt fault enjoy pickle

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

paused taught pause boy single

Record Your Scores

Time 1: Time 2: Time 3:

At Home: Make a sentence using words at the bottom of the

page. Reread the sentence to a family member. Grade 6/Unit 4/Week 3 149
 Practice
Name Structural Analysis:
Suffix -ment

Adding the suffix -ment to a verb can change it to a noun. For

example, the verb pay becomes the noun payment.

A. Combine each verb with the suffix -ment to make a noun.

Example:

encourage ment encouragement

1. state ment statement

2. ment disappoint disappointment

pp

3. excite ment excitement

4. ment treat treatment

5. ment ship p
shipment

B. Use the correct word from part A to complete each sentence.

1. The doctor gave the man a proper treatment for his cold.

2. Laura was going away. She was full of excitement .

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

3. The mayor made a statement about the city’s parks.

4. Alex hid his pp

disappointment when rain ruined the picnic.

5. The next shipment

p will be in on Tuesday.

150 Grade 6/Unit 4/Week 3

 Practice
Name Vocabulary:
Dictionary/Homographs

respect freedoms protest awe respond

A. Vocabulary Words Use the correct word from above to complete

each sentence.

1. You should respect your elders.

2. People in America enjoy many freedoms , such as the right to vote.

3. I was waiting for him to respond to my question.

4. She was in awe of the singer’s beautiful voice.

5. They sat in silence to protest against polluting the air.

B. Vocabulary Strategy: Dictionary/Homographs Use the

dictionary entry to answer the questions.

1. As what two parts of speech can the well

word well be used? well (wel) n. 1. a deep hole in the
ground to get water from
It can be a noun or an well (wel) adv. 2. in a good way

adverb.
2. What makes the two words in this dictionary entry homographs?

They are two words that have the same

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

spelling, but they have different meanings.

3. Which meaning of well is used in this sentence: Lisa sings well.

The second meaning is used.

Grade 6/Unit 4/Week 3 151

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Graphic Organizer

Read “Gandhi’s Causes.” Then fill in the Venn Diagram to help you
compare and contrast the relationships that Gandhi and the British
had with the Indian people.

Different
Alike

Gandhi British
wanted
Indian
people to wanted to retain
be free from power over
British rule Indian people
wanted to be
successful
wanted Indian in reaching
people to stop forced Indian
goals people to buy
buying British
goods British goods
(clothes, salt)

used an army
protested in to control
peaceful ways Indian people
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

152 Grade 6/Unit 4/Week 3

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Take-Home Story

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

Salt March to Dandi

In 1930, Mohandas Gandhi began a long journey to the Arabian

Sea called the Salt March to Dandi. It was done in protest against
the British salt laws. The British government forced the people
of India to give them a payment for salt. Gandhi believed this
treatment was not fair or right. He wanted to respond to what he
thought was an unjust law.

Gandhi was already y 60 years old in 1930, but he walked 240

miles for his cause. People were in awe of him. Gandhi was unlike
y showed respect. He also did not fight.
other protesters, as he always
Many other people joined the march. They were all in agreement
with Gandhi. They felt they shouldn’t have to buy salt from the
British. In the end, thousands made the march to the sea at Dandi.

1. Underline words in the passage that have the al, au, aw, ough, or augh
pattern.

2. Circle the words in the passage that have the suffix -ment.

3. How was Gandhi different from other protesters?

He showed respect and did not fight.

4. What did the other marchers to Dandi have in common with Gandhi?
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

They all felt they shouldn’t have to buy salt from

the British.
5. To means to react or to answer.
respond respect force

At Home: Reread the passage and talk about what you

learned about Gandhi. Grade 6/Unit 4/Week 3 153
 Practice
Name Writing:
Graphic Organizer

To help you plan your writing, fill in a KWL chart.

What I Want
What I Know What I Learned
to Know

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

154 Grade 6/Unit 4/Week 3

 Practice
Decoding:
Name Triple Consonant
Blends

When three consonant sounds blend together, it is called a triple

consonant blend. Examples are spr, scr, str, spl, and thr.

A. Underline the triple consonant blend in each of the words below.

throne scramble street scribble p
split
straw p
sprinkle scratch p
splash strong

B. Circle each word s c r i b b l e s

in the puzzle. Look
for triple consonant p s t r a w s t c
blends to help you. l x r p l a p h r

a s v n s t l r a

s t r o n g i o t

h s t r e e t n c

s p r i n k l e h

e s c r a m b l e

C. Use the correct words from part A to complete each sentence.

1. I am not as s t r o n g as my older brother.

2. I drive in the s t r e e t with the other cars and trucks.

3. Please sp r i nk l e a little cinnamon on my toast.

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

4. I made a huge s p l a s h in the pool.

On the spaces below, write the boxed letters from the numbered lines
above. Then read the secret message!
Extreme s p o r t s can be dangerous!
4 1 3 2 4

Grade 6/Unit 4/Week 4 155

 Practice
Name Fluency:
Timed Reading

A. Have a partner time you as you read the passage.

Record your scores below.
Extreme sports are a popular hobby in many parts of the
11 world. Extreme sports can be a lot of fun, but sprains, scrapes,
23 and scratches can strike people who are not careful. Extreme
33 sports are risky by nature.
38 Some popular extreme sports are skateboarding, in-line
45 skating, and BMX racing. People with strong talent in these
55 sports can do many interesting stunts. They can spring into
65 the air and perform flips and spins in mid-air. But people who
77 do not have much skill with extreme sports should not try any
89 stunts like this! How can you protect yourself if you do try an
102 extreme sport? Use safety gear! Safety gear should be worn
112 at all times. Extreme sports are risky, and safety gear protects
123 people who do them. 127

Record Your Scores

First Read: Words Read Time

Second Read: Words Read Time

B. Partners Use this chart to check your partner’s reading.

Speed too slow too fast just right

Paid attention to never sometimes always

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

periods, commas,
end punctuation

Accuracy skipped words self-corrected read every word

Read with feeling never sometimes always

At Home: Reread the passage with and talk about what can
156 Grade 6/Unit 4/Week 4 be exciting about extreme sports.
 Practice
Name Structural Analysis:
Multisyllable Words

A closed syllable ends in a consonant. An open syllable does not

end in a consonant and usually has a long vowel sound.

A. Combine the syllables in the correct order to make a word. Draw a

circle around closed syllables. Underline open syllables.

Example:

tel ho hotel

1. pi lot pilot

2. sent ab absent

3. ver di diver

4. cret se secret

5. fit out outfit

B. Write the word from part A that best completes each sentence.

1. George likes to fly, so he wants to be a pilot one day.

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

2. Rose wore a new outfit for the art show.

3. Mike didn’t feel well, so he was absent from school again.

4. When you are a diver , you spend a lot of time in the water.

5. Teresa trusted Emma, so she shared her secret with her.

Grade 6/Unit 4/Week 4 157

 Practice
Name Vocabulary:
Analogies

stunt solo gearshift nature attach

A. Vocabulary Words Use the correct word from above to complete

each sentence.

Bruce rides BMX bikes and is a 1. stunt expert. He

can do many 2. solo tricks on his bike. Sometimes Bruce

will 3. attach different parts to his bike, so it can go really

high on jumps. Before any stunt session, he checks his bike over. He

also rides a mountain bike on 4. nature trails and paths, and

Bruce is sure to check the 5. gearshift before starting his ride.

B. Vocabulary Strategy: Analogies Choose the word from

the right that best completes the analogy. Write the letter of the word
on the line.

1. Together is to group as alone is to c . a. nature

2. Man-made is to factory as wild is to a . b. gearshift

3. Let go is to grab on as pull off is to e . c. solo

b
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

4. Turn is to steering wheel as change is to . d. stunt

5. Hop is to jump as trick is to d . e. attach

158 Grade 6/Unit 4/Week 4

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Graphic Organizer

Read “Extreme Sports.” Fill in the Fact and Opinion Chart to help you
identify which details are facts and which are opinions.

Fact Opinion

Skateboarders ride on the Whether they are done for

board and push along the employment or amusement,
ground with their feet. sports are awesome.

A BMX bike is a type of bike Audiences like to watch the

made without a gearshift. bikes screech over hills and
jump through the air.

Rock climbers attach Good hikers can become

themselves to a rope on the rock climbers.
top of the rock.

Kayakers use a two-sided Extreme sports are risky

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

paddle to steer the kayak and thrilling.

past rocks in the rushing
river.

These are sample facts and opinions from the selection.

Grade 6/Unit 4/Week 4 159

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Take-Home Story

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

BMX Bike Racing

BMX bike racing is one of the most popular solo sports in the
country. A BMX bike is a bike without a gearshift. It is smaller and
faster than a regular bike, and not as heavy. The sport has made
p
a big splash with adults and children. It is risky by nature, and
p
people can suffer sprains, p But strongg bikers can
strains, and scrapes.
perform thrillingg stunts, jumping over hills and scramblingg from
place to place in an instant.

Hundreds of people gather to watch BMX races. BMX racing

is to bikes as auto racing is to cars. Fans scream and shout as racers
approach hills and ditches on the course. BMX racing is the most
exciting extreme sport.

1. Underline words in the passage that have the spl, spr, str, scr, and thr
patterns.

2. Circle multisyllable words in the passage that have triple consonant

blends.

3. “BMX racing is the most exciting extreme sport.” Is this sentence a fact or
an opinion?

opinion
4. “A BMX bike is a bike without a gearshift.” Is this sentence a fact or an
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

opinion?

fact
5. A sport is a sport that is done alone.
stunt solo popular

At Home: Reread the passage and talk about what you

160 Grade 6/Unit 4/Week 4 learned about BMX racing.
 Practice
Name Writing:
Graphic Organizer

To help you plan your writing, fill in an organization map.

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Grade 6/Unit 4/Week 4 161

 Practice
Name Decoding:
Variant Vowel oo, ou

The vowel spellings oo and ou can stand for the same variant
vowel sound. Examples are book and could.

A. Underline the word that best completes each sentence. Write the
word on the line.

1. My dad is known as a very good cook .

cool cook brook

2. The sweater was made of very fine wool .

week look wool

3. They stood in a group together.

stood stop stooped

4. She made sure to hang the pan on its hook .

hood hook hole

5. Would you please read my essay for school?

should soon would

6. We wanted to use the fireplace, but we had no dry wood .

wood food tooth

7. Andrew could kick the ball so hard that it would soar.

could cool coop

8. Arden shook the juice until she felt it was well mixed.
shook smooth bloom
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

B. In the word choices above, circle words with the oo sound as in

book, or the ou sound as in could.

162 Grade 6/Unit 4/Week 5 162

 Practice
Name Fluency:
Phrase Cues

A. Use this passage for a choral reading or Readers Theater.

Lady White Snake a Big Success!
Review by Grant Knightley
Last night at the theater, I watched a recital of the opera
12 Lady White Snake. I enjoyed it quite a bit. The dancers were
24 all very good, and the singers’ talents also stood out. Some
35 dancers swung high above the stage, and others battled each
45 other with swords. It was a feast of sights and sounds. I often
58 shook my head in awe.
63 The different sets for rivers and woods were interesting and
73 well made. They looked very real. The dancers’ brightly hued
83 costumes added to the fun. I must have seen every color in the
96 rainbow before the recital was done. Clowns were also present
106 to amuse the crowd. The story of Lady White Snake was
117 well-written and well-acted. Everyone should see it! 124

B. Read these silly sentences aloud. Pause when you see (/) and
stop when you see (//). Change your voice when you read a question
mark (?) or an exclamation point (!).

1. The crook/ who took the cookie/ would have nabbed more/ if he could
have.//

2. Splash!// I woke up/ feeling spray in my face/ and screamed.//

3. Please pause/ so the walrus/ can crawl/ off the seesaw.//

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

4. Did the verbal/ little spaniel/ nibble edges/ of the parcel?//

5. Boy!// Don’t you enjoy/ the noise/ of that toy?//

At Home: Reread the review of Lady White Snake, then

think of some silly sentences on your own. Grade 6/Unit 4/Week 5 163
 Practice
Name Structural Analysis:
Prefix ex-

The prefix ex- usually means “out of” or “from.” Examples of

words with the prefix ex- are explore and exclude.

A. Write the word that is made by combining the two word parts on the
left. The meaning of the root word is provided on the left. Then write
the letter on the right that gives the meaning of the new word.

1. ex + port export e a. push out or

(carry or send) force out

2. ex + pel expel a b. stretch out

(push or force)

3. ex + it exit d c. close out or

(go) shut out

4. ex + clude exclude c d. go out

(close or shut)

5. ex + tend extend b e. carry out or

(stretch) send out

B. Choose the word from Part A that best completes each sentence.

1. They had to expel him from the club for breaking the rules.

2. The place where you should exit is at the back of the theater.
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

3. We decided to extend our trip for another three days.

4. Please don’t exclude me from the game!

5. Many countries export goods to other places in the world.

164 Grade 6/Unit 4/Week 5

 Practice
Name Vocabulary:
Dictionary/Homophones

A. Vocabulary Words Circle the word or phrase in the group that

does not belong with the bold-faced word.

1. event holiday field trip normal

2. lessen create more reduce subtract
3. recital performers audience practice
4. increase decrease gain grow
5. opera reading singing music

6. Which would have amused you more? Tell why on the lines below.
a. a funny movie b. waiting for a bus

B. Vocabulary Strategy: Dictionary/Homophones Look for

the meaning of each bold-faced word in the list at the right. Draw a line
from each sentence to the meaning that matches the bold-faced word.
Use a dictionary to help you.

1. He knows the word. a. what you breathe through

The dog’s nose was cold.
d b. a small stream
2. We went down to the creek. c. to squeak
The door began to creak.. d. failed to hit it
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

3. The mist rolled in. e. to understand

Ted swung at and missed the pitch.
h f. fog

Grade 6/Unit 4/Week 5 165

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Graphic Organizer

Read “Hooked on Dancing.” Fill in the Author’s Perspective Web to

help you identify the author’s opinion of the subject.

Everyone knows the

stories of Chinese The crowd loves the
operas because sights, sounds, and
they see them over stunts of the show.
and over.

Author’s
Perspective

Chinese operas are a

valued tradition that
should be enjoyed and
studied.

Dancers have Ling says that she will

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

performed in Chinese never tire of this art

operas for hundreds of form.
years.

These are sample clues from the story.

166 Grade 6/Unit 4/Week 5

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Take-Home Story

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

Ling’s Dance Class

Ling was excited. Her first dance class would be starting soon.
Ever since Ling had seen a Chinese opera with her grandmother,
she wanted to become a dance expert. Ling hoped she would be
good enough to have a dance recital of her own someday. First, she
needed to increase her skills. That is why she took a dance lesson.

The dance teacher, Ms. Woods, explained to the students which

events would take place in the class. The class would have to read
books about dancing and practice all the time, too. There was no
excuse they could use to lessen their hard work. Ling smiled. She
looked forward to becoming a great dancer.

1. Underline words that have the oo or ou sound, as in cook or should.

2. Circle the words with the prefix ex-.

3. Which words in the passage show how Ling feels about her dance class?
excited, hoped, smiled, looked forward

4. What is the author’s perspective about learning to dance?

The author thinks that working hard when learning
how to dance is a good thing.
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

5. means to make larger or add more.

lessen increase dance

At Home: Reread the passage and talk about what you work
hard at doing. Grade 6/Unit 4/Week 5 167
 Practice
Name Writing:
Graphic Organizer

To help you plan your writing, fill in an organization map.

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

168 Grade 6/Unit 4/Week 5

 Practice
Comprehension:
Name Compare and Contrast
Review

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

A Helping Hand

There are many people in the world today who do not have
enough food. Others are homeless, or are not able to take care of
themselves. You can help! This
is a
Volunteering and writing letters to raise money are both great signal
word.
ways of helping. When you volunteer, you can collect food or help
to build houses. This is a very quick approach to giving people help.

A second way to help is to write letters to government leaders.

Unlike volunteering, this way may not bring aid quickly. However,
you may be able to help more people in the long run.

Both ways can help people in need. Volunteering and writing

letters are also simple tasks that do not take a lot of time or money.

1. Underline the following signal words in the passage.

both also unlike however

2. Which sentences tell how volunteering and writing letters are

different? Put a box around these sentences.

3. How are writing a letter to government leaders and

volunteering the same?

They both help people in need, and neither

takes a lot of time or money to do.
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

End-of-Unit Additional Instruction

Grade 6/Unit 4/Week 3 169
 Practice
Comprehension:
Name Fact and Opinion
Review

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

Staying Safe

Extreme sports are a lot of fun, but they are more dangerous This
than anything else. Safetyy equipment
q p has been created to keepp statement
p p from harm. Nothing is worse than getting hurt!
people is an
opinion.
Different extreme sports use different types of safety
equipment. Skateboarders and in-line skaters wear kneepads.
Snowboarders have goggles, and rock climbers use ropes.

The most important piece of equipment is the helmet. A helmet

is used in many sports and protects a person’s head if he or she falls
to the ground. A helmet prevents damage to the skull and brain.

1. Which sentence in the first paragraph is a fact? Underline

the sentence.

2. Which sentence in the third paragraph is an opinion? Put a

box around the sentence.

3. Is the last sentence of the passage a fact or an opinion? How

do you know?

It is a fact. It is information that can be checked

or proven. © Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

End-of-Unit Additional Instruction

170 Grade 6/Unit 4/Week 4
 Practice
Comprehension:
Name Author’s Perspective
Review

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

A History Lesson

Jeff and his family went to see a film. It was a

movie that everyone could enjoy. It told a true story
that took place in the 18th century. That was an
interesting time in American history. Jeff learned
a lot about the people and events of the time
period.

The film was about how the United States became

a country. It showed that the American people fought for
their freedom. Jeff liked learning about such people as George
Washington and Benjamin Franklin. It was fun to see how life
was different back then.

1. Underline the sentence that tells how the author feels about
the 18th century.

2. Which sentence tells what the author’s feelings are about the movie?
Put a box around the sentence.

3. Based on the story, what is the author’s perspective about

learning about history?

The author believes that it is interesting and fun

to learn about history.
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

End-of-Unit Additional Instruction

Grade 6/Unit 4/Week 5 171
 Practice
Decoding/Structural
Name Analysis:
Cumulative Review

A. Underline the words that have the vowel sounds oo or ou, as in look
and could. Circle the words that contain the suffix -ment. Draw a box
around words with triple consonant blends.
rattlesnake expect overlooked talk content
employ stressed always skyscraper enjoyment

B. Read the clues. Then use the words from part A to complete the
sentences.
Across 1 1
o v e r l o o k e d
1. She was small, so
they often her
a
2 2
when picking teams. c t a l k
4 4
2. Do not when you o t e x p e c t
are taking a test. l
n n
3
3. The look on Mom’s face s t r e s s e d j
told us she was .
e s o
4. What do you to get for 5

your birthday? n n e m p l o y
5. The store will more
t a m
6 3
workers to help during the s k y s c r a p e r
weekends.
e l n
6. That is more than 800 feet tall!
w t
Down
a
1. There was a coiled by the rock.
y
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

2. The class was to read silently.

s
3. She wore a warm hat outside when it was cold.
4. He got a lot of from learning to surf.

End-of-Unit Additional Instruction

172 Grade 6/Unit 4/Weeks 1–5
 Practice
Name Decoding:
Short a and Long a

The letter a can have the short a sound, as in bat. It can also
have the long a sound, as in baby, place, train, and stay.

A. Draw a line under the word that best completes each sentence.
Write the word on the line.

1. The child didn’t do his homework because he was lazy .

lakes lazy
y slack

2. Cathy made a whole batch of cookies.

batch patch latch

3. There was a delay that made everyone late for work.

lane past delayy

4. We did some planting to make the yard look nice.

placement p
planting
g fading

5. The baseball game lasted for a long time.

made lasted paid

6. The training was very simple and basic .

baked basic backflip

7. Don’t leave the driveway if your helmet strap is not buckled.

slab track strapp

8. I took the plate to the sink when I was done eating.

plate
p pane pain
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

B. Circle the answer choices above that have the long a sound, such
as table. Put a box around the words that have the short a sound,
such as strand.

Grade 6/Unit 5/Week 1 173

 Practice
Name Fluency:
Speed Drill

A. As you read, pay attention to intonation, end punctuation, pauses,

and stops.
When Helen Keller was young, she fell very ill. The disease
11 she had left her unable to see and hear. She could not do the
25 same things that other kids could do. Helen had no easy way to
38 tell her parents that she felt lonely and ignored. She got upset
50 because she could not talk to people. But she was a very smart
63 and curious child, and Helen’s parents wanted her to be able to
75 learn. They asked for help from the Perkins School, a school for
87 blind children. Helen gained entrance to the school, and Anne
97 Sullivan, one of the best teachers, agreed to teach Helen.
107 Anne was partly blind. She had been a top student at Perkins
119 School when she went there. With Anne’s help and care, Helen
130 learned about the world around her through touch and smell.
140 Helen was finally able to share her thoughts! 148

B. Read these words to yourself. Then have a partner time you.

Do it two more times to see if you can beat your score!

named saddle label shook stress

waiting acting apron wood split

unable lamps raven should scrub

failing pals battle cookie spring

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

stayed happily draft could throw

Record Your Scores

Time 1: Time 2: Time 3:

At Home: Reread the passage and talk about what you think
174 Grade 6/Unit 5/Week 1 is the most interesting fact about Helen Keller.
 Practice
Name Structural Analysis:
Multi-Syllable Words

Use prefixes and suffixes to change the meaning of a word.

A. Fill in the missing parts to make the bold-faced word.

1. Sandy thinks that the puppy is untrainable.

un + train + able = untrainable

2. Larry treated his sister unkindly.

un + kind + ly = unkindly

3. I defrosted the chicken before baking it.

de + frost + ed = defrosted

4. Many ads are misleading because they use more opinions than facts.
mis + lead + ing = misleading
5. Tim, would you like a refreshment?
re + fresh + ment = refreshment

B. Write two sentences about eating lunch at school. Use the word
unlikely in one sentence. Use the word refreshment in the other.

1. ________________________________________________________________
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

________________________________________________________________

2. ________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

Grade 6/Unit 5/Week 1 175

 Practice
Name Vocabulary:
Word Parts

A. Vocabulary Words Circle the word or phrase in the group that

does not belong with the bold-faced word.

1. venture task project trait

2. damaged broke fixed hurt
3. curious bored interested nosy
4. entrance getting in gaining a spot being rejected
5. blind without sight unable to see without hearing

6. How would you describe the texture of a peach? Explain below.

a. soft and fuzzy b. spiky and sharp

B. Vocabulary Strategy: Word Parts Read the family of words

on the left. Find the root word for this family at the right. Draw a line
from the family to its root.

1. argument, arguable, arguing pay

2. repay, payment, payable argue

3. pointer, pointing, pointy point

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

4. resealed, unseal, sealable kind

5. helpful, helping, unhelpful seal

6. unkind, kindly, kindest help

176 Grade 6/Unit 5/Week 1

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Graphic Organizer

After reading “Anne Sullivan: A Valuable Teacher,” fill in the Author’s

Purpose Chart to help you decide why the author wrote the selection.

Clues Author’s Purpose

Helen learned to trust To inform the reader how
Anne because Anne was valuable a teacher and
calm and gentle with her. friend Anne Sullivan was
to Helen Keller.

Anne taught Helen how

to read by tracing letters
onto Helen’s palm.

Anne allowed Helen to

explore the world by
learning outdoors.

Anne took Helen to her

old school and helped
her get into college.
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Helen called the day she

met Anne her “soul’s
birthday.”

These are sample clues from the selection.

Grade 6/Unit 5/Week 1 177

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Take-Home Story

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

Perkins School

In case you were curious, Perkins School for the Blind has been
around for more than 175 years! Perkins School teaches subjects
such as reading, writing, and math. Teachers make sure that no
one feels uncomfortable. Teachers don’t treat any of their students
unfairly. They prepare students to venture forward with their lives.

Helen Keller and her teacher, Anne Sullivan, both went to Perkins
School. Anne enjoyed it so much that she later returned to teach there.
The famous school helped Helen and Anne adjust to their blindness.
Young people from all over the world are able to make their lives
more joyful by ggainingg entrance to the Perkins School.

1. Underline words that have a long a sound, such as face.

2. Circle the words in the passage that contain both a prefix and a suffix.

3. Is the author’s purpose in this passage to entertain, inform,

or persuade?

inform
4. What does the author do to support the purpose of this passage?

The author gives facts about the Perkins School.

5. Someone who is is interested in finding things out.
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

blind prepared curious

At Home: Reread the passage and talk about what you

178 Grade 6/Unit 5/Week 1 learned about Perkins School.
 Practice
Name Writing:
Graphic Organizer

To help you plan your writing, fill in an informal/formal language chart.

Informal Language Formal Language

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Grade 6/Unit 5/Week 1 179

 Practice
Name Decoding:
Short i and Long i

The letter i can have the short i sound, as in fi t. It can also have
the long i sound, as in mind, nice, tie, high, and cry.

A. Underline the words that have the long i sound, as in nice. Circle
the words that have the short i sound, as in fi t.
topic pillow fly twilight
g p
pie
find define g
lighter blister g
midnight

B. Read the clues. Then use the words from Part A to complete the
puzzle.

Across 1 2
m t
1. I put my head on the . 1
p i l l o w
2. I can’t my keys. d p
2 3
3. Janet baked a peach . n f i n d b
3

4. It is almost dark at .
p i e c l
4
g l i
5. Please that word, so I know 5

what it means. h f i s
4
t w i l i g h t
Down y h e
1. The middle of the night is .
t r
5
2. Let’s discuss a new . d e f i n e
r
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

3. She had a on her toe.

4. A mouse is than a dog.

5. Pilots know how to planes.

180 Grade 6/Unit 5/Week 2

 Practice
Name Fluency:
Timed Reading

A. Have a partner time you as you read the passage.

Record your scores below.
The village was in a lot of trouble! The land was too dry,
13 and there was no rain to water the crops. Without food and water,
26 the villagers would not be able to live for very long! What would
39 they do to solve the problem? The elders held a meeting to decide
52 how to fix the problem. Finally, after much talk, they all agreed
64 that somebody must leave the village. They knew that it was their
76 only hope for survival. But who would search the land for rain?
88 A young boy named Len was picked for this task. Len was
100 unsure if he could find rain, but he did not want to complain. He
114 knew that the whole village was depending on him. Len and his
126 sister, Minya, set off on their search. What will happen if they
138 can’t find rain? 141

Record Your Scores

First Read: Words Read Time

Second Read: Words Read Time

B. Partners Use this chart to check your partner’s reading.

Speed too slow too fast just right

Paid attention to never sometimes always

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

periods, commas,
end punctuation

Accuracy skipped words self-corrected read every word

Read with feeling never sometimes always

At Home: Reread the passage and talk about what you

know about survival. Grade 6/Unit 5/Week 2 181
 Practice
Structural Analysis:
Name Suffixes
-tion and -sion

Adding the suffix –ion to a verb changes it to a noun. Example:

The verb invent becomes the noun invention.

A. Combine each verb and suffix to make a noun.

Example:

ion act action

1. discuss ion discussion

2. correct ion correction

3. ion collect collection

4. ion suggest suggestion

5. impress ion impression

B. Use the correct word from above to complete each sentence.

1. We had a long discussion about our favorite songs.

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

2. Do you have a suggestion for making the song better?

3. Pablo showed me his collection of model trains.

4. He made a correction to his essay before the class began.

5. The speech made a big impression on the crowd.

182 Grade 6/Unit 5/Week 2

 Practice
Name Vocabulary:
Word Parts

A. Vocabulary Words Check true or false for each statement.

1. Food and shelter are needed for survival. ✓true false

2. If you study nutrition, you will find out how

to keep air and water clean. true ✓false
✓true false
3. When you work hard to reach a goal, you show
determination.

true ✓false
4. A town that is two decades old is more than
100 years old.

5. Villagers are people who have the same job. true ✓false

B. Vocabulary Strategy: Word Parts Write the letter of the root

on the right that correctly completes each boldfaced word on the left.
The meaning of each root is shown next to the root.

1. A d cycle has a single wheel. a. dent- (tooth)

2. There was just one e or problem. b. mem- (keep in mind)

3. The a ist put a filling in my tooth. c. port- (carry)

4. It’s hard to re b ber the names of all 50 states. d. uni- (one)

5. Jerry wants a c able DVD player. e. min- (small)

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Grade 6/Unit 5/Week 2 183

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Graphic Organizer

Read “A Trip to Find Rain.” Then fill in the Venn diagram to help you
compare and contrast the characters.

Different

Alike

LEN MINYA
feels
stays brave
hopeless
and hopeful

try to stay
sees a spirit cheerful tells Len not
in the smoke to give up

work hard
is picked by goes on the
the elders to trip to give
go on the trip her brother
are support
determined
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

These are sample entries.

184 Grade 6/Unit 5/Week 2

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Take-Home Story

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

Len and Minya’s Journey

Len and Minya y were searching the land for rain. After a short
discussion, Len came up with a suggestion for where to find it. “I
know a plain a few miles away that has been filled with buffalo for
decades,” he said. “I hunted there once. We can find out where the
buffalo get their water.”

Len and Minyay hurried to the location. Sadly, the buffalo were
all gone. The land was dry. Len was angry and upset, but Minya y
was more cheerful than her brother. “It is okay,” she said. “We will
find rain somewhere else.” Both Len and Minya y were brave and
g
had a lot of determination. They knew the survival of the villagers
depended on them. They continued on their journey.

1. Underline the words that have the short i sound.

2. Circle the words with the suffix -ion, -tion or -sion.

3. How are Len and Minya similar?

They are both brave and have determination.

4. How are Len and Minya different?

Minya is more cheerful than Len.

5. means staying alive.
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Nutrition Survival Bravery

At Home: Reread the passage and talk about what you liked
best about the story. Grade 6/Unit 5/Week 2 185
 Practice
Name Writing:
Graphic Organizer

To help you plan your writing, fill in a Venn diagram.

Different

Alike

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

186 Grade 6/Unit 5/Week 2

 Practice
Comprehension:
Name Author’s Purpose
Review

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

Washington’s Half-Brother

George Washington was one of the most important people The

purpose of
in American history. He was a war hero, and he served as the this sentence
first president of the United States. But a lot of people may not is to inform.
g half-brother, George
know that, if it hadn’t been for George’s g
g never have become so important.
might p

When George was 11 years old, his father died. So George’s

half-brother Lawrence became his mentor. Lawrence served as
a father figure to George and gave him advice about his future.
Lawrence was in the navy, and he got George interested in joining.
Thanks to Lawrence, George was on his way to making history.

1. What is the main point that the author is trying to make about George
Washington? Underline the sentence that states this point.

2. Put a box around the sentences in which the author tells how George was
helped by his half-brother.

3. Is the author’s purpose in this passage to entertain, to inform,

or to persuade? How do you know?

The author’s purpose is to inform, because the

passage gives facts about George Washington
that many people may not know.
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Mid-Unit Additional Instruction

Grade 6/Unit 5/Week 1 187
 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Compare and Contrast
Review

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

A Story About a Story

Lisa stared at the paper. She had to write a

short story for homework, but she did not
know what to write. Byy contrast, Lisa’s twin
sister Emily had already finished her story.

Both girls were in the same class, but

Emily was a better writer. Lisa, on the other
hand, was more skilled in math and science.

Emily wrote about her pet cat. Similarly,y Lisa

wanted to write about something from her life. Lisa
thought about this for some time, then she smiled.
She came up with the perfect idea. She would write a
story about a girl who had to write a story!

1. Underline the following words or phrases that signal comparing or

contrasting in the passage:

both on the other hand similarly by contrast

2. Put a box around the sentences that contrast the girls’ skills and
interests.

3. How are Lisa and Emily alike? How are they different?

Alike: They are twins, and they are in the

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

same class.
Different: Emily likes writing, but Lisa likes
math and science.

Mid-Unit Additional Instruction

188 Grade 6/Unit 4/Week 2
 Practice
Name Decoding:
Short e and Long e

The letter e can have the short e sound, as in wet. It can also
have the long e sound, as in be, team, week, key, and theme.

A. Underline the word that best completes each sentence. Write the
word on the line.

1. Take a left at the next light.

rest next step

2. I gave a speech about the five best cars of all time.

speech
p money teen

3. I am trying to keep my money and not spend it.

blend spend
p chest

4. I had a dream that my team won the big game.

dream honey mean

5. My desk is between Penny’s and Jeff’s in math class.

beaming between beyond

6. My street is the next one on the right, after the alley.

street peak beekeeper

7. It is not safe to speed when you are in a car or on a bike.

tell clean speed
p

8. Please hand in your work. Make sure you check it first.

pet check step
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

B. Circle all the words that have the long e sound, as in week. Put a
box around all the words that have the short e sound, as in wet.

Grade 6/Unit 5/Week 3 189

 Practice
Name Fluency:
Speed Drill

A. As you read, pay attention to word accuracy and pronunciation.

Kelly’s grandfather had been very ill for several weeks. Kelly
10 and her parents were dismayed to see him in such bad health.
22 Kelly’s dad wanted to hire a nurse to take care of Granddad.
34 Instead, Kelly’s mom stayed with Granddad to help him. She got
45 very tired, but she never complained. “You deserve a reward for
56 working so hard,” Kelly said to her mom. Kelly’s dad shared her
68 feeling. He wanted to give Kelly’s mom a gift.
77 Kelly’s dad had the perfect idea. He suggested an appealing
87 weekend trip to the Seaside Inn. Kelly helped convince her mom
98 to go on the trip. She reminded her mom that it was also her
112 birthday weekend this coming weekend. Kelly hoped this would
121 give her mom an extra reason to go. Finally, Kelly’s mom agreed
133 to go on the trip. 138

B. Read these words to yourself. Then have a partner time you.

Do it two more times to see if you can beat your score!

seated shell recall spider trace

relax turkey greasy light plain

weeks perfect theme grind play

eager splendid speck wrist snack

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

bread smelly crest trick drag

Record Your Scores

Time 1: Time 2: Time 3:

At Home: Reread the passage with a family member and

190 Grade 6/Unit 5/Week 3 talk about why Kelly persuaded her mom to go away.
 Practice
Name Structural Analysis:
Greek and Latin Roots

Roots are word parts that cannot stand on their own. Some words
have roots that come from Greek or Latin.

A. Write the letter of the root on the right that correctly completes
each boldfaced word on the left. The meaning of each root is
shown next to the root.

1. We can ex c oil from the ground. a. don- (to give)

2. One a or gave the town money to create b. therm- (heat)

a new park.
3. The theater moved to a new d ation. c. -tract (to take or pull)

4. You can use a b ometer to find out how d. loc- (place)

warm or cold something is.
5. Trains, cars, and planes trans e us from e. -port (to carry or
place to place. bring)

B. Draw a line to match each boldfaced word with its meaning. The
root of each boldfaced word is listed in part A.

portable to find the exact place of

thermos to give to
retractable a container that keeps things hot or cold
locate able to be taken back or pulled back
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

donate able to be moved or carried

Grade 6/Unit 5/Week 3 191

 Practice
Name Vocabulary:
Word Parts

dismayed appealing occasion deserve actually

A. Vocabulary Words: Use the correct word from above to

complete each sentence.

1. Rachel was dismayed that her sister did not come to the party.

2. You deserve to do well because you worked hard.

3. Everything on the menu sounded appealing .

4. Kerry was surprised that she actually finished the race.

5. Dan’s twelfth birthday is a big occasion .

B. Vocabulary Strategy: Word Parts Write the letter of the Greek

root on the right that correctly completes each boldfaced word on the
left. The meaning of each root is shown next to the root.

1. A d computer is a computer that is a. auto- (self, or

very small. directed by itself)
2. The fire fighters got water from the b. bio- (life or living
fire c ant. thing)
3. You can use a e scope to see things c. hydr- (water)
that are far away.
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

4. A b logist studies living things. d. micro- (small)

5. The light is a matic. It turns on by e. tele- (far)

itself when you enter the room.

192 Grade 6/Unit 5/Week 3

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Graphic Organizer

Read “The Weekend Treat.” Then fill in the Persuasion Chart to help
you identify the techniques of persuasion.

Word or Phrase Technique

“If we had hired a full-time faulty reasoning
nurse for Granddad, it
would have cost much more
than the weekend trip.”

Seaside Inn loaded words

The Ultimate in Charm.
Cozy Rooms! Seaside
view. Reach the beach in
minutes.

“But we won’t ever have to faulty reasoning

rent a car while we’re here.
And we can get to more
activities during our short
stay.”

“Everyone would stop to false generalization

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

watch you and then buy.”

These are sample phrases and techniques from the story.

Grade 6/Unit 5/Week 3 193

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Take-Home Story

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

A Visit to Granddad

“Hi, Granddad!” Kelly y shouted as she hugged him. Granddad

was inactive and sick in bed, but he still found it appealing to get a
y was his favorite activity.
family visit. Talking to Kelly

“Did you have fun this weekend?” he asked. Kellyy reacted with
a smile. “Actually, I did! We went to the Seaside Inn. It was a great
p
occasion at a splendid location. When you gget better, you should go,
y
too! After all, everyone else has gone there.”
y much,” said Granddad, dismayed.
“I don’t like the beach very
“But maybe we can go to the music festival at the local theater next
month. The music will make us feel like we’ve been away! And since
p
we don’t have to spend much time traveling, we’ll feel twice as rested!”

1. Underline words that have the short e sound.

2. Circle the words that contain the Latin root loc, meaning “place.”

3. What techniques of persuasion does Kelly use in the second paragraph?

loaded words, false generalizations

4. What technique of persuasion does Granddad use in the last paragraph?

faulty reasoning
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

5. The word means “interesting” or “attractive.”

appealing dismayed inactive

At Home: Reread the passage to a friend and talk about

194 Grade 6/Unit 5/Week 3 things you have been persuaded to do.
 Practice
Name Writing:
Graphic Organizer

To help you plan your writing, fill in a Venn diagram.

Different

Alike
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Grade 6/Unit 5/Week 3 195

 Practice
Name Decoding:
Short o and Long o

The letter o can have the short o sound, as in hop, or the long o
sound, as in home.

A. Underline the words below with the short o sound, as in hop.

program flocked logo stones g
following
notes p p
proper ppy
sloppy undergoes toast

B. Circle each word p f o l l o w i n g

from Part A in the
puzzle at right. Look r n o t e s y a t s
for the letter o to o f s t o n e s o l
help you.
g z s l n l t g a o

r f l o c k e d s p

a v a g b g n r t p

m p r o p e r p r y

g u n d e r g o e s

C. Use the correct word from Part A to complete each sentence.

1. My room is so s l oppy that I can’t find anything in it!

2. That p r o g r a m was the best one on TV last year.

3. The birds f l ock e d to the elm tree.
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

4. That store has a great l o g o on their Web site.

On the numbered spaces below, write the boxed letters from the
numbered sentences above to find the answer to the question.
What insects were taken into space in 1999?
l a d y bugs
4 2 3 1

196 Grade 6/Unit 5/Week 4

 Practice
Name Fluency:
Timed Reading

A. Have a partner time you as you read the passage.

Record your scores below.

Hector felt bad for his friend Anton. Anton was about to
11 move to a new city with his family. Hector knew that Anton
23 would feel lonely and sad without his friends nearby. Hector
33 wished he could help Anton somehow. What could he do for him?
45 For starters, Hector could help Anton pack. While he helped
55 Anton pack, Hector found a chest made of wood. They learned
66 that it belonged to Anton’s father when he was a kid. It stored a
80 collection of gifts from his friends. Hector got a fine idea
91 for how to help Anton feel like his friends were still with him.
104 Hector asked Anton’s friends to his house, and they put many
115 things in a box to remind Anton of them. Wherever Anton went,
127 he would have his memories with him. 134

Record Your Scores

First Read: Words Read Time

Second Read: Words Read Time

B. Partners Use this chart to check your partner’s reading.

Speed too slow too fast just right

Paid attention to never sometimes always

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

periods, commas,
end punctuation

Accuracy skipped words self-corrected read every word

Read with feeling never sometimes always

At Home: Reread the passage and talk about how you

would feel if you were Anton. Grade 6/Unit 5/Week 4 197
 Practice
Structural Analysis:
Name Prefixes
il-, im-, in-, and ir-

The prefixes il-, im-, in- and ir- are used to give some words the
opposite meanings. For example, capable becomes incapable.

A. Fill in the missing parts to make the bold-faced word.

1. When Jethro wrote too quickly, his writing became illegible.

il + legible = illegible

2. The colonists wanted their independence from British rule.

in + dependence = independence

3. The schedule was not standard. It was irregular.

ir + regular = irregular

4. Nobody can really be invisible.

in + visible = invisible
5. My shirt was imperfect. The sleeve lengths were different.
im + perfect = imperfect

B. Write two sentences about a holiday. Use the word impossible in

one sentence. Use the word informal in the other.

1. ________________________________________________________________
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

________________________________________________________________

2. ________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

198 Grade 6/Unit 5/Week 4

 Practice
Name Vocabulary:
Thesaurus/Dictionary

recall memories irresistible illegible

collection incapable

A. Vocabulary Words Use the correct word from above to complete

each sentence.

Mrs. McDougal and her family collect stamps. She is able to

1. recall how she started her 2. collection . She says

that the tiny pictures with sticky backs were 3. irresistible and

that they can be worth more than their face value. Some of her favorite

4. memories are of receiving new stamps as gifts. She also

has old stamps on which the writing is 5. illegible . Mrs.

McDougal knows that she is 6. incapable of collecting every
kind of stamp, but she still tries!

B. Vocabulary Strategy: Thesaurus/Dictionary Use this

dictionary entry to answer the questions below.

1. What are the antonyms for groggy?

Can you think of more? groggy

groggy (gro´gē) adj. Not fully awake

lively, energetic; active, bubbly or alert, grouchy, sleepy: Bob was
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

groggy in the morning. [Ant.:

lively, energetic]
2. What part of speech is groggy?

adjective
3. Use the word groggy and one of its antonyms in a sentence.

Grade 6/Unit 5/Week 4 199

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Graphic Organizer

Read “A Collection of Thoughts.” Fill in the Judgment Chart

to help you make judgments about characters’ actions.

Action Judgment
Anton worries about Anton is like most people
whether he will like his new who find it difficult to move
town and school. away from friends and
familiar places.

Hector comes up with a Hector is a thoughtful

plan to collect gifts for friend. He wants to help
Anton. Anton feel better.

Anton’s friends collect gifts Anton’s friends are nice

so he can remember them. people who care about
Anton.

Anton looks through the The gifts were chosen

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

box of gifts and does not carefully, because they are

feel as lonely. serving their purpose of
helping Anton feel close to
his friends.

These are sample actions from the story and judgments.

200 Grade 6/Unit 5/Week 4

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Take-Home Story

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

Anton’s Surprise

Anton had just arrived at his new house in a new city. He

y insecure, and sad. He was not happy like his
already felt lonely,
g
parents. Anton felt incapable of enjoying life here. He wanted to go
back home with his friends. The thought was irresistible.

Then Anton noticed an irregularly shaped bin that he had

p
never seen before. The label on it was illegible. Anton opened the
bin and was surprised by what he saw. It was a collection of gifts
p
from his friends! The books, toys, and poems gave Anton many
memories from home.

Anton smiled. He was glad that his friends were so kind to him.
p it wouldn’t be impossible to enjoy life in a new city, as he
He hoped
first felt it would be.

1. Underline words that have the long o sound.

2. Circle the words that have the prefix il-, im-, in- or ir-.

3. What judgment can you make about Anton from the information in the
first paragraph?

He feels things deeply and finds it hard to adjust.

4. What judgment can you make about Anton’s friends?
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

They are caring friends who want to help Anton.

5. Something that cannot be read is .
illegible irresistible incapable

At Home: Reread the passage with a family member and

talk about friendship. Grade 6/Unit 5/Week 4 201
 Practice
Name Writing:
Graphic Organizer

To help you with your writing, fill in a comparison chart.

Detail Comparison

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

202 Grade 6/Unit 5/Week 4

 Practice
Name Decoding:
Variant Vowels

The letters oo in book make the same sound as the letters ou in

could. The letters oo in boot make the same sound as the letters
ue in blue and ew in drew.

A. Underline the words that have the same vowel sound as in book
or could. Circle the words that have the same vowel sound as in boot,
blue, and drew.
mistook understood foolish tollbooth flew
look cook loose glue would

B. Read the clues. Then use the words from Part A to complete
the puzzle.

Across 1
f l e w
1. A bird through the sky. 2
o w
3
2. I today’s lesson g o o
3. The car stopped at a . l l u
u i l
4. Ken the robin for a sparrow. 2
u n d e r s t o o d
Down
h
1. Are jokers always ? 4 6
l c
2. you bring me some water? 3 5
t o l l b o o t h
3. I used to fix the broken mug. o o o
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

4. The ring is so that it might m i s t o o k

fall off. e k
5. both ways when you cross
the street.

6. The at that diner makes great meals!

Grade 6/Unit 5/Week 5 203

 Practice
Name Fluency:
Phrase Cues

A. Use this passage to perform a choral reading or Readers Theater.

Candace Cable to Speak
4 We are happy to announce that Candace Cable will be
14 speaking at Wood Park High School this Friday. Friends and
24 family are invited, as well as students from area schools. All may
36 attend the speech free of charge.
42 Candace Cable is a very good athlete who has won many
53 awards and medals as a result of her athletic talents. At age 21,
66 she was badly injured in a car accident that took away the use
79 of her legs. But she did not let this hardship ruin her mood. Her
93 hard work and determination stood out, and Candace soon played
103 sports again. She learned to swim, took part in wheelchair races,
114 and skied on special skis, too. Candace has written several books
125 about her life. Candace Cable has overcome so much, and she
136 has become a true example for everyone. We hope you will enjoy
148 listening to her on Friday. 153

B. Read these silly sentences aloud. Pause when you see (/) and stop
when you see (//). Change your voice when you read a question
mark (?) or an exclamation point (!).

1. Whoosh!// The good goose zooms/ over the brook.//

2. The gold toad/ does not know/ how to get home.//

3. I agree,/ we must rest/ unless they see/ the pretty sea.//

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

4. Could a lion/ try to fight/ a big tiger/ with a stick?//

5. Wait!// Is that/ the last gray snail/ on the table?//

At Home: Reread the story, then create three silly sentences

204 Grade 6/Unit 5/Week 5 to share with a family member.
 Practice
Name Structural Analysis:
Multi-Syllable Words

Some vowel sounds are controlled by the letter r, as in for or car.

A. On the lines, write the word from each pair that has a vowel
controlled by the letter r. Then circle the r-controlled vowels.
Example:

person driveway person

1. ravel ordinary ordinary
2. horrible reach horrible
3. recall garden garden
4. rudely current current
5. clerk recent clerk

B. Break each word into syllables. Then circle any r-controlled

vowels.
Example:

forward for/ward
1. disturbing dis/turb/ing
2. thirteen thir/teen
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

3. working work/ing
4. important im/por/tant
5. artery ar/ter/y

Grade 6/Unit 5/Week 5 205

 Practice
Name Vocabulary:
Context Clues

A. Vocabulary Words Check true or false for each statement.

1. A rookie has a lot to learn. ✓true false

2. A burden is easy to carry. true ✓false

3. It feels good to be injured. true ✓false

✓true false
4. An athlete who tries hard sets a fine example.

5. A wheelchair is used by someone who cannot walk. ✓true false

B. Vocabulary Strategy: Context Clues Underline the context

clues that help you figure out the meanings of the bold-faced words.

Dana joined the checkers team at school. She was a beginner jjust
like myy Grandma was with the computer.
p Brock was the best player
on the team. Dana tried to flatter Brock byy tellingg him that he was
smart and cool. Then Brock teased Dana about her checkers game
and she got mad. They called each other names. Then they got into
an argument in which they y disagreed
g about who said what. Dana
said she never wanted to talk to Brock again. The next day, Dana told
Brock she was sorry. Brock told Dana that he didn’t mean to tease
her either. Brock said he was so disturbed by the fight that he did not
sleepp the night
g before. Dana and Brock became good friends.

Fill in the sentences below with the correct bold-faced word from Part B.
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

1. You have to learn the basics when you are a beginner .

2. The argument upset both of us.

3. It is nice to flatter someone with compliments.

4. Wendy was disturbed by the mean things they had said.

206 Grade 6/Unit 5/Week 5

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Graphic Organizer

Read “Candace Cable Zooms Forward.” Fill in the Summary

Chart to help you summarize the selection.

Beginning Middle End

Candace Cable Candace Candace now
was a great learned to writes books
athlete. She swim without and articles,
played many using her legs. and she gives
sports. When Candace’s speeches about
she was 21, she coach her life. She also
was in a car suggested that teaches and
accident that she race in her helps those in
left her unable wheelchair. wheelchairs to
to walk. This After winning play sports.
made Candace races, Candace
angry. decided to help
others. She also
learned to ski
with a special
set of skis that
has a seat.

Summary
Candace Cable was a great athlete who was left unable
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

to walk after a car accident. Through hard work and

determination, she overcame this problem and learned to
play sports again. Her story has set an example for many
people.

These are sample entries.

Grade 6/Unit 5/Week 5 207

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Take-Home Story

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

Candace Cable Plays Again

In 1975, Candace Cable injured her spine in a horrible car

accident. This took away the use of her legs. It was not easy for
Candace to recover from this disaster. She did not like using a
wheelchair, and this put her in an angry mood.

Soon, Candace shook off her anger. She looked for a way to
play sports again, because she did not want her wheelchair to be a
burden and hold her back. She learned how to play sports without
using her legs by making her arms more powerful.

In 1979, she took part in a swim meet in New York. This meet
confirmed that Candace could still compete and have fun, too. Her
g
hard work set a good example for many people.

1. Underline words in the passage that have the same vowel sound as in
book and would.

2. Circle each word that has two syllables and an r-controlled vowel.

3. Summarize the first paragraph in one sentence.

Candace lost the use of her legs in a car crash.

4. Summarize the second paragraph in one sentence.

Candace found ways to play sports without

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

using her legs.

5. A is something that is hard to deal with or carry.
spine sport burden

208 Grade 6/Unit 5/Week 5

 Practice
Name Writing:
Graphic Organizer

To help you plan your writing, fill in a before/after chart.

Before After
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Grade 6/Unit 5/Week 5 209

 Practice
Comprehension:
Name Persuasion
Review

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

Drew’s Plan

Drew asked his parents for money to buy

a new bike. “I have earned fantastic grades,”
said Drew. “And with a bike, I can get home
from soccer practice easily. That way, I’ll
have even more time to study.”

“I have an idea,” said Drew’s mother. “If

you earn the money yourself, you can buy the
bike. Then you will feel good that you did it
all on your own.” Drew liked the idea.

Drew was good at art, so he set up a table on the sidewalk. He

drew pictures for people for a small fee. To bringg in customers, he
g that said, “Drew’s Dazzling
made a sign g Drawings!”
g

1. How does Drew persuade people to buy his drawings?

Underline the sentence that describes how Drew does this.

2. In which paragraph is Drew persuaded to earn the money

for a bicycle? Put a box around the paragraph.

3. What techniques of persuasion does Drew use to try to convince his

parents to buy him a bike?

loaded words, faulty reasoning

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

End-of-Unit Additional Instruction

210 Grade 6/Unit 5/Week 3
 Practice
Comprehension:
Name Make Judgments
Review

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

A Hobby for Jackie

“I’m bored,” Jackie said one day.

y “I never have anything
y g to do.”

Her mother looked concerned. “You need a hobby,” Jackie’s

mother said. “How about painting?”
y
Jackie yawned. But her mother would not give up. “Why don’t
you start a collection?”
y at this idea. But her mother continued. “It
Jackie rolled her eyes
can be fun. Look, I have a few coins left over from my trip to Brazil
last month.” She put the coins on the table. “You could collect coins
from different countries.”

Jackie picked up a coin. She looked closely at both sides. Then

she smiled at her mother. “Thank you,” Jackie said. “It’s a great idea.
Where can I get more coins?”

1. Underline the text clues that help you make the judgment that Jackie is
uninterested in most things.

2. Put a box around the text clues that help you make the judgment that
Jackie’s mother is caring and wants to help Jackie.

3. What judgment can you make about Jackie at the end of the
story?

Jackie can be open to new ideas but needs to

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

be persuaded to consider them.

End-of-Unit Additional Instruction

Grade 6/Unit 5/Week 4 211
 Practice
Comprehension:
Name Summarize
Review

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

Lance Armstrong’s Fight

Lance Armstrongg is a talented cyclist

y who has won manyy Look
races and awards. In each of the seven years from 1999 to for the
main idea
2005, he won the Tour de France, the most famous bike
to help you
race in the world. He has also been named “Athlete of the summarize each
Year” many times. paragraph.

Lance Armstrong had many of his greatest successes

after overcoming a fight with a deadly disease. In 1996, doctors
told Lance that he had cancer. They were not sure if Lance would
live through it, and they doubted he would ever race again. Lance
proved them wrong. He battled his illness and came back stronger
than ever.

1. What sentence best summarizes the first paragraph? Underline

this sentence.

2. What sentence best summarizes the second paragraph? Put

a box around this sentence.

3. How could you summarize the whole passage in one sentence?

Lance Armstrong overcame a fight with cancer

to win many races and awards.
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

End-of-Unit Additional Instruction

212 Grade 6/Unit 5/Week 5
 Practice
Decoding/Structural
Name Analysis:
Cumulative Review

A. Underline any prefixes and suffixes in the words below.

operation marker mistreatment relation impossible
activity reaction y
unfairly understand discussion

B. Circle each m i s t r e a t m e n t t f i
word from Part
A in the puzzle. a d b r a d u c t o i p q r m
r i a t e e d c t s p r e n p

k r e l a t i o n i l e t s o

e o p e r a t i o n v v p i s

r n w i n f r e a c t i o n s
k g u n d e r s t a n d t a i
s i u n f a i r l y g u i y b

c h a t c l u p k a d n f r l

d i s c u s s i o n c k l y e

C. Use the correct words from Part A to complete each sentence.

1. You should never treat anyone u n f a i r l y .

2. The crowd had a strong r e a c t i o n to the speech.

3. Jonah wanted to do a specific a c t i v i t y tonight.

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

4. Did my brother write with a m a r k e r ?

Use the boxed letters from 1-4 above to write a secret message!
Do n ’ t y a wn! T he da y h a s jus t begu n !
1 2 3 4 2 4 3 4 2 1

End-of-Unit Additional Instruction

Grade 6/Unit 5/Weeks 1–5 213
 Practice
Name Decoding:
Schwa Endings

The schwa is a vowel sound that can be heard in the unstressed

syllables of such words as cable, label, sister, actor, cedar,
cotton, shaken, and human.

A. Draw a line under the word that best completes each sentence.
Write the word on the line.

1. Mrs. Lopez likes to travel on the highway rather than on side

streets.
travel ravel novel

2. Tracy has always been kind and gentle .

mistrust model gentle
g

3. Ian called home and his father picked up the phone.

order father faulty

4. Jason made only one error on the whole math test.

error reason bitten

5. Winter is the coldest season of the year.

picking season counter

6. Did you happen to find my hat in your house?

sunken happen
pp fallen

7. My father knew that woman when she was a little girl.

tunnel pretty woman

8. Look carefully because I know it is hidden in this room.

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

hosting handle hidden

B. Go back and circle the unstressed syllables with schwa sounds in

the answer choices above.

214 Grade 6/Unit 6/Week 1

 Practice
Name Fluency:
Speed Drill

A. As you read, pay attention to pauses and intonation.

When China first grew into an empire many centuries ago, it
11 faced many dangers. China was under frequent attack from
20 nomads. The nomads would destroy crops and frighten traders. People
30 were afraid to travel through China because of the nomads. This
41 meant that it was hard for China to get food and supplies from
54 other places. The people were in serious trouble. Their survival was
65 in question!
67 The Emperor knew he needed to save China by preventing the
78 nomads from attacking. How did the Emperor help his people? He
89 acted on the big idea of building a huge wall around his empire.
102 The purpose of the wall was to keep nomads out of China. He
115 thought that the hard work would be worth it. It would be called
128 the Great Wall of China. 133

B. Read these words to yourself. Then have a partner time you.

Do it two more times to see if you can beat your score!

wonder travel label shoot lock

human open apron woods zone

fallen sailor little blue roast

suffer beacon butter would cobra

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

riddle dollar actor few robot

Record Your Scores

Time 1: Time 2: Time 3:

At Home: Reread the passage and talk about why the Great
Wall of China was built. Grade 6/Unit 6/Week 1 215
 Practice
Name Structural Analysis:
Suffixes -ant, -ent

Adding the suffixes –ant or –ent to a verb can change it to a noun

or an adjective. For example, the word assist becomes assistant.
The word differ becomes different.

A. Fill in the missing parts to make the bold-faced word.

1. The cleaning bottle was full of disinfectant.

disinfect + ant = disinfectant

2. Once upon a time, the old king had a servant.

serve –e+ ant = servant

3. The cat was hesitant to come down from the tree.

hesitate – ate + ant = hesitant

4. Tim is a very good student.

study – y + ent = student
5. Any resident of the town can use the town’s swimming pool.
reside – e + ent = resident

B. Write two sentences about a construction project. Use the word

different in one sentence. Use the word inhabitant in the other.

1. ________________________________________________________________
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

________________________________________________________________

2. ________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

216 Grade 6/Unit 6/Week 1

 Practice
Name Vocabulary:
Word Parts

A. Vocabulary Words Circle the word or phrase in the group that

does not belong with the bold-faced word.

1. constructed broken created made

2. frequent often regular never
3. centuries years places units of time
4. defensive keep safe trust protect
5. commanded followed ordered told

6. Which best describes a doctor’s purpose? Tell why on the lines below.
a. to help people who are sick b. to take people from place to place

B. Vocabulary Strategy: Word Parts Write the letter of the Greek

root on the right that correctly completes each bold-faced word on the
left. The meaning of each root is provided.

1. Alma can c ic the sounds that some birds a. astr- (stars)

make.
2. A e ologist studies animals. b. thea- (to see or
look at)
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

3. Norm d icized Mark for being late so many c. mim- (to repeat
times. or copy)
4. People in the field of a onomy study objects d. crit- (to judge)
in outer space.
5. Wendy went to the b ter to watch a play. e. zo- (animal)

Grade 6/Unit 6/Week 1 217

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Graphic Organizer

As you read “The Great Wall of China,” record important information

and generalizations in the Generalizations Chart.

Important Information Generalization

The Great Wall was built The Great Wall is so big

on the crests of hills and that some people claim
mountains in the Chinese it can be seen from the
countryside. It stretches moon.
as far as the eye can see.

More than 2,000 years The small kingdoms

ago, China was actually were always fighting one
a number of small another.
kingdoms. King Zheng
took over many of them.

The Great Wall was built Many people died

by many thousands of because of harsh working
people who worked long conditions.
hours every day with no
rest or meals.

The Great Wall fended The Great Wall has always

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

off China’s enemies. It been an important part of

is a symbol of the skillful Chinese culture.
Chinese people. The
Chinese government has
set up projects to restore it.

These are samples of information from the selection.

218 Grade 6/Unit 6/Week 1

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Take-Home Story

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

The Workers Who Built the Wall

Many of the tourists who visit the Great Wall of China may
not suspect how much hard work was needed to construct the wall.
p
The Emperor commanded thousands of ppeople p to build a defensive
wall that would be resistant to attackers. These workers were forced
to work long hours every day, without rest or enough food. It was
common for workers to die because of these harsh conditions.

Though the workers suffered, their persistent labor produced

an amazing structure. The Great Wall served its purpose for many
years, defending China from invaders. Today, the Great Wall is seen
as an important emblem of the strength, hard work, and skill of the
Chinese ppeople.
p

1. Underline multi-syllable words that have the schwa sound made by one of
these endings: -er, -or, -ar, -en, -on, -an, -le, -al, or -el.

2. Circle the words with the suffix –ant or –ent.

3. What generalization does the passage make about the tourists who visit
the Great Wall of China?

Many of them may not suspect how much work

was needed to construct the wall.
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

4. Is the last sentence a generalization that is valid, or true? Explain.

It is probably true. It would be difficult to argue

against it.
5. means put together.
commanded constructed power

At Home: Reread the passage and talk about the workers

who built the Great Wall. Grade 6/Unit 6/Week 1 219
 Practice
Name Writing:
Graphic Organizer

To help you plan your writing, fill in a sequence chart.

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

220 Grade 6/Unit 6/Week 1

 Practice
Name Decoding:
Diphthongs

The diphthongs ow and ou make the same sound. Examples are

the vowels sounds in brown and proud.

A. Underline the letters ow or ou wherever they make the same sound

as in brown and proud.
sprouting township growing could
pound proud brownie snowplow

B. In the puzzle, s h o u l d x g o w n s
circle each word
that has the same q o p p l y s p o u t h
sound as in brown w w u c c o r o k a k o
and proud. Look
for the ow and ou n e n h e w e w f n a u
spellings to help g b r o w n u d o u b t
you.
g t o w v q r e a i o x

z e e b d v a r c s u s

s f l o w n x s e d t i

C. Use the correct words from part A to complete each sentence.

1. Hey! Who ate the last b r o w n i e?

2. The plants were s p r o u t i n g outside already.
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

3. Jess was p r o u d of her little sister’s achievements.

4. That dog is big, but it is still g r o w i n g.
To answer the riddle, write the boxed letter from each of the numbered
lines above in the correct spaces.
In which place in the world can you find the most stories?
the I i b r a r y
2 1 4 3

Grade 6/Unit 6/Week 2 221

 Practice
Name Fluency:
Timed Reading

A. Have a partner time you as you read the passage.

Record your scores below.
The jazz band brought down the house at the Bebop Theater.
11 The audience clapped loudly, almost drowning out the music.
20 Rowan bounced as he played a saxophone solo. “Play it, Rowan!”
31 said Stan, on the drums. Marty tapped his feet as he played the
44 clarinet. It was a great show. The crowd let out an audible “Yeah!”
57 After the show, though, the band got some bad news. “Your
68 contract is about to run out,” said Mr. Powers, their manager. “You
80 must sell out the theater to get a new one.” The guys were worried.
94 They had never sold out a theater before and they had been playing
107 together for many years. “Our next show will have to be the best,”
120 Stan said. “Can we do it?” Each member nodded in agreement.
131 They believed they could! 135

Record Your Scores

First Read: Words Read Time

Second Read: Words Read Time

B. Partners Use this chart to check your partner’s reading.

Speed too slow too fast just right

Paid attention to never sometimes always

periods, commas,
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

end punctuation

Accuracy skipped words self-corrected read every word

Read with feeling never sometimes always

At Home: Reread the passage and talk about the challenge

222 Grade 6/Unit 6/Week 2 the band had to face.
 Practice
Name Structural Analysis:
Greek and Latin Roots

Roots are word parts that form the basis of words. They usually
cannot stand on their own. Some words have roots that come
from the Greek or Latin languages.

A. Write the letter of the root on the right that correctly completes
each boldfaced word on the left. The meaning of each root is shown.

1. Sam c bled some notes on a sheet of paper. a. astr- or aster-

(Greek: star)
2. The fastest runner crossed the d ish line. b. vis- (Latin: see)

3. Jamaal went to b it his uncle. c. scrib- (Latin: write)

4. The park bench was cemented into place, d. fin- (Latin: end)
which made it im e ile.
5. If you study a onomy, you will learn about e. mob- or mot- (Latin:
space and the stars. move)

B. Draw a line to match each boldfaced word with its meaning. The
root of each boldfaced word is listed in part A.

1. inscribe able to be seen

2. final movement
k
3. asterisk to write on something or in
something
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

4. visible last
5. motion a printed mark that is
shaped like a star

Grade 6/Unit 6/Week 2 223

 Practice
Name Vocabulary:
Thesaurus

audible drowsy automatically contract serious bellowed

A. Vocabulary Words Use the correct word from above to complete

each sentence.

1. After eating a big meal, I often feel tired and drowsy .

2. The door closed automatically behind them.

3. Dad was being serious , so we knew the topic was important.

4. Gordon spoke so softly that he was hardly audible .

5. Loren bellowed when he slammed his finger in the door.

B. Vocabulary Strategy: Thesaurus Use this thesaurus entry to

answer the questions that follow.

1. Which synonym for stranger might you

use to describe someone who comes stranger
to your classroom and gives a talk stranger n, 1 newcomer; uninvited
about careers? Explain your answer. person; visitor

visitor
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

2. Which synonym for stranger might you use to describe someone who
moves to a new city or country? Explain your answer.

newcomer

224 Grade 6/Unit 6/Week 2

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Graphic Organizer

After reading “A Tough Act To Follow,” fill in the Sequence Chart to

help you identify the sequence of events.

Event
Omar’s dad plays in a jazz band at the Bebop Theater.
Omar works as their assistant.

The band’s manager tells them they have to pack the

theater with fans for their next show to get a new contract.
The band works hard to get ready for the show, and the
players get tired. They all go home to sleep.

Omar sees the instruments come to life.

The instruments play the show by themselves in front of a
huge crowd. Mr. Powers wants to buy the instruments.
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Omar sells the instruments to Mr. Powers.

The instruments travel to different shows with
Mr. Powers.

Sample answers are provided.

Grade 6/Unit 6/Week 2 225

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Take-Home Story

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

The Instruments Return

Omar was the owner of the Bebop Theater. One night, he was
working late in his office. At midnight, Omar was surprised by a
barely audible screech that drifted through his closed door. “Who’s
there?” Omar bellowed. Then he ran out to the auditorium.

“It’s us, Omar,” came a shout. A clarinet was talking! Next to

the clarinet Omar found a trumpet, a clarinet, and a drum set. They
all grinned at Omar.

“I know you, fellows!” said Omar. He never forgot the sharp

instruments that played by themselves.

“Omar, we’re tired of traveling. We want to play all our shows

at the Bebop Theater,” the clarinet said.

“Okay, I’ll sign you to a contract,” Omar said. “Now let’s get
serious and play some jazz.” The instruments began to jam. After
they finished their first tune, Omar clapped and cheered.

1. Underline words with the ow sound, as in brownie or proud.

2. Circle the words in the passage that include the Latin root word aud,
which means “to hear.”

3. What happens right after Omar asks, “Who’s there?”

He runs out to the auditorium.

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

4. What is the last thing that happens in the passage?

Omar claps and cheers.

5. Something that is can be heard.
serious forgotten audible

At Home: Reread the passage and talk about your favorite

226 Grade 6/Unit 6/Week 2 instrument.
 Practice
Name Writing:
Graphic Organizer

To help you plan your writing, fill in a sequence chart.

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Grade 6/Unit 6/Week 2 227

 Practice
Comprehension:
Name Make Generalizations
Review

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

The Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal is a striking domed temple located in Agra,

India. Constructed more than three centuries ago, it is one of the
man-made wonders of the world. Every y year, between 2 million and
4 million tourists visit the Taj Mahal. Most of them are amazed by
what they see.

The Taj Mahal is made of bright white marble and is decorated

with gardens and detailed artwork. More than 20,000 workers
were needed to build it, along with a thousand elephants to carry
supplies.

A Mughal emperor commanded that the Taj Mahal be built as a

tomb for his wife. He wanted its beauty to outshine that of any other
building in the world. It is hard to say whether the emperor got his
wish. But almost everyy person agrees that a place like the Taj Mahal
will never be built again.

1. Underline the words every, most, and never that signal generalizations
in the passage.

2. Put a box around the sentence that is a generalization identifying how

tourists feel about the Taj Mahal.

3. Why might people think that a place like the Taj Mahal will never be
built again?
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

The Taj Mahal was created by a person in the

past and for a specific purpose. It is unlikely that
a place needing so many workers and supplies
would be created for that purpose today.

Mid-Unit Additional Instruction

228 Grade 6/Unit 6/Week 1
 Practice
Comprehension:
Name Sequence
Review

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

The Jazz Lesson

Becky frowned as she played the jazz song on

the piano. “It doesn’t sound right,” she said after
she finished.

Then her teacher knew it was time for some

advice. “You’re doing fine. But remember, jazz
isn’t just about playing the notes on the page. True
jazz comes from your heart and soul.”

Becky thought about this advice. Later, she

went home and listened to jazz music on the radio
This
for hours. At her next lesson, Becky played the
is a
song better than ever! signal
word.
1. Underline the words next, then, and later that signal sequence
in the passage.

2. What is the last event that happens in the story? Put a box
around the sentence that tells about it.

3. What happens right after Becky complains about her playing?

Her teacher gives her advice about how to

play jazz.
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Mid-Unit Additional Instruction

Grade 6/Unit 2/Week 2 229
 Practice
Name Decoding:
Digraphs

Digraphs are two consonants working together to make one

sound. Examples include th, sh, wh, and ph, as in that, fi sh,
whisper, and graph.

A. Draw a line under the word that best completes each sentence.
Write the word on the line.

1. Shirley wore a white dress to the school dance.

what white whines

2. The elephant was the biggest animal at the zoo.

elephant goldfish theater

3. Theo arrived just as the shopkeeper was locking the store.

share wish shopkeeper
p p

4. Paul shaped his clay and formed a vase.

shaped
p shades sheriff

5. I always bring a thermos filled with water to soccer practice.

think tank thermos

6. Sasha whistled a happy tune.

shined whistled wiped

7. The graph showed how prices rose over time.

graph
g p path shack

8. Beth found an eggshell in the cake batter, so she took it out.

gather booth eggshell
gg
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

B. Go back and circle the digraphs th, sh, wh, and ph in the words
above.

230 Grade 6/Unit 6/Week 3

 Practice
Name Fluency:
Speed Drill

A. As you read, pay attention to pronunciation.

Written language was created about 5,000 years ago. Before
9 that, people told stories and shared spoken messages. However, this
19 system had a few problems. When people communicated only
28 by talking, it was difficult to remember long messages. Sometimes
38 messages could be incorrect. People needed a better way to
48 send and save messages. When people began writing, they could
58 describe things in a more vivid way. Messages could also be saved
70 or sent again.
73 People in different places produced different kinds of writing.
82 Sumerians used a system of lines written on clay tablets. Egyptians
93 carved pictures in stone that stood for sounds and ideas. The
104 pictures were then placed into groups to tell stories. The Chinese
115 drew symbols with brushes and ink. These are called characters.
125 Each character stood for a syllable. Every type of writing was
136 different, but they all helped people communicate. 143

B. Read these words to yourself. Then have a partner time you.

Do it two more times to see if you can beat your score!

phone which than downsize server

alphabet graph phase gown apron

thousand things without house little

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

share fresh shell frowning vessel

when anywhere wheat mouth seven

Record Your Scores

Time 1: Time 2: Time 3:

At Home: Reread the passage and talk about what type of

written language you think is most interesting. Grade 6/Unit 6/Week 3 231
 Practice
Name Structural Analysis:
Suffixes

The suffixes -ous, -eous, and -ious are added to words so that
they can be used to describe something. Examples are nervous,
outrageous, and cautious.

A. Fill in the missing parts to make the word in bold.

1. It is dangerous to ride a bike without a helmet.

danger + ous = dangerous

2. Don’t eat that berry! It is poisonous.

poison + ous = poisonous

3. The firefighters were courageous.

courage + ous = courageous

4. She loved to read various types of books.

vary – y + ious = various
5. Lance became famous when he saved a boy’s life.
fame – e + ous = famous

B. Write two sentences about ancient forms of writing. Use the word
mysterious in one sentence. Use the word advantageous in the other.

1. ________________________________________________________________
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

________________________________________________________________

2. ________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

232 Grade 6/Unit 6/Week 3

 Practice
Name Vocabulary:
Word Parts

A. Vocabulary Words Check true or false for each statement.

1. Something that is vivid is dim and hard to see. true ✓false

2. If you had lived thousands of years
ago, you might have written on tablets. ✓true false

3. Loud sounds can be produced by thunderstorms. ✓true false

4. You should be cautious when you cross a street. ✓true false

5. Before written language was

created, nothing was communicated. true ✓false
B. Vocabulary Strategy: Word Parts Each bold-faced word in the
sentence on the left is divided into two word parts. The meanings of the
word parts are provided on the right. Write the letter of the meanings on
the right that matches the bold-faced word on the left.

1. The plant was vigor/ous. It grew

a. half + ball (Greek)
very tall and strong! b

2. Pam had already finished the first two b. liveliness, strength

parts of the tri/logy. She couldn’t wait to + has the quality of
read the last. d (Latin)

3. Jordan knew that a globe always

c. fierceness + has
shows both the eastern and western
the quality of (Latin)
hemi/spheres. a
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

4. The lion is often described as feroc/ious. d. three + story

c (Greek)

Grade 6/Unit 6/Week 3 233

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Graphic Organizer

Read “Writing from Drawings to Alphabets.” Fill in the Problem and

Solution Chart to help you understand the problem and solution.

Problem
People could communicate by talking and telling stories,
but they could not always remember exactly what was
said.

Attempt Outcome
Sumerians, Egyptians, People are able to
Mayans, and Chinese record messages and
create written language stories using written
systems. These systems language systems.
use marks, pictures,
and characters.

Attempt Outcome
Phoenicians produce Written communication
the first alphabet, or becomes easier,
standard set of letters. because the alphabet
uses fewer symbols
than earlier systems of
writing.
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Solution
Written language systems using alphabets make it easy
to save and share information, stories, and messages.

234 Grade 6/Unit 6/Week 3

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Take-Home Story

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

Dropping a Line

When the first systems of writing were produced, the people

who used them communicated rather slowly. Clay tablets on which
writing had been carved could take days to deliver. The first mail on
paper did not travel much more quickly. But today, we can send vivid
y
messages anywhere in the world, sometimes in just seconds. We can
do this using the marvelous system of email. When we send an email,
p
we send words or pictures from one computer or phone to another.

Suppose you send an email to a friend. The email travels over

p
phone lines, cables, or radio waves to an electronic mail server.
That server makes sure the email is delivered to your friend’s
email address. When your friend opens his or her mailbox, he or
she should find the email waiting there. If your friend uses email
as often as most people do, he or she will probably have numerous
other emails waiting there as well.

1. Underline words with the digraphs th, sh, ph, or wh.

2. Circle the words with the suffix -ous.

3. What problem does email solve?

It allows people to send messages very quickly.

4. What makes sure the email goes to the right place?

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

an electronic mail server

5. means created or made.

communicated produced vivid

At Home: Reread the passage and talk about the benefits

of email. Grade 6/Unit 6/Week 3 235
 Practice
Name Writing:
Graphic Organizer

To help you plan your writing, fill in a sequence chart.

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

236 Grade 6/Unit 6/Week 3

 Practice
Name Decoding:
Long and Short Vowels

Each vowel can make more than one sound. Examples of e vowel
sounds include pet and me; o vowel sounds include got and goat.

A. In the words below, underline the letter or letters that make a short
vowel sound. Put a box around the letter or letters that make a long
vowel sound.
hungry treated shady highway eat
insect cube hope sight right

B. Read the clues.

Then use the words to 2 1 3

complete the sentences. i h u n g r y

n i i
Across 2 4
s i g h t g
1. My dog is always .
e h r h
2. Jed got glasses after
the doctor checked his c w e t
. 3
e a t a a
3. If I don’t breakfast I y t
won’t feel well.
e
4. It was under the tree. 4 5
s h a d y
5. My drink was warm so I
put an ice in it. o
Down
p
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

1. Mom drives on the . c u b e

2. The buzzed around the room.
3. He gave the answers to the questions.
4. I my cat like she was one of the family.
5. We all Uncle Ned will get better soon.

Grade 6/Unit 6/Week 4 237

 Practice
Name Fluency:
Timed Reading

A. Have a partner time you as you read the passage.

Record your scores below.
The printing process has come a long way over the years. Today,
12 millions of books, newspapers, and other manuscripts can be printed
22 every day around the world. It was not always this easy, though.
34 Printing used to be a slow and difficult process. It often took people
47 many days to complete just one manuscript.
54 In ancient Egypt, for example, people wrote on paper made from
65 the stems of the papyrus plant. This method of writing was very slow.
78 The paper itself took a long time to make. Once the paper was made,
92 the text was printed by hand. Then each copy also had to be made by
107 hand. As a result, printed books were rare and cost too much money
120 for most people to buy. Because books were so rare, many people did
133 not know how to read! 138

Record Your Scores

First Read: Words Read Time

Second Read: Words Read Time

B. Partners Use this chart to check your partner’s reading.

Speed too slow too fast just right

Paid attention to never sometimes always

periods, commas,
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

end punctuation

Accuracy skipped words self-corrected read every word

Read with feeling never sometimes always

At Home: Reread the passage and talk about something

238 Grade 6/Unit 6/Week 4 you learned about the printing process.
 Practice
Name Structural Analysis:
Multisyllable Words

When you come across a long word you do not understand,

break the word into syllables. Then look for prefixes and suffixes
that can help you figure out the meaning of the word.

A. Write each word. Circle each prefix and underline each suffix. Then
say the word and count the number of syllables.

Example: unbeatable unbeatable

unb 4
1. untruthful untruthful
unt 3
2. incorrectly inc
nc
incorrectly 4
3. returnable ret
returnable 4
4. mispronounced mispronounced
m
mis
sp 3
5. replacement rep
p
replacement 3

B. Use the correct word from above to complete each sentence.

1. When Nya got sick, Ruth was chosen to be her replacement

in the school play.

2. It is not a good idea to make untruthful statements.

3. Ted mispronounced the last word in the sentence.

incorrectly
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

4. Maria answered one question .

5. The glass bottles were returnable so we took them back to

the store.

Grade 6/Unit 6/Week 4 239

 Practice
Name Vocabulary:
Word Parts

A. Vocabulary Words Circle the word in the group that does not
belong with the bold-faced word.
1. authors writers actors poets
2. manuscripts books texts tape
3. descriptions tasks explanations reports
4. papyrus paper plant animal
5. information ideas nonsense facts

6. Which can be rotated more easily? Explain on the lines below.

a. a slide b. a merry-go-round

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

B. Vocabulary Strategy: Word Parts Read each sentence and

look at the bold-faced word. Find the Latin root of this word on the
right. Draw a line from the sentence to the root of the bold-faced word.

1. Marta was very flexible and could easilyy fract: to break

touch her toes.

2. There was a specific location fl ex: to bend

to play ball in the park.
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

3. There was only a fraction loc: a place

of pie left on the plate.

240 Grade 6/Unit 6/Week 4

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Graphic Organizer

Read “Updating the Printing Process.” Fill in the Description Web to

help you record the important facts in the selection.

Over 4,000 years ago, Johann Gutenberg

Egyptians create printing invents the printing
by writing on paper made press, which stamps ink
from the papyrus plant. letters onto paper.

Event
The printing process
becomes quick and easy.

The invention of
Newer printing presses computers allows
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

use clay plates to make printing presses to print

the process go more hundreds of books and
quickly. newspapers
every day.

Grade 6/Unit 6/Week 4 241

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Take-Home Story

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

Papyrus

When the ancient Egyptians invented an early form of writing,

they did not have printing presses or computers. Instead, they wrote
on ppaper
p that they made from the papyrus plant. To make the ppaper,
p
stems were cut from the plants. Then the stems were soaked in
water, hammered together, and dried in the sun. Finally, Egyptians
used ink to write on the sheets of paper.

Making paper took a long time. So did writing manuscripts and

making g copies by hand before the printing press was invented. As
a result, it was difficult for authors to produce books. Books were
rare, and sold for high prices that would be unacceptable today.y Few
people saw books or were able to read. Reading did not become
common until new ways y of printing were invented.

1. Underline words with the long a sound spelled a, a_e, or ay.

2. Circle the word with the prefix un- and the suffix -able.

3. Why was creating books difficult?

It took a long time to make papyrus sheets. It

also took a long time to write manuscripts and
make copies by hand.
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

4. Why did few people see books?

Books were rare and sold for high prices.

5. are people who write books.
manuscripts authors presses

At Home: Reread the passage and talk about what was

242 Grade 6/Unit 6/Week 4 difficult about using papyrus.
 Practice
Name Writing:
Graphic Organizer

To help you plan your writing, fill in a strong words chart.

Steps Strong Words

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Grade 6/Unit 6/Week 4 243

 Practice
Name Decoding:
Long and Short Vowels

Vowel sounds can be short, as in back, fresh, lid, top, and club.
Vowel sounds can be long, as in may, greet, tide, stove, and use.

A. In the words below, underline the letter or letters that make a short
vowel sound. Put a box around the letter or letters that make a long
vowel sound.
shadow leaping finalize volume rowboat
moment freeze relaxed shade uphill

l f i n a l i z e p
B. Circle each word from
part A in the puzzle. e r v o l u m e x r

a e s h a d o w u e

p e h t g h m o p l

i z a o n d e n h a

n e d g a o n s i x

g i e o u t t k l e

t r o w b o a t l d

C. Use the correct words from part A to complete each sentence.

1. That big tree provides a lot of s h ad e.

2. Please wait for just a m ome n t .

3. Let’s f i n a l i z e our plans for tonight!

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

4. The frog was l eap i ng from rock to rock.

Write the boxed letters from the numbered sentences above to spell
the answer to the riddle!
What can you add to a bucket to make it lighter?
A h o l e !
1 2 3 4

244 Grade 6/Unit 6/Week 5

 Practice
Name Fluency:
Phrase Cues

A. Use this passage to perform a choral reading or Readers Theater.

May 19, 1980
3 Mount St. Helens Erupts!
7 Yesterday, Mount St. Helens erupted, blasting lava and ash
16 across the area. Mom and I were able to flee our house in time, but
31 many people were not able to do that. It looked just like a scene
45 from a movie! The blast caused a great deal of damage. The lava
58 destroyed homes, plants, and everything else in its path.
67 The eruption was not a surprise to us. Scientists had warned
78 for weeks that an eruption was possible because an earthquake in
89 March created a lot of pressure on the walls of the volcano. When
102 Mom heard the report, she and I made an emergency plan. We
114 followed the plan exactly. I don’t know what kind of damage has
126 been done to our home. I am glad we are staying at Grandma’s
139 house for now! 142

B. Read these silly sentences aloud. Pause when you see (/) and
stop when you see (//). Change your voice when you read a
question mark (?) or an exclamation point (!).

1. How do I go/ from this place/ to that one?//

2. It is never/ a fine idea/ to stand near/ a volcano.//

3. Why should/ the splendid sprinter/ scream strongly/ at a photo?//

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

4. Look out!// The old cobra/ is now down/ in the lounge.//

5. Wonderful!// The raven/ bought an apron/ with a nickel.//

At Home: Reread the passage and talk about the effect the
eruption had on people and the environment. Grade 6/Unit 6/Week 5 245
 Practice
Name Structural Analysis:
Multisyllable Words

You can separate the syllables in a word to help you read it.

A. In each word, underline any prefix and draw a box around any suffix.

Example: unkindly

1. election

2. mistreatment

3. unbreakable

4. preheated
p

5. refillable

B. Which word in each pair has more than one syllable? Write that
word and draw lines between the syllables.

Example: worked repayment re/pay/ment

1. misuse mints mis/use

2. wreck reaction re/ac/tion
3. visible plates vis/i/ble
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

4. streak misunderstanding mis/un/der/stand/ing

5. unfairly tolls un/fair/ly

246 Grade 6/Unit 6/Week 5

 Practice
Name Vocabulary:
Dictionary

eruption devour volcano pressure flee revive

A. Vocabulary Words Write the missing words to complete the

sentences correctly.
A volcanic 1. eruption is when lava is forced up and out of
a 2. volcano . The hot lava comes from deep under the Earth’s
surface. People are told to 3. flee , or move away from places
where this happens.
There is a lot of 4. pressure inside a volcano before it erupts.
After the eruption, lava flows from the volcano and looks as though it
will 5. devour everything around it by covering it. Sometimes it
takes years before land that was covered by lava can 6. revive .

B. Vocabulary Strategy: Dictionary Use the dictionary entries

to help you choose the correct word to complete each sentence.

market, (mär´kit) n. A place where glare, (glâr) n. a strong, usually

food or goods are sold: I went to the unpleasant light: The glare of the
market to buy fresh fruit. sun hurt my eyes.
v. To advertise; to promote; to sell: v. to stare in an unfriendly or angry
Let’s market our product so people way: The two fighters glared at each
will buy it. other.

1. It wouldn’t be truthful to market the cookies as fat-free

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

when we know they contain butter.

2. I could feel Tom glare at me after I dropped the ball.

3. It was so dark that the sudden glare of the headlights

made me squint.

4. The market sold everything I needed.

Grade 6/Unit 6/Week 5 247

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Graphic Organizer

Read “A Signal of Smoke.” Fill in the Theme Chart to determine the

theme of the story.

Setting
near Mount St. Helens, a volcano found in Washington
State.

What the Characters Want

to share memories of the 1980 eruption of Mount St.
Helens and tell about the effect of the eruption on the
area

Plot Problem
Mount St. Helens might erupt again, and the
characters are worried.

Outcome
The main character learns about Mount St. Helens
from her mother’s journal and from her own
experience.
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Theme
When you live in an area where a natural disaster can
happen, you must know about the danger and be prepared
to respond.

248 Grade 6/Unit 6/Week 5

 Practice
Name Comprehension:
Take-Home Story

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

When the Smoke Cleared

Dr. Blair came to investigate

g why the volcano had erupted. He
had read the reports made by other scientists. However, Dr. Blair
thought these people might have misunderstood what had happened.

People living nearby were still scared. They had seen the
eruption devour their houses and wipe out plants and animals. Some
people worried that the area might never revive. They also worried
that the volcano might erupt again.
g
Dr. Blair disagreed with those who thought the area would not
recover. He had studied many places hit by eruptions and other
natural disasters. Plants and animals usually returned. This place
would be the same. Life would find a way to continue.
Dr. Blair studied the volcano carefully. His work showed that
the volcano would not erupt anytime soon. However, Dr. Blair knew
p numbers. More importantly,
that it was possible to misinterpret p y, his
years of experience had taught him that what happens in nature
p
cannot always be predicted.

1. Underline words with the short i sound.

2. Circle the words with the prefix mis- or the suffix –ly. Draw a box around
any circled word that has more than three syllables.

3. Which sentence states the theme of the third paragraph?

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Life would find a way to continue.

4. What is the theme of the fourth paragraph?
Nature cannot always be predicted.
5. means to eat or destroy.
devour continue revive

At Home: Reread the passage and talk about what you

learned about volcanoes. Grade 6/Unit 6/Week 5 249
 Practice
Name Writing:
Graphic Organizer

To help you plan your writing, fill in a cluster map.

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

250 Grade 6/Unit 6/Week 5

 Practice
Comprehension:
Name Problem and Solution
Review

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

The Pony Express

In 1850, California became part of the United States. As a

result, more people began to send messages from the east coast to
the west coast. The problem was that there were no planes, phones,
or computers in 1850 to send mail over long distances. Instead, This
states a
people had to use slower methods such as horses and wagons. problem.
This way of delivering mail could take almost a month!

In 1860, the Pony Express was created to provide faster mail

service. The Pony Express took mail from Missouri to California in
about ten days. Older mail services took three weeks for the same
trip. How was the Pony Express able to deliver mail so much more
quickly? In older mail services, horses and riders got tired and had
to rest, so the mail stopped moving. In the Pony Express, riders got
a new horse every ten miles. Every 75 to 100 miles, a new rider
took over. The mail never stopped moving when the Pony Express
was created!

1. What problem was the Pony Express created to solve?

The Pony Express was created to solve the

problem of slow mail service.
2. What problem caused older mail services to be slow? Draw a box around
the problem.
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

3. What solution did the Pony Express have for the problem from question 2?

Riders got a new horse every ten miles. Every 75

to 100 miles, a new rider took over.

End-of-Unit Additional Instruction

Grade 6/Unit 6/Week 3 251
 Practice
Comprehension:
Name Description
Review

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

Surfing the Web

This
The printing process has changed a lot over the years.
y is a
For example, people in the past used ink and papyrus, clay signal
tablets, other kinds of paper, or the printing press to write and phrase.
record information. Today, new inventions such as computers
and the Internet allow us to print and share information in new
ways.

Internet pages spread news across the world. These news

Web sites are better than newspapers in some ways. For example, p
these Web sites let you read articles from all over the world just by
turning on your computer. You don’t have to search for a store that
p
sells newspapers from other cities or countries! More importantly, y
news Web sites are a fast way of getting news. On a news Web site,
you can read news about an event right after it happens.

1. Underline the following signal phrases:

for example such as more importantly

2. What are some methods people in the past used to record information?
Put a box around the phrase that tells methods they used.

3. According to the passage, in what ways are news Web sites

better than newspapers?

News Web sites are a fast way of getting news.

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

They also let you read articles from all over the
world just by turning on your computer.

End-of-Unit Additional Instruction

252 Grade 6/Unit 6/Week 4
 Practice
Comprehension:
Name Theme
Review

Read the passage. Then complete the questions.

A Dangerous Mountain

“Today’s class is about Mount Vesuvius,” Mr. Hall said to

his students. “It is a volcano in Italy. In A.D. 79, Mount Vesuvius
erupted and destroyed three Roman towns. It showed that nature
can be a veryy powerful
p force.”

Mr. Hall continued. “There were many small earthquakes The

in the days before the volcano erupted, but people ignored theme is the
these warnings. They did not leave the area when they overall idea of a
should have.” paragraph or
story.
Mr. Hall frowned. “People keep building new towns there,
but Mount Vesuvius keeps damaging them. People must learn from
history.”

1. Underline the important information about nature in the first paragraph.

2. Put a box around the sentence that gives information about the warnings
people got before Vesuvius erupted.

3. What is the theme of the selection?

People should pay attention to warnings instead
of ignoring them.
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

End-of-Unit Additional Instruction

Grade 6/Unit 6/Week 5 253
 Practice
Decoding/Structural
Name Analysis:
Cumulative Review

A. Draw a line under the word that best completes each sentence.
Write the word on the line.

1. Sam’s humorous stories made us laugh.

humorous expectant mistreatment

2. My sister was resistant to all of our attempts to change her

mind.
important attendant resistant

3. The old photograph showed how our street looked 100 years ago.
graph p photograph
g p reaction

4. Jim unselfishly gave his time to tutor me.

softly harshly unselfishlyy

5. The room is spacious enough to fit all of the sixth-grade students.

spacious unusual unworkable

6. Our class had many different ideas about where to go on a

class trip.
distraction different middle

7. We went to a lake that was surrounded by hills.

surrounded allowable proud

8. Don’t throw away the container. It is reusable .

mismatched readable reusable

B. Circle the prefixes and suffixes in the answer choices above.

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

End-of-Unit Additional Instruction

254 Grade 6/Unit 6/Weeks 1–5