MAP: Grade 3 - ELA - Matt Wheeland | Library | Formative

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Lark and Ant 
One spring day, Lark began building a nest in the grass beneath an elm tree. As she wove some twigs together, she happily gazed at the nearby meadow. Bright wildflowers dotted the field. They would provide lots of seeds for Lark’s family. 

Suddenly, Lark felt a pinch. 

“Ouch!” Lark hopped backward. She shook her wing and noticed a tiny black ant grasping one of her feathers. 

“Excuse me, but I have been trying to get your attention all morning,” said Ant. “You will have to move your nest because you have built it on the entrance of my home.” 

Lark refused to move her nest. She began to see ripples of movement in the green grass. Slowly, an army of ants gathered around Lark’s nest. Lark became alarmed. 

“You must all leave,” Lark demanded in a forceful voice. However, the ants began to object with sharp cries. 

The argument woke tired, old Elm. For a moment, he listened silently. Then he shook his leafy head and said: “It is best for all creatures to live together in peace. Set aside your differences, and let your joys increase.” 

Instead of listening to Elm’s advice, Lark started threatening the ants. 

The ants knew that they could not win a battle against Lark. Ant made the decision to move his colony to a grassy hill under a cliff, away from the meadow. 

Satisfied, Lark perched on one of Elm’s branches. 

Elm softly shook his leaves again and said: “You should have welcomed the ants’ busy crowd. There is a silver lining inside of every cloud.” 

Lark paid little attention to Elm’s words. With a flick of her tail feathers, Lark flew off to search for more twigs. It was time to finish her nest. 

A year passed. When spring arrived again, Lark eagerly returned to the elm tree to build another nest. Sadly, Lark discovered an uninviting change in the meadow. Many of the wildflowers had vanished. 

Lark’s eyes widened in disbelief. “What . . . happened to all the blossoms?” she asked Elm.

Quietly, Elm pointed to the grassy hill where the ants lived. It now wore a dazzling crown of flowers. Gently, Elm said to Lark: 
“All summer long, the busy ants toil. They gather seeds and store them in the soil. Some seeds become their tasty meal, but some seeds bloom with bright appeal. Wherever the ants make their home, flowers appear, looking like a beautiful poem.” 

Lark’s shoulders sagged as she listened to Elm’s words. Lark had never realized how much the ants helped her. As she remembered her hasty words, she bowed her head. Perhaps she could aid the ants too. 

With a new purpose, Lark glided to the flowery hill. She sang out, calling for Ant. Soon he appeared on a pebble near her feet. 

Lark said, “I’m sorry. I owe you my thanks. To repay you, I will always knock some seeds to the ground when I am snacking on a flower.” 

Ant smiled and made a generous offer. “You may make your nest in our wildflowers.” Ant preferred to have friends instead of enemies. 

Across the field, Elm watched as Lark began building a nest near the ants’ home. He softly shook his leaves and spoke once more: 

“It is best for all creatures to live together in peace. Set aside your differences, and let your joys increase.”

Visiting National Parks
July 8:
Hi! I’m Lucas. Welcome to my blog. This summer, my family and I are visiting national parks.
I never knew what a national park was until we started planning our trip. My dad explained that the government sets aside land to make the parks. The animals, plants, and land of the park are protected. I think this is great!

Today we arrived at Mount Rainier in Washington state. I could see the mountain rising in the distance when we were miles away. The peak of the mountain had snow on it. My mom explained that it is always cold and snowy on top because the mountain is very high.

We started hiking through a meadow. The grass and flowers seemed to stretch for miles. As we got closer to the mountain, there were more trees. It was cool and still under the trees.
The higher we climbed the steeper the trail became. I had to rest because I was out of breath. I saw two mountain goats along a rocky cliff. These amazing animals have special hooves that grip rocks.

July 11:
Today we are at Crater Lake in Oregon. Thousands of years ago, this lake was a volcano. When it erupted, the top collapsed, forming a large hole. Water filled this hole. This became Crater Lake.

The water in the lake is the brightest blue I’ve ever seen. One reason for this is because there are no streams or rivers that flow into the lake. This helps Crater Lake to be known as one of the cleanest bodies of water in the world.

We rode around the lake on bikes and saw many birds, squirrels, fox, and deer.

July 14:
Welcome to Montana! We are visiting Glacier National Park. My mom explained that glaciers are huge sheets of ice that move very slowly. We saw some beautiful mountains. The rocks rose up high in the middle but were worn away on the sides by the glaciers that passed by.

We saw lots of lakes and waterfalls. I love how the water crashes over the falls like the sound of thunder! We talked to a guide. He pointed out a beaver dam. I saw the beaver swimming. I even heard it slap its flat tail on the water.

The guide also told us grizzly bears who like to eat huckleberries are in the park. We were told that it is best to leave these animals alone because they can be dangerous.

July 18:
Today is our last park visit. We are at Zion National Park in Utah. This might be the best park we’ve seen. Huge cliffs rise above the ground. They are all different colors—red, pink, orange, and white! The ground is red and orange. It is made of a rock called sandstone.

We hiked through a long, narrow cavern between the rocks. I felt really small standing at the base of those tall cliffs.

I’m sad that this is the last national park we’ll see on this trip. It is amazing that the government set aside these natural places for people to enjoy. To me, national parks are national treasures. I hope other people think the same.

Tiger’s Tricks
“You can’t teach Tiger tricks,” Mona said to her brother Bradley. “Cats don’t do tricks. However, Fluffy comes when I sit down on the sofa.”

“That is not a trick,” observed Bradley. “She just wants to be petted.”

Tiger jumped beside Mona, but Fluffy was already there and batted him away. He jumped down and slunk under the sofa.

“I’m going to teach Tiger to shake hands,” said Bradley, “and then I’ll . . . I’ll . . .”

“You’ll what?” Mona laughed.

Bradley thought for a moment, then boasted, “I’ll teach him to jump through a hoop.”

“I’d like to see that!” Mona said.

Bradley went to the kitchen and came back with a small plastic bag.

“Tiger,” he coaxed, “come see what I have.” Bradley held out his hand.

“What is that?” asked Mona. “It’s really smelly.”

“Fishy Delights,” said Bradley. “The television commercial said cats love them and that they work great for training cats. I also have a clicker. See?” Bradley showed Mona a small toy. “I press this button, and it makes a clicking noise.”

Tiger poked his head out from under the sofa and looked at Bradley. “Come, Tiger.” The cat came closer. When Tiger was almost to his hand, Bradley snapped the clicker and quickly gave Tiger a Fishy Delight. Tiger pawed Bradley’s hand.

“See, Mona, he wants more.” Bradley repeated the command, “Come, Tiger.” Then he clicked and gave the cat another treat.

“Yes, he is coming to get a treat, but why are you using the clicker?” asked Mona.

“Pretty soon, he will come when he hears the clicker,” Bradley said. “Then I can teach him another trick.”

“I think he wants to get up on my lap like Fluffy does,” said Mona.

Bradley continued training Tiger, and then said, “That’s enough training for today.”

Tiger rubbed his back on Bradley’s leg, then walked over to Mona, jumped up, and again was
batted away by Fluffy.

Bradley trained Tiger every day. Holding a treat in one hand, he clicked. When Tiger came, Bradley commanded, “Shake.” As Tiger lifted his paw to get the treat, Bradley shook his paw before giving him the Fishy Delight.

“See,” Bradley crowed, “Tiger is learning to shake.”

“Yes,” agreed Mona, “but he still has not figured out how to get Fluffy off my lap so he can be
petted.” She stood up and set Fluffy on the floor. “I’ll feed them if you will get water.” She got a bag of crunchy cat food from the cupboard. Hearing the sound of kibble landing in the bowl, Fluffy raced to get some, while Tiger just watched.

Bradley trained Tiger with the clicker daily. “I really think he will jump through a hoop someday,” he told Mona. “He loves treats.”

“And Fluffy loves the kibble,” said Mona. “She always gets to the bowl first, but neither cat eats it all. They always leave some for later.”

“I have an idea,” said Bradley. 

Kibble clinked into the bowl, and Fluffy jumped and ran like a bolt of lightning. Tiger scrambled from behind the chair, jumped to Mona’s lap, and snuggled down.

Fluffy chomped kibble, then strolled back toward the couch. Seeing Tiger in Mona’s lap, she turned and stormed away.

Bradley laughed. “Fooled Fluffy, didn’t we, Tiger?”

Tiger purred.

Bradley continued training Tiger. Mona and Bradley were amused that whenever Bradley poured kibble while Fluffy was on Mona’s lap, Fluffy would jump down, and Tiger would take advantage of the opportunity to leap up.

One afternoon, Bradley was reading a book when he heard kibble rattling and saw Tiger pawing the cat dish.

Fluffy sprang from Mona’s lap as Tiger streaked from the dish and hurtled onto Mona’s lap.
Both children hooted with laughter. “Tiger is not only a good learner,” Bradley said. “He has found a way to trick Fluffy too.”

Chocolate Chip Cookies
A Sweet History
Americans love cookies. Each person in the United States eats about 19,000 cookies in his or
her lifetime. That is a lot of cookies! Chocolate chip cookies are a favorite for many people. You probably know what they taste like. Do you know their story?

We know that chocolate chip cookies were invented by Ruth Wakefield. She ran the Toll House Inn. It is in the state of Massachusetts. She was very good at baking. Ruth’s inn was well known for its tasty desserts.

There are different stories about how the cookies were invented. Some say that Ruth used
chocolate chips when she ran out of baking chocolate. Others claim she added the chips
because she ran out of nuts. Another story says the chocolate chips spilled into the cookie
dough by accident. Some people believe she came up with the recipe by testing many ideas.
She then used her baking skills to find the perfect recipe.

We may never know the true story of how chocolate chip cookies were created. We do know
that Ruth’s recipe appeared in a cookbook in 1938. The following year, she sold her Toll House cookie recipe to a chocolate company. As payment, she received one dollar. She was also given a lifetime supply of chocolate chips.

5 In the 1950s, companies began to sell chocolate chip cookie dough. The dough simply needed to be baked at home. This made making fresh-baked cookies at home easier.

The first boxes of chocolate chip cookies were sold in stores in 1963. In the 1970s and 1980s,
cookie stores opened across the country. People could not resist the smell of freshly baked
chocolate chip cookies. By the mid-1980s, there were over 1,200 cookie stores in the United
States. Chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream became popular at this time.

Here are some fun chocolate chip cookie facts:
In 1997, Massachusetts made the chocolate chip cookie the Official State Cookie. The idea of honoring the cookie was suggested by a third-grade class.
The first chocolate chip cookie Ruth Wakefield made was only about the size of a quarter.
The original Toll House cookie recipe can still be found on chocolate chip bags today.
Now you know more about these famous cookies. Are you hungry for chocolate chip cookies
yet? Keep reading for an easy cookie recipe you can make yourself!

No-Bake Chocolate Chip Cookies
Try this variation of an old favorite recipe. These cookies are very easy to make and taste good too. This recipe takes only 10 minutes to prepare.

Ingredients needed:
1½ cups oatmeal
½ cup chocolate chips
¼ cup butter
¼ cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup sugar
How to make:
Wash your hands.
Add oatmeal and chocolate chips to a mixing bowl. Stir together.
Add butter, milk, vanilla, and sugar to a microwave-safe bowl. Heat in the microwave until butter is melted (about 1 minute).
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix well.
Drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto a cookie sheet. Allow them to become firm.
Once the cookies are ready, eat and enjoy!
Tip: Put the cookies in the freezer to harden them faster. Keep them fresh longer by storing
them in the freezer too.