TDW: A Schoolyard Surprise (w/ Editing Practice)
star
star
star
star
star
Last updated 2 months ago
5 Nsɛmmisa
5
5
5
5
80
Read this sentence from the story.
So the children crawled behind a bush and watch quietly.
Which of the following is the correct tense for the verb "watch" in this sentence?
Which sentence from the story uses commas and quotation marks correctly?
Read the sentence from the story.
It was the baby birds mother!
Which word in the sentence show the correct way to write the possessive noun?
To change a word ending in the letter y from singular to plural, remove the y and add -ies. How would you spell the plural of "baby"?
Read the passage. Then respond to the TDW prompt.
Ms. McKenna had a surprise for the student sin her class. "How many of you would like to take a walk outside for a few minute?" she asked.
The class began to cheer. "Can we go to the playground?" Marlin asked.
"No, we aren't going to the playground, but I think you will really like where we are going. I have a surprise for you," Ms. McKenna said.
The students all lined up and marched outside. It was a beautiful spring day in April. Ms. McKenna led the students outside and around to the back of the school. She led them through a little grassy area to a tree that was close to the cafeteria. Earlier that morning, before school started, Ms. McKenna had set up a small bench close to the tree.
As the class walked closer to the tree, a bird began to make sounds as if it were scared. Cheep! Cheep!
Then, the bird began to fly all around the top of the tree. It landed for a while, but then it started making sounds and flying all around again.
"That is a strange bird!" Jessica said. She smiled and pointed to the bird.
"It seems like it is scared of something," Damon said.
"It is scared," Ms. McKenna said. "it is scared of us!"
"Why is it scared of us?" Jessica asked. "We haven't done anything to scare the bird."
Ms. McKenna smiled, put one finger to her mouth, and whispered, "Shh." Then she pointed to a nest that was in a branch. Ms. McKenna quietly explained that the bird was a mockingbird. She told the students that she noticed the nest when she was walking around the school earlier that morning. Then, she told the students some exciting news.
"There are three eggs in that nest!" Ms. McKenna explained.
"Can we touch them?" Damon asked.
"No," Ms. McKenna said. "The mockingbird is scared because she doesn't want anything to happen to her eggs. She would not like us touching them."
Then, Ms. McKenna allowed each student to stand on the bench that she had set up. By standing on the bench, the students were able to see the eggs inside the nest.
"When will the eggs hatch?" Marlin asked.
"Probably sometime within the next two weeks," Ms. McKenna answered.
Ms. McKenna promised the students that if they did their work in class, she would take them out each day to check to see whether the baby birds had hatched.
Ms. McKenna kept her promise. She took her class out each day for the rest of the week. However, the birds did not hatch from their eggs that week.
"What if the birds hatch over the weekend?" Jessica asked. "What will we do?"
"There is not much we can do," Ms. McKenna explained. "The birds will hatch whenever they are ready."
The next Monday, the students were excited because the baby birds had not yet hatched from their eggs.
"It is taking them forever to hatch!" Marlin said.
"It won't be too much longer," Ms. McKenna explained.
"When do you think they will hatch?" Jessica asked.
"I am sure it will be one day this wee," Ms. McKenna said. "Mockingbird eggs usually hatch within two weeks."
The class cheered. They had a good feeling that they would be able to see the baby birds by Friday.
(Practice Hint: When you are read to respond, begin typing your response in the empty box under the Reminders While Writing.)
In the passage, Ms. McKenna takes her class to see a bird's nest that has three eggs in it. Imagine that you are in Ms. McKenna's class and get to see the baby birds soon after they hatch. Write a narrative that shows the reader what happens when you are your classmates look into the nest and find that the baby birds have hatched from their eggs. Use details from the passage to help you write your story.
