IXL | Read historical fiction with illustrations

Read the first part of the story.

A Game on the Nile

"Kha, you skipped a space!" shouted Maia.
"I did not!" said Kha.
Maia and Kha sat on the banks of the Nile River. A game board was drawn in the sand between them. Carved game pieces sat on the squares. They were playing senet, a popular game in ancient Egypt.
Maia counted the squares carefully. "All right," she agreed. "You didn't cheat. But I'm watching you!" Holding a game piece, she walked to the edge of the river. Then she playfully dangled the game piece over the water.
"Maia, don't!" cried Kha. "It took me forever to make those!"
"I was joking," said Maia. "You know I wouldn't really do that." She walked back and sat down. "Come on, it's my turn."

What is Kha afraid that Maia will do?

drop his game pieces in the river

win their senet game

break the game pieces

cheat at their senet game

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Learn with an example

question

Read the first part of the story.

Leaving Ireland

My family and I were sitting around the dinner table. Mother had made boiled cabbage again. I tried not to make a face.
"Peggy, remember when we used to get potatoes every day?" my little sister, Mary, whispered to me.
I did remember. But last year, a terrible disease destroyed most of the potato crops in Ireland. The disease turned the potatoes black, and then we had nothing to eat but cabbage. Sometimes we would go to sleep without eating anything at all.
"I have some important news," said Father. "Next week we're leaving Ireland." Mary and I were too surprised to speak.
"Where are we going?" my brother, Cormac, asked.
Father's eyes brightened, and he smiled for the first time in a long time. "To America."

What is the most likely reason why Peggy's family is leaving Ireland?

There isn't enough food in Ireland.

The weather in Ireland is too cold.

They are tired of eating potatoes in Ireland.

They have friends in America.

key idea

Sometimes authors don't explain everything that you need to know in a story. So, you may need to make guesses, or

inferences,

about what happens and why. Making inferences will help you understand the whole story, even the things that the author doesn't say openly.

solution

In the story, Peggy says that the potatoes in Ireland have been

destroyed,

so all they have to eat is

cabbage.

Peggy also says that sometimes her family goes to sleep without eating

anything.

When people go to sleep without eating, it usually means they don't have enough food. So, you can guess that Peggy's family is leaving because there isn't enough food in Ireland.

$Confetti$

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Teacher tools

Work it out

Not feeling ready yet? These can help:

H.3Draw inferences from a text

H.4Make predictions about a story

MM.2Use context to identify the meaning of a word

F.New!Read long vowel stories

BB.2Read realistic fiction

F.New!Read r-controlled stories

F.New!Read variant vowel and diphthong stories

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