IXL | Read realistic fiction with illustrations

Read the first part of the story.

Who Took My Stuff?

"Someone took my fishing pole!" Reba complained. She was supposed to meet her friend Cindy at the lake in twenty minutes, but how was she going to catch any fish without a pole? Again, Reba looked through the boxes of sporting equipment in the garage. There were balls, bats, gloves, and frisbees, but no fishing poles.

Reba's sister, Harper, poked her head into the garage. "Oh, it's you. I was wondering who was making all that noise in here."

"Did you take my fishing pole?" Reba asked.

"Nope," Harper said. "Andy's pole broke, so he borrowed yours."

"What? He didn't even ask me first," Reba said angrily. Now she would not be able to go fishing with Cindy after all. "It bothers me when you guys take my stuff without asking," she added. "It's really aggravating!"

But Harper had already gone back inside the house and didn't hear her.

Look at the word in

bold.

How does Reba feel about her brother and sister taking her things without asking? Use context clues in nearby text to help you figure out the meaning of the word

aggravating.

She thinks it is annoying.

She thinks it is confusing.

She thinks it is amusing.

She thinks it is cruel.

ref_doc_title.

Learn with an example

question

Read the first part of the story.

The Art Park

Hank groaned when he heard his new stepmother, Marie, knock on his bedroom door.

"Hurry up! My celebration at the art park starts in twenty minutes," she insisted.

"Of course we can't be late to your celebration," Hank muttered under his breath.

Marie was an artist and spent all her time making strange art pieces out of materials like wood, metal, and plastic. And now she had made a big statue out of scraps of metal held together with screws for the new art park. It was all she and Dad could talk about. Last week, Dad had been so busy helping Marie, he had missed the first half of Hank's baseball game, when Hank was pitching!

"Hank!" Now it was Dad calling, and Hank couldn't ignore him.

"Coming," he yelled back. Just as he was leaving his room, he grabbed his baseball bat and ball. Maybe there'd be a place in the new art park for him to do some batting practice.

What is the most likely reason why Hank isn't interested in the art park opening?

He feels like his father values Marie's interests more than his.

He feels like Marie's artwork does not belong in the park.

He is angry at Marie for not attending any of his baseball games.

He is upset that he has to miss a baseball game to go to the art park.

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

Think about these details from the story:

Hank's stepmother, Marie, spends a lot of time on her artwork.
Hank's dad and Marie talk a lot about Marie's new statue for the art park.
Hank's dad missed seeing Hank pitch because he was helping Marie with her artwork.
Hank grumbles, "Of course we can't be late to your celebration."

Sometimes, a parent's time and attention can be taken up by a new stepparent. Hank's grumbling suggests that he feels as if his father is paying less attention to him and his interests.

So, you can guess that Hank isn't interested in the art park opening because he feels that his father values Marie's interests more than his.

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Teacher tools

Work it out

Not feeling ready yet? These can help:

B.3Draw inferences from a text

B.4Make predictions about a story

C.2Compare and contrast characters

GG.3Use context to identify the meaning of a word

T.1Read realistic fiction: set 1

T.2Read realistic fiction: set 2

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