Who is telling it, and how far to trust them
Grade 9 Reading Worksheet
Circle the best answer.
Read this first
Centering (story)
[1] All fall I have been learning to throw pots at Ms. Ferreira's studio on Dock Street, and every lesson she makes me start the same way, by centering a lump of clay on the wheel until it stops wobbling. [2] It is the dullest part of pottery, and I am convinced Ms. Ferreira keeps me on it because she thinks I cannot be trusted with anything harder. [3] The two older students at the far wheels are already pulling tall vases, and nobody makes them center anything for half an hour. [4] Last week I centered the clay in under five minutes, and Ms. Ferreira pressed one wet thumb against the spinning lump and told me to cut it off and do it again.
[5] I did it again, slowly and with my jaw clenched, while she stood behind me with her arms folded and said nothing at all. [6] Afterward she wrote in the green notebook she keeps by the sink, where, I noticed, she has a page with my name at the top and a column of dates beneath it. [7] Each date has a number beside it, and the numbers have been getting smaller every week: thirty-one, twenty-four, nineteen, eleven, seven, four. [8] This morning Ms. Ferreira watched me center the clay, timed it on the clock above the door, and wrote down the number without a word. [9] Then she brought over a bag of a different clay, darker and grittier, and said, "This is the clay for the spring show. Center that."
[10] I assume the darker clay is just harder to work with, one more test that I will pass without any reward. [11] It took me twelve minutes, and my hands ached by the end, but the lump spun so smoothly that it looked perfectly still. [12] Ms. Ferreira laid a palm flat on it, nodded once, and said, "Now we can begin, Pia," which seemed a strange thing to say on the seventh Saturday. [13] I went home sure that the lessons were about to get even slower.
Milo fills the right margin for Centering. What can the reader tell about Ms. Ferreira that the narrator does not say?
- Ms. Ferreira is losing patience with Pia, which is why the lessons stay slow and the clay keeps getting harder to shape.
- Ms. Ferreira has been timing Pia's progress all fall and is now getting Pia ready to make a piece for the spring show.
- Ms. Ferreira keeps Pia on centering because the teacher does not yet trust Pia with anything harder.
- Ms. Ferreira writes a time beside each date in a green notebook, and the times have shrunk from thirty-one to four.
Ren notes in the margin what this narrator does for Centering. What does telling it through Pia's own complaints do for the reader?
- Because Pia tells it, the teacher's plan stays as hidden from the reader as it does from Pia.
- A teller inside Ms. Ferreira's mind lets the reader into the teacher's thoughts, so the plan for the spring show is clear.
- The reader shares the complaint but reads the notebook clues Pia misses, and so sees the plan first.
- The reader feels growing dread that the studio will close before Pia ever gets to make a real pot.
The Waves (story)
[1] Since the first week of ninth grade, Luz had been sure that Zee was quietly ending their friendship, one ignored wave at a time. [2] On Monday, Luz waved from the far end of the cafeteria with both arms high, and Zee looked straight across the room and went on unwrapping a sandwich. [3] On Wednesday it happened again at the bus loop, where Luz shouted Zee's name from the curb and watched Zee climb onto bus 14 without turning around. [4] Luz began a list of reasons in a notebook: the new robotics team, the new friends from robotics, and the silence after Luz joked about Zee's robot tipping over at the demonstration. [5] In history class, where seats were assigned by request, Zee had asked for the front row and now copied notes from the board with a face pressed close to the page.
[6] Luz took that as one more sign, since Zee had always liked the back row, where whispered jokes were easier to share. [7] On Friday, Luz waited by the library doors, determined to settle it, and Zee walked right up, smiling, as though nothing at all had happened. [8] They talked about the history quiz for a minute, and Zee mentioned squinting through the whole week and getting a headache every afternoon by sixth period. [9] Luz barely heard that part, too busy deciding whether the smile was real or just good manners. [10] When Luz finally asked why Zee kept ignoring every wave, Zee laughed, looked puzzled, and asked, "What waves?"
[11] Luz decided that was the most hurtful answer of all, because it meant the waves had not even been worth noticing. [12] Then Zee mentioned an appointment at the eye doctor's office on Saturday morning and asked whether Luz wanted to come along and help pick out frames. [13] Luz said yes, mostly to have one more chance to find out what had really gone wrong between them.
Ari fills the right margin for The Waves. What can the reader tell about Zee that the narrator does not say?
- Zee is drifting away from Luz and toward the new friends on the robotics team.
- Zee is still hurt by the joke about the robot and is pretending not to see the waves from Luz across the cafeteria.
- Zee has trouble seeing things far away and has not noticed the waves, so the friendship is not ending at all.
- Zee asked for a front-row seat in history and copies notes with a face pressed close to the page.
Bo looks for the first detail that questions Luz's view in The Waves. Which sentence first suggests that Zee's trouble is eyesight?
- [7] On Friday, Luz waited by the library doors, determined to settle it, and Zee walked right up, smiling, as though nothing at all had happened.
- [1] Since the first week of ninth grade, Luz had been sure that Zee was quietly ending their friendship, one ignored wave at a time.
- [5] In history class, where seats were assigned by request, Zee had asked for the front row and now copied notes from the board with a face pressed close to the page.
- [2] On Monday, Luz waved from the far end of the cafeteria with both arms high, and Zee looked straight across the room and went on unwrapping a sandwich.
Esme notes what this narrator does for The Waves. What does staying close to Luz's thoughts do for the reader?
- The eye appointment on Saturday ends the story with a promise that the two friends will make up.
- The reader feels suspense about whether Zee will quit the robotics team before the next demonstration.
- The reader feels the hurt but notices the eyesight clues Luz brushes aside, so the worry is gentler.
- Staying close to Luz hides the eyesight clues from the reader until the story mentions the eye doctor.
The Back Seat (story)
[1] On the second morning of camp, our counselor, Dana, called out the pairs for the paddle across Spruce Lake. [2] Dana named every pair but one, looked at the clipboard for a long moment, and then put me in the back of the last canoe with Noah, who had never paddled before. [3] I knew exactly what that meant: the counselors had saved the weakest paddler for the newest camper, so that the two of us could fall behind together without slowing anyone else. [4] Before we pushed off, Dana crouched beside our canoe and showed me how to sweep the paddle wide and drag it like a rudder, which she said is the job of the person in the back. [5] Dana told Noah to paddle on one side, keep a steady rhythm, and leave the steering to the back of the boat.
[6] Halfway across, the wind picked up and pushed every canoe toward the rocky point, and the other pairs started shouting about which way to turn. [7] I swept, dragged and swept again, the way Dana had shown me, and our canoe slid past the point with a full paddle's length to spare. [8] Noah kept the rhythm the whole way and did not look back once, which I took as a sign of how worried Noah must have been about my steering. [9] On the far shore, Dana asked me, in front of everyone, to show the other back-seat paddlers how I had held the line in the wind. [10] I showed them quickly and badly, embarrassed, because I was sure she wanted the others to see how even a slow paddler could get across.
[11] That evening, I heard her tell another counselor that the back of the last canoe was the hardest seat on the lake, since the last boat has nobody behind it to help. [12] I assume she was being kind about it, the way counselors are with the campers who struggle. [13] Tomorrow we paddle the river, and I have already asked to switch to the front, where nobody expects much.
Pia fills the right margin for The Back Seat. What can the reader tell about why Dana chose this seat for the narrator?
- Dana thought the narrator was the weakest paddler and so paired the narrator with the newest camper.
- Dana worried that the narrator would steer badly, so the counselor gave the job of keeping the rhythm to Noah.
- Dana trusted the narrator with the hardest job on the lake, steering the last canoe, and wanted the others to learn from it.
- Dana wanted to keep the narrator and Noah away from the other pairs so that the two could become friends.
Tala looks for a detail that questions the narrator's view in The Back Seat. Which sentence best shows the back seat was a sign of trust?
- [11] That evening, I heard her tell another counselor that the back of the last canoe was the hardest seat on the lake, since the last boat has nobody behind it to help.
- [2] Dana named every pair but one, looked at the clipboard for a long moment, and then put me in the back of the last canoe with Noah, who had never paddled before.
- [6] Halfway across, the wind picked up and pushed every canoe toward the rocky point, and the other pairs started shouting about which way to turn.
- [3] I knew exactly what that meant: the counselors had saved the weakest paddler for the newest camper, so that the two of us could fall behind together without slowing anyone else.
Zee notes what this narrator does for The Back Seat. What does telling it through the embarrassed camper do for the reader?
- The reader feels mounting fear that the canoe will tip over on the rocks at the point.
- The wind on Spruce Lake makes the crossing hard, so the reader admires how well the canoe was steered.
- An outside teller who knows every mind shows the reader Dana's private pride in the camper's steering.
- Every sign of trust reaches the reader described as an insult, which makes the misreading funny while the reader sees the truth.
The Barking (story)
[1] Every afternoon on the walk home from tennis practice, Tala passed the yellow house on Cutler Street, and every afternoon the Hendersons' brown dog, Biscuit, threw itself against the fence and barked until Tala reached the corner. [2] Tala had tried everything to make peace: walking on the far side of the street, walking faster, walking slower, and once even saying hello in a calm, low voice that a website had recommended. [3] Nothing worked, and by October Tala had concluded that Biscuit simply disliked Tala in particular, perhaps because of the squeaky sneakers or the bulky racket bag. [4] Other people walked by the yellow house all day, and as far as Tala could tell, Biscuit let them pass in peace.
[5] On the first cold Tuesday, a tennis ball slipped out of the open pocket of Tala's bag, bounced twice, and rolled under the Hendersons' fence. [6] Biscuit stopped barking at once, pounced on the ball, and stood there wagging, ball in mouth, staring at Tala through the slats. [7] Tala hurried off before the barking could start again and did not look back until the corner, where, oddly, the street was silent. [8] The next afternoon, Biscuit was waiting at the fence with an old, flattened tennis ball at its feet, and nudged the ball through a gap in the slats onto the sidewalk. [9] Tala stepped around the ball carefully, the way a person steps around something that might be a trick, and Biscuit barked twice, short and sharp.
[10] Mr. Henderson, raking leaves in the yard, called out that Biscuit had been a "ball dog" since puppyhood and thought every racket bag on Cutler Street was full of treasure. [11] Tala caught the words "ball dog," decided it must be the name of some breed, and kept walking. [12] That night, Tala searched online for ways to stop a dog from disliking a person and read three articles before bed. [13] The plan for Wednesday was to cross the street a full block early.
Ari fills the right margin for The Barking. What can the reader tell about why Biscuit barks at Tala?
- Biscuit stopped barking, pounced on the ball and stood wagging, staring at Tala through the slats.
- Biscuit barks because tennis balls frighten it, and it wants the balls in Tala's bag kept away from the fence.
- Biscuit is guarding the yellow house because the Hendersons taught it to bark at anyone carrying a bag.
- Biscuit wants someone to throw a ball and barks at Tala's racket bag, hoping it holds tennis balls.
Bo looks for the first detail that questions Tala's view in The Barking. Which sentence first shows that Biscuit may want to play?
- [9] Tala stepped around the ball carefully, the way a person steps around something that might be a trick, and Biscuit barked twice, short and sharp.
- [5] On the first cold Tuesday, a tennis ball slipped out of the open pocket of Tala's bag, bounced twice, and rolled under the Hendersons' fence.
- [6] Biscuit stopped barking at once, pounced on the ball, and stood there wagging, ball in mouth, staring at Tala through the slats.
- [3] Nothing worked, and by October Tala had concluded that Biscuit simply disliked Tala in particular, perhaps because of the squeaky sneakers or the bulky racket bag.
