Story Structure

Grade 4 Reading Worksheet - Building Confidence

Read the text. Circle what each part of the text tells the reader.

1. Read this first

   The Library Book Hunt

   CAST OF CHARACTERS
   LUCIA, a fourth grader
   TEO, her younger brother
   MS. KESSLER, the school librarian

   SCENE 1
   (A living room on a rainy morning. Couch cushions are scattered across the floor. LUCIA kneels beside the couch.)
   LUCIA: My library book is gone! It's due today.
   TEO: (peeking out from the hallway) Which book?
   LUCIA: The blue one about volcanoes. I left it right here last night.
   TEO: (looking under a chair) It's not under here.
   LUCIA: (slumping onto the couch) Ms. Kessler will think I don't care about her books.
   TEO: She won't. Just tell her the truth.
   (LUCIA grabs her backpack. TEO holds the front door open.)

   SCENE 2
   (The school library, twenty minutes later. MS. KESSLER stands behind the front desk, stacking books.)
   LUCIA: (quietly) Ms. Kessler, I can't find my volcano book.
   MS. KESSLER: Thank you for telling me. Where did you see it last?
   LUCIA: On the couch, last night.
   TEO: (tugging on Lucia's backpack) Wait. What's in this front pocket?
   (LUCIA unzips the pocket and pulls out the blue volcano book.)
   LUCIA: (laughing) I packed it before bed, and then I forgot!
   MS. KESSLER: (smiling) Mystery solved. And it's right on time.
   TEO: Can I be a detective when I grow up?
   LUCIA: (handing him the book to return) You already are.

2. 1.

   What do the words in parentheses, such as (peeking out from the hallway), tell the reader?

   • what the narrator thinks of everyone
   • the name of the next scene
   • what a character does
3. 2.

   How does a reader know who says each line?

   • A narrator explains who is talking.
   • The speaker's name comes first.
   • Each line ends with the word said.
4. 3.

   Why does the play move from Scene 1 to Scene 2?

   • A narrator starts telling the story.
   • The time and the place change.
   • Scene 2 tells Scene 1 again in rhyme.
5. 4.

   What does the first stage direction in Scene 1 tell the reader?

   • where the scene is and what it looks like
   • what Lucia is thinking about the lost book
   • how the play ends and who found the book