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Sample Pages from
Objective Tests, Something to Think About. . . Something to Write About. . . and Answer Keys for
The Summer of the Swans By Betsy Byars
1971 Newbery Medal Winner
A Teaching Pack by Margaret Whisnant Copyright © 2009 Margaret Whisnant Permission to copy for classroom use only. All rights reserved by author.
Taking Grades Publishing Company Conover, NC 28613 www.takinggrades.com
Table of Contents Objective Tests Chapter Tests Page
Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-2 Chapter Four . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4 Chapter Five, Chapter Six . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-6 Chapter Seven, Chapter Eight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-8 Chapter Nine, Chapter Ten . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-10 Chapter Eleven, Chapter Twelve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11-12 Chapter Thirteen, Chapter Fourteen, Chapter Fifteen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13-14 Chapter Sixteen, Chapter Seventeen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-16 Chapter Eighteen, Chapter Nineteen, Chapter Twenty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . 17-18 Chapter Twenty-One, Chapter Twenty-Two, Chapter Twenty-Three . . . . . . . . . . 19-20
Whole Book Test .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21-23
Answer Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
24-25
Something to Think About. . . Something to Write About . . . Chapter–by-Chapter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26-35 Whole Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36-38 Graphic Organizer for Writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39-40
About Your Teaching Pack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .41-42
The Summer of the Swans By Betsy Byars
Chapter One Pages 1-7 Chapter Two Pages 8-10 Chapter Three Pages 11-14 Write the letter of the correct answer in the blank before each question.
______1. Sara Godfrey pretended to put on a show with her dog Boysie because (A) there was nothing else to do, (B) the old dog loved the attention and the scarf that Sara was using as a costume, (C) she knew it annoyed Wanda ______2. Boysie was (A) a half-grown puppy with very large feet, (B) a small poodle mix, (C) an old dog. ______3. Wanda asked Sara not to start (A) complaining about their small room, (B) listing all the things she thought were wrong with her, (C) telling fantastic stories about things that happened at school. ______4. Sara was not pleased with the fact that (A) people at school always made fun of her big feet, (B) her sneakers fit Bull Durham’s feet perfectly, (C) the size of her hands and the size of her feet did not match. ______5. What color were Sara’s sneakers? (A) red, (B) pink, (C) orange ______6. Sara pretended to cry, expecting Boysie to (A) dig at her with his paws and lick her hands until she stopped like he used to do, (B) put his head on her shoulder in sympathy as he always did, (C) leave the room so she could be alone in her misery. ______7. When Sara sat down on the top step beside him, Charlie was (A) talking to himself about Sara’s unusual sneakers, (B) trying to put the lollipop he had been eating back on the stick, (C) crying because he could hear his aunt and Wanda arguing. ______8. Which of the following was not something that Sara had done the summer before as well as the present summer? (A) write in a diary about far-away places she wanted to visit some day, (B) walk to the Dairy Queen with her friend Mary, (C) baby-sit for Mrs. Hodges and watch television. ______9. This summer was different for Sara because (A) one moment she was happy and the next she was miserable, (B) Mary had left to travel on a six-week’s cruise with her grandmother, (C) she had been assigned the job of looking after Charlie. _____10. Charlie had worn two grooves in the step by shuffling his feet back and forth, a habit that showed he (A) was angry with someone, (B) concerned about something, (C) afraid.
Copyright ©2009 Margaret Whisnant
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The Summer of the Swans By Betsy Byars
Chapter Four
Pages 15-21
Write either Yes or No in the blank before each question.
______1. Did Aunt Willie tell Frank to save himself some steps because Wanda wasn’t going anywhere on the motorcycle? ______2. Was Frank a thin boy with red hair? ______3. Did Frank lose his temper when Aunt Willie said he could break his neck on a motorcycle if he wanted to, but Wanda was not going to break hers? ______4. Had Aunt Willie ever been on a motor scooter? ______5. Did Frank offer to ride off into the sunset if Aunt Willie still thought the motorcycle was not safe after she gave it a try? ______6. Was there something about a ride on the motor scooter that appealed to Aunt Willie? ______7. Did Sara say she thought her aunt was too old to be riding up and down the street on a motor scooter? ______8. Was Aunt Willie over sixty years old? ______9. Did Frank tell Aunt Willie that the motorcycle was just like a motorized baby carriage? _____10. Was Charlie watching when Aunt Willie settled herself sidesaddle on the back of the scooter? Copyright ©2009 Margaret Whisnant
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The Summer of the Swans By Betsy Byars
Chapter Five Chapter Six
Pages 22-25 Pages 26-29
Write either True or False in the blank before each statement.
___________1. Sara though Wanda was beautiful, and she liked hearing her Aunt Willie say that she looked just like her sister. ___________2. It was Sara’s opinion that a person was the way he or she looked. ___________3. Aunt Willie was the only person who had tried to convince Sara that looks were not important. ___________4. Sara told Charlie the story about how Thelma Louise, who was beautiful, wrote a paper entitled ―Making People Happy‖ and got an A. ___________5. Sara and her family lived in the hills of West Virginia. ___________6. Strip mining had begun on the hills to the north, leaving unnatural cliffs of pale washed earth. ___________7. Mary had an endless collection of records, and Sara longed to be up in her friend’s room listening to them. ___________8. Both Mary and Sara agreed that the dress Aunt Willie was making was better than the more expensive one they could have bought from the store. ___________9. When she went inside with Mary to see how her friend was going to cut her hair, Sara left Charlie sitting on the steps.
Copyright ©2009 Margaret Whisnant
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The Summer of the Swans By Betsy Byars
Chapter Seven Chapter Eight
the swans dye her shoes boys a good sleeper
Charlie five minutes Sara laughed
Pages 30-35 Pages 36-42
a roll discontent Aunt Willie his brain
a university exactly alike the radio kicking one foot
Frank Wanda a hospital a used look
From the list above, choose the name, word, or phrase that matches each of the clues below and write it in the blank. All answers will be used at least once. Some answers will be used more than once.
_____________________1. The first fourteen years of Sara’s life had flowed along seeming to be the same, but this year she was filled with this. _____________________2. Sara had seen them flying over her house on their way to the pond. _____________________3. Wanda had to get up early to get to her job at one of these on time. _____________________4. Sara and Charlie feed the swans pieces of this. _____________________5. Sara tried to convince Charlie that she and Mary wouldn’t have time to do this if he didn’t leave the lake. _____________________6. This person felt awful because she was not cute or pretty, wasn’t a good dancer, smart, or popular. _____________________7. The elegance of their whiteness on the dark lake and the ease of their movements made Sara catch her breath. _____________________8. Sara complained that this person acted like she wanted to talk to her and then started being funny. _____________________9. When Sara said they should go home, he refused to leave the edge of the lake where he sat watching the swans. ____________________10. Sara noticed that no one could tell the swans apart because they looked like this. ____________________11. Sara thought the sounds coming from his room seem unusually loud. Copyright ©2009 Margaret Whisnant
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The Summer of the Swans By Betsy Byars
Whole Book Test Sara Joe Melby a motor scooter a university a party blank spaces old coal mine
Charlie Frank his slipper a high fever a musical group a cat family pictures
Wanda Sara’s father barking dogs steps boys night a hose
Aunt Willie his watch tennis shoes a grudge a good sleeper tease him a button
Mary the swans Boysie discontent a ravine behavior a hospital
From the list above, choose the name, word, or phrase that fits each of the clues below and write it in the blank. All answers will be used at least once. Some answers will be used more than once.
_____________________1. Sara’s life had been going along smoothly, but she began feeling a great deal of this. _____________________2. Sara didn’t like it because he never paid any attention to Charlie, and he called Wanda Little One. _____________________3. This person was Aunt Willie’s brother. _____________________4. Charlie received this as a birthday present, and he was soothed by the sight and sound of it. _____________________5. Sara hated it when people called him retarded. _____________________6. It was this time of day when Charlie walked out of the house and got lost. _____________________7. Frank took Aunt Willie for a wild ride on one of these. _____________________8. The white spot that Charlie mistook for a swan moving in the bushes was actually one of these. _____________________9. He lived in Ohio and sometimes visited on weekends. ____________________10. Charlie was not one of these. ____________________11. He was Wanda’s boyfriend. ____________________12. Charlie’s watch had been taken by a group of boys who wanted to do this. ____________________13. This was part of the two illnesses that had damaged Charlie’s brain and nearly taken his life when he was three years old. ____________________14. Joe Melby allowed Charlie to wear this object until his could be repaired. Copyright ©2009 Margaret Whisnant
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Something to Think About . . . Something to Write About . . .
The Summer of the Swans By Betsy Byars
The Summer of the Swans By Betsy Byars
Something to Think About. . . Something to Write About. . . Chapter-by-Chapter Chapter One—Chapter Two—Chapter Three When the story began, Sara was using one of Wanda’s scarves and the family dog Boysie to entertain herself. Which of the two following personality traits do you think Sara revealed by this behavior? Cite things Sara said and did, including the way she reacted to Wanda’s criticism, as well as the definition of the words you chose to support your answer. insensitive affectionate
imaginative irritating
foolish spontaneous
humorous immature
obnoxious cheerful
Sara complained about her big feet and the fact that a boy at school named Bull Durham could wear her sneakers. Wanda assured her that people didn’t notice such things. Based on your experience, which girl do you think was correct? Are young people concerned with each other’s physical flaws, or are physical differences on the unimportant-things list? Is the reality somewhere in between? Use examples to explain your answer. How do you explain Sara’s choice of orange tennis shoes which, as Wanda pointed out, drew attention to her feet? One moment Sarah liked them and then later she hated them. What do you think this happened? Sara believed that she was having the worst summer of her life. She compared her life to a kaleidoscope that had been turned causing everything to change so that it no longer made the same designs. Think of the way your life was the year before and compare it to your life today. What things have remained the same? What things are different? Would you return to your former life if you could? Why or why not? What changes do you look forward to? Something to Think About . . . Copyright ©2009 Margaret Whisnant
The Summer of the Swans
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Something to Write About . . .
By Betsy Byars
Something to Think About. . . Something to Write About. . . Whole Book
Find facts in the story to prove that Sara idolized Wanda. In what way(s) was Sara like Wanda? How were the two girls different? ___________________________________________________________
Charlie had a special challenge of not being able to remember or to reason. He could not help himself or his rescuers when he was lost. For most young people, however, it’s helpful to have a plan in place for just such emergencies. Design a brochure for people younger than you with the following information: Rules of behavior that would diminish the likelihood of getting lost to almost 0%. Remember to include various places—malls, hiking or camping trips, sports events, vacations, etc. Advice and rules to follow for keeping safe and increasing chances for rescue if he or she is lost. ___________________________________________________________ Charlie’s habit of thumping his foot against the wall was unusually loud the night after he and Sara had gone to see the swans. Explain how this fact was a foreshadowing of things to come. Was there any reason for Sara to be concerned about Charlie’s loud thumping on that particular night? Explain your answer. ___________________________________________________________ While he was lost, Charlie’s watch, a source of comfort, stopped running. This loss, coupled with other events that he could not understand, frustrated Charlie to the point of wailing and piercing screams. What one possession would you find the most difficult to be without? Why is this possession so important to you? Think of several adults you know. What comfort objects do they possess? Do they serve the same function as your important possession? Why do you think people of all ages and abilities like to own special objects? What is it that they do for us? ___________________________________________________________ Which three of the following words would you think best describe Mary as a friend? Use facts from the story and the words’ definitions to support your choices. sympathetic honest empathetic giving supportive caring tactful inspiring courteous amiable cheerful comfortable trustworthy patient generous
Copyright ©2009 Margaret Whisnant
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About Your Teaching Pack The primary goal in creating the teaching packs for children’s novels is to provide a classroom-ready, nonthreatening method for checking student comprehension and stretching thinking skills. When used as a basic guide for teaching a novel, the materials offer many and varied opportunities for learning. Use your teaching pack as a guide and lead your students into discovering new ideas about . . . . .
THE PLOT Each test page is actually an outline of the plot. In your teaching pack, the chain of related events that tell the story has been pulled from the novel and reformatted into a series of questions. Whether they are aware of their ability or not, all good readers sense the rhythm of the connected events that compose the plot; and consequently comprehend the story. This ―plot rhythm‖ is the basic structure of the tests. To further your students’ understanding of plot, try the following activities: Summarizing the Story: Using only the chapter questions as a guide, have your students write a summary of the chapter. For a set of ten questions, limit the number of sentences they may write to seven. For twenty questions, allow no more than twelve sentences. Reporting the News: Have students write a newspaper article, based on the events from a set of questions, and add the who, what, when, where, why format. Some needed information may be located in previous chapters. Twisting the Plot: Choose one or two questions from each chapter and change its answer—true to false, no to yes, or a different answer—and explain how changing a single (or several) events would change the story. To further illustrate the rhythm of a good story, try changing the answers to one complete set of questions. Your students will see how difficult, if not impossible, it is to tell a sensible story from a tangled set of events.
THE CHARACTERS Questions that illustrate character motivation and personality are purposely included. Too often, when they are asked to tell what kind of person a story character is, the only answer many of our students can muster is ―nice.‖ In your efforts to remove ―nice‖ from your students’ literary vocabulary, try this idea: Character Charts: Display individual charts for the main characters. As the chapters are read, record facts, behaviors, or events that relate to the each character. Then connect the items with several appropriate words such as empathetic, brave, calloused, bold, untrustworthy, etc. The teacher can take the lead by contributing the first few words and then assigning the task of identifying more terms to students. Record the word collections on the charts with the story facts. This information is a valuable student resource when displayed in the room for all to see and use during a writing assignment. In creating and using character charts, students will soon begin writing more fluently and insightfully about story personalities. Use the charts to encourage your students to try some ―predicting‖ or ―detective‖ writing about what the character(s) might do next or what might have happened after the story ended. Let the charts help your students recognize CHARACTER CHANGE (dynamics). Another fun activity with the charts is to match a book personality with a zodiac sign. Students must justify their reason for thinking a character is a particular sign by citing his/her behaviors, words, reactions to situations, etc. that prove the match.
READING BETWEEN THE LINES (Implied Meaning) Because the primary goal for the objective questions is basic comprehension, items requiring a student to interpret an event or a character’s behavior are not included. Always included, however, are questions that establish the existence of a story component carrying an implied meaning.
MAKING PREDICTIONS
(Recognizing Story Clues) Authors subtly place clues in the story line giving the reader hints as to what is about to happen. Like the implied meaning, these clues are brought to the reader’s attention in the form of a question. Once a student learns to spot the gems, his/her ability to comprehend and enjoy a story tends to leap forward. Use ―thinking-out-loud‖ class discussions to list all the possible meanings of the clue questions. Have your student write their individual predictions (no sharing or telling), store the papers until the novel is finished, and then retrieve them for reading. Sometimes, a wrong prediction makes a story as good as the original.
OTHER FUCTIONS The objective test pages are excellent discussion guides for both whole groups and small groups. They work well as homework reading guides and as conferencing tools. They are also useful management tools for teachers who wish to use multiple titles in one classroom.
Something to Think About. . . Something to Write About. . . In this section, students pack up what they already know about the novel and go exploring into its every nook and cranny. Some activities require the simplest interpretation or application, while others will challenge the most proficient thinkers.
Rationale: Guidelines. . . The in this section are based on the skills presented in the Taxonomy of Educational Objectives (Bloom’s Taxonomy). There are two reasons for this choice. First, it mirrors the Novel Teaching Pack’s primary purpose of building a variety of sophisticated thinking skills upon a foundation of basic knowledge. Second, in following the taxonomy guidelines, activities that correlate with many state educational standards emerge automatically.
Levels of Difficulty. . . A variety difficulty levels to accommodate the needs of individual students, including the gifted, is an integral part of this component. However, all items from this section are intended to challenge and sharpen thinking abilities.
Final Note The Novel Teaching Packs are designed for use as supplementary material that supports a total reading program. It is my goal to provide busy teachers with a classroom-ready, practical resource loaded with motivational and learning opportunities for their students. It is my hope that your purchase will prove to be a hard-working instructional component for years to come. Thanks for choosing one of my products for your classroom.
Margaret Whisnant, Author
Copyright ©2009 Margaret Whisnant
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