Turtle, Frog, and Rat A Vietnamese Folktale

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1 Name Date Making Meaning Grade 5 Unit 6 Exploring Important Ideas and Summarizing Directions: Read the selection and answer the questions. Turtle, Frog, and Rat A Vietnamese Folktale by Nghia Pham and Marilyn Bolchunos Many years ago Turtle, Frog, and Rat were great friends and shared a home in a field near the ocean. They spent the afternoons sitting in the sun on their front porch, talking. Turtle would often say to Frog, "What fine, smooth skin you have. How it shines and glistens." Frog would return the compliment. "And you. No one has a smoother, shinier shell than you." Then Frog or Turtle would comment admiringly on Rat's tail, which was covered with long, sleek fur. Thus they passed many hours, drinking tea, conversing, and eating the good things they had gathered from their field. Then one night a terrible flood came and covered the field. Turtle and Frog were in no danger because they could swim very well, but Rat would have drowned if he had not scurried to the forest and climbed a tall tree.

2 While he was there he met a beautiful lady rat who thought that he was very handsome. She especially admired his fine, furry tail. After a time they were married, and Rat built a nice tree house for her. Meanwhile the water level went down, and one day Rat decided to see what had become of his old friends. Their home in the field had been destroyed by the flood, but soon he found Frog and Turtle living nearby. "Friends," he said, "I'm very glad to see you." "And we are glad to see you," they said. "We were afraid you might have drowned in the flood." "No," replied Rat. "I escaped to the forest, and I now have a new home and a lovely wife. Won't you come and meet her?" "Gladly," they said, and soon they were all on their way to the forest. When they reached Rat's house, they saw that it was high in a tree. "Friend Rat," said Turtle, "you should have told us your home was high in a tree. We cannot climb up there." Rat felt terrible, but he thought a minute and said, "I know! You can hold on to my tail with your jaws, and I can pull you up the tree." Turtle decided to go first. He took Rat's tail in his jaws, and Rat began to climb. Frog watched from the ground. When they neared the top, Rat called to his wife, "Look, dear, I've brought my friends to visit." "Why, hello!" said his wife to Turtle. Forgetting where he was, Turtle opened his mouth to say hello. Of course, when he did this he loosened his grip, scraping all the hair off Rat's fine tail before he fell to the ground with a loud thump. Turtle landed with such force that his once-smooth shell was covered with cracks. Frog was so startled by the sight that his eyes bulged out and warts stood up all over his skin. Everyone hurried to the foot of the tree. Turtle assured them that he was not hurt. "But look at my shell! It's ruined!" he cried.

3 Frog looked at him with his bulging eyes. "Not at all. I think your shell is much more interesting now than when it was smooth," he said. "But look at me. I have become ugly." "No, no," said Turtle. " I like your bumpy skin. And just think, when you swim in the pond, you will be able to hold your eyes above the water. Don't you see? This is much better." But Rat was the most upset of all. "My beautiful wife won't love me anymore without my fine furry tail," he wailed. "Don't be silly," replied his wife. "I will always love you for what you are, not what you look like." And so, you see, they adjusted, and they remained friends for life. But it's funny thing. Even today, rats have no hair on their tails, turtles' shells are cracked, and frogs have bulging eyes and bumpy skin.

4 Name Date Making Meaning Grade 5 Unit 6 Exploring Important Ideas and Summarizing Turtle, Frog and Rat 1. Which sentence best states the author s purpose for writing the story? a. To teach a lesson about the unimportance of looks b. To describe how animals lived during floods c. To explain why frogs have bumpy skin 2. According to the story, which event happens first? a. Frog s eyes bulge out b. Turtle s shell cracks c. Rat s tail lost its hair 3. One important idea in this story is that you can be friends with others who are different than you. What detail would support this idea? a. That frog, turtle, and rat complimented each other for their appearances. b. That frog and turtle helped rat escape the flood. c. That frog and turtle remembered rat after a long period of being apart. 4. What problem did rat face in the story and how did he solve it? a. Rat does not know how to swim and turtle drags him to shore. b. Rat lived high in the tree and pulled up his friends with his tail. c. Rat lost the hair on his tail and asked his friends to leave. 5. In your words, write a summary of the story. Include three main events from the story in your answer.

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6 Making Meaning Grade 5 Unit 6 Exploring Important Ideas and Summarizing Rubric 5 th Grade 2004 Sample Text Turtle, Frog and Rat 1. What is the main idea of the story? (GLE 2.1.3) 1 point Answer is A. 2. According to the story, which event happens first? (GLE 2.2.1) 1 point Answer is C. 3. What is one important idea in the story? Provide two details from the story that supports this idea. (GLE 2.1.3) 1 point Answer is A 4. What problem did rat face in the story? What is one step he takes to solve this problem? Include information from the story in your answer. (GLE 2.2.3) 1 point Answer is B 5. In your words, write a summary of the story. Include three main events from the story in your answer. (GLE 2.1.7) 0 points No answer, OR answer is an event/detail 1 point Summarizes the selection by including one or two main events from the story OR Provides a summarizing statement AND one main event from the story OR Provides a summarizes statement 2 points Accurately summarizes the story by including three main events OR

7 Provides a summarizing statement and two main events

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