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Copywork
About This Passage
Two sentences built like twins. Both start with the exact same five words — 'A lot of people don't' — and that matching shape is the writer's trick: it lines up curses and lizards side by side, so the lizard's bite seems to answer the question about curses. Copy both sentences carefully, keeping the long second one together. Notice the quiet punchline at the end: some things are real whether you believe in them or not. The chapter never says the curse is real — it just sets a real bite right next to it and lets you wonder.
A lot of people don’t believe in curses. A lot of people don’t believe in yellow-spotted lizards either, but if one bites you, it doesn’t make a difference whether you believe in it or not.
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Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Tell everything this chapter teaches about the yellow-spotted lizard: its spots, its eyes and teeth, where it lives, how it jumps, and what it eats. Then tell which fact scared you most, and what part of the chapter made it scary.
Discussion Questions
- The chapter starts with two matching sentences: 'A lot of people don't believe in curses' and 'A lot of people don't believe in yellow-spotted lizards either.' Why might the writer put curses and lizards side by side like that? Use the chapter's words from the opening to explain what the matching sentences make you wonder about the curse.
- The chapter could have just said the lizard is dangerous. Instead it warns that if one bites you, 'it doesn't make a difference whether you believe in it or not.' Why is that a scarier thing to hear? Use the chapter's opening words to explain which words make the warning feel especially strong.
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Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
A scaly reptile with four legs and a long tail
Item 2
Small round marks on a surface or skin
Item 3
Magic bad-luck spells said to follow people or families
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Critical Thinking
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