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Copywork
About This Passage
Mary Pope Osborne walks the reader through Jack's discovery as a sequence of small actions: shine the light, count out loud, stamp on the stone, put the flashlight down, work his fingers under the slab. Each verb advances the rescue. Students will study how a writer can build excitement through ordinary verbs in close order, without ever raising the volume of the prose.
Jack shined the light on the floor and counted the stones out loud. One, two, three, four, five. He stamped on the fifth stone. It was loose. Jack put the flashlight on the floor. He worked his finger...
Full copywork activity with handwriting lines available in the complete study guide.
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
In your own words, tell the story of this chapter. What were the most important moments? What made them important — and how do you know?
Discussion Questions
- Annie keeps saying 'Hurry' while Jack stops to read the book. Annie's plan would have been to run blindly down the hallway. Jack's plan is to consult the map. Whose plan was more likely to save them, and why? What in the story shows you?
- Mary Pope Osborne keeps reminding us that the flashlight is getting dimmer. She mentions the dimming three times in this chapter. Why does she keep returning to this detail instead of mentioning it once? What is the dimming doing for the story?
+ 3 more questions in the complete study guide
Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
A small hinged door built into a floor or ceiling, often hidden, that opens to reveal a passage.
Item 2
A room used for storing food, supplies, weapons, or other materials in a building.
Item 3
The edge of a steep cliff or drop.
+ 7 more vocabulary words in the complete study guide
Critical Thinking
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