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Copywork
About This Passage
This is the scene Rawls has been building toward — the moment Jay Berry's whole plan collapses. It is also a masterclass in comic exaggeration: 'every square inch,' 'snowbirds on a fence,' 'glued to it.' Copying it trains 4th-6th graders to notice that vivid comedy is always specific — a generic swarm would be funny but forgettable; this swarm has named body parts and one perfect simile.
Rowdy was built just right for good monkey biting and the monkeys had sure taken advantage of this. It looked like every square inch of his hide had a monkey glued to it. His long legs and tail were c...
Full copywork activity with handwriting lines available in the complete study guide.
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Retell Chapter 7 in five or six sentences. Include Gandy walking home muddy, the snake in the brush, the moment the net closed, the big monkey's tantrum, and what Jay Berry finally figured out about the empty net.
Discussion Questions
- What does Jay Berry's behavior with the snake, the hornet, and the big monkey tell you about the kind of bravery he has — and the kind he doesn't?
- Rawls spends the whole chapter hinting that the big monkey is intelligent, then proves it by having him open the net. Point to at least two moments EARLIER in the chapter where you could have guessed what the big monkey was planning.
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Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
stuck tightly, as if fastened with glue and unable to come off
Item 2
held shut or pressed together very tightly
Item 3
a small section of a surface the size of a postage stamp or a floor tile
+ 5 more vocabulary words in the complete study guide
Critical Thinking
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