Name ________________________________________
MAY 19
JUMPING FROG JUBILEE
On May 19, 1996, the annual frogjumping contests were held at the
town of Angels Camp in Calaveras
County, California. These contests
are held every year to reenact
the frog-jumping contests told
about in Mark Twain’s short story
“The Celebrated Jumping Frog of
Calaveras County.”
The story was written by Twain
in 1865. It is about a man named Jim
Smiley who lived in the old mining
town of Angels Camp. Jim was a
betting man. He bet on anything,
from a dog fight to which one of
two birds sitting on a fence would
fly away first. One day Jim caught a
frog and took it home. He named
the frog Daniel Webster. Jim trained
Daniel to jump by giving him a little
punch from behind. After three
months, Daniel could catch flies
as far away as he could see them.
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Jim bragged that his frog could
outjump any frog in Calaveras
County. There were a lot of frogjumping contests with Daniel, and
Smiley collected on a lot of bets.
The frog-jumping contests held
today include frogs from all over
the world. Local contests are held in
dif ferent cities, and the winners are
taken to Angels Camp to compete
in the “Super Bowl” of the sport.
Thousands of frogs generally arrive
in the small town, along with about
45,000 spectators.
An American bullfrog, called Rosie
the Ribeter, holds the record for
the longest jump at the Calaveras
County Jubilee. She leaped 21 feet,
5¾ inches in 1986. No frog has beat
her record yet, but they continue
to gather each year at the Jumping
Frog Jubilee to try.
37
Daily Comprehension Activities
Name ________________________________________
JUMPING FROG JUBILEE
Write your answers on the lines of the pattern.
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1. The frog-jumping contests were started because of a short story written in 18___.
2. The short story was about a man named _____ Smiley.
3. Smiley liked to place _____ on everything.
4. He trained his frog to catch _____.
5. Smiley’s frog was named _____ Webster.
6. Rosie the _____ holds the record for the longest jump at the jubilee.
7. Rosie was an American _____.
8. _____ wrote the short story about Smiley and Daniel.
9. The frog-jumping contests are held in the town of _____.
Research: A frog is an amphibian. Find the word amphibian in a dictionary.
Write its definition.
Daily Comprehension Activities
38
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ANSWER KEY (cont.)
Page 38 1. 65 2. Jim 3. bets 4. flies 5. Daniel 6. Ribeter
7. bullfrog 8. Mark Twain 9. Angels Camp
Research: an animal with gills that begins life in water
and later develops lungs so it can breath air and live
on land
Page 50 1. (c) 2. worhipped the sun, built pyramids and giant stone
statues, wrote in hieroglyphics, mummified their dead, built
similar kinds of boats 3. d, g, a, h, b, e, c, f
4. fact 5. Answers will vary. Research: Pacific Ocean
Page 40 1. Dolly Madison 2. fourth 3. charm, politics 4. hostess,
White House 5. British 6. papers, Washington
7. Virginia 8. appearance, July
Page 52 1. S 2. T 3. V 4. H 5. W 6. L 7. Y STEVE HAWLEY
8. achieve Research: The science of matter and energy
and the laws that rule them. Physics deals with light,
motion, sound, heat, electricity, and force
.
Page 54 Wild Bill, Illinois, Kansas, slavery, Civil, spy, marshal, Custer,
Hays City, Abilene, lawman, lawless, Buf f alo Bill, Wild West,
South Dakota, outlaws, Deadwood, saloon, Jack McCall,
brave, safe Research: He was killed in a battle with the
Sioux Indians at the Little Bighorn River in Montana.
Page 56 1. Sauk and Fox 2. Oklahoma 3. Carlisle Indian Industrial
School in Pennsylvania 4. Glenn “Pop” Warner 5. 1912,
Sweden 6. decathlon, pentathlon
7. his gold medals were taken away 8. Olympic
Committee said he was a professional athlete because he
had been paid for playing baseball
9. No. He was voted the greatest athlete in the world.
10. Olympic Committee gave back the medals and put his
scores back in their record books
Research: “after death”
Page 42 1. philanthropist 2. volunteer 3. President Lincoln
4. 12,000 5. France 6. American Red Cross 7. during a
war 8. gives assistance during all kinds of disasters
9. over 1 million 10. 83 Research: a red cross on a
white background
Page 58 Across: 2. Revolution 4. governor 6. colonists
8. independence 9. lawyer 12. plantation
Down: 1. storekeeper 3. Virginia 5. liberty 7. speeches
10. England 11. Stamp Act Research: a skilled and
eloquent public speaker
Page 44 Across: 1. Savannah 5. steamship 7. Robert Fulton
8. coal 9. sails 11. twenty-nine 12. fire
Down: 2. Atlantic 3. paddle wheel 4. Georgia
6. England 10. storm Research: It is an island just
northeast of England.
Page 60
Page 46 1. SCotland 2. America 3. shiPowner 4. supporTer
5. wAr 6. prIvateers 7. Not 8. Kidd 9. trIcked
10. EnglanD 11. hangeD
Research: a privately owned and manned armed ship
hired by a government to attack and capture enemy ships
Page 48
1. May 30 2. dead 3. Civil 4. flowers 5. civilian
6. Decoration
Research: January and February 1991
1. in a valley of the Allegheny Mountains in southwestern
Pennsylvania 2. Stony Creek and Little Conemaugh
3. About 10,000 4. earth 5. to create Lake Conemaugh
6. too much rain 7. less than 40 min. 8. buried in a
common grave at Grandview Cemetery
Research: hurricane
1. Henry Hudson 2. Netherlands 3. Manhattan
4. Minuit 5. island, Native 6. New Amsterdam
7. England 8. New York 9. Revolutionary, capital
10. Washington Research: 7,322,564
Daily Comprehension Activities
62
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