Grade 8
Reading – Folktales and Fables
Learning Check #1 FALL - 2008
WHEN ANSWERING QUESTIONS IN THIS TEST BOOKLET
This reading test contains eight multiple choice and one open
response question. Please use the separate answer sheet for all
of your responses. Record your name at the top of the answer
sheet and your responses to the eleven multiple-choice questions
in the appropriate places at the top of the answer sheet. Mark
only one answer for each question. If you do not know the
answer, make your best guess. Continue to the twelfth question
that is an open response question. Place your answer in the
space provided. Label your answer as indicated in the question.
1
The following is the guide that will be used to evaluate your responses to the openresponse questions in this test.
2
READING
This test section contains two reading selections with a total of eleven multiple-choice
and one open-response question. Please bubble your answer for each multiple-choice
question in the space provided on your answer sheet.
“The Ant and the Grasshopper” excerpted from Aesop’s Fables, by Aesop. Downloaded from
http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/Aesop/Aesops_Fables/The_Ant_and_the_Grasshopper_p1.html on 1 May 2007.
“Grasshopper Logic” excerpted from Squids Will Be Squids: Fresh Morals, Beastly Fables, by Jon Scieszka, illustrated by Lane
Smith. Downloaded from http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0142500402/ref=sib_dp_pt/002-4594901-3121662#readerlink on 1 May 2007.
Read the following short fables and answer the questions that follow.
1
The Ant and the Grasshopper
by
Aesop
In a field one summer's day a Grasshopper was hopping about, chirping and singing to its
heart's content. An Ant passed by, bearing along with great toil an ear of corn he was taking to the
nest.
"Why not come and chat with me," said the Grasshopper, "instead of toiling and moiling in that
5
way?"
"I am helping to lay up food for the winter," said the Ant, "and recommend you to do the
same."
"Why bother about winter?" said the Grasshopper. “We have got plenty of food at present."
But the Ant went on its way and continued its toil. When winter came the Grasshopper had no food
10
and found itself dying of hunger, while it saw the ants distributing corn and grain from the stores
they had collected in the summer. Then the Grasshopper knew the moral of this story:
It is best to prepare for the days of necessity.
1
Grasshopper Logic
by
Jon Scieszka
One bright and sunny day, Grasshopper came home from school, dropped his backpack,
and was just about to run outside to meet his friends.
“Where are you going?” asked his mom.
“Out to meet some friends,” said Grasshopper.
5
“Do you have any homework due tomorrow?” asked his mom.
“Just one small thing for History. I did the rest in class.”
“Okay,” said Mom Grasshopper. “Be back at six for dinner.”
Grasshopper hung out with his friends, came home promptly at six, ate his dinner, then took
out his History homework.
10
His mom read the assignment and freaked out.
“’Rewrite twelve Greek myths as Broadway musicals. Write music for songs. Design and
build all sets. Sew original costumes for each production.’ How long have you known about this
assignment?” asked Mom Grasshopper, trying not to scream.
“I don’t know,” said Grasshopper.
15
MORAL: There are plenty of things to say to calm a hopping mad Grasshopper mom. “I don’t
know” is not one of them!
PLEASE GO ON TO THE NEXT PAGE 
3
Mark your answer choices for multiple-choice questions 1 through 11 in the spaces provided
on your open response answer sheet.
1. In both of the fables, where can the reader find the main idea?
A.
in the moral
B.
in the title
C.
in the setting
D.
in the dialogue
2. Which of the following best explains the author’s position from lines 1-5 of The Ant and the
Grasshopper?
A. A grasshopper tries to help an ant work.
B.
An ant tries to keep a grasshopper from working.
C.
A grasshopper tries to keep an ant from working.
D.
A grasshopper and an ant work hard together.
3. Which of the following best identifies the author’s position from lines 1-10 of
Grasshopper Logic?
A. A grasshopper mother wants her son home for dinner.
B.
C.
A grasshopper son wants to play with his friends, so he tells his mom he only has a little
homework.
A grasshopper son has lots of History homework.
D.
A grasshopper son and his mother do his History homework together.
4. Based on the moral of the fable, what conclusion can the reader draw at the end of The Ant and
the Grasshopper?
A. Neither the ant nor the grasshopper learned important lessons.
B.
The ant and the grasshopper learned important lessons.
C.
The ant learned an important lesson.
D.
The grasshopper learned an important lesson.
4
PLEASE GO ON TO THE NEXT PAGE 
5. In Grasshopper Logic, what is the son grasshopper’s motivation for telling his mother he only had
a little History homework?
A. He didn’t realize he had so much.
B.
He wanted to be home for dinner.
C.
He wanted to play with his friends.
D.
He wanted to go to bed early.
6. In The Ant and the Grasshopper, what is the author’s purpose for Grasshopper’s dialogue in lines
4 and 5?
A. To characterize the grasshopper as lazy.
B.
To characterize the ant as mean.
C.
To characterize the grasshopper as friendly.
D.
To characterize the grasshopper as funny.
7. Which of the following best represents the resolution to the conflict in The Ant and the
Grasshopper?
A. The ant learned a difficult, but important, lesson about hard work.
B.
The grasshopper learned a difficult, but important, lesson about hard work.
C.
Ants are instinctively cruel insects.
D.
Grasshoppers are instinctively lazy insects.
8. Which of the following literary devices does the author of Grasshopper Logic use to make the
reader believe that grasshoppers can talk, play and do homework?
A. foreshadowing
B.
irony
C.
personification
D.
imagery
PLEASE GO ON TO THE NEXT PAGE 
5
Read all parts of the question before you begin. Write your answer to open
response question 9 in the space provided on the next page.
Two Fables
9.
In both The Ant and the Grasshopper and Grasshopper Logic, Aesop and Jon Scieszka
use personification.
A. Identify either author’s use of personification.
B. Describe the main idea/moral of either literary piece.
C. Discuss how either author uses personification to communicate his main
idea/moral.
Do not write on this page. Please write your
answer to this open-response question on
the next page.
6
ANSWER SHEET
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Name: ______________________________________
7.
8.
Do not write outside this box
9.
STOP!
7
Name:
8th Folktales & Fables Answer Key (Two Fables)
Question
Correct Answer
CC#
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
A
C
B
D
C
A
B
C
RD-08-2.0.1/RD-08-2.0.2
RD-08-2.0.5
RD-08-2.0.5
RD-08-2.0.7
RD-08-3.0.1
RD-08-3.0.2
RD-08-3.0.3
RD-08-5.0.3
DOK Level
(of question)
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
OPEN RESPONSE SCORING GUIDE
4 -The student correctly identifies, in the literary piece, the author’s use of
personification. The student correctly describes either piece’s moral/main idea.
The student demonstrates an understanding of how personification is used in
fables by discussing the necessity of the literary device to present a moral.
3 - The student identifies, in the literary piece, the author’s use of personification,
although it is somewhat vague. The student gives limited description of either
piece’s moral/main idea. The student understands personification, but doesn’t
fully discuss the necessity of the literary device to present a moral.
2 -The student attempts to demonstrate a simplified identification of
personification in part A. The student attempts to write about the use of
personification in fables by telling it’s a moral.
1 -The student defines personification in part A. The student makes no attempt
to relate personification to fables or morals.
OR The student writes about personification in part A. Part B talks about
morals/main ideas.
0: Blank or irrelevant response.
8