Student Name
A Walk in the Desert
Use this selection to answer questions 1–10.
1 How do many desert animals
get water?
3 An elf owl is about the same size
as a —
A They dig underground wells.
A coyote
B They store water in
burrows.
B woodpecker
C jackrabbit
C They drink from lakes.
D scorpion
D They eat desert plants.
2 Wood rats build large nests in
order to protect themselves
from —
4 Jackrabbits’ long ears help
them to —
F build homes
F cold nights
G run fast
G pack rats
H find food
H predators
J stay cool
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill
J sudden storms
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Grade 4 • Unit 5 • Week 1
83
Student Name
5 Which of these is a nocturnal
animal?
A Kit fox
B Grasshopper
7 Read this sentence from
the article.
Deserts have a very dry climate.
C Lizard
What does the word climate
mean?
D Roadrunner
A The most common animal
B The shape of the land
C The number of people
D The average weather
6 Which desert animal is
poisonous?
F Coyote
G Coral snake
H Gila monster
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill
J Horned lizard
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Grade 4 • Unit 5 • Week 1
Selection Test
Student Name
8 Read this sentence from the article.
9 Read this sentence from the article.
Scorpions often lurk in crevices or
under rocks during the day.
The word silken means —
The word lurk means —
F tough and hard
A find prey
G thin and sharp
B lie hidden
H soft and shiny
C make noise
J sticky and wet
D sleep soundly
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill
They spin silken webs among
cactus spines.
Selection Test
Grade 4 • Unit 5 • Week 1
85
Student Name
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill
10 How do plants and animals in the desert depend on one another? Explain your
answer and support it with details from the article.
BE SURE YOU HAVE RECORDED ALL OF YOUR ANSWERS
ON THE ANSWER DOCUMENT.
86
Grade 4 • Unit 5 • Week 1
Selection Test
Grade 4 • Unit 5 • Week 1
Student Name
Date
Weekly
Assessment
TESTED SKILLS AND STRATEGIES
• Reading Comprehension
• Vocabulary Strategies
• Spelling
• Grammar, Mechanics, and Usage
Read this selection. Then answer the questions that follow it.
1
2
3
4
5
6
Did you know that the sun is really a star? It is a giant star at the center
of our solar system. The sun is a large ball made of many kinds of gases. It
gives light and heat to the planets that spin around it and make up our solar
system.
The sun rises in the eastern sky each morning. It swallows up the creepy,
eerie darkness from the night before. It chases away the moon and stars
that lurk in the night sky. The shimmer and sparkle of sunlight mark the
beginning of a new day. At the end of the day, the sun sets in the western
sky. Then, night returns and the stars can be seen in the dark sky overhead.
Without the sun, there would be no life on Earth as we know it. There
would be no spiders spinning their silken webs. There would be no
elephants lumbering their enormous bodies across vast stretches of land.
All living things need the sun to survive. Plants use sunlight to make
food. While doing this, they give off oxygen. Animals and people eat
plants and breathe in oxygen. They breathe out carbon dioxide. Plants use
carbon dioxide, energy from sunlight, and water to make more food.
People, animals, and plants are not the only things that depend on the
sun. Earth’s climate and temperature depend on the sun, too.
The temperature of a place on Earth depends on the position of the sun.
It is cooler in the morning when the sun is lower in the sky. As the sun
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Grade 4 • Unit 5 • Week 1
Weekly Assessment
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill
A Giant Star
Student Name
7
8
rises, it becomes hotter. Then it cools down as the sun sets. Places near the
equator are hot because the sun shines almost directly overhead at noon.
Places near the North Pole and South Pole are cold because the sun does
not rise high in the sky in either place.
Every 365 days, Earth makes a trip around the sun. For six months, the
northern half of Earth faces the sun. This causes spring and summer in that
part of the world. For six months, the northern half of Earth points away
from the sun. This causes fall and winter in that part of the world.
As you can see, the sun controls many things on Earth. It controls the
food that we eat and the air that we breathe. Without the sun, nothing
would be able to stay alive.
1 What is the main idea of
paragraph 4?
A The sun is a large ball made
of many gases.
B Living things on Earth need
the sun to survive.
C The sun is a star at the center
of our solar system.
2 When plants make food, they
give off —
F carbon dioxide
G light
H oxygen
J heat
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill
D Animals and people eat
plants and breathe in oxygen.
Page 3
Weekly Assessment
Grade 4 • Unit 5 • Week 1
287
Student Name
3 Places near the equator are
hot because —
A half of Earth faces away
from the sun
B the sun is almost directly
overhead at noon
C planets spin around the sun
in our solar system
5 In paragraph 2, which word
helps the reader understand what
shimmer means?
A sky
B moon
C sparkle
D overhead
D the sun does not rise high in
the sky there
4 What is the main idea of
this article?
F The sun controls many
things on Earth.
G Plants can make their own
food.
H Without the sun, there
would be no animals.
6 In paragraph 2, the word eerie
means almost the same as —
F fresh
G new
H dark
J strange
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill
J Humans survive in hot and
cold temperatures.
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Grade 4 • Unit 5 • Week 1
Weekly Assessment
Student Name
7 In paragraph 3, the word
lumbering means —
A sending signals
B moving slowly and heavily
C looking for food across the
land
D living together in herds
8 In paragraph 5, which word helps
the reader understand the meaning
of climate?
F plants
G depend
H sun
J temperature
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill
9 Why is the sun a very important star? Explain your answer and support it with
details from the article.
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Weekly Assessment
Grade 4 • Unit 5 • Week 1
289
DIRECTIONS
Read the introduction and the passage that follows. Then read each
question and fill in the correct answer on your answer sheet.
Jasmine wrote this paragraph. She wants you to help her revise and edit her
paragraph. Read the paragraph and think about some changes that Jasmine
should make. Then answer the questions that follow.
Summer Evening
(1) The hungry man went to a local restaurant to get some diner.
(2) He went through the line and put some Italian foods on his tray cluttered.
(3) Then he purchased a large drink in a plastic cup. (4) After he finished
eating, he drove his newly car to the park to meet his friend. (5) The friend said
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill
“Let’s play a round of mini-golf before it gets dark!”
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Grade 4 • Unit 5 • Week 1
Weekly Assessment
Student Name
10 What change, if any, should be
made in sentence 1?
F Change hungry man to
man hungry
G Change went to goed
H Change diner to dinner
J Make no change
13 What change, if any, should be
made in sentence 2?
A Insert a comma after line
B Change Italian foods to
italian foods
C Change tray cluttered to
cluttered tray
D Make no change
11 What change, if any, should be
made in sentence 3?
14 What change, if any, should be
made in sentence 5?
A Change he to him
F Insert a comma after friend
B Change purchased to
purchasing
G Insert a comma after said
C Change plastic to plastick
J Make no change
H Change Let’s to Lets
D Make no change
12 What change, if any, should be
made in sentence 4?
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill
F Take out the comma
after eating
G Change newly to new
H Change park to Park
J Make no change
Page 7
BE SURE YOU HAVE RECORDED ALL OF YOUR ANSWERS
ON THE ANSWER DOCUMENT.
Weekly Assessment
Grade 4 • Unit 5 • Week 1
291
Student Name
Grade 4 • Unit 5 • Week 1
Student Evaluation Chart
Number
Correct
Percent
Correct
Reading Comprehension: Main
Idea and Details, 1, 2, 3, 4
/4
%
Short answer: Main Idea and Details, 9
/3
%
Vocabulary Strategies: Context
Clues, 5, 7, 8; Synonyms, 6
/4
%
Spelling: Closed Syllables, 10, 11
/2
%
Grammar, Mechanics, and Usage:
Adjectives, 12, 13; Punctuation, 14
/3
%
/16
%
Tested Skills
© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill
Total Weekly Test Score
292
Grade 4 • Unit 5 • Week 1
Weekly Assessment