On Your Mark Theme 1 PART 1

Lily Learns About
Cascarones

by Belinda Bustos Flores illustrated by Patty Weise

What are cascarones?
It's Lily's first day at a new school. As she walks into the room, Miss Flores tells her, "Welcome to San Antonio, Texas." Then Miss Flores says, "Children, get into your groups. Later, I will tell you a surprise!" Everybody is excited.
Lily looks at the board. She sees a new word: cas-ca-ro-nes. Each group begins sharing ideas
The teacher tells Lily's group to help Lily learn about
cascarones. "Lily, ask them lots of questions," she says.
Lily is curious. "Well, what are cascarones?" she asks
the group.
Howie says, "You crack them on your friends' heads." :_
"Oh!" Lily says in surprise. "But what do they look
"A cascarones is an eggshell," says Sara. "Cascaron is a
Spanish word. We are going to paint cascarones." She
shows Lily a picture.
Tomas says, "I am going to dye my eggs, instead.
That's how we do it at home." . >:.
"After we decorate the cascarones, we let them dry, . .· ':• ..
See the tiny hole on the top? We put confetti in there!" - :>·;._ : . .
says Jenny. "Then we cover the hole with a little piece .
·of colored tissue paper."
"So cascarones are decorated eggshells
with confetti inside?" asks Lily.
"Right!" says the group.
Lily still wants to know more. "Why do you
:: crack them on your friends' heads?"
Jenny answers, "Because it's a way to meet people at a fiesta."
"Yeah, and to celebrate Easter," adds Howie. "I
like chasing my cousins to crack cascarones." "I like to surprise my dad!" says Tomas. "They don't get mad?" asks Lily.
"No," says Sara, "it's fun to get confetti all over
your head!"
Lily asks, "So where did cascarones come from?" "We did a Web search," says Howie. "People say
that the explorer Marco Polo brought back decorated
eggs from Asia." The children show Lily pi of beautiful decorated eggs.
·.\ .
Sara continues, "The people of Italy liked the beautiful eggs because they had surprises inside.
"What were the surprises?" asks Lily. "Some had perfume and some had jewels. The idea spread to countries like France and Spain," says Jenny. "We also read that an emperor's wife, named Carlotta, gave the idea of the cascaron to the Mexican people. People started making cascarcones to celebrate fiestas.11
Then Miss Flores says, "It's time to begin decorating our cascarones. We will share them with the other classes. To celebrate how much we have learned, we are going to have a fiesta!"
Lily smiles. She is going to like this class.
Directions: Fill in the circle in front of the correct answer for each· question.

1. Where does this story take place?

Why does Miss Flores tell Lily to ask lots of questions?

The students teach Lily that cascaron is a Spanish word for _________.

Read this sentence from the story.Howie says, "You crack them on your friends' heads."

In which sentence does the word crack mean the same thing as in the sentence above?

Why did the people of Italy like decorated eggs?

Which is the best summary of this story?

Describe what cascarones are for someone who has never seen them. Use details from the story to help with your description.

Make Your Own Cascarones
by Ann Jordan/illustrated by Annette Cate

Cascarones are bright-colored eggshells filled with confetti. Their purpose? To break over your friends' and family's heads, speckling their hair and clothing with hundreds of tiny paper dots. Cracking cascarones is a fun thing to do at fiestas.

What you'll need to make 12 cascarones:
•1 dozen white eggs
•1 push pin
•1 cup confetti (you can make your own with a hole punch and colored paper)
•12 tissue-paper circles, 2 inches in diameter white glue
•assorted colored markers

1. Tap the small end of an egg with a push pin .
Carefully chip until you have a round l-inch hole.

2. Shake the raw egg into a bowl. Wash the eggshell with soap and water, rinse, and set in the carton to dry.

3. Scoop confetti into the empty dry shell until it is half full. Draw a thin line of glue around the outside edge of a tissue circle. Place the tissue over the opening of the eggshell and press the glued edge to the eggshell.

4. Decorate the eggshell with markers. Now your cascaron is ready to use.

Question:
8. This passage is most like a

The push pin is used to ______.

Before putting confetti. in the eggshells, you need to ________.

Read these sentences from the passage.
Their purpose? To break over your friends' and
family's heads, speckling their hair and clothing with hundreds of tiny paper dots.

Which word has about the same meaning as speckling?

In "Make Your Own Cascarones," the passage says to decorate the eggshells last. When does the story say to decorate the eggshells in "Lily Learns About Cascarones"?

How Rabbit Lost His Tail: a Micmac Folktale

What happens to Rabbit's tail?

Long, long ago, when the Earth was young, Rabbit was a very special animal. He was helpful, friendly, and handsome, and had a long, bushy tail. The other animals chose Rabbit to be the guide of the forest. His job was to help anyone who became lost in the dark woods.
One day, Rabbit was resting in a shady spot among the trees.
As he sat admiring his beautiful tail, a young Indian man approached. He looked very sad and tired. He sat down near Rabbit and began to cry.
"Why are you crying?" asked Rabbit.
"I was on my way to e married in a distant village," said the Indian. "But now I am lost. If I don't find my way, I may be too late. My bride-to-be may change' her mind and marry someone else."
"Don't worry," said Rabbit, who stood up quickly and brushed off his tail. "I will help you find the village in time• for your wedding. Just keep your eye on my tail." He began to lead the young man through the forest. He knew the forest well and often got ahead, but the Indian kept Rabbit's tail in sight.
Soon the Indian began to tire again. At a turn in the trail, he stumbled and fell into a deep hole. He shouted to Rabbit.

Rabbit heard the Indian's cries and turned around. When he reached the hole, he peered in. "Try jumping," he said to the young man.
"I am not a rabbit," said the man. "I cannot jump high like yo can. Surely I will lose my bride now."
"Wait," said Rabbit, who did not like to give up. He turned around and lowered his beautiful tail into the hole. "Grab my tail, and I will pull you out," he said.
So the Indian grabbed, and Rabbit began to pull. Slowly, he lifted the man out of the hole. Just as the man reached the top, Rabbit's tail broke off.
"Never mind," said Rabbit, "we don't have time to worry
• about my tail. We must hurry to the village." And they rushed off down the trail.
They arrived just in time. The bride was almost ready to give up. Now she smiled with happiness. When she heard the story of their adventure, she invited Rabbit to the ceremony. Rabbit felt sad about losing his tail, but he brushed the little stump as best he could and got ready for the celebration.
From then on, rabbits have always had short tails.

13. When does this story take place?

Rabbit's job was to help _________.

Why was the young Indian man sad?

Read this sentence from the story.

At a turn in the trail he stumbled and fell into a deep hole.

Which word has about the same meaning as stumbled?

Which of these happened last in the story?

The bride invited Rabbit to the wedding because she wanted to _______.

How are the endings of "Lily Learns About Cascarones" and "How Rabbit Lost His Tail" the same?

In all three passages you read, you can learn something about __________.

What lesson did Rabbit learn in this story? Use details from the
story to explain your answer.