Pip's grumpy morning: warm-up · Grade 3

The passage and its 4 questions

Directions: Read the passage carefully. Then answer the questions in full sentences.

• Pip woke up on the wrong side of her nest. Her whiskers were tangled, her toes were chilly, and the sky outside was gray and gloomy. Even her favorite blanket felt scratchy.
• "Everything is terrible," she grumbled into her pillow.
• At breakfast, Olly the owl slid a bowl of sunflower seeds across the table. "Good morning, Pip!" he hooted.
• "It is not a good morning," Pip muttered. "It is a bad, awful, dreadful morning."
• Olly tilted his head. "Those are three synonyms," he said. "Bad, awful and dreadful all mean almost the same thing. Can you think of an antonym for awful? A word that means the opposite?"
• Pip crunched a seed and thought hard. "Wonderful," she said slowly. "Or marvelous. Or terrific." Without meaning to, she began to smile, just a little.
• Just then, the clouds drifted apart, and a warm stripe of sunshine stretched across the floor. Pip's chilly toes grew toasty. "Fine," she giggled. "Maybe it is a terrific morning after all."
• Olly winked and passed her another seed. Sometimes the right words can change a whole day.
• 1. What three words did Pip use to describe her morning?
• 2. Why do you think Pip began to smile?
• 3. What does the word 'gloomy' mean in the first paragraph? Which other word in that sentence is a clue?
• 4. Connect the passage to something you have read or seen before.