Worksheet

Kai and the Ink Brush: Reading Stanzas

Read an original poem about learning brush lettering and use the word stanza to tell how each part of the poem builds on earlier ones.

Grade 3ELAInteractive · Printable

Aligned toRL.3.5

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What’s included

Single worksheet
Auto-graded online
1 Common Core standard
Printable answer key
9 questions
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Details

Format: Interactive · Printable
Grade: Grade 3
Subject: ELA
Question types: Fill in the blank, Multiple choice, Matching, Circle the answer, Short answer

About this worksheet

What students practice

Students use the word stanza to talk about the parts of a poem.
Students explain how each stanza of a poem builds on earlier stanzas.

How to use

Read the poem aloud twice, pausing after each stanza to retell it, then have students answer the questions on their own.

Curriculum

Common Core standard covered

RL.3.5

Use terms like chapter, scene, and stanza to talk about the parts of stories, dramas, and poems and how each part builds on earlier ones.

Preview

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Name Date

Kai and the Ink Brush: Reading Stanzas

Read a poem and tell how each stanza builds on the one before.

Read the poem

The Ink Brush

1On Saturday, Grandpa set out a brush,
a dish of black ink, and paper so thin.
"Start with the first letter of your name," he said.
I dipped the brush and dove right in.

2My K came out a soggy blob,
a puddle where a line should be.
The ink soaked through the paper fast,
and one gray drop splashed on my knee.

3Grandpa laughed and held my hand.
"Wipe your brush on the side of the dish.
Press down slow, then lift up light."
The brush went whisper, swoop and swish.

4I filled one page, and then one more,
with K after K after K.
Some were shaky, some were thick,
but each looked better along the way.

5By lunch I painted all of KAI,
three letters standing tall and neat.
Grandpa taped it to the kitchen wall
and clapped so hard he stamped his feet.

6He also taped my soggy blob
right underneath my name.
Now when I see them side by side,
I know that practice makes a change.

Stanzas in the poem

Each numbered part of the poem is a stanza. Use the poem to answer each question.

How many stanzas are in this poem? Write the number.

The poem has stanzas.

What is a stanza?

A. one word that rhymes with another word
B. a group of lines set apart in a poem
C. the title written at the top of a poem
D. the person who tells about the poem

Match each stanza to what happens in it.

Stanza 1
Stanza 2
Stanza 3
Stanza 5

A. Grandpa shows how to hold and move the brush.
B. Kai paints a whole name, and Grandpa hangs it up.
C. Grandpa sets out the brush, ink and paper.
D. Kai's first letter turns into a blob.

In which stanza does Kai practice the letter K over and over?

A. stanza 2
B. stanza 3
C. stanza 6
D. stanza 4

How the stanzas build

Think about how each stanza connects to the stanzas before it.

How does stanza 3 build on stanza 2?

A. Grandpa gives a tip to fix the soggy blob problem.
B. Kai gives up and puts the brush away for the day.
C. Grandpa paints a K to show Kai how it should look.
D. Kai cleans the gray drop of ink off one knee.

Stanza 4 says each K "looked better along the way." Which earlier stanza explains why the letters got better?

A. stanza 1, because Grandpa sets out thin paper
B. stanza 2, because the ink soaks through fast
C. stanza 3, because Kai uses Grandpa's tips
D. stanza 5, because Grandpa claps for Kai

Read stanzas 5 and 6 again. Underline the sentence that tells what Kai learned.

By lunch I painted all of KAI, three letters standing tall and neat.Grandpa taped it to the kitchen wall and clapped so hard he stamped his feet.He also taped my soggy blob right underneath my name.Now when I see them side by side, I know that practice makes a change.

Why does the last stanza bring back the soggy blob from stanza 2?