WorksheetPremium

Plain Outside, Sparkly Inside: Sayings at the Gem Show

Read an original story about a girl and her uncle at a gem and mineral show, then recognize and explain idioms, adages and proverbs.

Grade 4ELAInteractive · Printable

Aligned toL.4.5.b

Buy this worksheet: $1.50

Or unlock every Premium worksheet with Premium

PrintUnlock to print

Answer keyUnlock to see answers

Assign to classUnlock to assign with a class code

What’s included

Single worksheet
Auto-graded online
1 Common Core standard
Printable answer key
11 questions
Classroom-ready

Details

Format: Interactive · Printable
Grade: Grade 4
Subject: ELA
Question types: Fill in the blank, Multiple choice, Matching, Circle the answer, Sorting, Short answer

About this worksheet

What students practice

Students explain the meaning of common idioms such as costs an arm and a leg and on cloud nine.
Students explain what adages and proverbs mean and tell them apart from idioms.
Students choose a situation or sentence that fits an idiom or proverb.

How to use

Read the story aloud and pause at each saying so students can guess its meaning from the story. Then let them answer the questions on their own.

Curriculum

Common Core standard covered

L.4.5.b

Recognize and explain the meaning of common idioms, adages, and proverbs.

Preview

OwlSheets.com

Name Date

Plain Outside, Sparkly Inside: Sayings at the Gem Show

Find and explain idioms, adages and proverbs in a story about a gem and mineral show.

Read the story

The Geode

1Uncle Hamid woke Thandiwe before sunrise on the day of the gem and mineral show. "Why do we have to go so early?" she groaned from under her blanket. "The early bird catches the worm," her uncle said with a grin. "The best stones sell fast."

2The big hall at the fairgrounds was filled with long tables of shiny rocks. Thandiwe stopped at a table with a purple crystal as big as her fist. Then she saw the price tag. "That costs an arm and a leg!" she whispered. Uncle Hamid nodded. "Let's find something that fits your allowance."

3At the next table, a woman named Ms. Varga was selling geodes. They looked like lumpy gray balls, and they were not shiny at all. Thandiwe wrinkled her nose. "They look boring." Ms. Varga smiled. "Don't judge a book by its cover," she said. "Wait until you see what's inside."

4First, she handed Thandiwe a pair of safety goggles. "Better safe than sorry," she said. "Little chips can fly when a geode breaks." Then Ms. Varga placed one rock in a special tool and squeezed the handles slowly. With a sharp crack, the geode split into two halves. Inside, hundreds of tiny white crystals glittered like sugar.

5Thandiwe bought that geode with her own money. On the drive home, she held the box on her lap and kept an eye on it the whole way, so it would not tip over when the car turned.

6That evening, she set the two halves on her bedroom shelf, where the crystals caught the lamplight. "I'm on cloud nine," she told Uncle Hamid. "Getting up early was worth it after all."

The preview shows the first questions. Unlock the worksheet to see all of it.