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Rough Stones: A Short Play

Read an original short play about a boy, his sister and a neighbor who polish creek rocks, then answer questions about the play.

Grade 4ELAInteractive · Printable

Aligned toRL.4.10

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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 read and understand a grade 4 play independently.
Students tell spoken lines from stage directions and use details to explain a character's change.

How to use

Let students read the play silently first, then read it aloud in groups of three before answering the questions on their own.

Curriculum

Common Core standard covered

RL.4.10

By the end of the year, read and understand stories, dramas, and poems at the grades 4-5 level, with support at the high end.

Preview

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Name Date

Rough Stones: A Short Play

Read a play about a rock tumbler and a boy who wants to hurry.

Read the play

Rough Stones

1Characters: MATEO, a fourth grader; INES, his older sister; MR. OKAFOR, their neighbor, who collects rocks

2Setting: A garage on a Saturday morning. A small rock tumbler sits on a shelf, rumbling softly. Mateo stares at it with his arms crossed.

3MATEO: It has been a whole week, and the rocks inside are just dull gray lumps. I'm going to open it and check.

4INES: (stepping in front of the shelf) Mr. Okafor said to keep the lid closed until Saturday. That's today, so we can look, but only when he gets here.

5MR. OKAFOR: (knocking on the open garage door) Did somebody say my name? Let's see what the tumbler has been doing.

6(He unplugs the tumbler, opens the barrel and pours gritty gray mud into a bucket. He rinses the stones with the hose.)

7MATEO: (picking up a stone and frowning) They're smoother, but they don't shine at all. I thought they would look like jewels by now.

8MR. OKAFOR: That was only the first step. The coarse grit works like rough sandpaper. It knocks off the sharp edges. Next we'll use finer grit, then finer grit again, and last comes the polish. Each step takes about a week.

9MATEO: (groaning) Three more weeks? I'll be a grandpa before these rocks shine.

10INES: (laughing) You would be a very young grandpa.

11MR. OKAFOR: (reaching into his pocket) Here. I want to show you something. This came out of the same creek as your rocks. It was a dull gray lump once, too. (He opens his hand. A small stone glows with swirls of orange and cream.)

12MATEO: (holding it up to the light) Whoa. I can almost see inside it. It looks like a sunset.

13MR. OKAFOR: A tumbler can't be hurried. The water and grit do their work a little at a time, every hour, even while you're asleep.

14(Mateo carefully places his stones back in the barrel. Mr. Okafor adds water and a scoop of finer grit. Mateo snaps the lid shut and plugs the tumbler back in. Then he writes POLISH DAY: 3 WEEKS on a sticky note and sticks it to the shelf.)

15INES: You're really going to wait?

16MATEO: I'm going to wait. But I'm counting every single day.

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