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The Blue Glass Bird worksheet preview

Worksheet

The Blue Glass Bird

Read an original two-scene play about a cracked glass bird, see how the characters respond to a hard choice, find the theme and summarize it.

Grade 5ELAInteractive · Printable

Aligned toRL.5.2

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What’s included

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

Details

Format
Interactive · Printable
Grade
Grade 5
Subject
ELA
Question types
Fill in the blank, Multiple choice, Circle the answer, Sorting, Short answer

About this worksheet

What students practice

  • Students determine a theme of a play from how the characters respond to a challenge.
  • Students summarize a two-scene play using its key events.

How to use

Have students read the play aloud in parts, then answer the questions on their own. Remind them that stage directions in italics tell what characters do and feel.

Curriculum

Common Core standard covered

RL.5.2

Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem, including how characters respond to challenges or how a speaker reflects on a topic, and summarize the text.

Preview

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Name Date

The Blue Glass Bird

Find the theme of a short play and summarize it.

Read the play

Read the play. The words in italics are stage directions. They tell what the characters do.

The Blue Glass Bird

1Scene 1. A sunny apartment with plants on every windowsill. Mrs. Adeyemi is away visiting her sister. ROSA, age eleven, and her brother MATEO, age eight, have come to water the plants. A small blue glass bird sits on the windowsill.

2MATEO: (pointing) Look! The sun shines right through that glass bird and makes blue spots on the floor.

3ROSA: Don't touch it. Mrs. Adeyemi said that bird is special to her. Just hold the watering can while I reach the hanging fern.

4(ROSA stretches up on her toes. Her elbow bumps the glass bird, and it falls onto the rug with a sharp clink.)

5ROSA: (gasping) Oh no! (She picks up the bird with both hands.) There's a crack across one wing.

6MATEO: It's a tiny crack. Just turn that side toward the window. She'll never notice.

7ROSA: (biting her lip) I don't know, Mateo. She trusted us with her key.

8MATEO: Do you want her to be mad at us? Just turn it around.

9(ROSA slowly sets the bird back on the windowsill with the crack facing the glass. She does not look at it again.)

10Scene 2. The next afternoon. MRS. ADEYEMI rolls her suitcase through the door. ROSA and MATEO wait by the kitchen table.

11MRS. ADEYEMI: (looking around) My plants look so green and healthy! You two did a wonderful job. (She holds out two folded bills.) This is for all your help.

12(MATEO reaches for his money. ROSA keeps her hands at her sides. She glances at the windowsill.)

13ROSA: (quietly) I can't take it. Mrs. Adeyemi, I knocked your glass bird off the windowsill. It has a crack in one wing. We turned it so you wouldn't see. I'm sorry.

14(MRS. ADEYEMI walks to the window and turns the bird around. For a long moment, she says nothing.)

15MRS. ADEYEMI: My sister gave me this bird the year I moved to this city. (She sighs.) I am sad about the crack. But I am glad you told me the truth, Rosa. That took courage.

16MATEO: (staring at his shoes) Hiding it was my idea. I'm sorry too.

17MRS. ADEYEMI: Thank you for saying so, Mateo. (She sets the bird in the sunniest spot, with the crack facing out. Blue light spills across the floor.) From now on, this crack will remind me of the day you were honest with me. (She holds out her key.) I'm visiting my sister again next month. Will you two water my plants?

18ROSA: (surprised) You still want us? Even after we broke something?

19MRS. ADEYEMI: Glass can crack by accident. Trust breaks when people hide things. You told me the truth, so I know I can trust you.

20MATEO: (grinning) Then next month, we'll be extra careful.

21ROSA: And if anything goes wrong, we'll tell you right away.

Characters and their choices

Answer the questions. Use the numbered paragraphs to help you.

1.
What problem does Rosa face in Scene 1?
  • A. She cannot reach the tall hanging fern.
  • B. She cracks a glass bird that is special.
  • C. She loses the key to Mrs. Adeyemi's door.
  • D. She forgets to water the plants all week.
2.
How does Rosa respond to the problem at the end of Scene 1?
  • A. She calls Mrs. Adeyemi to tell her right away.
  • B. She tries to glue the cracked wing back together.
  • C. She goes along with Mateo's plan to hide it.
  • D. She buys a new glass bird for Mrs. Adeyemi.
3.
Who says or does each thing in the play? Sort the actions.
explains where the glass bird came frombumps the bird while reaching for a fernsuggests turning the crack toward the windowoffers the key for next monthpoints out blue spots of light on the floorsays no to the payment
RosaMateoMrs. Adeyemi
4.
Read paragraph 12. Why does Rosa keep her hands at her sides?
  • A. She feels she has not earned the money honestly.
  • B. She thinks Mrs. Adeyemi should pay Mateo more.
  • C. She is still holding the heavy watering can.
  • D. She wants Mrs. Adeyemi to look at the plants.
5.
Read paragraph 13 again. Underline the sentence where Rosa admits that they tried to hide what happened.

I can't take it.Mrs. Adeyemi, I knocked your glass bird off the windowsill.It has a crack in one wing.We turned it so you wouldn't see.I'm sorry.

6.
How does Mateo change during the play?
  • A. He is careful at first but later gets careless.
  • B. He wants to hide the crack but later says sorry.
  • C. He tells the truth at first but later tells a lie.
  • D. He wants to keep the money but gives it all away.

Theme and summary

Think about what the whole play teaches.

7.
Which sentence best states a theme of the play?
  • A. Glass things are too fragile to keep by a window.
  • B. Older siblings should do the hardest chores.
  • C. People who make mistakes should be paid less.
  • D. Being honest when it is hard helps build trust.
8.
Which two details from the play best support the theme? Choose two.
  • A. Mrs. Adeyemi gives Rosa the key again after hearing the truth.
  • B. The sun shines through the glass bird and makes blue spots.
  • C. Mateo holds the watering can while Rosa reaches the fern.
  • D. Mrs. Adeyemi says trust breaks when people hide things.
9.
Complete the summary of the play. Write a word from the word bank in each blank. Use each word once. Two words will not be used.
Word bank: trusts · fern · hiding · blames · truth · bird

While watering a neighbor's plants, Rosa cracks a glass  . Her brother talks her into   the crack. When Mrs. Adeyemi comes home, Rosa tells the  , and Mrs. Adeyemi   the children with her key again.

10.
What is a theme of the play? Explain how Rosa's choices in Scene 1 and Scene 2 help show it. Use details from the play.

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