Worksheet
The Thing Under the Porch
Read an original story told by a boy who dislikes the skunk under his porch, and describe how his point of view shapes the events.
Grade 5ELAInteractive · Printable
Aligned toRL.5.6
What’s included
- Single worksheet
- Auto-graded online
- 1 Common Core standard
- Printable answer key
- 9 questions
- Classroom-ready
Details
- Format
- Interactive · Printable
- Grade
- Grade 5
- Subject
- ELA
- Question types
- Multiple choice, Circle the answer, Sorting, Short answer
About this worksheet
What students practice
- Students describe how a first-person narrator's feelings shape the way events are told.
- Students compare how two characters with different views would describe the same event.
- Students explain how a narrator's point of view changes over a story.
How to use
Read the story together, then ask students to underline words that show how the narrator feels before they answer the questions on their own.
Curriculum
Common Core standard covered
Describe how a narrator's or speaker's point of view influences the way events are described.
Preview
OwlSheets.com
The Thing Under the Porch
See how a narrator's feelings shape the way he tells a story.
Read the story
Read the story. Theo, the boy in the story, is the narrator.
The Thing Under the Porch
1Let me make one thing clear: I did not invite the skunk. One morning in May, I found a hole the size of a dinner plate under our back porch, and by June our lawn looked like someone had attacked it with a spoon. There were little holes everywhere. My little sister Pia was thrilled. She named the skunk Lady Clementine. I named it the Striped Menace.
2Pia borrowed every book about skunks from the school library. At dinner she shared her facts whether anyone asked or not. "Skunks sleep during the day and come out at night," she said. "And she's digging up grubs. Grubs eat the roots of our grass, so really, she's helping our lawn." "Helping," I said, "the way a bulldozer helps a flower bed." Pia did not think that was funny.
3Pia also said that a skunk does not spray right away. "First she stamps her front feet and lifts her tail," she told me. "That means back off. If you walk away slowly, she usually won't spray." I rolled my eyes. I did not plan to get close enough to need a lesson.
4Then came the night of the soccer ball. I had left it by the porch steps, and Coach makes anyone who forgets a ball run extra laps. So at dusk I tiptoed into the yard. I was reaching for the ball when the Striped Menace burst out from under the porch and charged straight at me.
5It was terrifying. The monster stopped a few feet away, glared at me with its beady eyes, and began to pound the ground with its front feet like a tiny, furious drummer. Its huge tail shot up into the air. I was sure I was about to smell like a skunk for the rest of fifth grade.
6Somehow I remembered Pia's words. I held my breath and took one slow step back, then another. The skunk lowered its tail. It sniffed the air, turned around, and waddled off toward the bushes as if I were not worth the trouble. I grabbed the ball and ran inside.
7Pia was waiting by the back door. "Did Lady Clementine warn you, Theo?" she asked. "She attacked me," I said. Then I thought about it. She had stamped. She had waited. She had let me walk away. "Okay," I admitted. "Maybe she warned me. Maybe she was just as scared as I was." Pia grinned. I still call her the Striped Menace, though. Mostly.
The narrator's point of view
Use the story to answer each question.
- A. Pia, who likes the skunk
- B. The skunk under the porch
- C. Theo, who dislikes the skunk
- D. Coach, who runs soccer practice
| Theo | Pia |
|---|---|
- A. He is curious about how skunks dig their holes.
- B. He is annoyed by the holes and makes them sound worse.
- C. He is proud that the lawn has so many little holes.
- D. He is worried that Pia has been digging in the lawn.
- A. The skunk chased Theo all the way to the back door.
- B. The skunk sprayed Theo and then hid under the porch.
- C. The skunk carried the soccer ball off into the bushes.
- D. The skunk came out, stopped to warn Theo, and then left.
It was terrifying.The monster stopped a few feet away, glared at me with its beady eyes, and began to pound the ground with its front feet like a tiny, furious drummer.Its huge tail shot up into the air.I was sure I was about to smell like a skunk for the rest of fifth grade.
- A. He sees the stamping as an angry attack, not a warning.
- B. He thinks the skunk is making music to become friends.
- C. He wants readers to know that skunks enjoy loud sounds.
- D. He believes the skunk is trying to scare away Pia.
- A. Theo has decided to give the skunk a new name.
- B. Theo now thinks the skunk is more dangerous.
- C. Theo is starting to see the skunk more like Pia does.
- D. Theo wants Pia to stop talking about the skunk.
- A. As a wild monster that attacked her brother in the dark
- B. As a smart animal that warned her brother to back away
- C. As a lost animal that was looking for a new place to live
- D. As a hungry animal that wanted to eat her brother's ball
Explain the point of view
Answer in complete sentences. Use details from the story.
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