How to do this job:
1.  Write questions for each type of question you are assigned.
2.  Write the answers or possible answers to each of these questions.
3.  Write the page and paragraph number where you might find the answers to these questions.

MCEOG Example
Question:  All of the following describe the professor except:
A.  Mysterious
B.  Friendly
C.  Unemotional
D.  Intelligent

Answer:  B

Setting Example
Question:  Describe the setting of this section.
Answer:  The setting of this section is in a large university town in California.  The street is called Orchard Avenue.  (pg. 3 - par. 1)  It happens in modern times during September.  (pg. 5- par. 3)  The Egypt Game happens in an abandoned lot behind an antique store.  (pg. 5- par. 3)  The lot is full of junk and old things.  (pg. 8 - par. 1)  The girls live in an ornate Spanish-style building named Casa Rosada.  (pg. 11 - par. 1)

Point of View Example
Question:  Whose point of view are we getting?
Answer:  We are hearing about the story from a third person point of view because none of the characters are telling the story.  (All pages.  Hint:  The narrator is not participating in the action.)

Cause/Effect Example
Question:  Why is April living in Casa Rosada?
Answer:  Dorothea, April's mother, is on tour because she is a singer.  She sent April to live with her grandmother because she wouldn't be around to watch her.  (pg. 14 - par. 4)

Prediction Example
Question:  Do you think the relationship between April and Caroline will improve?
Answer:  I think that the relationship will improve because you cannot be mad at your grandmother forever.  I do think it will take awhile for them to get used to each other.

How to do this job:
1.  Write the page and paragraph number.
2.  Write the first two words and the last two words of the passage.
3.  Explain what the passage is.
4.  Explain why this passage is a good example of this type of passage.
5.  Ask a thinking question about the passage.
6.  Ask a question about the author's purpose for including this passage.

Passage 1
1.  Pg. 3 – Par. 2
2.  “Nobody knew…the Professor.”
3.  This passage is a great example of a mysterious passage.
4.  It is mysterious because it describes a character that no one knows anything about.  No one in the neighborhood knows what his name is or why people call him the Professor.
5.  Q:  Do you think that the Professor will be the hero or the villain?
A:  I think that the Professor will be a hero.  Just because somebody is different or not very social doesn’t mean they are evil.
6.  Q:  Why did the author include this passage in the story?
A:  The author included this passage make the Professor seem mysterious.  He is much more interesting because of this passage.  Without this passage, he would just be a shopkeeper.

Passage #2
1.  Pg. 19 – Line 2
2.  “…his eyes…empty well.”
3.  This passage is a great example of a figurative language passage.
4.  This is figurative language because it is a simile.  A simile describes a noun (his eyes) using like or as.
5.  Q:  Why did the author compare his eyes to an empty well?
A:  The author compared his eyes to an empty well because an empty well is so dark and deep that you can’t see the bottom.  This adds even more mystery to his character.
6.  Q:  Why did the author include this passage?
A:  This passage describes the Professor as someone who isn’t easily understood.  He seems dark and strange.  This description makes him seem mysterious.

Passage #3
1.  Pg. 6 – Par. 1
2.  “The one . . . her eyes.”
3.  This passage is a great example of a descriptive passage.
4.  This is a descriptive passage because it describes in detail how April looks.
5.  Q:  Why did the author describe April is such detail?
A:  The author wanted her readers to have a mental picture of April.
6.  Q: Why did the author include this passage?
A:  Without this passage, the reader would not know that April was thin, had blond straggly hair,  high cheekbones, a short nose, freckles, and a droopy look in her eyes.

Passage #4
1. Pg. 7 – Line 5
2.  “He was. . . a second.”
3.  This passage is a great example of a humorous passage.
4.  This is a humorous passage because I think it is funny that the two girls couldn’t get Marshall to let go of the octopus.
5.  Q: Why do you think that Marshall wouldn’t let go of the octopus?
A: Security is his security blanket.  He doesn’t want the girls to be able to take it away from him.  He also might think that they won’t give it back after he gets through the fence.
6.  Q:  Why did the author include this passage?
A:  This passage shows how attached Marshall is to Security.  It shows how much he loves him.  It also makes the book more entertaining.

How to do this job:
1.  Write the page and paragraph number.
2.  Write the sentence that includes the word.
3.  Write the part of speech and what you think it means.
4.  Look the word up and write a definition that makes sense to you.
5.  Explain how this words adds to the story.
6.  Create Word Wizard cards for your words. On the front, put the word and page and paragraph number.  On the back, write the word and your definition.  Draw a picture that demonstrates what the word means.

INDIGNANT
1.  Pg. 9 – par. 4
2.  He also missed the indignant scolding when the girls discovered that April’s false eyelashes had fallen before the altar of Nefertiti, where Marshall had found them and quietly beautified one of the button eyes of his octopus.
3.  Part of speech- adjective
What I think it means - angry, mad
4.  My definition- being filled with anger over something unfair
5.  This word adds to the story because it shows how upset April got when Marshall simply acted like a four year old.  He didn’t do anything wrong, but April thought it was terrible.

RIGHTEOUS
1.  Pg. 12 – line 4
2.  As she pinned and repinned, April told herself with righteous bitterness that Caroline was sure to make her take it all down again anyway, and all her hard work would be for nothing.
3.  Part of speech- adjective
What I think it means- sure of being right
4.  My definition- being morally right
5.  This words adds to the story because it shows that reader that April thinks she is without flaw and knows everything.

FACADE
1.  Pg. 15 – par. 2
2.  On the other, across a narrow alley, was a tall billboard that pretty much blocked the view, but by leaning forward April could see the facade of a long low building.
3.  Part of speech- noun
What I think it means- front of a building
4.  My definition- the front of a building that is often has special details
5.  This word adds to the story because it is a descriptive word that describes the buildings.  The buildings in this neighborhood are older and many are in the Spanish style.  This word implies that these buildings are not ordinary.  This helps the reader get a mental picture of the neighborhood.

DEADPAN
1.  Pg. 19 – par. 1
2.  A deadpan was something she’d cultivated herself, and she knew from experience that such a perfect one was not easily come by.
3.  Part of speech- noun
What I think it means- a blank look
4.  My definition- an expressionless face
5.  This word adds to the story because it is the perfect noun to describe the Professor.  It lets the reader know that the Professor was a very serious man.

How to do this job:
1.  Pick three traits for your character.  These should be implied characteristics.  Write why you think this person has that trait.  Be sure to include the page and paragraph number as proof.
2.  Write the character's problem.
3.  Write the character's goal.
4.  Write the character's solution or possible solution if there is no solution in this section.
5.  Draw a picture of your character.

Example
Character:  April

1.  Trait:  Domineering- pg. 9 – par. 1
April corrects Melanie about the placement of the flowers.  She thinks that she knows the best way to do everything.
2.  Trait:  Prissy- pg. 9 – par. 3
April wears false eyelashes even though she is only eleven or twelve.
3.  Trait: unmoved- pg. 12 – par. 2
April refuses her grandmother’s request to call her grandma.  She remains distant from her grandmother through much of the book.

Problem:  She doesn't like living with her grandmother.

Goals:  She wants to live with her mother again and to be as independent from her grandmother as possible.

Possible Solutions:  She could write to her mother and ask her to pick her up.  She can remain distant from her grandmother and not become attached.

• who or what your picture is about
• where your picture takes place
• when it is happening
• why you drew it

Notes:

• Halloween costume
• Old men's overcoat
• Monster mask, hands, and feet

About my picture:
    This picture is Ken Kamata in his Halloween costume.  This picture took place Halloween night in Egypt.  Ken and Toby barged into Egypt and interrupted the ceremony.  I drew it because I thought Ken's costume was funny.  This scene is very important because Ken and Toby became part of the game that night.

    When I was in the third grade, I went to day camp on a teacher work day.  It was only a few days before Halloween.  Several of my friends and I hid in the P.E. equipment closet.  It was dark as midnight in the closet.  We huddled around each other to tell ghost stories.  My friend Amanda began her story.  She was telling us about being in a haunted house.  She paused in her story, because we heard a shuffling sound.  It sounded just like the sound the little girl in the haunted house heard.  We all leaned forward, and our eyes darted back and forth.  We all wondered what it was.  We tensed up as we heard it again.  There was a dreadfully long pause.  Then, suddenly a huge figure jumped out in front of us and bellowed out this terrible growl.  We all screamed and ran.  We looked back from the corner and saw that it was only out P.E. teacher.

Question for the group:  Have you ever played a game that was too real?  Tell us about it.

    Three children, Melanie, April, and Marshall, begin pretending they are in Egypt.  The play this game in a deserted yard behind an antique store run by a mysterious man. April is living with her grandmother because her mother is a singer in Hollywood and doesn't have time to watch her.  Melanie and Marshall live with their parents in the same building.  Marshall is only four and carries around Security, a stuffed octopus.  They make costumes and read everything they can about Egypt.  Later, Elizabeth moves to the building.  She joins the games, too.  They create ceremonies and write them down.  They also make altars to the Egyptian gods.  One day, they find out that a child in the neighborhood had been murdered.  Another child had been murdered before, and the killer was never caught.  Their parents would no longer let them out to play.  Some people in the community suspect the Professor, the owner of the antique shop.  Their parents begin to let them go outside. The kids don't know it but the professor is watching them through his window.  On Halloween, the Egypt gang leaves their trick-or-treating group to go to Egypt.  They are in the middle of a ceremony when two boys, Toby and Ken, come into Egypt.  They agree to not tell anyone about Egypt if the girls let them play too.  The boys join the game, and it is better than ever.  They create their own set of hieroglyphics and adopt Egyptian names.
    During school, they learn about oracles that tell the future.  They decide to make an oracle out of Toby's stuffed owl.  Ken asks if he will be a major league baseball player and April asks when she will go home.  Without anyone knowing, Toby answers their questions.  Everyone is worried because they don't know who is answering the questions.  After they read April's answer, thunder scares them away.  There is an awful storm and Marshall leaves Security behind.  When they return the next day, Security is nowhere to be found.  He asks the oracle where Security is.  They leave for the night.  Toby calls April and admits what he has done.  When they return, the piece of paper says that Security is under Set's alter.  He is there, and no one can figure out who wrote the answer.  One day, April is babysitting Marshall when she realizes that her math book is in Egypt.  They go to Egypt at night.  When they are leaving, someone grabs April.  Marshall is too scared to scream, but someone starts yelling for help.  April is dropped, and people come to help.  In the hospital, Marshall explains to April that it was the red-haired man who works a local store.  The police go to arrest him.  The Professor is cleared and thanked for calling for help.  The Professor gives them all a key to Egypt and allows them to play there.  He explains that he is the one who found Security and wrote the message.  The story ends with Melanie and April thinking of a new game, the Gypsy Game.

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