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Characters, Plot & Setting

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Characters, Plot & Setting

Use details from the passage to support your answers. Answer in complete sentences when asked.

The Mystery of the Missing Map

On a breezy Saturday morning in October, Mateo and her cousin Madison were helping at the neighborhood garden. They planned to follow a hand-drawn map to find the garden’s new bird-watching station. Mateo had packed a notebook and binoculars; Madison carried a small basket of seed packets. At the garden gate, they discovered the map was missing. Madison frowned. “We’ll never find the station now.” Mateo noticed a trail of muddy footprints leading toward the tool shed. The night before, a rainstorm had soaked the garden paths, and one corner of the map had been damp when she last saw it. Inside the shed, they found gardening gloves and a watering can, but no map. Then Mateo spotted a blue scrap of paper caught beneath the can. It was part of the map! The footprints continued past the shed to a row of tall sunflowers. Madison carefully looked between the stems while Mateo checked the ground. They found the rest of the map folded inside an empty flowerpot. The map led them to the bird-watching station, where a wooden sign had fallen in the storm. Together, Mateo and Madison lifted it back onto its post. Soon, a bright cardinal landed nearby. Madison smiled. “Good thing we didn’t give up.” Mateo wrote the discovery in her notebook, and they left the seed packets for the next garden helpers.

Read Like a Story Detective

Notice how the setting and the characters’ choices shape the events.

1.Which choice best describes the setting at the beginning of the story?

A snowy evening in a city park
A breezy Saturday morning in October at a neighborhood garden
A sunny weekday afternoon at a farm
A rainy night inside a greenhouse

2.Name two details that show what Mateo is like. Use evidence from the passage.

3.What is the main problem the cousins face?

4.Put these events in the order they happen. Write 1, 2, and 3 beside them: ___ The cousins find the map in a flowerpot. ___ The sign at the bird-watching station is put back up. ___ Mateo spots a paper scrap beneath a watering can.

5.How does the rainy weather affect the events in the story? Give one detail from the passage.

6.Which action shows that Madison changes during the story?

He starts by feeling sure he can find the station, then decides to go home.
He starts by thinking they cannot find the station, then helps search carefully.
He starts by hiding the map, then tells Mateo where it is.
He starts by refusing to help, then takes the seed packets home.

7.How is the problem solved? Include what Mateo and Madison each do.

8.Which detail best supports the idea that the cousins work as a team?

Mateo packs a notebook and binoculars.
Madison carries a basket of seed packets.
They search different places and lift the fallen sign together.
A cardinal lands near the station.

9.Write a one-sentence summary that tells the main characters, their problem, and how it is resolved.

10.Imagine the story happened on a dry, flat prairie with no shed or sunflowers. Which clue from the original story would no longer help the cousins, and why?