Practice - Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Name
Practice
Characters will often face a problem throughout a story. His or her
efforts to solve this problem make up the plot. By recognizing the
problem and solution you will be able to summarize the entire story.
Read the story below. Then complete the story chart.
We were fl ying to the Dominican Republic to visit my father’s family,
and I was anxious. I had never been on a plane before. When the plane was
about to take off, my brother told me to close my eyes and picture myself
on a beach. Soon I was lying in the sun and watching the palm trees. By the
time I opened my eyes, the plane had already taken off and we were cruising
smoothly.
When we arrived, we headed straight for the beach. Soon, my cousins
wanted to go in the water. Unfortunately, I didn’t know how to swim. One of
my cousins had brought an infl atable tube. Carefully, I waded out to where
they were swimming and fl oated safely in the tube.
The next day, my cousins went snorkeling. Because I couldn’t swim, I was
used to being in shallow water. I was afraid to go into deeper water. But after
hearing my cousins talk about the amazing fi sh and coral reefs, I decided
I wanted to go, too. I asked my father to fl oat on a raft with me. He sat in
the raft, close to where we snorkeled. I wore a life jacket to keep me on the
surface of the water. We swam all day. It was wonderful!
Fill in the three solutions that match the problems below.
Problem Solution
1. The narrator is nervous about
flying.
2. The narrator doesn’t know how
to swim.
3. The narrator is afraid to go into
deeper water.
60
The Night of San Juan
Grade 5/Unit 2
Comprehension:
Problem and Solution
At Home: Use the table to write a summary of the story.
When you have fi nished, read your summary aloud to a
family member or helper.
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