English/Language Arts - The School District of Palm Beach County

School District of Palm Beach County
Department of K-12 Curriculum
Winter Break Reading & English/Language Arts
High School Student Packet

School District of Palm Beach County Department of K-12 Curriculum
Winter Break Reading & English/Language Arts Student Packet
Guidelines:
Middle & High School English/Language Arts teachers will distribute the Winter
Break Reading & English/Language Arts student packet to all students prior to the
break. Students are to complete this packet with the following recommendations:
Grades 10 through retakes will complete the writing portion of the packet,
in addition to completing the reading passages and multiple choice
questions.
Students in Grades 10 through retakes will receive the Essay Organizer
handout to assist them in practicing effective writing skills when completing
the writing prompt.
English/Language Arts teachers will collect these packets from all students after
the Winter Break.
The English/Language Arts teachers will review the reading (Grades
10‐retakes) and writing portions (Grades 10 through retakes) of the packets
with students.
The Reading teachers will also review and reinforce the reading portions of
the packets with students.
For further questions or support contact the Department of K-12 Curriculum:
Liz Perlman, Director
561-434-8255
PX 48255
liz.perlman@palmbeachschools.org

Suggestions for Completing the High School
Winter Break Packet
The High School Winter Break Packet has reading passages followed by
multiple-choice questions.
Read the directions carefully. Ask your parents or guardians to help you
understand any directions you do not understand.
Read the passages and questions carefully. You may look back at a
passage as often as you like.
Use highlighters or pencils to underline important information as you
read.
Answer the questions you are sure about first. If a question seems too
difficult, skip it and go back to it later.
Think positively. Some questions may seem hard, but others will be easy.
Check each answer to make sure it is the best answer for the question.
Complete the figurative language chart which asks you to create
figurative language following the example. Share your responses with a
parent or guardian.
Write a well constructed essay using the prompt provided. Be sure to
include some figurative language in your essay.
Read your essay aloud and make any corrections you think would
improve your writing.

Directions: Read the article Survival Acts, and then answer questions 1- 11.
Survival Acts
Freezing solid. Playing dead. Walking on water. Explore these amazing animal survival
acts.
By Lynn Brunelle
Near the Arctic Circle, a small wood frog digs into a pile of damp leaves. Winter is coming and it
has no time to waste. Already, it's so cold out that the frog's toes have started to freeze. The
frog pulls the leaves over itself like a blanket. Then it waits. It doesn't move. It doesn't eat.
Outside, the air temperature keeps dropping. Soon it's way below freezing. The bitter cold
spreads into the leaf pile. The frog's muscles freeze. Ice builds up around its liver, lungs, and
other organs. Its heartbeat slows. Then the frog takes a final breath. Its heart stops.
For most animals, that would be the end. Not for this frog. It freezes to survive. Only a few
species of frogs, turtles, and insects do that.
Deep Freeze
Turning into a "frogsicle" isn't just an odd trick. The frog's actions are a behavioral adaptation. A
behavioral adaptation is something an animal does to survive in its environment.
For instance, when the weather turns cold, many birds migrate. They fly to warm places for the
winter. Many bears curl up in snug dens for the coldest months of the year. They hibernate, or
become inactive and mostly rest.
A wood frog takes hibernation to extremes. Its instinct to hibernate kicks in as soon as its toes
start to freeze. Inside its body, its liver starts making extra glucose. Its blood
carries this sugar to the frog's cells.
The glucose acts as antifreeze. It keeps water inside the cells from freezing.
Freezing could damage the cells and kill the frog.
The rest of the water in the frog's body does freeze. It turns the frog into an
ice cube.
Wood Frog: On
Mushroom

The frog will remain mostly frozen for two or three months. During this time, it won't need to
spend energy to stay warm. It won't need to find food or water. It won't look like it's alive at all.
A wood frog can survive like this as long as the temperature in its leaf pile doesn't go too low. If
the temperature dips below -6° Celsius (about 21° Fahrenheit), the frog will die.
It's Alive!
When spring comes, something amazing happens. The frog's heart beats once. Then it beats
again. Slowly, blood pumps through the frog's body. The rest of its body begins to thaw.
Its brain, lungs, and other organs warm up. Finally, its toes unfreeze. The frog wiggles them. It
pops its head out of its leaf pile. "Quack, quack," it croaks, calling out to other thawed frogs.
Then it hops away.
The frozen frog isn't the only animal that goes to extremes to survive. Many other species do,
too. Some have wild ways to escape danger. Others take parenting to a whole new level. Meet
some other animals and discover their amazing behavioral adaptations.
Playing Dead
A European grass snake slithers across the ground. It's on the hunt for a tasty toad. Yet it must
be careful. Hawks, badgers, and other animals prey on the snake.
Suddenly, the snake spots danger. It's a badger and it's about to pounce.
The snake goes into action. It raises its head and strikes at the badger. It looks as if it is about
to bite. The badger doesn't back off. Instead, it grabs the snake in its mouth.
The snake isn't done fighting back, though. It goes limp. Its mouth flops open and its tongue
hangs out. It makes a foul smell and oozes goo.
The startled badger spits the snake out. The snake flops to the
ground. It looks dead. What's worse, it smells dead. As soon as
the badger looks away, though, the snake flips over. It quickly
slithers to safety. Its behavioral adaptation of playing dead saved
its life.
Eastern Hognose Snake: Feigning Death
Walking on Water
A green basilisk lizard also uses surprise to survive. This reptile spends its days in trees that
grow near water. It likes to lie on warm branches and soak in the sun.

Then comes trouble. A hungry bird swoops down to grab the lizard. In a flash, the lizard drops to
the water below. Yet this lizard doesn't sink or swim. It runs on two legs across the top of the
water.
Its long back legs move in a circle. Faster and faster they spin. The lizard looks like it's riding an
invisible bike. Its back feet slap the water. Slap, slap, slap! They hit the water so hard, they
make air bubbles just under the surface. The air bubbles keep the lizard's feet from sinking into
the water. The amazing lizard races to safety.
Bubble Bed
It may be even harder for animals to defend themselves when they're asleep. After all, they
can't see trouble coming. A parrotfish has solved this problem.
First, this colorful fish hides in a coral reef. Its bright scales help it blend into the corals. Then it
squirts out slime from a special gland under its gills. This bubble of goo grows and grows
around the fish. After about an hour, the bubble is big enough for the whole fish to fit inside it.
Sharks, eels, and other predators cannot smell the fish through the
goo. So even if a predator bumps into the bubble in the dark, it won't
find the fish. Now the fish can safely sleep. In the morning, it pops its
bubble. The goo floats away and the fish swims off.
Stay-at-Home Mom
Parrotfish: Creating a
Protective Bubble Sac
Many young animals can't defend themselves. So their parents go to extremes to make sure
their babies survive. Hornbills are a good example. Most make their nests in hollow trees. Like
many other birds, a pair will line their nest with leaves and grass. Then the female lays eggs and
sits on the nest.
Here's where things get a little odd. The male hornbill brings the female mud.
Bit by bit, she builds a wall. She closes the opening in the tree, leaving only
one tiny hole. Now predators can't get in and her chicks can't fall out. The
family stays sealed in the nest for up to four months.
A mother great
hornbill passes a
morsel of food to her
four-week-old chick.
The female doesn't even leave her chicks to find food. They don't starve,
though. The male helps them. He flies through the rain forest, picking figs and
catching insects, snakes, and lizards. Then he brings this food back to the
nest. He uses his beak to shove it through the hole. Now his family can eat
and grow.

Mr. Mom
A male seahorse has an even bigger job. He gives birth!
The female seahorse puts hundreds of eggs into the male's pouch. He carries the eggs for
several weeks. After they hatch, his body starts wriggling. With each wriggle, tiny seahorse
babies squirt out of his pouch.
The seahorse "fry" or young, swim off. They're on their own now. Most won't survive. That may
be why seahorses have this behavioral adaptation. While the male carries the eggs, the female
makes more eggs. Once he gives birth, she gives him more eggs. The more fry, the greater the
odds a few will live.
Home Sweet Home
Then there are clownfish. Believe it or not, they have some of the oddest behavioral adaptations
of all. Most people know they live in the stinging tentacles of sea anemones. They can't just
move in, though. That would kill them.
First, a clownfish swims up to an anemone. Zap! A tentacle stings the
fish's fin. The sting hurts, but doesn't kill the fish. It swims away.
Then it returns. Zap! This time, a tentacle stings its belly. The
clownfish does this over and over. Finally, the stings no longer bother
it.
Clownfish and Sea
Anemone
Now it has a safe place to lay its eggs. When the eggs hatch, all the babies are males. That's
not the end for this species, though. The biggest fish becomes a female. The nest biggest one is
her mate. If she dies, he becomes the female.
For the clownfish and the other animals, these behavioral adaptations aren't just a neat trick.
They keep their species from going extinct, or dying out. They are acts of survival.
Changing Color
Behavioral adaptations aren't the only kind. Animals can also have physical adaptations, or
body features that help them survive. Take an Arctic fox. In summer, its fur is brown. It blends in
with the rocks where it lives. In winter, the fox's fur turns white. The change only takes a few
weeks. Now it's hard to spot the fox in the snow. In both seasons, the fox's fur color
camouflages the fox. Now it can sneak up on prey and hide from predators.

Now read the following multiple-choice questions. Decide which answer is the best
response to each question. Base your answers from the passage entitled Survival Acts.
LA.910.1.6.9 1. Read this sentence from the article.
The frog pulls the leaves over itself like a blanket.
In which sentence does blanket have the same meaning as in the sentence
above?
A. Wild flowers blanket the hillside in the park.
B. There was a blanket of snow on the ground for Christmas.
C. The blanket is draped over the horse during the night to keep it warm.
D. The teacher gave a blanket proposal to the students regarding no homework
on Friday’s.
LA.910.1.7.3 2. According to the article, wood frogs start to hibernate when what happens?
F. When frost is present on the grass.
G. When the frogs toes start to freeze.
H. When the air temperature starts to drop.
I. When the leaves begin to fall off of the trees outside.
LA.910.1.7.4 3. Why do animals change their behavior different times of the year?
A. Animals do this to prevent dehydration.
B. Animals do this to survive in their environment.
C. Animals do this so they are not cold during the winter.
D. Animals do this to keep moving and not staying in one place.
LA.910.2.1.7 4. Read the following excerpt from the passage.
First, a clownfish swims up to an anemone. Zap! A tentacle stings
the fish’s fin.
What type of literary device does the author use in the excerpt above?
F. metaphor, comparing the sting to the fish’s fin
G. personification, giving the anemone human qualities
H. onomatopoeia, the use of a word to portray a sound
I. imagery, creating a vivid picture of what the clownfish looks like

LA.910.1.7.2 5. What was the author’s purpose in writing this article?
A. to demonstrate the importance of protecting our loved ones
B. to reveal the research that scientists have done on various animals
C. to persuade the reader to adapt to their own personal environment
D. to explain how various animals adapt to their environment for their own safety
LA.910.6.2.2 6. This article would be most useful for a research paper on
F. the evolution of diverse species.
G. the various types of sea creatures.
H. how to help train your new housepet.
I. how humans have adapted over time.
LA.910.1.7.5 7. Based on the title and headings, the reader can determine that the main
organizational structure of the article is
A. a description of what frogs do to adapt for survival.
B. a comparison of which behavioral adaption is the best.
C. a list of examples of how diverse animals adapt to the environment.
D. a chronological history of what animals have done to adapt throughout time.
LA.910.1.7.3 8. From reading the article, the reader can infer that
F. if animals hibernate a few weeks after the first frost, they will survive.
G. if animals do not adapt to the seasons changing, they will become extinct.
H. if animals continue to adapt to the changing temperatures, they will always
exist.
I. if animals have adapted to the outside surroundings now, they will never have
to change the way they adapt again.

Directions: Read the passage Pick Your Portion, and then answer questions 9-16.
Pick Your Portion
How to Right-size Your Meals
By Meredith Matthews
It happens everyday--you wake up in the morning and help yourself to a
bowl of cereal. But did you ever stop to consider exactly how much you're
pouring? If you have pancakes instead, how many should you eat?
For many people, portion size is determined by their eyes or their
stomachs--or both. They might put as much food on their plates as they
think they want, and then eat it because it's there. Or they might decide to
put their forks down only once they begin to feel full. But that's not the healthiest way to
determine portion sizes.
Serving Size vs. Portion Size
How do you know what the right portion size is? The nutritional information on the package is a
good place to start. It shows "the amount of nutrients associated with a given amount of food,"
explains Tandalayo Kidd, assistant professor of human nutrition at Kansas State University in
Manhattan. But of course, the serving size on the label is standard, while everyone's chosen
portion size will be somewhat different. In other words, the serving size suggested on the
package may not be the same amount you actually consume.
For example, the package of chips you pick up on the way home from school may contain three
1-ounce servings. But if you wolf down the whole bag, that's one portion, as determined by you.
Eat until you're full and you may actually be consuming
multiple servings.
Without a nutrition label, it can be hard to tell exactly how
much food is the right amount. When you have a slice of
lasagna at your grandma's house or a dish of ice cream at
a holiday party, how do you know whether you're eating a

healthy portion size--or going overboard? Nutritionists have come up with ways to figure out
portion size at a glance. (See "A Healthy Portion Looks Like...") Those guidelines won't give you
the precise right amount for every food, but they should provide a rough estimate.
Portion Distortion
Portion sizes have steadily increased through the years. Today's 20-ounce soft drink is roughly
double the size of the bottle of cola your parents might have enjoyed when they were your age.
Those types of changes make it easy to disregard the serving size on the label and just treat the
whole package as one serving. (How often have you put the cap back on a 20-ounce drink to
save more for the next day?) But consuming ever-larger quantities in one sitting is a foolish
mistake to make, according to Kidd. "As portion sizes increase, the amount of calories
consumed increases too," she explains. "Increased portion sizes encourage over consumption
and distort one's perception of what a serving size actually looks like." Brooke G., 15, from
Festus, Mo., has noticed that phenomenon. "Restaurants have increased the size of their
meals, and [so] people get in the habit of eating too much," Brooke observes.
Visit many fast-food restaurants and you'll see that phenomenon up close. Value-sized or
supersized meals, which are usually just a few cents more than a regular-sized meal, sure are
tempting. It's the bang-for-the-buck principle, says Kidd. "Consumers like to get the most
amount of food possible for the money they are spending." If you opt for supersized foods and
meals, you're choosing more calories, fat, carbohydrates, and nutrients. A healthier option is to
take advantage of the "value" of a value meal. Try ordering the larger size to split with a friend.
Incidentally, not all serving-size changes have happened in restaurants. Also, not all size
changes have been increases. For example, during the past decade, most single-serving
containers of yogurt shrank from 8 ounces to today's 5- or 6-ounce containers. And many
brands of snack foods now offer "100-calorie packs" to help people limit their portions.
Sensible Choices
Whether you're getting takeout, grabbing a snack, or cooking
something at home, it pays to pay attention to portions and to aim for
balance. "You don't always want to be eating big portions all the time,
and you don't want to be eating just tiny little portions that give you no
protein or nutrients," says Sabrina F., 15, from Festus, Mo. Her
classmate Rita W., also 15, adds: "Serving sizes can make the
difference between enjoying a little pie or gaining 5 pounds in the process."

Recipe for Obesity?
Eating home-cooked meals doesn't protect
you from portion distortion, at least not if you
are using a newer cookbook. The popular
cookbook Joy of Cooking seems to have
amped up its serving sizes, according to
researchers at Cornell University in Ithaca,
N.Y. They found that recipes from the
cookbook's newest edition made the same
amount of food as recipes from older editions.
However, researchers noted, serving sizes in
Joy of Cooking have skyrocketed by almost
one-third since 1936. So the same recipe that made 14 servings in the 1936 cookbook produces
only 10 servings today, which means each of those servings runs higher in calories. And basing
your idea of a healthy portion on the newer recipes may prompt you to select bigger portions in
general.
Plotting Your Portions
How much do you typically eat of your favorite food? That's the question we put to some
students in Karen Werner's family and consumer sciences class at Danby-Rush Tower Middle
School in Festus, Mo.
"Probably my favorite food would be a dessert my mom makes called chocolate chip cream
cheese bars. We don't have them very often, so when I do I only have a piece once a day. I
always try to take a medium-size piece so I don't end up saying to myself, 'Well, you did have a
small piece, so another won't hurt.' But I never take an incredibly large piece, because I [would]
spend the whole rest of the day [regretting] the decision."--Rita W., 15
"My most favorite food is chili. Yummy! I usually eat a large bowl, sometimes less than that. I
don't usually get too big of a portion, because I don't want to get full before my brain is able to
realize that I'm full."--Sabrina F., 15
"My favorite food is baked chicken breast with gravy. When I have it, I usually have just one
piece with mashed potatoes, a vegetable, and applesauce. Right now, portion size is not much
of an issue for me, because I usually get full off of one portion of whatever I'm eating."--Brooke
G., 15

A Healthy
Portion
Looks Like...

Now read the following multiple-choice questions. Decide which answer is the best
response to each question. Base your answers from the article Pick Your Portion.
LA.910.1.7.7 9. How are serving size and portion size different on a food product from the
grocery store?
A. Serving size is a constant, and the portion size varies.
B. Portion size is a constant, and the serving size varies.
C. Only the portion size is listed on the nutritional label of the package.
D. Only the serving size is listed on the nutritional label of the package.
LA.910.1.6.3 10. Read this sentence from the article.
Increased portion sizes encourage over-consumption and distort
one’s perception of what a serving size actually looks like.
What does the word distort mean as used in the sentence above?
F. beautify
G. falsify
H. help
I. increase
LA.910.1.7.3 11. Based on the information in the article, what is one way to make eating a
value meal slightly healthier?
A. split the meal with a friend
B. ask for an apple with the meal instead of fries
C. supersize the meal instead of value sizing the meal
D. check the calories listed for the various sandwiches and choose the sandwich
that has the least amount of calories
LA.910.1.7.4 12. According to the article, what is one reason home-cooked meals don’t
assure eating the correct portion sizes?
F. It is left up to the person cooking to determine what the portion size might be.
G. The meal might consist of more fats and less vegetables than the required
amount.
H. There isn’t any nutritional information provided in the cookbook to allow
proper knowledge of nutrients included in the meal.
I. Newer cookbook recipes have adjusted their portion sizes to be much larger,
so one serving today is much more food than one serving years ago.

LA.910.6.1.1 13. The chart on the last page of the article aids the readers understanding
because it
A. illustrates how easily it is to overeat and become obese.
B. demonstrates what high school students are eating daily.
C. provides a visual representation for the serving size of each food group.
D. provides a visual representation of what a portion size should look like for
each type of food group.
LA.910.6.2.2 14. What is the strongest evidence in support of the fact that in general, we are
eating way too much at each meal?
F. “The popular cookbook Joy of Cooking seems to have amped up its serving
sizes.”
G. “Consumers like to get the most amount of food possible for the money they
are spending.”
H. “Without a nutrition label, it can be hard to tell exactly how much food is the
right amount.”
I. “In other words, the serving size suggested on the package may not be the
same amount you actually consume.”
LA.910.1.7.2 15. The author of this article would most likely make the statement that
A. It is okay to get a supersized meal, if it is only once per week.
B. If we don’t start watching our food intake, we will have an obesity epidemic.
C. Eating home-cooked meals is the best way to make sure to eat correct
portion sizes.
D. With the nutritional labels on food products, we have all the tools necessary
to make wiser decisions.
LA.910.1.7.5 16. What is the main organizational structure Meredith Matthews uses to
organize the article Pick Your Portion?
F. She writes mainly about student lunch choices.
G. She teaches the reader the benefits of eating healthier.
H. She provides an explanation as to why the general public is eating too much.
I. She provides a list of examples for each food group and the serving sizes we
should consume of each group.

Directions: Read the poem, Paul Revere’s Ride, and the story, The Hiding Room, and
then answer the questions that follow.
PAUL REVERE'S RIDE.
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Listen, my children, and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.
He said to his friend, "If the British march
By land or sea from the town to-night,
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch
Of the North Church tower as a signal light,—
One, if by land, and two, if by sea;
And I on the opposite shore will be,
Ready to ride and spread the alarm
Through every Middlesex village and farm
For the country folk to be up and to arm,"
Then he said, "Good night!" and with muffled oar
Silently rowed to the Charlestown shore,
Just as the moon rose over the bay,
Where swinging wide at her moorings lay
The Somerset, British man-of-war;
A phantom ship, with each mast and spar
Across the moon like a prison bar,
And a huge black hulk, that was magnified
By its own reflection in the tide.
Meanwhile, his friend, through alley and street,
Wanders and watches with eager ears,
Till in the silence around him he hears
The muster of men at the barrack door,
The sound of arms, and the tramp of feet,
And the measured tread of the grenadiers,
Marching down to their boats on the shore.

Then he climbed the tower of the Old North Church,
By the wooden stairs, with stealthy tread,
To the belfry-chamber overhead,
And startled the pigeons from their perch
On the sombre rafters, that round him made
Masses and moving shapes of shade,—
By the trembling ladder, steep and tall
To the highest window in the wall,
Where he paused to listen and look down
A moment on the roofs of the town,
And the moonlight flowing over all.
Beneath, in the churchyard, lay the dead,
In their night-encampment on the hill,
Wrapped in silence so deep and still
That he could hear, like a sentinel's tread,
The watchful night-wind, as it went
Creeping along from tent to tent
And seeming to whisper, "All is well!"
A moment only he feels the spell
Of the place and the hour, and the secret dread
Of the lonely belfry and the dead;
For suddenly all his thoughts are bent
On a shadowy something far away,
Where the river widens to meet the bay,—
A line of black that bends and floats
On the rising tide, like a bridge of boats.
Meanwhile, impatient to mount and ride,
Booted and spurred, with a heavy stride
On the opposite shore walked Paul Revere.
Now he patted his horse's side,
Now gazed at the landscape far and near,
Then, impetuous, stamped the earth,
And turned and tightened his saddle-girth;
But mostly he watched with eager search
The belfry-tower of the Old North Church,
As it rose above the graves on the hill,

Lonely and spectral and sombre and still.
And lo! as he looks, on the belfry's height
A glimmer, and then a gleam of light!
He springs to the saddle, the bridle he turns,
But lingers and gazes, till full on his sight
A second lamp in the belfry burns!
A hurry of hoofs in a village street,
A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark,
And beneath, from the pebbles, in passing, a spark
Struck out by a steed flying fearless and fleet:
That was all! And yet, through the gloom and the light,
The fate of a nation was riding that night;
And the spark struck out by that steed, in his flight,
Kindled the land into flame with its heat.
He has left the village and mounted the steep,
And beneath him, tranquil and broad and deep,
Is the Mystic, meeting the ocean tides;
And under the alders, that skirt its edge,
Now soft on the sand, now loud on the ledge,
Is heard the tramp of his steed as he rides.
It was twelve by the village clock
When he crossed the bridge into Medford town.
He heard the crowing of the cock,
And the barking of the farmer's dog,
And felt the damp of the river fog,
That rises after the sun goes down.
It was one by the village clock,
When he galloped into Lexington.
He saw the gilded weathercock
Swim in the moonlight as he passed,
And the meeting-house windows, blank and bare,
Gaze at him with a spectral glare,
As if they already stood aghast
At the bloody work they would look upon.

It was two by the village clock,
When he came to the bridge in Concord town.
He heard the bleating of the flock,
And the twitter of birds among the trees,
And felt the breath of the morning breeze
Blowing over the meadows brown.
And one was safe and asleep in his bed
Who at the bridge would be first to fall,
Who that day would be lying dead,
Pierced by a British musket-ball.
You know the rest. In the books you have read,
How the British Regulars fired and fled,—
How the farmers gave them ball for ball,
From behind each fence and farm-yard wall,
Chasing the red-coats down the lane,
Then crossing the fields to emerge again
Under the trees at the turn of the road,
And only pausing to fire and load.
So through the night rode Paul Revere;
And so through the night went his cry of alarm
To every Middlesex village and farm,—
A cry of defiance and not of fear,
A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door,
And a word that shall echo forevermore!
For, borne on the night-wind of the Past,
Through all our history, to the last,
In the hour of darkness and peril and need,
The people will waken and listen to hear
The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed,
And the midnight message of Paul Revere.

The Hiding Room
By Janet P. Shaw
Ed. note: This story first appeared in the February 1925 edition of Child
Life.
If ever there was a girl who wanted the twenty-second of February to
come, that girl was Nancy Jane Sutherland. On that day she would be
ten years old, and anyone who has ever been ten years old will tell you
that this was reason enough for her impatience.
Then her father, Captain David Sutherland, who had been away
fighting against the British for many months, had promised that he would come home, if he
possibly could, to help celebrate her birthday. Never had Nancy Jane longed so much to see
him, for this was the winter of 1777, which Washington and his soldiers spent at Valley Forge,
and every letter had told of the sufferings and bravery of the men. It was no wonder that Nancy
Jane longed for the time when she could put her arms around her father and tell him how proud
and sorry she felt.
It was a queer, rambling old house in which she and her mother spent those lonely months. The
main part had been built almost a hundred years before by her great-grandfather, Captain
Ebenezer Sutherland, a famous old Indian fighter, and had often been used as a fortress as well
as a home. But after the Indian troubles were over, the old house had seemed to stretch itself
and had grown as the family became larger, until at last it had so many wings and lean-tos and
gables and bay windows that it looked like a great potato of a house with all the bumps left on.
Of course there were many other strange things about the house, for old houses, you know,
often develop queer habits. For instance, there was a big pantry off of the kitchen which was
almost always hungry. Nancy Jane and her mother spent most of the time cooking for that
pantry, and yet, although neither of them ate very much, the pantry was almost always empty.
Every night, when Nancy Jane went to bed, the shelves were covered with fragrant loaves of
bread and pies and roasts and other good things to eat; yet every morning the shelves were as
bare as old Mother Hubbard's.
"I think that pantry has an awful appetite," said Nancy Jane one day when she found the cooky
jar empty, although she knew her mother had baked a big batch of her favorite kind of cookies
just the day before.

"It certainly has." Her mother smiled. "Almost as big as a regiment's. I only wish we could feed
them all," she added with a sigh.
Then at night, when Nancy Jane was in bed, she often heard noises up
in the attic--noises that sounded like footsteps, although she never could
find any room up there in the daytime. In fact, the old house was as
interesting and mysterious as the day before Christmas when every
closet holds a delightful secret.
Nancy Jane Marking off
Days on Her Calendar
(Illustrated by Mildred
Lyon Hetherington)
But, in spite of all this, the winter seemed very long to Nancy Jane
without her father, and sometimes she was afraid that the twenty-second
of February would never come. At times the snow was so deep that no
one could reach the house, and then even the letters from Captain
Sutherland stopped coming and the pantry forgot to be hungry and the
attic slept all night.
At last, February the first arrived, and Nancy Jane began counting the days until her birthday.
She spent many hours watching the road which led to General Washington's camp, and every
night, after she had prayed for her father's safety, she marked off a date on the calendar which
hung beside her bed. Number after number hid its face behind a big cross until at last it came
the turn of eighteen, nineteen, twenty, and even twenty-one. Still there wasn't even a sign of her
big, handsome soldier father.
Then at last something worth waiting for did happen. In the middle of the night, Nancy Jane was
wakened again by the sound of footsteps in the attic--dozens of them. Tramp, tramp, tramp,
they went back and forth, back and forth.
"That must be Mother's regiment come to visit the hungry pantry," thought Nancy Jane and sat
right up in bed. But soon the noise stopped and Nancy fell asleep and began to dream that the
old house had turned into golden brown pastry and that a regiment of soldiers was eating it up
brick by brick. At last they reached her room and began to break up her bed, but just in the nick
of time she opened her eyes! And there was Mother drawing up the blinds and wishing her a
happy birthday!
The morning was cold and rainy but for some reason the house had a happy feeling and Nancy
Jane was sure that something interesting was going to happen. So she wasn't a bit surprised
when her mother said, "I believe the pantry is hungry. Don't you want to give it a birthday party?"

Now there wasn't anything which Nancy enjoyed more than
birthday parties. So, while her mother mixed the cake and made
the pudding and pies, she filled the Dutch oven at the side of
the fireplace with hot coals to heat it ready for the baking, and
hung the big iron kettle on the crane over the fire and filled it
with water for boiling the pudding. And about that time, old
Caleb happened to come up from the village with two wild
turkeys which he had shot and a delicious roast of venison. And
there was a dinner fit for a king!
But just when the happy old kitchen was beginning to smell like a big steaming spice jar, Mrs.
Sutherland happened to look out of the big kitchen window and stopped, with a pie in her hand,
half way to the oven.
"Oh, Nancy!" she called with almost a sob in her voice, "some British soldiers are coming down
the road! I'm afraid they are going to search the house. Run to the front door and try to keep
them in the hall, if you possibly can, while I hide the dinner!"
Nancy Jane knew that something terrible had happened when she saw her mother's white face,
and she ran to the door as fast as she could. But the men brushed past her and went up the
stairs, two steps at a time, and began opening closet doors and trunks at a great rate. Some of
them even climbed up to the attic where Nancy knew there was nothing but old furniture and
strings of onions and festoons of dried apples.
"Something must be done," said Nancy to herself, and put on her thinking cap. The Englishmen
were cold and wet and probably hungry. Her eyes fell on the big popper hanging beside the
fireplace in the hall. "Pop corn!" she almost shouted, "and 'lasses taffy, and a nice warm fire to
sit by! Anybody would like that on a day like this."
In a minute she had raked out a bed of hot coals in the fireplace, filled the popper with just
enough pop corn, and swung it on a chain over the fire. Then she ran for
her mother's little black iron pan, which she called a "spider" because it had long
legs to raise it above the coals, and filled it with molasses.
And before long, "Pop, pop! Look at me!" popped the pop corn, and "Bubble, bubble, don't I
smell good?" bubbled the taffy, and the fragrance of both crept upstairs to the rooms where the
tired Redcoats were overturning furniture and finding nothing for their trouble.
When, one by one, the men made their way downstairs, their noses sniffing and their mouths
watering, they found a dainty little maid ready to welcome them with a smile.

"Don't some of you want to help?" she suggested. "Just keep the popper moving, so that the
corn doesn't burn, while I get some butter and salt and a big pan for it." Of course everybody
wanted to help and to pull the taffy when it was ready--and to eat it, too! And, I guess, they
would have stayed all day if their captain hadn't hurried them off to hunt for "some pesky
Yankees" who had in some way managed to give them the slip.
When Nancy Jane had put everything away and had brushed up the hearth with the big turkey
wing, she went back to the kitchen to help her mother again with the pantry's birthday party. Of
course she was pretty tired by this time, so she sat down in her little rocker before the fire and
perhaps she dozed just a minute. At any rate, the strangest kind of a thing happened. Right
before her eyes, the thick wall of the wood closet beside the fireplace, which was made of brick
and had been there ever since Nancy could remember, cracked open and turned slowly, slowly,
just like a door! And out of the darkness stepped a dozen or more big soldiers--almost the way
the rabbits come out of the magician's hat at the fair!
Nancy Jane rubbed her eyes once--she rubbed them twice--and then she rubbed them again to
make sure that she wasn't dreaming. And she was just about to call her mother when her
father's arms swept her off her feet and his dear voice said, "Happy birthday, daughter! Have
those corn-eating Redcoats left anything for General Washington?"
The great General Washington had come to her birthday party! That meant that she must be on
her good behavior. So she slipped from her father's arms and made her prettiest curtsy. But to
her surprise, a kind voice said, "Oh, Mistress Nancy, haven't you something better than a curtsy
to give an old father-general like me? Come to think of it, it's my birthday, too. Can't we
celebrate together?"
Nancy Jane glanced up into the brave, sad face, and something in her breast grew big and
warm at the kindness which she saw there. And then, almost before she knew it, she had given
General Washington a big bear hug, just like the hugs she saved for her father, and she wasn't
afraid at all. Of course the general told her all about the little son and daughter and their mother
in far-away Virginia, and then she had to tell him about the hungry pantry with an appetite as big
as that of a regiment.
"A most mysterious kind of a pantry," agreed the general, "and, if I am not mistaken, its contents
often reached our table. Mistress Nancy, if it had not been for your mother and you and the
other good women of this country, our army could hardly have survived this winter."
"Well, at least there is plenty to eat today," suggested Captain Sutherland cheerfully. "But
perhaps we'd better do our visiting in the 'hiding room.'"

Now Nancy Jane's eyes grew very big, indeed. Was there really a secret room in her own home,
the home where she had lived all the ten years of her life--a room of which she knew absolutely
nothing? But then she remembered the mysterious footsteps she had heard at night so many
times during the past winter. Still pondering the problem, she went into the kitchen where she
helped her mother heap the large platters high with venison, wild turkey, pudding and fragrant
loaves of bread fresh from the oven.
Then each of the soldiers took a platter or a tray, heaped high with good things, and formed a
merry procession in front of the big fireplace. To Nancy's surprise, though, the door in the wood
closet had disappeared and she wasn't even sure that there ever had been one there.
But General Washington wasn't worried. "Since this is our birthday party, let's see whether you
and I can find the magic key which opens the door to safety," he suggested. So they made a
great game of it and pressed brick after brick, until at last Nancy's little finger pressed the right
one and the heavy door turned with hardly a creak. And there in the darkness they saw a
ladder-like stairway which climbed round and round the chimney and led them at last in to a big,
airy room in the attic which Nancy had never even heard of.
"Well," said Nancy Jane, when she had a chance to look around a little, "I suppose this is where
all those footsteps were!"
"Yes," her father answered with a smile, "your great-grandfather built this room many years ago
to protect his family from the Indians. It has saved the lives of brave men and women in its time,
and no one has ever betrayed its existence to the enemy. Your mother and I thought that you
were too young to be burdened with the knowledge of its whereabouts, but I think you have
earned the right today." A note of pride crept into his voice as he turned to his commander.
"Don't you think so, General?"
"I certainly do, Mistress Nancy," said Washington earnestly. "Your quick wit and excellent pop
corn have perhaps saved the lives of all of us."
Nancy didn't know what to answer to such compliments and her cheeks grew very red. She
curtsied in her prettiest fashion, but couldn't think of a single word to say. Fortunately, just then
she happened to discover a table which her mother had been arranging.
"Oh!" cried Nancy, forgetting her embarrassment as soon as she saw it. "O-o-oh! Look at that
birthday cake!" Sure enough, there was the biggest and just about the most beautiful cake
Nancy had ever seen, and on it were almost enough candles to light a room. There was a big
one in the center for General Washington, and thirteen middle-sized ones for the colonies, and

ten little ones for Nancy Jane. Of course the cake was covered with white icing, and on one side
were the letters "G.W." and on the other "N.J.S." in pink.
It was such a beautiful cake that Nancy could hardly eat for looking at it. But everybody else ate
and ate, until at last General Washington suggested that the British soldiers might come back
for some more of Nancy Jane's pop corn and that the Americans had better be on their way. But
before they left, each soldier had a smile and a "thank you" for the little girl who had shared her
birthday with the American commander. As for General Washington himself, he received
another of Nancy Jane's big bear hugs--just like the ones that she always saved for her father.
Then she crept up the steep stairway to the mysterious hiding room to help her mother clean
away the remains of her birthday feast.
Nancy Jane lived to celebrate her birthday and Washington's birthday many, many times, but
she never forgot the happiest one of all up in the old hiding room.
Nancy Jane & George Washington with
Birthday Cake
(Illustrated by Mildred Lyon
Hetherington

Now read the following multiple-choice questions. Decide which answer is the best
response to each question. Base your answers on the poem, Paul Revere’s Ride, and the
story, The Hiding Room.
LA.910.1.6.8 17. Read the following lines from Paul Revere’s Ride.
One, if by land, and two, if by sea;
And I on the opposite shore will be.
Based on the rest of the stanza, which sentence best restates the meaning of the
lines above?
A. Paul Revere is awaiting a signal from his friend, so that he may get ready to
fight the British.
B. Paul Revere will have his friend warn the village people, once the British are
detected on land.
C. Paul Revere will watch for the signal and then warn the village people which
way the British are coming from.
D. Paul Revere is waiting to find out if there is only one army coming from land,
or a second army coming from the sea.
LA.910.2.1.7 18. Read these lines from Paul Revere’s Ride.
Then he said, “Good night!” and with muffled oar
Silently rowed to the Charlestown shore,
What type of literary device does the author use in the lines above?
F. hyperbole, exaggerating how slowly her rowed to shore
G. imagery, creating a vivid picture of what the dock looks like
H. irony, expressing a contrast to the army coming in from land
I. personification, expressing that the boat paddle was keeping quiet as the
person rowed.
LA.910.1.6.8 19. Read the following lines from Paul Revere’s Ride.
Just as the moon rose over the bay,
Where swinging wide at her moorings lay
The Somerset, British man-of-war;
Based on the rest of the stanza, what does the man-of-war represent?
A. a British war ship
B. the British army
C. an American war ship
D. a sea creature in the water by the boat

LA.910.1.6.3 20. Read the following lines from Paul Revere’s Ride.
Now gazed at the landscape far and near,
Then, impetuous, stamped the earth,
And turned and tightened his saddle-girth;
But mostly he watched with eager search
The belfry-tower of the Old North Church.
What does the word impetuous mean in the lines above?
F. calmly
G. cautiously
H. impulsively
I. patiently
LA.910.2.1.5 21. Read the following stanza from Paul Revere’s Ride.
And in the meeting-house windows, blank and bare,
Gaze at him with a spectral glare,
As if they already stood aghast
At the bloody work they would look upon.
What is this stanza foreshadowing?
A. The war that was about to begin all over Boston.
B. A meeting that will takes place with the British and Americans.
C. The battle that was going to take place the next morning in Lexington.
D. Paul Revere meeting up with his friend again to continue warning villagers.
LA.910.1.7.4 22. Based on Paul Revere’s Ride, what was the effect of Paul Revere’s ride?
F. The townspeople were able to take the fight to the sea.
G. The townspeople were able to run away from the British.
H. The townspeople had time to gather their weapons for the battle.
I. The townspeople were able to know which way the British were coming.
LA.910.1.6.7 23. Read the following lines from Paul Revere’s Ride.
Wrapped in silence so deep and still
That he could hear, like a sentinel’s tread,
The watchful night-wind as it went
Creeping along from tent to tent
The word sentinel comes from the Latin root word sent, which means “to
observe.” Based on the meaning of the root word sent, the sentence implies that
the wind is similar to
A. a soldier fighting his opponent.
B. a soldier keeping watch quietly.
C. a bird flying around the battlefield.
D. the cemetery plots of fallen soldiers.

LA.910.2.1.5 24. Based on The Hiding Room, how does the setting of the story contribute to
the development of the narrative?
F. The house provides clues as to what is happening within the walls.
G. The description of the house contributes to how the soldiers find a place to
hide.
H. The remoteness of the house provides reasoning for Nancy Jane’s
loneliness.
I. The location of the house presents an understanding of where the war is
taking place.
LA.910.1.7.3 25. According to The Hiding Room, what did Nancy Jane do to distract the
British soldiers?
A. yell at them to leave
B. make s’mores and taffy
C. make popcorn and taffy
D. cry and throw a temper tantrum
LA.910.2.2.1 26. Based on The Hiding Room, what caption would be most appropriate for the
picture on the third page of the story?
F. Keeping the British occupied
G. Keeping the Americans occupied
H. A great way to stay warm at nighttime
I. An eager young girl wants to impress the gentlemen
LA.910.1.7.3 27. Based on both Paul Revere’s Ride and The Hiding Room, what can the
reader infer about the Revolutionary War?
A. The British were consistently winning the battles.
B. It was a very long war that kept families separated.
C. The Americans were consistently winning the battles.
D. The war took place in the United States and in Europe.
LA.910.1.7.7 28. What do the characters in both Paul Revere’s Ride and The Hiding Room
have in common?
F. They provide food to the soldiers.
G. They go into battle to take back their land.
H. They stand up and fight for their own freedom and beliefs.
I. They watch for the soldiers to warn the rest of the village.

Vocabulary Activity
Literary Devices/Figurative Language
Authors use many different literary devices to express themselves in original ways.
Figurative language in your writing can add your voice as well as paint a clear picture of
what you are expressing to your reader. Look at the definitions and examples below of
some of the more common types of figurative language. Then add an original example of
each type of figurative language in the space provided.
Figure of
Speech
Simile
Definition Example My Example
A comparison of two
things using the word
―like or as‖
My English teacher
is as creative as
Shakespeare.
Metaphor
Hyperbole
Personification
A comparison of two
things without using the
words like or as
An exaggeration to
create a strong
response
Giving human qualities
to a non-human.
The sun is a flower.
The new driver
waited an eternity
to make a left turn.
The tree watches
him sleep.
Onomatopoeia
Using words to imitate
the sounds they name.
Boom, crash,
sizzle, buzz
Alliteration
The repetition of the
same initial letter,
sound, or group of
sounds in a series of
words.
Spiky stones
spotted the
sidewalk.
As you write to the prompt on the next page, use figurate language to express yourself.

High School Writing Prompt
The school board is deciding on whether the
holiday break should be as long as it currently
is.
Think of what you do on holiday break.
Now, write to convince the school board to
either keep the length of break the same, add
days to the holiday break, or take days away
from the holiday break.

EXTENSION ACTIVITIES
Improving your Writing
1 Return to your essay. Highlight any areas where you used figurative
language in the essay.
2 Circle the sentences that support your main idea
3 Circle the strong verbs that make your meaning clear.
Improving your Vocabulary
Did you know the more often you use a word, the more likely you are to
remember it? Look at the words below and choose five that you would like
to add to your vocabulary. Find the definitions and make an effort to use
each of those five words at least 10 times before you return to school after
the Winter Break. If you do that, you will own the word.
1. Colloquial
2. Ebullient
3. Garrulous
4. Futile
5. Intransigent
6. Invidious
7. Morose
8. Percipient
9. Quandary
10. Virulent