Reading & Thinking - Scholastic

activity 

Name:____________________________________ Date:_____________ 

Reading & Thinking 

Exploring the facts and ideas in a nonfiction article will help you understand it better. 

Use this organizer with any of the nonfiction pieces you find in Storyworks. 

TiTle 

AuThor 

Extended Reading Comprehension 

(for nonfiction articles) 

reAding For inFormATion 

This article is mainly about ___________________________________________________________. 

The main events of the article take place in ___________________ (name a location). 

The year or time period is __________________. Some important people mentioned in the article are 

__________________________________________________________________________________. 

Here are some facts I learned from this article (Write at least four): 

___________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________ 

______________________________________________________________________________________ 

_____________________________________________________________________________________. 

Put a star (*) by the facts you wrote above that are important in explaining what the article is about. 

Put an X by the facts that you find really interesting. (Some facts might have both a star and an X.) 

The facts with a star are important because 

1. _________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________ 

2. _________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________ 

The facts with an X are interesting because 

1. _________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________ 

2. _________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________ 

Continued 

© 2008 Scholastic Inc. Teachers may make copies of this page to distribute to their students.

activity 



Reading & Thinking page 2 

mAin ideA 

The main idea of this story is ___________________________________________________________ 

__________________________________________________________________________________. 

Here are some details that support the main idea: 

1. _________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________ 

2. _________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________ 

3. _________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________ 

Another idea presented in this story is ___________________________________________________ 

__________________________________________________________________________________. 

Here are some details that support that idea: 

1. _________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________ 

2. _________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________ 

3. _________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________ 

AuThor’s PurPose 

I think the author wrote this article because _______________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________ 

I think the author expresses the viewpoint, or opinion, that __________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________ 

I agree/disagree (circle one) with the author’s viewpoint because ______________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________ 

Continued 


activity 




ConneCTions 

Here’s how this article relates to (fill in at least one) 

Something else I read:_________________________________________________________________ 

__________________________________________________________________________________. 

Something else I know about:___________________________________________________________ 

__________________________________________________________________________________. 

Something in my own life:_____________________________________________________________ 

__________________________________________________________________________________. 

resPonding To liTerATure 

Would you recommend this article to a friend? Why or why not? 

___________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________ 


activity 

Name:____________________________________ Date:_____________ 

Reading & Thinking 

Exploring the facts and ideas in a nonfiction article will help you understand it better. 

Use this worksheet to help you understand any nonfiction article you read in Storyworks. 

TiTle OF ArTicle 

A. BeFOre reAding 

1. Look at the photos or pictures. Read the captions. What can you predict the story will mainly be 

about? Circle one and explain. 

A person If so, who? ____________________________________________________________ 

An event If so, what? ____________________________________________________________ 

Something else If so, what? ______________________________________________________ 

2. Is there a map along with the article? Yes No 

Reading Comprehension 


If yes, what is it a map of? _________________________________________________________ 

Where do you think the story takes place? ____________________________________________ 

When do you think it takes place? __________________________________________________ 

B. during reAding 

3. Start by reading the subtitles, or headings of each section of the article. 

How many sections does this article have? ____________________________________________ 

4. Tell what each section is mainly about. 

The first section is mainly about: __________________________________________________ 

The second section is mainly about: _______________________________________________ 

The third section is mainly about: _________________________________________________ 

The fourth section is mainly about: ________________________________________________ 

(Cross out if there are only three sections.) 

5. Write three words from the article that you didn’t know before. Then write their meanings, using 

context clues or the dictionary to help you. 

______________________________________________________________________________ 

______________________________________________________________________________ 

______________________________________________________________________________ 

Continued 


activity 

Reading Comprehension 



c. AFTer reAding 

6. Timeline 

Put the important parts of the article in the order in which they occurred. Write what happened 

first, next, and last. 

FirsT 

______________________________ 

______________________________ 

______________________________ 

______________________________ 

______________________________ 

neXT 

______________________________ 

______________________________ 

______________________________ 

______________________________ 

______________________________ 

neXT 

______________________________ 

______________________________ 

______________________________ 

______________________________ 

______________________________ 

lAsT 

______________________________ 

______________________________ 

______________________________ 

______________________________ 

______________________________ 

7. What was the most interesting part of the article to you? Why was it interesting? 

___________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________

April/May 2010 

activity 

“The Day Aliens Attacked America” Quiz 

Directions: Read the nonfiction article “The Day Aliens Attacked America” on page 18 of 

the April/May 2010 issue of Storyworks. Then fill in the circle next to the best answer for each question. 

1. What is the main idea of this article? 

A We should be prepared for an alien attack. 

B Aliens exist only in fiction. 

C Another form of life probably exists beyond 

Earth. 

D Orson Welles tricked the nation in a radio 

broadcast. 

2. In what year did the broadcast of 

“War of the Worlds” cause an uproar? 

A 1898 C 1983 

B 1938 D 1999 

3. How many stars are in our galaxy? 

A 70 sextillion 

B 400 

C about 1 million 

D more than 200 billion 

4. It is likely that a planet that supports life 

would have . . . 

A water. 

B oxygen. 

C rocky surfaces. 

D both A and C 

9. What conclusions can you draw from 

looking at the timeline on pages 20-21? 

Comprehension 

Name:____________________________________ Date:_____________ 

5. How do scientists get information from the 

Hubble Space Telescope? 

A They look through its viewfinder. 

B The telescope records sounds in space. 

C The telescope sends pictures back to Earth. 

D Scientists journey through space with the 

telescope. 

6. About how long does it take for Hubble to 

orbit the Earth? 

A three weeks C 90 days 

B 90 minutes D two months 

7. What is amazing about the planet that the 

Kepler mission recently discovered? 

A It is mostly covered by water. 

B It has a perfect climate for humans. 

C It has a blue sky. 

D It revolves around our sun. 

8. Which of these statements is a fact? 

A People are too concerned about aliens. 

B Many scientists believe life beyond Earth 

exists. 

C Kepler is our most important space mission. 

D all of the above 

Critical Thinking 

Directions: On a separate piece of paper, write your answers in well-organized paragraphs. 

Make sure you support your answer with information and details from the article! 

10. Will scientists find extraterrestrial life in 

your lifetime? Explain your reasoning. 


activity 


“The Day Aliens Attacked America” 


Name:____________________________________ Date:_____________ 

Read. Think. Explain. 

In this activity, you’ll answer a series of questions about “The Day Aliens Attacked America,” 

which will help you think more deeply about space exploration and whether there is life on other 

planets in the universe. You’ll also think about “The War of the Worlds” broadcast 

and how it affected Americans in the late 1930s. 

Directions: Answer the questions below, using information and details from the story 

to back up your ideas. Use a separate piece of paper if you need more room. 

1. Why do you think people have always been fascinated by space? 

2. What details in the story illustrate how large the universe is and what a small part 

our planet is? 

3. According to scientists, in what ways would a planet that supports life probably be 

similar to Earth? 

4. Why is the discovery of a planet that is mostly covered by water important? 

5. What was the effect of Orson Welles’s radio broadcast of “The War of the Worlds”? 

Why do you think so many people believed it was true? 


Sentence 1: 

Sentence 2: 

Sentence 3: 

Sentence 4: 

activity 

Vocabulary 



Name:____________________________________ Date:_____________ 

These Words Are out of This World! 

This issue’s nonfiction article “The Day Aliens Attacked America” includes some great words 

to use to talk about life in outer space and down here on Earth. In this activity, you will use a 

dictionary to match the words below to their definitions. 

Directions: Match each word on the left to its definition on the right. 

Then choose four of the words and write a sentence using each one. 

beaming a group of stars that forms a shape 

complex sending out through space 

constellation made it possible to do something 

deceived perfect, resembling paradise 

enabled very complicated 

orbit sudden feeling of great fright 

panic tricked into believing something untrue 

paradisical the invisible path followed by an object 

circling a planet, the sun, etc. 


activity 



try this 

with a 

partner! 

Creative Thinking/ 

Conducting an Interview 

Name:____________________________________ Date:_____________ 

Interview With an Alien 

What if there are other life forms in the universe? Wouldn’t it be great to talk to one? 

In this activity, you will do just that, either alone or with a partner, by brushing up on your 

interviewing skills. Use your imagination to come up with creative questions—and answers! 

Directions: First, find a partner. Decide who will be the interviewer and who will be the alien. 

Then use your imagination to come up with questions (and answers!) about life on other planets. 

(If you are doing this activity on your own, you can play both roles!) 

Step 1: think of the questions you want to ask the alien. 

Before you conduct an interview, it’s always smart to write a list of questions you want to ask. 

That way, you’ll have all the information you need to write a well-organized report. 

Here are a list of possible questions: 

1. How would you describe yourself? (Do you have big eyes? a green face? suction cups for feet?) 

2. What kind of personality do you have? (Are you friendly? mean? shy? gentle?) 

3. What kind of food do you eat? (Do you like human food? bugs? a type of food unknown to humans?) 

4. How would you describe your home? (Do you live on a planet, a star, an asteroid? What does it look like?) 

5. How do you get around? (Can you fly on your own? Do you travel by spaceship or car?) 

6. What’s your family like? (Does your species have families like we do on Earth?) 

Other important questions you might have: 

7. 

8. 

9. 

10. 

Continued8 




1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

8. 

9. 

10. 

activity Creative Thinking/ 

Conducting an Interview, page 2 

Step 2: Ask your partner (or your imaginary alien) the questions you thought of 

in Step 1. then write the answers below. 

On Your Own 

Write a well-organized paragraph about the alien 

you interviewed. Be sure to include a lot of details 

and juicy descriptions! 

With a Partner 

Create a poster about the alien, listing important 

facts and descriptions of its home. Or, you can draw 

pictures! Then present your poster to the class. 


activity 

Research/Sequencing 



Name:____________________________________ Date:_____________ 

Dates in Time and Space 

Scientific breakthroughs in the past 60 years have taught us a lot about the universe! In this 

activity, you will research some of these events and place them on a timeline. 

Directions: Reread “The Day Aliens Attacked America,” noting the dates of each event listed in the boxes 

on the right. In the boxes on the left, do research to find the dates of four other important moments in space 

travel history. Then connect each event to the closest place on the timeline. We’ve added one date for you. 

SPACE AND US 

(FROM YOUR RESEARCH) 

A dog named Laika 

becomes the first living 

animal to travel to space. 

Date: _____________ 

A space probe, Huygens, 

lands on the first non- 

Earth moon (Saturn’s). 

Date: _____________ 

Neil Armstrong becomes 

the first person to walk 

on the moon. 

Date: _____________ 

NASA, a national 

association for the study 

of space is founded. 

Date: _____________ 

1950 

1960 

1970 

1980 

1990 

2000 

2010 

ALIENS AND US 

(FROM THE ARTICLE) 

Avatar, the highestgrossing 

film of all time, 

is released. 

Date: _____________ 2009 

UFOs land on Earth in 

Close Encounters of the 

Third Kind. 

Date: _____________ 

The Hubble Space 

Telescope is launched to 

take pictures of space. 

Date: _____________ 

The Kepler Space 

Telescope is launched to 

find Earth-like planets. 

Date: _____________ 


Choose one of the events written in the boxes above. On a separate sheet of paper, write a well-organized 

paragraph explaining why you think it was an important breakthrough in space travel. 


activity 

Fact vs. Fiction 



Name:____________________________________ Date:_____________ 

Distinguishing Fact From Fiction 

After hearing a radio broadcast on October 31, 1938, thousands of Americans believed they 

were under attack by aliens. It turns out the story that aired was fiction—the events described 

never happened. In this activity, you will practice telling the difference between fact and fiction 

in “The Day Aliens Attacked America.” 

Directions: Circle F for fact or Fi for fiction for each statement below about the article 

“The Day Aliens Attacked America.” Then follow the writing prompts on the second page. 

1. 2. 3. 4. 

There are more 

than 200 billion 

stars in the Milky 

Way. 

F Fi 

5. 6. 7. 8. 

If a planet is too 

close to its star, 

everything on 

its surface gets 

broiled. 

F Fi 

On October 31, 

1938, aliens from 

Mars attacked 

New York City. 

F Fi 

The Kepler 

Space Telescope 

was launched to 

search for Earthlike 

planets in the 

Milky Way. 

F Fi 

In 1951, an 

extraterrestrial 

named Klaatu 

arrived on Earth. 

F Fi 

A giant explosion 

occured on Mars 

in 1938. 

F Fi 

The Hubble 

Space Telescope 

has taken more 

than 100,000 

pictures of distant 

galaxies. 

F Fi 

There are 

millions of Earthlike 

planets 

that exist in far 

corners of the 

universe. 

F Fi 


activity 



Fact 1: 

Fact 2: 

Fact 3: 

Fact 4: 

Fact 5: 

Fact vs. Fiction 

Distinguishing Fact From Fiction, page 2 

STep 2: Find FIVe more facts from the article about space exploration 

over the past 20 years and write them below. 


1. Using the facts you wrote down above, write a well-organized paragraph about space exploration over the 

past 20 years. Make sure to include information about the Hubble and Kepler Space Telescopes. 

2. Now imagine that either Hubble or Kepler actually discovered an Earth-like planet where other life forms 

lived! What would that planet look like? What would the atmosphere be like? Describe the planet and the 

beings that live on it in great detail. Let your imagination run wild!

Reading & Thinking - Scholastic

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