Strange but True Teacher Resource Guide (Strange But True)

BOOKS

1–5

TEACHER’SRESOURCE GUIDE

Development and Production: Laurel Associates, Inc.Cover Design: IQ Design, Inc.

Three WatsonIrvine, CA 92618-2767Website: www.sdlback.com

Copyright © 2006 by Saddleback Educational Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,without the written permission of the publisher, with the exception below.

Pages labeled with the statement Saddleback Educational Publishing © 2006 areintended for reproduction. Saddleback Educational Publishing grants to individualpurchasers of this book the right to make sufficient copies of reproducible pages for useby all students of a single teacher. This permission is limited to a single teacher, anddoes not apply to entire schools or school systems.

ISBN 1-59905-015-3

Printed in the United States of America11 10 09 08 07 06 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

TEACHER’S RESOURCE GUIDE

BOOKS 1–5

Notes to the Teacher . . . . . . . . 4Answer Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

BOOK 1Main Ideas and Details

Book Pages 5–32 . . . . . . . . . 8Book Pages 33–59 . . . . . . . . 9Book Pages 60–76 . . . . . . . 10

VocabularyBook Pages 5–32 . . . . . . . . 11Book Pages 33–59 . . . . . . . 12Book Pages 60–76 . . . . . . . 13

Working with Words . . . . . . . 14


Book Pages 5–34 . . . . . . . . 15Book Pages 35–60 . . . . . . . 16Book Pages 61–75 . . . . . . . 17















GENERIC EXERCISESPersonalizing the Reading

Experience I . . . . . . . . . . . . 43Personalizing the Reading

Experience II . . . . . . . . . . . 44Creative Writing I . . . . . . . . 45Creative Writing II . . . . . . . . 46Vocabulary Study . . . . . . . . . 47Sequencing a Story . . . . . . . . 48

CONTENTS

Nonfiction has never been so much fun!

Saddleback’s new series of STRANGE BUT TRUE STORIESsets a new standard for high-interest reading materials. It’s allhere—stories ranging from the peculiar to the preposterous,from the fascinating to the downright frightening, from the oddto the awful. Yet all the selections are based on eyewitnessaccounts or the solid scholarship of serious investigators.

The correlated exercises in this Teacher’s Resource Guide arespecifically designed to extend the learning experience for allyour students. There are seven reproducible worksheets for eachbook in the series, as well as six generic exercises that can beused with all the books. The MAIN IDEAS AND DETAILSworksheets test traditional comprehension skills. We suggestthat you use these for informal assessment of student progress.The VOCABULARY worksheets help students enrich theirpersonal “word banks” by reviewing sophisticated or unfamiliarwords from the stories. Crossword and hidden-word puzzles onmany worksheets add an element of fun your students are sureto appreciate. In addition, there’s a WORKING WITH WORDSworksheet for each book. This exercise reinforces importantlanguage-arts skills and concepts such as parts of speech,common and proper nouns, compound words, and spelling.

Both the STRANGE BUT TRUE books and the correlatedexercises are intended to build students’ confidence along withtheir reading skills. But above all, we at Saddleback hope thatthe exciting new STRANGE BUT TRUE STORIES will be apleasure, for both you and your students.

NOTES TO THE TEACHER

4

BOOK 1MAIN IDEAS AND DETAILS (NOVEL PAGES 5–32)A. 1. Roswell 2. aliens 3. banker

4. coincidence 5. hearing 6. hypnosisB. 1. sugar 2. communicate 3. Cataracts

4. helium 5. dreamed

MAIN IDEAS AND DETAILS (NOVEL PAGES 33–59)A. 1. coffin 2. bodyguard 3. underwater

4. England 5. inside a coffin 6. vanishedB. 1. solstice 2. ground 3. burial

4. predictions 5. astrologyMAIN IDEAS AND DETAILS (NOVEL PAGES 60–76)

A. ACROSS: 1. Michigan 3. molasses6. government 7. gray DOWN: 2. Alaska 3. manhole 4. bolt 5. Armory

B. 1. c 2. a 3. b 4. b 5. a 6. cVOCABULARY (NOVEL PAGES 5–32)

A. ACROSS: 3. escort 5. earplugs6. fiancée 8. anesthesia DOWN: 1. experiment 2. reluctant 4. radar 7. image

B. 1. fatigue 2. orders 3. practiced 4. alerted 5. sight 6. trick 7. disloyal 8. peaceful 9. boiling 10. rosy 11. black 12. perished

VOCABULARY (NOVEL PAGES 33–59)

A. ACROSS: 3. shortcut 6. squadron 8. energy DOWN: 1. assassin 2. actor 4. trenches5. pulse 7. lungs

B. 1. mysterious 2. bison 3. holy 4. predict 5. answer 6. correct 7. dawn 8. normal 9. brightened 10. past 11. decayed 12. poor


A. B. 1. hovering2. seeped3. pellet4. launch,

missile5. batch6. excursion7. agent8. rehearsals9. eruption

10. audience11. Opinion

WORKING WITH WORDS

1. thunderstorm, something, spacecraft, football, lightweight, anything

2. Charles Coghlan, Prince Edward Island,Canada, England

3. terrible, worst, grim, suicidal4. helium, liters, parachute, altimeter5. friends, portrait, coincidence, relieved,

tragic, beauty

BOOK 2MAIN IDEAS AND DETAILS (NOVEL PAGES 5–34)A. 1. c 2. b 3. a 4. b 5. c 6. aB. 1. island 2. silent 3. neighbor 4. Body

5. 19th 6. anthropologist 7. army

MAIN IDEAS AND DETAILS (NOVEL PAGES 35–60)A. 1. pilots 2. evidence 3. plague 4. colony

5. white 6. legends 7. glowingB. 1. hanging 2. nine 3. tower 4. narrator

5. smother 6. RobertMAIN IDEAS AND DETAILS (NOVEL PAGES 61–75)

A. ACROSS: 2. skeleton 5. specimens 7. abusive 8. element DOWN: 1. strum 3. delusions 4. anatomy 6. degrees

B. 1. engines, hydrogen 2. estimate, taste 3. Philadelphia, museum 4. Donner, California 5. pioneers, animals


A. ACROSS: 5. critics 6. random 8. controversy 9. inherit DOWN: 1. parlor 2. maid 3. military4. frantic 7. ravine

B. 1. computer, ship 2. twins, psychotherapy 3. desperation, spirit 4. rate, decomposition 5. acres, corpses 6. Witch, milk


A. ACROSS: 3. ancestors 4. desert 6. reservation 7. patrol 8. wingspan DOWN: 1. generations 2. unforeseen 5. elite

B. 1. wholly 2. injury 3. casket 4. decomposes 5. toxin 6. mysterious 7. combined 8. overlooked 9. accepted 10. silence 11. apparent 12. complex

ANSWER KEY

Strange But True Stories 5

B LA AT E L L E P U GC N A N A G E N T NH O U M O O C I

I D I I H RN I S T EI E R S P VP N U I U OO C L R HX E S E E P E D E

E S L A S R A E H E R


A. B. 1. aircraft2. sensory3. saucers4. descendants5. curator6. obese7. reputation8. vendor9. fraud

10. perceive11. survivors

WORKING WITH WORDS

1. smoke, field, built, deal, lay, vowed2. technology, calculated, mechanical,

unusual, mechanism, accurately3. desolate, five, local, mysterious, another,

two, brown, weird, frightening, next, bad4. desperation, corpse, illegal, grieving,

tenant, profitable5. nocturnal, random, controversy, sophisticated

BOOK 3MAIN IDEAS AND DETAILS (NOVEL PAGES 5–36)A. 1. 2,000 2. bark, scream 3. Nyos

4. smothered 5. Chicago’s 6. mythB. 1. b 2. c 3. b 4. c 5. c 6. b

MAIN IDEAS AND DETAILS (NOVEL PAGES 37–59)A. 1. dead, living 2. cemetery 3. Australia

4. funeral 5. burning 6. collided 7. driftingB. 1. F 2. F 3. T 4. T 5. F 6. T 7. F 8. FMAIN IDEAS AND DETAILS (NOVEL PAGES 60–76)

A. B. 1. sauropod2. crimp,

kidnapped3. capital4. acid5. millions6. magicians7. savage,

spirits8. sneer9. replica

10. reignVOCABULARY (NOVEL PAGES 5–36)

A. ACROSS: 2. hooves 5. gas 6. gate8. supernatural 9. oxygen DOWN: 1. pressure 3. volcanic 4. Cemetery 7. silence

B. 1. e 2. d 3. h 4. a 5. c 6. g 7. b 8. f 9. e 10. h 11. g 12. b 13. d 14. a 15. c 16. f


A. ACROSS: 1. sorcery 6. epidemic 8. disease DOWN: 2. remains 3. cremated 4. tribe 5. legend 7. omen

B. 1. dead 2. exhibit 3. immediate 4. employed5. slept 6. cloaked 7. report 8. field9. ordinary 10. partial 11. disgrace 12. brilliant 13. appeared 14. curved 15. kindly 16. evening

VOCABULARY (NOVEL PAGES 60–76)A. B. 1. tunnels

2. remote3. labor4. rogue5. monk6. slaughter7. statue8. seclusion,

meditation9. batteries

10. cylinder11. waterfront

WORKING WITH WORDS

1. a. WORD USED IN SENTENCE: departedHOMOGRAPH: opposite to the right side

b. WORD USED IN SENTENCE: past tense of feelHOMOGRAPH: a fabric of compressed fibers

c. WORD USED IN SENTENCE: thin, with little or no fatHOMOGRAPH: 1. to rest against something;

2. not productive or prosperous2. cemetery, physical, ambulance, emergency3. something, downhill, rockslide, outside4. sale, sees, too/to, wood 5. epidemic, superstitious, sorcery

BOOK 4MAIN IDEAS AND DETAILS (NOVEL PAGES 5–37)A. 1. pursuers 2. 140, 17 3. Jacob Waltz

4. 1693 5. Apaches 6. knifeB. 1. a 2. b 3. c 4. a 5. c 6. a

MAIN IDEAS AND DETAILS (NOVEL PAGES 38–62)A. 1. trained, 41 2. Revolution, an unfamiliar

3. English, stages 4. British, Philadelphia 5. attack, White Marsh 6. smell, thousands

B. 1. F 2. T 3. T 4. F 5. F 6. TCORRECTED SENTENCES:

1. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin . . .4. . . . Kozuka was killed . . .5. . . .in 1951.

MAIN IDEAS AND DETAILS (NOVEL PAGES 63–76)A. ACROSS: 1. foreman 5. investors

6. Atlantis 8. niece DOWN: 2. revenge 3. research 4. infant 7. sonic

B. 1. b 2. c 3. a 4. b 5. b 6. a

6 Strange But True Stories

S N O I L L I M SS AN S P I R I T S D VE E E AE S A U R O P O D G RR C P L E

I A A ID N T G C P

D I N M AI P I

K A RC S N A I C I G A M

S S E T O M E R K SL L S N EA R E E O O CU O N I M LG C B N T R E UH Y A A U E U ST L T T IE I A T OR D N T A N

E S D BM R O G U E

W A T E R F R O N T

D A I R C R A F T CV E N D O R R

S E S YC D U R

F E E E R OR V N V SA I T D I NU I E A V ED A C N O S

L R O T A R U C T R ES A U C E R S E S B

N O I T A T U P E R O


A. ACROSS: 2. poverty 3. ore 5. suspects 7. witchcraft 8. sacred DOWN: 1. burros 2. prospectors 4. Hysteria 6. sect

B. 1. discussion 2. meet 3. precisely 4. devastating 5. prehistoric 6. ritual 7. unsure8. fruitful 9. airy 10. denied 11. calm 12. inflate


A. ACROSS: 2. sentries 5. incredible6. abnormal 8. detect DOWN: 1. heroine 3. tavern 4. network 7. mole

B. 1. remote, island 2. astronauts, spacecraft 3. India, spores 4. mustard, documented 5. mother, mining 6. commander, cease 7. pamphlets, war


A. B. 1. extinct2. spirits, rifle3. quartz,

prisms4. income5. supernatural6. dwindled7. fossils8. inhabit9. maze,

landmarkWORKING WITH WORDS

1. speech, courts, group, girls, seemed, times2. overdue, earthquakes, Yellowstone,

supervolcano, sunlight 3. Africa, Dogon, West Africa, Egyptians,

Libya, Dr. Griaule, Sirius4. mail, in, so, for, one, great5. propaganda, civilian, guerrilla, skirmishes

BOOK 5MAIN IDEAS AND DETAILS (NOVEL PAGES 5–40)A. 1. c 2. b 3. b 4. b 5. b 6. cB. 1. F 2. T 3. T 4. F 5. F 6. T 7. T

MAIN IDEAS AND DETAILS (NOVEL PAGES 41–62)A. 1. Titan 2. survived 3. had not

4. cobra 5. Atlantic 6. plenty of B. 1. fossils 2. monster 3. coroner

4. bookstore 5. treasury 6. executedMAIN IDEAS AND DETAILS (NOVEL PAGES 63–75)

A. ACROSS: 4. languages 6. mansion 7. allies 8. cypress DOWN: 1. confessed 2. hoax 3. metal 5. royalty 6. matter

B. 1. More than 5,000 crop circles have been seen in more than 40 countries.

2. Why are the stalks of grain in crop circles bent but never broken?

3. In 1969, Uri Geller met the prime minister of Israel.

4. Geller used his powers to search for gold, oil, and minerals.

5. At school, Nostradamus studied to be a doctor.


A. ACROSS: 1. counselor 3. leper 6. identity 7. empress 8. false DOWN: 1. cholera 2. medical 4. exiles 5. minister

B. 1. boxing, image 2. rivals, points 3. Jockey, saddle 4. dream, marathon 5. fouled, bench 6. round, heavyweight 7. Governor, militia


A. ACROSS: 4. bow 5. expedition 7. omens 9. curse DOWN: 1. looted 2. cabin 3. afterlife 6. tomb 8. local

B. 1. animal, human 2. corridor, London 3. Bigfoot, Northwest 4. aquatic, reptile 5. Sonar, sound 6. maid, insane


A. B. 1. crop, mazes2. fantasy3. psychic,

celebrity4. predictions5. propaganda6. pranksters,

pattern7. demons8. acres9. feats

WORKING WITH WORDS

1. luxury, watertight, enormous, poorly writtenicy, rich, famous

2. photographic, Massachusetts, monastery,comfortable

3. athletic, sheriff, governor, citizens4. China, Russia, Nepal, California, Ohio, Florida,

Bigfoot, Sasquatch, Yeti5. hieroglyphic, archeologist, expeditions, Pharaoh

Strange But True Stories 7

D M LW T I B A H N I A AI E R Z NN X U E DD Q S P I R I T S ML U I A I AE A P N E N RD R C L C K

E I T O F TP S Z M I

U M E RS S L I S S O F

DE C F S

C R O P M I E NO A H A O M Y

F N C T I A TA S Y S T Z IN S C S E R C A RT P I S R BA D N ES R E T S K N A R P LY R EP R O P A G A N D A C

8 Strange But True Stories • Saddleback Educational Publishing © 2006 • Three Watson, Irvine, CA 92618 • Phone: (888) 735-2225 • Fax: (888) 734-4010 • www.sdlback.com

NAME _____________________________

DATE _____________________________

(BOOK PAGES 5–18)

A. Circle or write in a word to complete each sentence.

1. In 1947, an alien spacecraft may have crashed in ____________________,

New Mexico.

2. Five ( witnesses / aliens ) were found in the wreckage.

3. The first portrait Marcellin painted was of a French ( artist / banker ).

4. Marcellin’s friends insisted that the unexpected deaths were only a

( coincidence / misfortune ).

5. Of our five senses, ____________________ is the most difficult to block.

6. Dr. Levinson used ____________________ to jog the patients’ memories.

(BOOK PAGES 19–32)

B. Unscramble the words to complete the sentences.

1. Jess, a diabetic, worried that his blood GUSRA ____________________

level might drop overnight.

2. Smokey knew how to MICENUMCATO ____________________ with her

hearing-impaired family.

3. STRACTACA ____________________ had nearly blinded Merlin.

4. The lawn chair was held up by balloons filled with LIEMUH

____________________.

5. Mrs. Holbourne EDMARED ____________________ that her husband

was stranded on a sinking ship.

—BOOK 1

MAIN IDEAS AND DETAILS

Strange But True Stories • Saddleback Educational Publishing © 2006 • Three Watson, Irvine, CA 92618 • Phone: (888) 735-2225 • Fax: (888) 734-4010 • www.sdlback.com 9

NAME _____________________________

DATE _____________________________


A. Circle or write in a word to complete each sentence.

1. Charles Coghlan returned to his boyhood home in a ____________________.

2. Lincoln’s ( physician / bodyguard ) urged him not to go to the theater.

3. Justin Bunker was ____________________ for 20 minutes.

4. Stonehenge is a famous megalith in ( France / England ).

5. In a dream, Lincoln saw himself ( as a ghost / inside a coffin ).

6. Many ships and planes have ____________________ in the

Bermuda Triangle.


B. Unscramble the words to complete the sentences.

1. Wyoming’s mysterious wheel of stones marks the summer

COLISETS ____________________.

2. All the stone wheels that have been found are built on

high NUGDOR ____________________.

3. Ohio’s Great Serpent Mound is a Native American

LIARUB ____________________ place.

4. Jeane Dixon refused to take money for any of her

SNITCIDOREP ____________________.

5. Besides LORSTAGYO ____________________, Dixon used

dreams and mind-reading to foretell the future.

— BOOK 1



NAME _____________________________

DATE _____________________________


A. Complete the crossword puzzle with words from the stories. Answers are words that complete the sentences.

ACROSS

1. The S.S. Eastland was scheduled to take her passengers across Lake ___.

3. A river of ___ roared through thestreets.

6. Georgi Markov complained aboutthe Bulgarian ___.

7. The Drury Lane ghost is calledthe “Man in ___.”

DOWN

2. A pilot saw two strange objects 4. The UFO shot a ___ of light at in the sky over Fairbanks, ___. the F4 Phantom fighter plane.

3. Several flying ___ covers derailed 5. Oprah’s TV studio was once the a train. home of the Second Regiment ___.

B. Circle a letter to answer the question or complete the sentence.

— BOOK 1


1. What three words have witnesses used to describe UFOs?

a. enormous, silver, round

b. noisy, armed, colorless

c. silent, wingless, agile

2. What forced the government to release reports of UFOs?

a. the Freedom of Information Act

b. demands by the American people

c. a request from the United Nations

3. How many died in the S.S. Eastlandtragedy?

a. 8,000 b. 800 c. 218

4. About how many years ago didthe Eastland tragedy occur?

a. 65 b. 90 c. 125

5. The man whose skeleton was found in Drury LaneTheater

a. had been murdered.

b. died in the 19th century.

c. had starved to death.

6. Theater people think the “Man in Gray”

a. is out for revenge.

b. is a prince in disguise.

c. brings good luck.

1 2

3

4

5

6

7

M A

MB

AG

G


NAME _____________________________

DATE _____________________________

(BOOK PAGES 5–18)


ACROSS

3. The captain ordered two MPs to ___ Dennis off the base.

5. Some surgeons have theirpatients wear ___.

6. Marcellin painted a portraitof his ___.

8. Even under ___, some patients can hear doctors talking.

DOWN

1. In one ___, patients listened 4. The ___ screen at the army to music during surgery. air base lit up.

2. Marcellin had always been 7. Francois Noel wanted a lasting ______ to paint portraits. of her youthful beauty.


B. Read the boldface words from the stories. Then write a word from the box tocomplete each pair of synonyms or antonyms.

— BOOK 1

VOCABULARY

SYNONYMS ANTONYMS

1. exhaustion / _________________ 7. faithful /_________________________

2. commands / __________________ 8. anxious / ________________________

3. trained /______________________ 9. freezing / ________________________

4. warned / _____________________ 10. pale / ____________________________

5. vision / _______________________ 11. blonde / _________________________

6. stunt / ________________________ 12. survived / _______________________

alerted perished rosy peaceful trick boiling

orders disloyal sight practiced black fatigue

1 2

3 4

5

6 7

8

E RE R

E

F I

A




ACROSS

3. The boys took a ___ to the sledding hill.

6. The ___ went out on a practice bombing run.

8. Do the megaliths have radioactive ___?

DOWN

1. Lincoln was killed by an ___.

2. Charles Coghlan wanted to be an ___.

4. In the Bermuda Triangle, the ocean floor has deep ___.


B. Read the boldface words from the stories. Then use words from the box to complete the pairs of synonyms and antonyms.

NAME _____________________________

DATE _____________________________

— BOOK 1

VOCABULARY

SYNONYMS ANTONYMS

1. puzzling /_____________________ 7. sunset /__________________________

2. buffalo / ______________________ 8. unnatural / ______________________

3. sacred /_______________________ 9. faded /___________________________

4. foretell /______________________ 10. future / __________________________

5. reply / ________________________ 11. preserved / ______________________

6. accurate / ____________________ 12. wealthy / ________________________

dawn bison holy mysterious answer predict

past normal poor brightened correct decayed

1 2

3 4

5

6 7

8

A AS T

P OS L

E

5. The frozen boy had a faint ___.

7. Justin’s ___ and stomach were partly filled with icy water.


NAME _____________________________

DATE _____________________________


A. Find and circle the hidden words.Words may go up, down, across, backward, or diagonally. Check off each word as you find it.

___ AUDIENCE ___ PELLET

___ OPINION ___ MISSILE

___ EXCURSION ___ AGENT

___ ERUPTION ___ BATCH

___ HOVERING ___ LAUNCH

___ REHEARSALS ___ SEEPED

B. Now use the puzzle words to complete the sentences about the stories.

1. A UFO was seen ____________________ over the outskirts of Tehran.

2. Sticky molasses ____________________ out of the cracks in the sidewalk.

3. The umbrella had been rigged as a ____________________ gun!

4. The pilot threw a switch to ____________________ a ____________________.

5. The distilling company wanted to make one last ____________________

of alcohol.

6. The S.S. Eastland was an ____________________ ship.

7. The CIA ____________________ said the public would be frightened by the

UFO report.

8. The Drury Lane ghost often shows up during ____________________.

9. Trapped sewer gas caused an ____________________ of manhole covers.

10. The ____________________ didn’t think the actress was very funny.

11. ____________________ polls show that many Americans believe in UFOs.

— BOOK 1

VOCABULARY

B O C V J L M I S W P L

A T R E S D A G C X N H

T E L L E P U U Y F R G

C N A W N A G E N T O N

H O U M E O P O E C S I

S I D R I A I C G K H R

C N I G I S Z T L P O E

V I E A R O S E P D S V

B P N U D W B I N U L O

H O C A M C U R L K R H

A X E V B S E E P E D E

E P S L A S R A E H E R


NAME _____________________________

DATE _____________________________

(BOOK PAGES 5–76)

1. Find and write the six compound words that appear on the first page of “The Roswell Mystery.” (Hint: A compound word is one word, such asbasketball or grandfather, made by combining two or more words.)

________________________________ ________________________________

________________________________ ________________________________

________________________________ ________________________________

2. Find and write the four proper nouns that appear on the first page of “The Dead Man’s Journey.” (Hint: A proper noun, such as Willow Street orAtlantic Ocean, names a particular person, place, or thing.)

________________________________ ________________________________

________________________________ ________________________________

3. Find and write the four adjectives that appear on the first page of“Under the Knife—and Listening.” (Hint: An adjective is a word, such as yellow or unhappy, used to describe a noun or pronoun.)

________________________________ ________________________________

________________________________ ________________________________

4. Find and write the four words on the first page of “The Lawn Chair Pilot”that match the definitions below.

____________________: a very light gas with no color or odor

____________________: metric unit of capacity equal to 1.0567 quarts (plural)

____________________: large cloth device that opens to slow the descent of something dropped from an airplane

____________________: instrument that shows how high an airplane is flying

5. Find and circle the correct spellings of words found on the second page of“The Deadly Portraits.”

frends / friends / freinds portrat / portrate / portrait

coincidence / coinsidense releived / relieved

tragic / tradgic / tragick beuty / beauty beutay

— BOOK 1

WORKING WITH WORDS


NAME _____________________________

DATE _____________________________

(BOOK PAGES 5–19)

A. Circle a letter to correctly complete the sentence or answer the question.

— BOOK 2


1. Lizzie Borden’s dress was stained with either paint or

a. food. b. oil. c. blood.

2. The Beast of Gevaudan washunted in the ___ century.

a. 17th b. 18th c. 16th

3. What did the taped voices seem to convey to FriedrichJurgenson?

a. personal information

b. secret codes

c. cries for help


B. Circle the word that correctly completes each sentence.

1. The Antikythera computer was named after the ( city / island ) where

it was found.

2. The ( secret / silent ) twins were imprisoned when they took drugs

and stole things.

3. A ( neighbor / relative ) accused John Bell of cheating on a business deal.

4. Dr. Bill Bass’s “laboratory” is called the ( Anatomy / Body ) Farm.

5. A mischievous spirit haunted the Bell home in the (18th / 19th ) century.

6. Dr. Bass was an ( astrologist / anthropologist ) at the University of Tennessee.

7. Andrew Jackson said he’d rather face an ( onslaught / army ) than the

Bell Witch.

4. Who said he received pictures of the dead on a TV screen?

a. an English psychologist

b. a Swiss engineer

c. a Swedish scientist

5. The king of what country sent huntersafter the Beast of Gevaudan?

a. Spain b. England c. France

6. After the Bordens’ death, what didLizzie and her sister buy?

a. a huge house on the hill

b. a new horse and carriage

c. an apartment in New York


NAME _____________________________

DATE _____________________________


A. Unscramble the words to complete the sentences.

1. Five SLOTIP ____________________ saw Mothman flying over a golf course.

2. To the Shadow Wolves, “sign” is any physical CEENDIVE ___________________.

3. Some nursery rhymes tell the story of the APGLUE ____________________,

or “Black Death.”

4. The queen sent Sir Walter Raleigh across the ocean to establish a

YONLOC____________________ on Roanoke Island.

5. Virginia Dare was the first ITHEW ____________________ child born in

America.

6. Many Native American GELSEND____________________ tell of giant

bird-like creatures.

7. Witnesses say the tall, winged man’s eyes were strangely red and

WOGGNIL ____________________.


B. Circle a word to correctly complete each sentence.

1. The crime of body snatching was punished by ( imprisonment / hanging ).

2. Burke and Hare’s killing spree lasted about ( nine / four ) months.

3. To make his wife happy, Gene put his evil doll in the ( spare / tower ) room.

4. Dr. Watson was the ( author / narrator ) of the Sherlock Holmes stories.

5. Burke had figured out a way to ( smother / strangle ) a person without

damaging the body.

6. ( Robert / Gene ) was about three feet tall and made of straw.

— BOOK 2



NAME _____________________________

DATE _____________________________



ACROSS

2. The ___ of a 71/2-foot-tall man is on display.

5. Dr. Mutter donated his collection of ___.

7. Everyone knew that Keesbergwas an ___ husband.

8. In 2004, scientists created a small amount of ___ 115.

DOWN

1. The ___ of a guitar felt like someone blowing on the woman’s ankles.

3. People with synesthesia are not suffering from ___.

B. Unscramble and write in words to complete the sentences.

1. Bob Lazar is currently working on NESINGE ____________________

fueled by ____________________.

2. Scientists STIETEAM ____________________ that about one of every

2,000 people can hear, smell, feel, or ____________________ color.

3. You will have to go to ____________________ if you want to visit the

Mutter UMSUME ____________________.

4. Only 46 members of the NERDON ____________________ party reached

____________________ alive.

5. Desperately hungry, the weary ____________________ ate their

NASLAIM ____________________, one by one.

— BOOK 2


1

2

3 4

5

6

7

8

SS

D AS

D

A

E

4. Odd examples of human ___ are on display at the Mutter Museum.

6. Bob Lazar told the reporter aboutthe ___ he had earned.

(BOOK PAGES 5–19)

A. Complete the crossword puzzle with words from the stories.Answers are words that complete the sentences.

ACROSS

5. ___ of EVP say the voices ofthe dead can’t be recorded.

6. Some said the voices were picked up from ___ radio broadcasts.

8. Without scientific proof, the ___ about EVP will surely continue.

9. Was Lizzie Borden eager to ___ her parents’ money?

DOWN

1. Andrew Borden was murdered in the downstairs ___.

2. Lizzie asked the family’s ___ to come quickly.

3. Capt. Duhamel, a ___ man, went after the beast.


B. Write in or circle words from the stories to complete the sentences.

1. An ancient, mechanical ( compass / computer ) was found in the

wreckage of a Greek __________________.

2. At 13, the silent __________________ were sent to a

( psychopathic / psychotherapy ) center for treatment.

3. In a moment of ( depreciation / desperation ), John Bell told a friend

about the mischievous __________________ in his house.

4. At first, Dr. Bass didn’t know much about the body’s __________________

of ( decomposition / determination ).

5. The university gave Dr. Bass three __________________ of land and a few

( profiles / corpses ) of homeless men.

6. The Bell __________________ spilled ( milk / tea ) and stole sugar.

P MM

F C

R

R

C

I


NAME _____________________________

DATE _____________________________

— BOOK 2

VOCABULARY

1 2

3

4 5

6

7

8

9

4. As the killings went on, theking became ___.

7. The hunters trapped thebeast in a ___ in the woods.


NAME _____________________________

DATE _____________________________

— BOOK 2

VOCABULARY



SYNONYMS ANTONYMS

1. entirely / _____________________ 7. separated / ______________________

2. wound / ______________________ 8. noticed /_________________________

3. coffin / _______________________ 9. refused /_________________________

4. decays / ______________________ 10. sound / __________________________

5. poison /_______________________ 11. invisible / _______________________

6. unexplained /_________________ 12. simple / _________________________

mysterious silence injury wholly complex combined

decomposes apparent toxin casket accepted overlooked

ACROSS

3. Some of the Croatoans’___ had been white people.

4. The O’odham ___ is in southwestern Arizona.

6. A little boy had wanderedonto the ___ with his dog.

7. The first ___ of Shadow Wolves was made up of seven men.

8. Witnesses said the Mothman’s___ was 10 feet across.

DOWN

1. Children have played nursery rhyme games for ___.

2. Because of ___ circumstances, White didn’t return to Roanoke for three years.

5. The Shadow Wolves are an ___ U.S. Customs Service tracking patrol.


B. Read the boldface words from the stories. Then use words from the box to completethe pairs of synonyms and antonyms.

1

2 3

4 5

6

7

8

GU A

D E

R

P

W


NAME _____________________________

DATE _____________________________



___ SURVIVORS ___ OBESE

___ PERCEIVE ___ CURATOR

___ AIRCRAFT ___ SAUCERS

___ REPUTATION ___ VENDOR

___ CREDENTIALS ___ FRAUD

___ DESCENDANTS ___ SENSORY

B. Now use the puzzle words to complete the sentences.

1. It is rumored that alien ____________________ are stored and studied

at Area 51.

2. A rare neurological condition causes a ____________________ mix-up.

3. One Area 51 project involved no less than nine flying ____________________.

4. Keesberg’s ____________________ marked the graves of his wife and children.

5. Dr. Mutter paid the salary of a museum ____________________.

6. The ____________________ Soap Woman died during a yellow fever epidemic.

7. The judge thought Keesberg’s ____________________ wasn’t worth more

than a dollar.

8. One woman saw hot coals bursting from the mouth of the ice cream

____________________.

9. Bob Lazar’s critics say that he’s a ____________________.

10. Some people ____________________ written numbers, letters, and words

in color.

11. Some of the ____________________ had resorted to cannibalism.

— BOOK 2

VOCABULARY

D A I R C R A F T S C L

V E N D O R F D K R O P

C U S W A B N Z E H S Y

V P L C S Q U D S F U R

F E G J E C E V N B R O

R H V L K N P S W A V S

A O H I T J D C S F I N

U K E I E X O A M L V E

D U A R Y C K J N D O S

T L R O T A R U C T R E

S A U C E R S E X B S B

W N O I T A T U P E R O


NAME _____________________________

DATE _____________________________

(BOOK PAGES 5–75)

1. Find and write the six words that appear on the first page of “The Bell Witch”that rhyme with the words below.

_____________ / oak ______________ / reeled _____________ / stilt

_____________ / peel ______________ / sleigh _____________ / loud

2. Find and write the six four-syllable words that appear on the first and second pages of “The Antikythera Mechanism—An Ancient Computer?”(Hint: A syllable is a single sounding of the voice. Sun, for example, is a one-syllable word; sunshine is a two-syllable word.)

________________________________ ________________________________

________________________________ ________________________________

________________________________ ________________________________

3. Find and write the 11 adjectives that appear on the first page of“The Mothman Mystery.” (Hint: An adjective is a word, such as gold watch or tall man, that describes a noun or pronoun.)

_______________ _______________ _______________ _______________

_______________ _______________ _______________ _______________

_______________ _______________ _______________

4. Circle the correct spellings of six words that appear on the first and second pages of “Burke and Hare—The Body Snatchers.”

desperation / desparation courpse / corpseilegal / illegal grieving / greivingtenant / tenent profitible / profitable

5. Write the words from “EVP—Is This How the Dead Talk to Us?” that match the definitions.

____________________________: happening during the night

____________________________: made or done without planning or purpose

____________________________: argument or debate

____________________________: very complicated and based on the latest techniques, etc.

— BOOK 2

WORKING WITH WORDS


NAME _____________________________

DATE _____________________________

(BOOK PAGES 5–21)

A. Circle or unscramble a word or number to correctly complete each sentence.

1. Some ( 200 / 2,000 ) people claim to have seen the Jersey Devil.

2. The Jersey Devil is said to KRAB __________________ and

MACERS __________________.

3. More than 1,700 people died at Lake ( Nyos / Manoun ).

4. The carbon dioxide in the air ( burned / smothered ) the animals as

well as the people.

5. “Resurrection Mary” is one of COGAICH’s __________________ most

famous ghosts.

6. Some people call Mary’s story an urban ( myth / mystery ).


B. Circle a letter to show how each sentence should be completed.

— BOOK 3


1. ___ took revenge for his father’s murder.

a. Bram Stoker

b. Vlad Dracula

c. Captain Doom

2. Elizabeth Bathory bathed in her victims’ ___.

a. bathtubs

b. tears

c. blood

3. Racetrack Playa is an old ___ in Death Valley.

a. sand dune

b. lake bed

c. hillside

4. It would take ___ mile-an-hourwinds to move a big boulder.

a. 400- b. 700- c. 500-

5. Mary Mallon was a ___ oftyphoid fever.a. victim

b. discoverer

c. carrier

6. Explorers have found ancientunderwater cities off the coastsof ___.

a. Greenland, Norway, andDenmark

b. Egypt, Japan, and India

c. Peru, Chile, and Argentina


NAME _____________________________

DATE _____________________________


A. Circle or unscramble a word or words to complete each sentence.

1. Colma is the only city in the world where the ( dead / living )

outnumber the ( dead / living ).

2. Colma’s economy depends on MYECERET ____________________ workers.

3. The Fores’ island is 100 miles north of ( Africa / Australia ).

4. Cannibalism is a ( wedding / funeral ) ritual to the Fore people.

5. Rescuers hurried to save the crew of the ( sinking / burning ) ship.

6. Some say their ships have almost COLDELID ____________________

with The Flying Dutchman.

7. Is the Baychinco still FRITGIND ____________________ among the

Arctic ice packs?


B. Write T or F to show whether each sentence is true or false.

1. _____ Making death masks was Marie Antoinette’s special talent.

2. _____ To make a death mask, a wax mold was filled with damp plaster of Paris.

3. _____ During the Gold Rush, an American opened a wax museum inSacramento, California.

4. _____ The featured display in the new wax museum was a scene fromthe French Revolution.

5. _____ A TV reporter saw the figure of the tax collector pull off its own head!

6. _____ When he was last seen, Orion Williamson was heading for his own pasture.

7. _____ Many blame Fred Noonan for the loss of Amelia Earhart’s plane.

8. _____ Luckily, Earhart was later found on tiny Howland Island.

— BOOK 3



NAME _____________________________

DATE _____________________________



___ SAUROPOD ___ CAPITAL

___ MILLIONS ___ SAVAGE

___ KIDNAPPED ___ CRIMP

___ MAGICIANS ___ ACID

___ SPIRITS ___ REIGN

___ REPLICA ___ SNEER


1. The natives’ description sounded like a ____________________ dinosaur.

2. After being drugged by a ____________________, the victim would find

himself ____________________.

3. Alexandra didn’t want her tulpa to accompany her to the ___________________

of Tibet.

4. The batteries’ iron rods had been partly eaten away by ____________________.

5. We all know that dinosaurs were wiped out ____________________ of

years ago.

6. Usually, mind creatures are produced by highly skilled ____________________.

7. Surely, the ____________________ lions were really evil _________________!

8. The monk’s cheerful smile was turning into a crafty ____________________.

9. One scientist built an exact ____________________ of the Baghdad battery.

10. The lions’ ____________________ of terror had lasted nine months.

— BOOK 3


B X S N O I L L I M S C

S L E Z P E D H Q U A P

N A S P I R I T S D V E

E Z V H O J E T E Y A W

E O S A U R O P O D G R

R X C N L H P A L S E T

M I G Y F A E A V I L K

D S C B N P T O G R C P

A E W D L I H N E P M A

C O I S P T K L J I O H

X K F A G M B G R E S Q

L P C S N A I C I G A M


NAME _____________________________

DATE _____________________________

(BOOK PAGES 5–21)


ACROSS

2. The Jersey Devil’s back feet are ___.

5. Carbon dioxide is a kind of ___.

6. Human handprints were embeddedin the cemetery ___.

8. Is the Jersey Devil a natural or ___ being?

9. The carbon dioxide sucked the ___from the air.

DOWN

1. As more gas is trapped at the bottom of a lake, the ___ builds.

3. Lake Nyos is inside a ___ crater.


B. Draw lines to match the boldfaced words from the stories with their synonymsor antonyms.

SYNONYMS ANTONYMS

1. movies a. witnesses 9. real a. differ

2. infamous b. officials 10. isolated b. common

3. coast c. lethal 11. horrified c. ill

4. observers d. notorious 12. royal d. mild

5. deadly e. films 13. fierce e. imaginary

6. evidence f. just 14. agree f. boring

7. authorities g. proof 15. healthy g. delighted

8. unfair h. shoreline 16. fascinating h. exposed

— BOOK 3

VOCABULARY

4. Resurrection ___ is located on Archer Avenue.

7. The awful ___ warned Che thatsomething bad had happened.

1

2 3

4 5

6 7

8

9

PH V

C GG S

S

O


NAME _____________________________

DATE _____________________________



ACROSS

1. The doctor didn’t believe that kuru was caused by ___.

6. A disease called kuru was becoming an ___.

8. Could cannibalism be the cause of the terrible ___?

DOWN

2. The pioneers’ ___ were trucked to Colma.

3. Some ___ bodies were sprinkled in the garden.

4. The Fore were a very primitive ___.


B. Add vowels (a, e, i, o, u) to complete the synonyms and antonyms of the boldfacewords from the story.

SYNONYMS ANTONYMS

1. deceased / d __ __ d 9. special / __ r d __ n __ r y

2. display / __ x h __ b __ t 10. entire / p __ r t __ __ l

3. instant / __ m m __ d __ __ t __ 11. honor / d __ s g r __ c __

4. hired / __ m p l __ y __ d 12. dim / b r __ l l __ __ n t

5. dozed / s l __ p t 13. vanished / __ p p __ __ r __ d

6. encased / c l __ __ k __ d 14. flat / c __ r v __ d

7. account / r __ p __ r t 15. ruthless / k __ n d l y

8. pasture / f __ __ l d 16. morning / __ v __ n __ n g

— BOOK 3

VOCABULARY

1 2

3 4

5

6

7

8

S R

C TL

E

O

D

5. The story of The FlyingDutchman has become a ___.

7. Some believe that seeing The Flying Dutchman is a bad ___.


NAME _____________________________

DATE _____________________________



___ BATTERIES ___ ROGUE

___ CYLINDER ___ MONK

___ SECLUSION ___ LABOR

___ WATERFRONT ___ REMOTE

___ SLAUGHTER ___ TUNNELS

___ MEDITATION ___ STATUE


1. Portland’s Shanghai ____________________ are open for public tours.

2. Do dinosaurs still live in a ____________________ area of the Congo?

3. In the 1800s the sea captains needed cheap ____________________.

4. John Patterson was determined to kill the ____________________ lions.

5. Alexandra David-Neel decided to create a ____________________.

6. The ____________________ of railroad workers stopped progress on the bridge.

7. The furious sea captain threw the wooden ____________________ overboard.

8. Alexandra went into ____________________ and used ____________________

to dissolve her tulpa.

9. Some think the ancient ____________________ were used to stop pain.

10. Each ____________________ of copper contained an iron rod.

11. Newcomers didn’t know that Portland’s ____________________ was a very

dangerous place.

— BOOK 3

VOCABULARY

S H S A E T O M E R K S

L J O L L Y Q U S T N E

A K P R E W V B E O O C

U S Z O C N E R I S M L

G C K B F S N T R A E U

H X Y A L C A U E U L S

T J G L S T O H T N P I

E M O A I B E A T R W O

R K J D H N T M A E D N

O L E Z C S D V B L K P

D M F R O G U E N J H E

A S W A T E R F R O N T


NAME _____________________________

DATE _____________________________

(BOOK PAGES 5–76)

1. The italicized words in the sentences from “Tulpas—Mind Creatures of Tibet”are homographs of other words. (Hint: Homographs are words, such as billmeaning “beak” and bill meaning “money owed.” These words look exactly thesame but have different meanings.) At the end of each sentence, write a definitionof the italicized word. Then define the homograph of that word.

a. Alexandra left on a trip. _________________________________________________

HOMOGRAPH: _____________________________________________________________

b. She felt his hand touch her shoulder. _____________________________________

HOMOGRAPH: _____________________________________________________________

c. His round face was growing lean. _________________________________________

HOMOGRAPH: _____________________________________________________________

2. Find and circle the correctly spelled words from “The Ghost Who Loved to Dance.”

cemetary / cemetery physical / physicle

ambulance / ambulence emergancy / emergency

3. Find and write the compound words on the first page of “Killer Lakes.”(Hint: A compound word is one word, such as airplane or honeybee, made by combining two words.)

________________________________ ________________________________

________________________________ ________________________________

4. Homophones are words, such as dear and deer, that sound the same but havedifferent meanings and spellings. Write a homophone for each italicized wordfrom “A Bad Omen: The Flying Dutchman.”

. . . was to sail (____________) the seas (____________) forever!

. . . afraid the two (_____________) ships would (_____________) collide.

5. Find and write the words that appear on the first page of “Kuru—the GhostDisease” that match the definitions below.

____________________________: the rapid spreading of a disease to many people at the same time

____________________________: having beliefs based on fear or ignorancerather than reason or scientific fact

____________________________: use of supposedly magical charms and spellsfor an evil purpose

— BOOK 3

WORKING WITH WORDS


NAME _____________________________

DATE _____________________________

(BOOK PAGES 5–20)

A. Circle the words or numbers that complete the sentences.

1. Jack the Ripper wrote taunting letters to his ( pursuers / victims ).

2. About ( 140 / 220 ) suspected witches were jailed, and at least

( 27 / 17 ) died in jail.

3. ( Abraham Thorne / Jacob Waltz ) came to Arizona to hunt for gold.

4. The witch-hunt trials ended in January ( 1693 / 1893 ).

5. Miguel Peralta and his men were driven off Superstition Mountain

by the ( Thunder God / Apaches ).

6. Jack the Ripper used a ( gun / knife ) to commit his terrible crimes.



— BOOK 4


1. The last time a supervolcanoerupted was about ___ years ago.

a. 74,000

b. 600,000

c. 885

2. Music from what instrumentsaccompanies the Night Marchers?

a. trumpets and saxophones

b. nose flute and drums

c. violin and harp

3. Hawaiians say that scary stories give them goose bumps, or ___.

a. rashes

b. chills

c. chicken skin

4. Members of the Dogon tribe say they were visited by

a. aliens called Nommos.

b. mermaids and mermen.

c. Sumerians and Egyptians.

5. Who was the editor of the Oxford English Dictionary?

a. William Chester Minor

b. Charles Winsor

c. James Murray

6. Volunteers were asked to provide ___ and ___ for dictionary definitions.

a. quotations and examples

b. spelling and pronunciation

c. capitalization and punctuation


NAME _____________________________

DATE _____________________________


A. Unscramble and circle words from the stories to complete the sentences.

1. When DENAIRT ____________________ dogs are tested, they accurately detect

cancer samples ( 14 / 41 ) percent of the time.

2. In the history of the American LOVENOITUR ____________________,

Lydia Darragh is ( an unfamiliar / a familiar ) name.

3. An ( English / American ) woman’s dog detected her cancer in its early

GATESS ____________________.

4. In 1777, ( British / American ) troops took over the city of

AIHELPIDALPH ____________________.

5. The British were planning a secret CATKAT ____________________ on

Washington’s troops at ( Frankford / White Marsh ).

6. A dog’s sense of SLELM ____________________ is ( hundreds / thousands )

of times better than a human’s.


B. Write T or F to show whether each sentence is true or false. Then correct the falsesentences on the lines below.

1. _____ Neil Armstrong and John Glenn were two astronauts on the Apollo 11 space flight.

2. _____ A tornado may carry fish hundreds of miles before dropping them.

3. _____ Astronaut Gordon Cooper believes in the existence of UFOs.

4. _____ After hiding for 27 years, Onada was killed by a Filipino patrol.

5. _____ The Japanese holdouts formally surrendered in 1961.

6. _____ Stories of aliens on the moon began to spread after the flight of Apollo 11.

CORRECTED SENTENCE: ________________________________________________________



— BOOK 4




ACROSS

1. Every morning, Mrs. Winchesterand her ___ planned the day’s work.

5. A group of ___ decided to use thehouse as a tourist attraction.

6. Some think the skulls were madein the lost city of ___.

8. Mrs. Winchester left everything to Frances Marriot, her ___.

DOWN

2. The psychic said the spirits were seeking ___.

3. In 1976, a ___ ship netted a Megamouth shark.


1. What made scientists thinkthe Megalodon was one ofthe largest fish ever?

a. a cave painting

b. a fossilized tooth

c. a petrified fin

2. Mrs. Winchester’s great fortune

a. was very well-invested.

b. brought her great joy.

c. didn’t make her happy.

3. Many owners of the quartz skulls have given

a. their skulls nicknames.

b. lots of money to charity.

c. false names to protecttheir privacy.

F R RI

I

A S

N


NAME _____________________________

DATE _____________________________

— BOOK 4


4. Some workers in the BritishMuseum worry that the skulls might be

a. stolen some day.

b. watching them work.

c. afraid of the dark.

5. The ___ shark had seven rowsof needle-sharp teeth.

a. Megalodon

b. Megamouth

c. Mealymouth

6. What collapsed the three topfloors of Mrs. Winchester’s house?

a. the San Francisco earthquake

b. shoddy workmanship

c. the weight of the roof

1 2 3

4

5

6 7

8

4. Mrs. Winchester grieved the lossof her ___ daughter.

7. A ___ transmitter was attachedto the Megamouth shark.


NAME _____________________________

DATE _____________________________

(BOOK PAGES 5–20)


ACROSS

2. Whitechapel was an area of terrible ___.

3. Gold ___ was loaded on the pack mules.

5. The murder ___ included a surgeon and an artist.

7. The girls were charged with the crime of ___.

8. To the natives, Superstition Mountain was ___ ground.

DOWN

1. After the attack, the remains of ___ were found for many years.

2. Some of the Spanish ___ were found with their heads cut off.


B. Read the boldface words from the stories. Then use a word from the box to matcheach boldface word with its synonym or antonym.

— BOOK 4

VOCABULARY

SYNONYMS ANTONYMS

1. conversation /________________ 7. certain / _________________________

2. encounter /___________________ 8. barren / _________________________

3. exactly /______________________ 9. dense / __________________________

4. disastrous /___________________ 10. claimed / ________________________

5. ancient /______________________ 11. turbulence / _____________________

6. ceremony / ___________________ 12. deflate / _________________________

denied precisely airy inflate devastating calm

ritual discussion meet unsure prehistoric fruitful

1

2

3 4

5 6

7

8

BP

O H

S S

W

S

4. ___ and hearsay were fueling thewitch hunt.

6. The Puritans were a very strictreligious ___.


NAME _____________________________

DATE _____________________________



ACROSS

2. Lydia told the British ___ thatshe needed flour.

5. A dog’s sense of smell is ___.

6. Cancer patients get rid of ___ cells through their urine.

8. Some say that dogs can ___ changes in metabolism.

DOWN

1. Lydia Darragh is a true ___ of the American Revolution.

3. Lydia found Boudinot in the Rising Sun ___.


B. Circle and unscramble words to complete the sentences.

1. Lt. Onada hid out on a ( recluse / remote ) SLAIND ____________________in the Philippines.

2. Did Apollo 11 AROASTNUTS ____________________ really see alien( encampments / spacecraft ) on the moon?

3. The strange red rain in ( India / Africa ) turned out to be fungusROPESS ____________________.

4. Showers of bean and SUMDART ____________________ seeds have been ( documented / fabricated ).

5. Supposedly, the aliens kept their ( father / mother ) ships near theirNIMGIN ____________________ operation.

6. In 1974, Onada’s MOCREDNAM ____________________ told him that allcombat activity must ( continue / cease ).

7. The navy dropped MAPSHELPT ____________________ to inform the holdoutsthat the ( battle / war ) was over.

— BOOK 4

VOCABULARY

1

2 3

4

5

6 7

8

HS T

NI

A M

D

4. Gen. Elias Boudinot was thehead of America’s spy ___.

7. The woman’s ___ turned out to bea deadly form of skin cancer.


NAME _____________________________

DATE _____________________________



___ RIFLE ___ FOSSILS

___ PRISMS ___ INHABIT

___ INCOME ___ EXTINCT

___ QUARTZ ___ LANDMARK

___ MAZE ___ DWINDLED

___ SPIRITS ___ SUPERNATURAL


1. Everyone had thought the Coelacanth was ____________________.

2. The ____________________ of the repeating ____________________’s victims

were said to haunt the house.

3. The eyes in the carved ____________________ skulls were said to be

____________________ that could reveal the future.

4. Mrs. Winchester had an ____________________ of $1,000 a day.

5. Some people claim the skulls have ____________________ powers.

6. Mrs. Winchester’s fortune had ____________________ by the time of her death.

7. Scientists had learned about Coelacanths by studying ____________________.

8. How many other unknown fish ____________________ the ocean?

9. The house, designed as a ____________________ to confuse vengeful spirits,

is now a historic ____________________.

— BOOK 4

VOCABULARY

D A F M O P L S D X M L

W Q U T I B A H N I A A

I L K A S E D C F R Z N

N C A R E I X C U T E D

D Q S P I R I T S O N M

L X U L I M A O I C D A

E P G A P N H E B N L R

D M O E R S C X L O C K

P F B E I T E O C F L T

E G P J S S Z K M R I O

M U H A M I D C B E P R

S S L I S S O F D C W L


NAME _____________________________

DATE _____________________________

— BOOK 4

WORKING WITH WORDS

(BOOK PAGES 5–76)

1. Find and write six words on the first page of “The Salem Witch-Hunt” thatrhyme with the words below.

_____________ / bleach ______________ / dreamed _____________ / pearls

_____________ / troop ______________ / sports _____________ / rhymes

2. Find and write the five compound words that appear on the first and secondpages of “The Supervolcano in Our Own Backyard.” (Hint: A compound word,such as barnyard, is made by combining two shorter words.)

_____________________ _____________________ _____________________

_____________________ _____________________

3. Find and write seven proper nouns that appear on the first page of “Is an African Tribe Connected to a Distant Star?” (Hint: A proper noun,such as Grand Avenue, names a particular person, place, or thing.)

_____________________ _____________________ _____________________

_____________________ _____________________

_____________________ _____________________

4. Find and write six homophones that appear on the first and second pages of“The Madman and the Dictionary.” (Hint: Homophones are words, such as lieand lye, that sound exactly alike but have different spellings and meanings.)

_____________ / male ______________ / inn _____________ / sew

_____________ / four ______________ / won _____________ / grate

5. Find and write four words that appear on the second page of “Soldiers WhoRefused to Surrender” that match the definitions below.

____________________: false information used to support particular ideasor beliefs

____________________: a person who is not a member of the armed forces

____________________: part of a small group of fighters who are not members of a regular army

____________________: brief fights between small groups, usually as part of a battle


NAME _____________________________

DATE _____________________________

(BOOK PAGES 5–23)

A. Circle a letter to complete the sentence or answer the question.

1. Fred Demara served in which branch of the service?

a. Army b. Marines c. Navy

2. Dr. James Barry got ahead in life by making

a. no mistakes.b. powerful friends.c. a lot of money.

3. Russia’s royal family was deposed when the ___ came to power.

a. aristocratsb. Bolsheviksc. Romanoffs


B. Write T or F to show whether each statement is true or false.

1. _____ Boxer Charley Mitchell feared that the Corbett fight would attract criminals.

2. _____ Felix Carvajal competed in the 1904 Olympic Games.

3. _____ A horse named Royal Student finished the race last.

4. _____ The fight for the U.S. Heavyweight Championship took place in 1894.

5. _____ One after another, the Sea Lions began to foul out.

6. _____ Horses must jump hedges and ditches in a steeplechase race.

7. _____ The Cuban postal worker walked and hitchhiked 700 miles toSt. Louis.

— BOOK 5


4. ___ samples were used to positively identify the royal family.

a. Bloodb. DNAc. H2O

5. Fred Demara pretended to be Dr. Cecil Hamann and

a. Eric Hopkins.b. Ben W. Jones.c. Lewis Haskell.

6. The biggest surprise was that Dr. Barry was a

a. bricklayer.b. clever thief.c. woman.


NAME _____________________________

DATE _____________________________


A. Circle a word or words from the stories to complete each sentence.

1. Both the Titanic and the ( Futility / Titan ) were about 800 feet long.

2. Linda Morgan was called “the miracle girl” because she

( prevented / survived ) the wreck of the Andrea Doria.

3. The discoverers of King Tut’s tomb were surprised that it

( had not / had ) been looted by robbers.

4. Howard Carter’s pet canary was eaten by a ( cat / cobra ).

5. In 1912, the Titanic sank in the ( Atlantic / Pacific ) Ocean.

6. The Andrea Doria had ( plenty of / not enough ) lifeboats to hold

all the passengers.


B. Unscramble the words from the stories to complete the sentences.

1. No SILSOFS ____________________ have been found to help prove

Bigfoot’s existence.

2. A newspaper once sponsored a hunt for the RESTNOM ____________________

nicknamed “Nessie.”

3. The RONCERO ____________________ reported that the visitor to

Berkeley Square had been “frightened to death.”

4. The house at 50 Berkeley Square is now a ROOTSKOBE

____________________.

5. The Tower of London has been used as a prison, a mint, a zoo, and a

RYEURATS ____________________.

6. Like Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard was DEETECUX ____________________

in the Tower.

— BOOK 5



NAME _____________________________

DATE _____________________________



ACROSS

4. Nostradamus wrote his book in several ___.

6. These days, Uri Geller livesin a comfortable ___.

7. The British said that Centuriespredicted a victory for the ___.

8. Nostradamus’s pills containedsawdust from ___ trees.

DOWN

1. Two Englishmen ___ that they’d made crop circles.

2. Are crop circles a ___ createdby pranksters?

3. Uri Geller’s thoughts have bent ___ and stopped clocks!

B. Find one or more errors in each sentence. Then rewrite the sentence correctly on the lines below.

1. More than 40 crop circles have been seen in more than 5,000 countries.

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

2. Why are the stalks of grain in crop circles broken but never bent?

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

3. In 1969, Uri Geller met the prime minister of India.

_________________________________________________________________________

4. Geller used his powers to search for spies and criminals.

_________________________________________________________________________

5. At school, Nostradamus studied to be a fortune teller.

_________________________________________________________________________

— BOOK 5


1 2

3

4

5

6

7

8

C HM

L

RM

A

C

5. European ___ listened closelyto Nostradamus’s predictions.

6. How is Uri Geller able to exertmind over ___?


NAME _____________________________

DATE _____________________________

(BOOK PAGES 5–23)


ACROSS

1. Fred Demara claimed that he’dworked as a ___.

3. Dr. Barry complained about poor conditions in ___ colonies.

6. After faking his own death,Demara changed his ___.

7. The young woman said the ___ was her grandmother.

8. When the navy realized Demara’s story was ___, he was dismissed.

DOWN

1. Dr. Barry helped soldiers suffering 4. For the Russian ___, Anastasia from fever and ___. was a link to the past.

2. At the Cape of Good Hope, Dr. Barry 5. In 1970, Demara became thewas appointed colonial ___ inspector. ___ at a Washington church.


B. Circle or unscramble words from the stories to complete each sentence.

— BOOK 5

VOCABULARY

1. The Marquis of Queensbury rules were meant to help BONGIX____________________ clean up its ( arenas / image ).

2. The Knights were leading the Sea Lions, their ( rivals / rooters ),by 15 STINOP ____________________.

3. ECKOJY ____________________ Mick Morrissey plopped down on Royal Student’s ( tail / saddle ).

4. Felix Carvajal’s ( duty / dream ) was to compete in the OlympicNOTHARAM ____________________.

1

2

3 4 5

6

7

8

CM

L E M

I

E

F

5. So many players ( struck / fouled ) out, there were only three men on the CENBH____________________.

6. Corbett knocked out his opponent in the third URDON ____________________ to win the ( lightweight /heavyweight ) championship.

7. ( Governor / Sheriff ) Mitchellthreatened to call in the stateITILMIA ____________________.



ACROSS

4. The ___ of the Stockholmrammed into the Andrea Doria.

5. Howard Carter led the ___ toKing Tut’s tomb.

7. The discovery of the tomb seemed to be accompanied by bad ___.

9. People kept looking for proofof the mummy’s ___.

DOWN

1. The Englishmen feared that Tut’s tomb had been ___.

2. When the disaster struck,Linda was asleep in her ___.


B. Unscramble or circle the words from the stories that complete the sentences.

1. Sasquatch appears to be half LAMIAN ____________________ and half

( human / monster ).

2. Catherine Howard frantically ran down a ( stairway / corridor ) in the

Tower of NODLON ____________________.

3. Many believe that GOIFTOB ____________________ roams the Pacific

( Southwest / Northwest ).

4. The fuzzy photo showed a huge ( airborne / aquatic ) LITEPER ______________.

5. NORAS _____________ uses ( smell / sound ) to detect underwater objects.

6. In Berkeley Square, a ( duchess / maid ) supposedly went

SINEAN _____________ in her bedroom.

L CA

B

E T

ML

C


NAME _____________________________

DATE _____________________________

— BOOK 5

VOCABULARY

1 2

3

4

5 6

7

8

9

3. Because they believed in the ___,Egyptians buried the dead’sbelongings along with them.

6. Tut’s ___ had four chambers.

8. Tom Deal played softball on a ___Chicago team.


NAME _____________________________

DATE _____________________________



___ FANTASY ___ MAZES

___ PATTERN ___ FEATS

___ CELEBRITY ___ DEMONS

___ PRANKSTERS ___ ACRES

___ PROPAGANDA ___ PSYCHIC

___ PREDICTIONS ___ CROP


1. Some ____________________ circles are in the form of spinning wheels

or ____________________.

2. As a boy, Uri Geller created a ____________________ world.

3. Because of his ____________________ powers, Geller soon became a

____________________.

4. The ____________________ of Nostradamus were collected in a book.

5. Nostradamus’s writings were used as Nazi ____________________.

6. Some thought that ____________________ had created the crop circle’s

____________________.

7. Nostradamus was arrested for joking about ____________________.

8. One crop circle was spread over 11 ____________________ of wheat.

9. Geller was invited to demonstrate his amazing ____________________

on television.

— BOOK 5

VOCABULARY

H A C R T S D L B E D O

K E W L O E A C F Z S P

C R O P M V I E B N K J

E S D O A H A P O L M Y

F C N K C T B I L A E T

A S O Y S Q T G Z H P I

N E S D L C S E R C A R

T P H K I A S W R E S B

A S D D M O P N O N D E

S R E T S K N A R P G L

Y R C H E S D R T Y U E

P R O P A G A N D A M C


NAME _____________________________

DATE _____________________________

(BOOK PAGES 5–75)

1. Turn to the first page of “Two Terrible Shipwrecks.” Then find and write the adjectives that describe the following nouns. (Hint: An adjective is a word,such as red or big, that describes a noun or pronoun.)

____________________ oceanliners ____________________ compartments

____________________ ship ____________________ novel

____________________ water __________ and __________ passengers

2. Find and write the four four-syllable words that appear on the first page of “The Man of Many Faces.” (Hint: A syllable is a single sounding of the voice. Forexample, the word moon is a one-syllable word; moonlight is a two-syllable word.)

_________________________________ _________________________________

_________________________________ _________________________________

3. Find and circle the correct spellings of words found on the first page of“The Battle Over Boxing.”

athaletic / athletic / atheletic sherrif / sheriff / sherriff

governor / govenor / govener citazens / sitisens / citizens

4. Find and write the proper nouns found on the first page of “Monsters.”(Hint: A proper noun, such as Joe Smith or Trump Tower, names a particular person, place, or thing.)

THREE NAMES FORA HAIRY, PART-ANIMAL,

THREE COUNTRIES THREE STATES PART-HUMAN CREATURE

______________________ ______________________ ______________________

______________________ ______________________ ______________________

______________________ ______________________ ______________________

5. Find and write the four words on the first page of “King Tut’s Curse” thatmatch the definitions below.

____________________: ancient pictures or symbols used to stand for words

____________________: one who studies ancient things and people by diggingup their remains

____________________: journeys made to explore a place for a particularreason

____________________: the title of ancient Egypt’s rulers

— BOOK 5

WORKING WITH WORDS


NAME _____________________________

DATE _____________________________

1. Do you believe that some spirits of the dead still roam the earth? Have you orsomeone you know ever seen or felt the presence of such a spirit? When andwhere did his occur? Describe what happened.

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

2. Why do you think some places are said to be haunted or in some other waymysterious? Name an example of one such place and suggest a possibleexplanation.

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

3. Have you or anyone you know ever had a dream or vision of an event thateventually happened? If so, describe the dream. If not, give two reasons whysomeone might invent such a story.

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

4. Some of the world’s “strange but true” stories are based on incrediblecoincidences. Example: Two of our Founding Fathers, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, died on the same day. Tell about an “against all odds”coincidence that you’ve read about or personally experienced.

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

5. Do you believe that some people are gifted with extrasensory perception(ESP)? Have you known or read about someone who had this “sixth sense”?What could this person do that ordinary people can’t?

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

— GENERIC EXERCISES

PERSONALIZING THE READING EXPERIENCE I


NAME _____________________________

DATE _____________________________

—GENERIC EXERCISES

PERSONALIZING THE READING EXPERIENCE II

6. What’s your opinion of unidentified flying objects (UFOs)? People all aroundthe world claim to have seen them. Use your imagination. Write twodescriptive sentences about the aliens and their spacecraft.

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

7. For what purpose or purposes might creatures from outer space want to visit Earth? Do you think human beings should welcome such visitors or fight them off? Explain your reasoning.

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

8. Some psychics and fortune tellers have become famous for predicting futureevents. Would you want to know what lies ahead in your own life? Give onereason you’d like to know and one reason you wouldn’t.

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

9. Many “strange but true” stories are about events that happened in the distantpast. What tools do you think modern scientists could use to disprove some ofthese stories? Give two examples.

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

10. Describe the scariest monster you ever read about or saw in a movie or on TV.Give two details that made this creature especially frightening.

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________


NAME _____________________________

DATE _____________________________

Suppose you’re a copywriter at anadvertising firm. You’ve been assignedto write two or three interest-grabbingparagraphs to appear on the backcover of this book.

Your boss is depending on you! Shesays that bookstore customers oftenread the back cover descriptions ofseveral books before deciding whichone to buy.

How can you make this book sound like the most exciting book in the store?

Write your paragraphs on the linesbelow. (Hints: Choose colorfuladjectives to describe key people and events. Try to “hook” the customer by asking a question that can only be answered by reading the book!)


CREATIVE WRITING I

BOOK TITLE: __________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________


NAME _____________________________

DATE _____________________________

A. Write interesting new titles for any three stories in this book.

OLD TITLE NEW TITLE

1. __________________________________ __________________________________

2. __________________________________ __________________________________

3. __________________________________ __________________________________

B. Think about the main characters in two stories you liked. Write a short paragraphcomparing and contrasting these characters. Use precise, colorful words to describetheir similarities and differences.

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

C. Imagine that you’re a newspaper reporter. You’ve been assigned to “cover” an amazing event described in one of the stories you just read. First, write a headline for your article. Then tell what happened, using as much detail as possible. Feel free to invent any additional information you need to fill out your story. If you need moreroom, write on the back of this sheet.

HEADLINE: ________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________


CREATIVE WRITING II


NAME _____________________________

DATE _____________________________

A. List 12 words from this book that were unfamiliar to you.

________________________________ ________________________________

________________________________ ________________________________

________________________________ ________________________________

________________________________ ________________________________

________________________________ ________________________________

________________________________ ________________________________

B. Now demonstrate your understanding of each word’s meaning by using it in an original sentence.

1. _______________________________________________________________________

2. _______________________________________________________________________

3. _______________________________________________________________________

4. _______________________________________________________________________

5. _______________________________________________________________________

6. _______________________________________________________________________

7. _______________________________________________________________________

8. _______________________________________________________________________

9. _______________________________________________________________________

10. _______________________________________________________________________

11. _______________________________________________________________________

12. _______________________________________________________________________


VOCABULARY STUDY


NAME _____________________________

DATE _____________________________

Choose one of the longer stories in any of the books. Then list six story events in theorder in which they occurred. Next, cut out the six boxes below and exchange themwith a classmate. Finally, take your classmate’s work and arrange his/her boxes in the correct sequence of events. When you’re finished, check each other’s work.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.


SEQUENCING A STORY

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Documents

Strange but True Teacher Resource Guide (Strange But True)