Fourth Grade
Worksheets
The Travels of the Hat, Part 4: Holiday Happenings
Hat Day
Reading Comprehension for January 15
"Please don't wear your hat at the table, dear," Mother said to Douglas. The family was sliding into their seats around a large oval table. A turkey, cooked to perfection, sat on a platter in front of them. Bowls of steaming potatoes, vegetables, and stuffing were scattered among the china place settings.
"Oh, why not, Mom?" Douglas whined.
"It's bad manners to wear a hat at dinner. Besides, it hides your eyes. Grandma wants to see your handsome blue eyes. Now, let's say grace."
"Yes, ma'am," Douglas said (although he didn't know why it made any difference). He reluctantly removed his hat and bowed his head.
Douglas and his family were in Asheville, North Carolina, for the holidays. They always traveled there for a big dinner with Douglas's grandmother and grandfather and several aunts, uncles, and cousins. Douglas really enjoyed these times. He couldn't wait to tell his cousins about the hat he'd found on the pier. He'd been wearing it practically every day since he had found it. Now it sat in his lap.
"Where'd you get the hat, Doug?" his grandfather asked as he began to scoop some mashed potatoes onto his plate. (Grandpa always called him Doug.)
Douglas told the story of finding the hat on the pier. He asked everyone to guess where he or she thought the hat might have come from.
"Maybe it came from West Virginia," his younger cousin Susan said.
"West Virginia? What makes you think that?" Dominic, another cousin, replied.
"It says Fly Fishing Is Fun. Inside the hat I see Charleston written very small."
An argument ensued about whether the hat had traveled from Charleston, West Virginia, or Charleston, South Carolina. Uncle Ken offered that since the hat was found in North Carolina, the current may have brought it up from Charleston, South Carolina.
