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My Grandmother's Hands

5th grade reading

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My Grandmother's Hands

My grandmother's hands are brown and wrinkled, like a map of rivers that have been flowing for eighty years. When I was small, I used to trace the lines with my finger and ask her where each one went. "This one," she would say, pointing to a deep crease across her palm, "goes back to the farm where I grew up, where I picked cotton until my fingers bled." Then she would point to a thin white scar on her thumb. "And this one leads to the night I learned to cook for eight brothers and sisters." Her hands have kneaded thousands of loaves of bread. They have stitched every quilt in our house and plaited my hair before every first day of school. They once caught my baby brother when he slipped from the top of the slide, faster than anyone thought an old woman could move. These days her hands shake a little when she holds her teacup. Sometimes she drops a stitch and has to start a row again. But when she takes my hands in hers, they are still the strongest hands I know.

  1. Question 1

    Read "My Grandmother's Hands". The narrator compares Grandmother's hands to "a map of rivers". What does this suggest?

    • A. The lines on her hands tell the story of her long life.
    • B. She likes to travel.
    • C. Her hands are covered in ink.
    • D. Her hands are always wet.

  2. Question 2

    Read "My Grandmother's Hands". From whose point of view is the text written?

    • A. the grandchild, in the first person
    • B. the grandmother, in the first person
    • C. a narrator who is not in the story
    • D. the baby brother

  3. Question 3

    Read "My Grandmother's Hands". How did Grandmother get the scar on her thumb?

    • A. picking cotton
    • B. stitching a quilt
    • C. catching the baby
    • D. learning to cook for her brothers and sisters

  4. Question 4

    Read "My Grandmother's Hands". What does the story about the slide show about Grandmother?

    • A. She was frightened of slides.
    • B. She was quick and protective when it mattered.
    • C. She did not like the baby.
    • D. She was always slow.

  5. Question 5

    Read "My Grandmother's Hands". What is the main message of the final paragraph?

    • A. Although she is growing weaker, her love and strength remain.
    • B. Her hands are now useless.
    • C. Old people should stop sewing.
    • D. The narrator is angry with her grandmother.

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Answer key: My Grandmother's Hands

  1. 1. A. The lines on her hands tell the story of her long life.

  2. 2. A. the grandchild, in the first person

  3. 3. D. learning to cook for her brothers and sisters

  4. 4. B. She was quick and protective when it mattered.

  5. 5. A. Although she is growing weaker, her love and strength remain.