WHEN CROWBAR CAME

1. WHEN CROWBAR CAME • BY • CHERYL M. HAMILTON • GRADE 6 • From • The Tarantula in My Purse and 172 Other Wild Pets

2. SUMMARY • When Crowbar Came • The Craig family often took in wild animals in need of help. Many of these animals became pets. One pet was a crow the Craigs named Crowbar. Crowbar ate with them at the table, walked with the kids to the bus stop, and even picked up coins from the schoolyard and deposited them in the gutter of the bank building. After a few years, however, Crowbar migrated with other crows and was never seen again.

3. SKILL • Fact and Opinion • Statements of fact can be proved true or false. Facts can be proved by reading, observing, or asking an expert. • Statements of opinion are judgments or beliefs. Opinions cannot be proved true or false. • Sometimes statements express both a fact and an opinion.

4. WORDS TO KNOW • aggressive • detect • dubiously • frustration • imprinted • materialize • migration • secretive • tolerated

5. aggressive • taking the first step in an attack

6. detect • discover or find out

7. dubiously • uncertainly; filled with doubt

8. frustration • a feeling of helplessness or anger caused by failure

9. imprinted • learned as a baby animal to identify and follow a parent

10. materialize • appear or suddenly to be seen

11. migration • the act of going from one region to another with the change in seasons

12. secretive • having the habit of secrecy; not frank or open

13. tolerated allowed or permitted

14. Enjoy the story!