"Bridge to Terabithia" Oral Quiz and Answers

These are the questions that I asked my Tween when he finished reading "Bridge to Terabithia" by Katherine Paterson. The answers are in red, and can vary slightly.

1. Why did Jesse get up early every Summer morning? To practice running to be the fastest kid.


2. What was the most favorite thing that Jesse loved doing? Drawing


3. Why did Jesse like Fridays? Miss Edmunds, the music teacher, was wonderful.


4. Why did the boys stop running during recess? Because Leslie won all of the races she ran, and girls weren't even supposed to participate.


5. Who was Janice? A mean, big bully


6. What was Terabithia? A make-believe play-place where Leslie and Jesse went to play. It was in the woods.


7. What did Jesse get Leslie for Christmas? A free puppy named Prince Terrien. What did Leslie get Jesse? A box of watercolors with 24 tubes of color, 3 brushes and a pad of heavy art paper - paint or art supplies.


8. How did Leslie die? She tried to swing over the swollen river to get to Terabithia by herself, and the rope snapped, fell, and hit her head on a rock.


9. Why do you think it was so important for Jesse and Leslie to create Terabithia? Tween said" Because they wanted a place of their own. To get away from their nonsense." More details: Jesse had problems at home, where he wasn't listened to, ignored, and felt he had too much responsibility compared to his sisters. Leslie was new in town, away from her friends and what she was familiar with. Creating an imaginery land was a wonderful exercise for their imaginations and bodies, building it and so on.


10. What was your favorite part of the book? Tween answered: the creating of Terabithia.... it was cool to use their imagination.

Tween answered all but question number 3 correctly.

Education Catch-Up

We're working hard to get Tween caught up. He has struggled understanding the most basic of math questions until suddenly, last week, he did a math problem in his head. It even had a "carry" number in this double-digit addition problem. Didn't use his fingers to count! I was properly enthusiastic (are you kidding? I practically jumped up!). Now I have to carefully mosey on down the path of math. I need to make sure he keeps this surge of enthusiasm and understanding.

Meanwhile, we're a little behind with the videos to help with his self-confidence and stuttering. Friday was a hectic day, and yesterday (Monday) was my birthday so we played hooky as soon as his regular schoolwork was done. He finished the book "Bridge to Terabithia", did a unit in spelling, read his history assignment aloud, and did a unit in math.

Today he started reading "The Hobbit", read his science assignment aloud, did another unit in spelling and a timed unit in math which he wizzed through!

We'll do another video tomorrow, along with a quiz about Terabithia, history, math and spelling. I'm thinking he'll also help me plant some lettuce and orange carrots (his favorite) in our raised-bed garden!