Dinosaurs Before Dark
by Mary Pope Osborne
Grades 2-5; Genre - Historical Fiction with Fantastical Elements; GRL M; AR pts: 1.0
Jack and Annie find a magic tree house that takes them to the place and time of the dinosaurs. They encounter different kinds of dinosaurs including a Tyrannosaurus rex and find a gold medallion with the letter M engraved on it.
Vocabulary
Writing Prompts
Comprehension Questions
Chapter 1
- Why did Jack get frustrated with Annie? he likes real stuff and she likes to pretend p. 1
- What did Annie find up in the tree when she ran into the woods? tree house with a rope ladder p. 3
- What was in the tree house? books p. 5
- Why was Jack excited about books being in the tree house? he loves books p. 5
Chapter 2
- What did the Pennsylvania book have a picture of? Frog Creek and the woods Jack and Annie were in p. 8
- What book did Jack find a Pteranodon in? dinosaur book p. 8
- What appeared out the window of the tree house when Jack wished he could see a Pteranodon? a real live Pteranodon p. 9
- What happened to the tree house after Jack said these words? the wind began to blow and it spun faster and faster p. 12
Chapter 3
- How did Jack find out where they had landed? read it in the book p. 15
- Why was it so hard for Jack to believe they had landed in a time 65 million years ago? it's impossible, doesn't seem real p. 17
- Did Annie have a hard time believing it? no p. 17
Chapter 4
- How did the Pteranodon feel when the children touched him? soft, like a dog p. 19
- Why did Jack take notes like a scientist? first people to ever see a Pteranodon, he liked to do research p. 19
- Why did Annie talk to Henry? she thought he understood her p. 22
Chapter 5
- What finally convinced Jack that they were in a time long ago? seeing the dinosaur p. 25
- What kind of dinosaur did they see? Triceratops p. 25
- What did the Triceratops do when Annie fell in front of the dinosaur? looked at her calmly then ran away p. 29
- What did Jack find in the grass? a gold medallion with the letter M on it p. 32
Chapter 6
- How did the Antosaurus respond when Annie went up to a nest of babies? honked at her and waved her arms p. 36
- How did Annie get away from the dinosaur? crawled, crouched and pretended to chew p. 37
- Why was that Antosaurus the only mama with all of the babies? the other moms were hunting for food p. 39
- Why did the Antosaurus stop eating flowers and run to the babies? T-rex was coming p. 42
Chapter 7
- Where did Jack and Annie run to hide from the T-rex? tree house p. 43
- What did Jack leave on the hill and want to go back and get? his backpack and the dinosaur book p. 45
- Why do you think the Antosaurus' all came back to their nests? fear of the t-rex, honking from the Antosaurus that scared Annie, p. 45
- What was blocking Jack when he tried to get back to the tree house? T-rex p. 46
Chapter 8
- What did Jack decide to do when he realized he couldn't outrun the T-rex? wait for it to leave p. 49
- What did Annie do to help her brother? tell the Pteranodon to come get him p. 52
- What did the T-rex do when he heard Jack yell at Annie? come after Jack p. 52
Chapter 9
- How did the Pteranodon save Jack? flew him away from the T-rex p. 55
- What was Jack feeling as he rode on the Pteranodon's back? it was a miracle, laughed, happy, whooped p. 56
- Why did Jack need to hurry up to the tree house when he landed? the T-rex was running for him p. 58
- Why did Jack need to find the Pennsylvania book? it would get them out of there and take them to Frog Creek p. 60
Chapter 10
- Who was calling for Jack and Annie when they got home? their mom p. 61
- How much time had passed in the real world from the time Jack and Annie left on their adventure to the time they got back? none p. 61
- Why didn't the children think they could tell anyone about the tree house or their adventure? no one would believe them p. 67
- What did Jack have from the adventure that helped him know their adventure was real? the medallion p. 68
I just wanted to tell you, I absolutely love your website. I have recommended it to multiple people. Thank you.
Pingback: February 8–12, 2016 | Oh Happy Daze
Pingback: February 23-26, 2016 | Oh Happy Daze
Pingback: February 29 – March 4, 2016 | Oh Happy Daze
Pingback: March 7-11, 2016 | Oh Happy Daze