Reading Standards for Literature > Describing How Point of View Shapes Narration (CCSS.RL.5.6) Practice Test

Coach Ramirez set out orange cones across the grass, and my stomach did a flip. Today was the fifth-grade relay, and I was the last runner. I kept telling myself not to drop the baton. From the bleachers, kids clapped, but all I could hear was my own breathing. When Hannah, our starter, lined up, she looked calm (at least I think so), but maybe she was just hiding it. I rubbed my palms on my shorts. What if I slow everyone down? The whistle shrieked. The first runners shot forward, and I bounced on my toes, trying to time my start. As the baton moved from hand to hand, it felt like the whole field shrank to the small square of track in front of me. When it finally flashed toward me, I reached out and prayed my grip would hold.

Maya pressed her forehead against the cool bus window as gray clouds piled over the town. She counted the coins in her pocket—enough for one umbrella at the corner shop. Her little brother patted the cracked lunchbox on his lap, pretending not to watch the sky. When the bus hissed to a stop, rain began in thick sheets. Maya darted inside the shop, scanned the rack, and chose a blue umbrella with tiny stars. She pictured the two of them huddling under it, stepping around puddles. Outside, people hurried, faces hidden under hoods. The clerk smiled and said something Maya didn't catch over the drumming rain. She squeezed the handle and wondered if the umbrella would be big enough for both of them. Her brother waited by the door, hopping from foot to foot, his shoes squeaking.