Excerpt
THOMAS EDISON
He was a man with many ideas. He also believed in the saying "If at first you don't succeed, try, try, again." That's why Thomas Edison became one of the greatest American inventors. He kept on trying out his ideas until they worked. Sometimes he failed over and over again, but he never gave up.
Edison invented over a thousand things. He did many experiments with electricity and sound. Two of his most famous inventions were the lightbulb and the phonograph. The first words recorded on his phonograph were "Mary had a little lamb."
One thing Edison proved was that inventing is hard work!
Questions:
1- What was Thomas Edison's nationality
2- What did Edison do when his ideas failed?
3- How many inventions are credited to Edison?
4- Which inventions uses electricity: a pencil, a zipper, or a lightbulb?
5- What were the first words ever recorded on a phonograph?
6- How would you describe Thomas Edison?
7- What does this saying mean: "If at first you don't succeed, try, try, again"?
Answers:
1- American
2- He tried again
3- over a thousand
4- a lightbulb
5- "Mary had a little lamb."
6- He was a hard worker.
7- When an idea doesn't work at first, you should keep trying until you succeed.
Questions:
1- What six letter word do you see in all these words: invention, inventing, inventor?
2- Spell the word that ends this line of poetry: "Mary had a little..."
3- Find the nouns: "He was a man with many ideas."
4- What sound does "o-u" make in words like "thousand" and "sound"
5- Find the opposite of "succeed": try, fail, prove, work.
6- Which word comes first in a dictionary: lightbulb, experiment, sound, phonograph?
7- Make a list of things you wish could be invented.
Answers:
1-invent
2- l-a-m-b (lamb)
3- man, ideas
4- o-w (Genius Point!)
5- fail
6- experiment (followed by lightbulb, phonograph, sound)
7- Is there something you might like to invent yourself?
Excerpted from BRAIN QUEST 2nd GRADE READING. Copyright (c) 2000 by Workman Publishing Co., Inc., and Groupe Play Bac, S.A. Reprinted with permission by Workman Publishing Co. All rights reserved.