Where did the ball go?

Read-Along Story with Scaffolding · ELPAC Kindergarten reading. The correct answer, and the reasoning behind it.

The student follows along while the examiner reads a short story aloud, with pictures for support.

Sit with your child. Read the story aloud while your child follows along with your finger. Look at the three pictures together and talk about them. Then read each question and its three answers aloud.

Ana and the Red Ball

Ana had a red ball. She played with it at the park. The ball rolled under a bench. Ana could not reach it. A dog ran to the bench. The dog got the ball. The dog gave the ball to Ana. Ana was happy.

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Read panel descriptions

Picture one: Ana stands on the grass at a park. She holds a big red ball.

Picture two: the red ball sits under a long wooden bench. Ana is on her knees, reaching for it.

Picture three: a brown dog drops the ball into Ana's hands. Ana is smiling.

The question

Read the question and the three answers aloud to your child.

Where did the ball go?

• Aup a tree
• Bunder a benchCorrect answer
• Cin the water

Why “under a bench” is correct

This is straight recall of one event, which is where story comprehension starts at this age. If your child cannot answer, reread only the sentence about the ball rolling and point at the second picture. Getting the answer from the picture is fine — the real test puts pictures there for exactly this reason, and the examiner is allowed to help.

Why the other answers are wrong

• up a tree — There is no tree in the story. Children often pick a place a ball could believably end up instead of the one they heard.
• in the water — No water is mentioned. This is the kind of answer a child gives when they are picturing a park in general rather than this story.

Practice more of this

More reading practice for Kindergarten, or see the ELPAC practice test for kindergarten. For other grades, see free ELPAC practice tests by grade.