MAAP ELA Grade 4 Practice Questions - MAAP English Language Arts - Grade 4 Exam

Ten-year-old Sam and his younger sister Lily stood at the edge of their backyard in Oxford, Mississippi, after a heavy summer downpour. The rain had transformed their lawn into a sea of red clay mud. 'Let's build the biggest mud fortress in Lafayette County!' Sam declared, grabbing two orange plastic buckets. Lily giggled and immediately began shoveling wet earth into mounds. As Sam dug near the base of the old oak tree, his metal trowel clinked against something hard. He pulled out a dirty, disk-shaped object wrapped in thick oilcloth. Wiping away the mud, they discovered a tarnished brass coin stamped with the year 1892 and the image of a river steamboat. Lily gasped, 'Do you think it belonged to a steamboat captain?' Sam stared at the shiny brass peeking through the grime. 'Maybe,' Sam said, his eyes wide. 'Or maybe it's the first clue to a century-old treasure.' What causes Sam to stop digging near the oak tree?