Part 3
Exploring deeper into the island, Elmer makes a surprising discovery: the trees grow in neat rows, and there is a little brook with skunk cabbages along its banks. Plants do not usually grow in such tidy lines by themselves, so Elmer realizes that people must once have lived here and planted them. He gathers tangerines and other refreshments to carry back to the worn-out dragon, all the while wondering who settled this lonely place and where they have gone.
| Focus | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Reading Clues | How Elmer infers that people once lived here |
| Science (Plants) | Why planted trees grow in neat rows |
| Geography | Signs that humans have settled a place |
| Chapter | Key Events |
|---|---|
| Ch.4 | Elmer finds neatly planted trees and a brook, and realizes humans once settled the island; he gathers food to help the dragon recover |
There are no wrong answers here — just think, guess, and talk:
- Elmer works out that people once lived on the island — without meeting a single person. What clues might tell you a place used to be somebody’s home?
- Why do plants growing in perfectly straight rows prove that someone planted them?
- Predict: if people once lived here and then left, what could have made them go — and are they truly gone?
This is an independent study guide created by Garden Heights Academy to support reading comprehension and literary analysis. It contains original analysis questions and does not reproduce any text from the novel. Elmer and the Dragon is a work by Ruth Stiles Gannett. This guide is not affiliated with, authorized by, or endorsed by the author or any associated rights holders. Students should read the original book, available from libraries and booksellers.
ⓘ The vocabulary words in this list are selected to help you understand and complete this workbook. Some may not appear verbatim in the original novel.
- He finds a brook with skunk cabbages along it.
- Elmer explores deeper into the green island.
- Elmer gathers food to take back to the dragon.
- He notices the trees grow in neat, orderly rows.
- He realizes people must once have settled here.
When explorers or scientists reach an empty place, they can often tell that people once lived there long ago, even with no one left to ask. They look for clues that nature could not have made on its own. Straight rows of trees are one of the strongest signs, because wild seeds fall at random and never grow in orderly lines — only a farmer plants an orchard that way. Other clues include the low remains of stone walls, broken pieces of pottery, flattened ground where buildings once stood, and fruit trees still bearing food far from any wild forest. Scientists who study these traces are called archaeologists, and they treat a site like a puzzle, reading each clue to reconstruct a vanished way of life. What they cannot learn from evidence alone is a person’s name or exact thoughts; those are lost. But from patient reading, a whole community can step back out of the silence, hundreds of years after its people are gone.
This writing task is optional and is not part of your auto-graded score. The feedback below checks only the basics — length, spelling, and grammar — not whether your ideas are right or wrong. It is meant for classroom discussion and creative practice, so feel free to use your imagination!
Writing Task — Part 3 “Signs of the Past”
Elmer finds clues that people once lived on the island. Imagine you discover an old, empty place — a cabin, a garden, or a ruin. Describe three clues you find and explain what you think happened to the people who lived there. Write at least 40 words.
No right or wrong — close the screen and tell someone nearby what happened in this part. Can’t find anyone? Tell yourself out loud. The moment you teach it, you truly understand it.
Part 3 Complete!
You finished Chapters 4 of Elmer and the Dragon.
Here are your auto-graded results:
The best last step is to teach it. In your own words, explain what happened — retell a favorite scene, teach a character’s big choice, or sum up the main idea for a parent, friend, or classmate. When you can teach it clearly, you truly own it.
Independent study guide by Garden Heights Academy. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the author or any rights holders. Contains original analysis only; no text from the novel is reproduced.