The Clay Marble

Reading Check and Short Answer questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

CHAPTERS 1-4

Reading Check

1. What noise does Dara hear at the opening of the novel?

2. Who did the Communist soldiers say were bombing the Cambodians?

3. How did the Khmer Rouge regime refer to the country of Cambodia?

4. What vehicle do the children in the camp run after?

5. What is the primary food distributed in the camp?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Compare and contrast Dara and her family’s previous living conditions to her current one. Where are they going?

2. Summarize the end of the Khmer Rouge regime. Which political party took over?

3. Describe Dara and her family’s observations of Nong Chan. Is this camp how they expected it to be? Why or why not?

4. Who befriends Dara and her family? What do their new friends continually assure Dara about?

5. Who does Dara observe speaking softly together? Why does Jantu tell her to stop listening and what feeling does Dara realize she has?

Paired Resources

“Nong Chan, Refugee Camp”

• This is the International Red Cross (ICRC) archive’s collection of pictures of the refugee camp.