Theme Reading Passages

“I don’t want a new baby brother!” whined Kim.

“Honey, you don’t have a choice. He will be here next

month,” mom said rubbing her big belly.

Kim couldn’t believe that she would have to be around a

loud, slobbery baby. Plus, the thought of sharing anything,

especially attention from her mom and dad, with a new baby

didn’t sound fun at all!

“You will be one of the most important people in his life!”

mom exclaimed. “He will need you to look out for him and to

teach him new things!”

“Hmm, I guess that’s true. I will be showing him a lot of

new things. Maybe it won’t be all that terrible having a little

rugrat running around here,” Kim replied with a sigh. “Just

don’t expect me to change his diapers!”

• Anger can help you take responsibility for your behavior.

• New babies are just loud and slobbery.

• Feeling important can help people accept change more easily.

• Having a sibling has its advantages.

• It's fun teaching your younger sibling new things.

Tags

CCSS.RL.5.2

CCSS.RL.5.9

CCSS.RL.6.2

CCSS.RL.7.2

CCSS.RL.8.2

Georgia decided to take a sewing class, but felt

very frustrated when she couldn’t sew a straight

line on the first day.

“This looks so easy, but it’s not! Clearly I’m

just terrible at sewing!” she complained.

Even though she felt frustrated, she continued

to go to class week after week. Each week, her

sewing instructor helped her. By the last week of

class, Georgia finally completed a project all by

herself! She created a rectangular pillow for her

bed... with four mostly perfect straight lines.

• Sewing is a very difficult skill to learn.

• It is almost impossible to create straight lines.

• If they really want to help, teachers should just do all the work.

• Perseverance pays off.

• If at first you don't succeed, try again.

Tags

CCSS.RL.5.2

CCSS.RL.5.9

CCSS.RL.6.2

CCSS.RL.7.2

CCSS.RL.8.2

One minute we were goofing around and having

fun and the next thing I knew, Hank’s body soared

over the top of the patio and suddenly his life was

in danger. With fingers grasped tightly on the

railing, he desperately cried for help. I watched his

grip slowly slip away and knew that a 40-foot

plunge to the ground could be disastrous. Without

stopping to consider my own safety, I jumped into

action.

My heart pounded through my chest and fear

pulsed through my veins as I clutched his hands and

pulled up as hard as I could.

• It takes courage to face dangerous situations.

• Hanging off a balcony can be dangerous sometimes.

• People should only play around inside.

• If you play rough, you should be more careful.

• Always do the right thing.

Tags

CCSS.RI.6.1

CCSS.RI.7.1

CCSS.RL.6.2

CCSS.RL.7.1

CCSS.RL.7.2

Even though Greg had been looking forward to his

best friend’s party for over a month, he knew his

grandma would really love to see him.

“It’s your choice, Greg. Grandma is really sick, but I

know you’ve been very excited about this party,” said his

mom.

Most of his class was planning on going to the party

and he knew it would be so much fun! After some

thought, though, Greg knew exactly what he was going to

do.

“It’s not like this is the last party that I’ll ever be

invited to and grandma would be so sad if I didn’t come,”

said Greg. “Plus, I always like making her smile.”

• Dreams come true when you go to parties.

• Helping family comes first.

• Spending time with grandparents is important.

• Trust in your friends and they will help you.

• Making others happy can be very rewarding.

Tags

CCSS.RL.5.2

CCSS.RL.5.9

CCSS.RL.6.2

CCSS.RL.7.2

CCSS.RL.8.2