Keisha Smiles

Who is always one place ahead of Keisha in every list?

• Keisha’s sister

• Alice’s mom

• Keisha’s mom

• Alice

How does Keisha feel about Alice at the beginning of this text?

• She feels like Alice is perfect and very different from her.

• She feels like she and Alice have a lot in common.

• She feels like she has better notebooks than Alice does.

• She feels like Alice is nice but not good at sports.

Read the following sentences from the text.

“Later, in the cafeteria, Keisha and Alice worked on math problems together. Alice discovered that Keisha was not just a math whiz, but also got perfect marks on every weekly spelling test.

‘How do you do that?’ Alice wondered.

‘I work with my mom,’ Keisha explained. ‘I study the words by myself first, then mom quizzes me… till I know every single one.’”

What can you conclude about Keisha and her mom based on this information?

• Keisha doesn’t let her mom help her with her schoolwork most of the time.

• Keisha’s mom spends a lot of time helping Keisha do well in school.

• One way that Keisha likes to study is by quizzing her mom on the words.

• The first time that Keisha did well on a spelling test was a big deal for her.

How does Keisha’s attitude towards her mom change throughout this story?

• At the beginning, Keisha thinks her mom treats her like a baby, but by the end of the story she is grateful for all the ways that her mom helps her.

• At the beginning, Keisha is mad at her mom for making her study so much, but at the end of the story she understands why studying is important.

• At the beginning, Keisha is sad because her mom isn’t around very much, but at the end she is grateful for her mom.

• At the beginning, Keisha and her mom are mad at each other, but by the end of the story they are happy spending time together.

What is this text mostly about?

• By getting to know Alice better, Keisha sees that Alice isn’t perfect and she grows to appreciate the good things in her life, like how much her mom helps her.

• Keisha is really good at math, and math is an important skill to have, but she is worried about her spelling tests.

• Keisha and Alice are rivals at school because everything about them, like their hairstyles and their notebooks, are different.

• Keisha’s mom cooks food like spicy chicken soup, and she also helps Keisha study for her tests at school.