At the beginning of the story, Mrs. Smith is very upset that she must teach kindergarten this year. She is worried that she won’t know how to treat the young students. At the end of the story, Mrs. Smith is sad that she won’t be teaching kindergarten next year, because this was the best school year she’s ever had. Mrs. Smith is

In this story, the bus driver’s name is Al. The reader knows his name, and that he drives the bus every day. Al doesn’t participate in the plot other than driving the bus. Al is likely

Keith must find a way to earn $100 before the end of the month if he wants to go on an expensive field trip at school. His brother, who is jealous of him, tries to thwart his efforts to earn money. Keith is most likely the

Money Mark was born rich. He never had to work a day in his life and he got everything handed to him on a silver platter. When he was six, Money Mark wanted to go to a basketball game. His father paid the starting five of the Bulls and Celtics to play a private game of Nerf-ball in Money Mark’s bedroom. When Money Mark turned thirteen, he wanted to start a band. His father hired the Rolling Stones to play with him every Saturday at the family’s private concert hall, though his family was never there. By the time he was twenty-one, Money Mark was bored with life. He was surrounded by a bunch of possessions that he didn’t appreciate and Money Mark could find nothing new or exciting in his life. Despite his vast wealth, Money Mark never found happiness. Penny Petal was born poor. Her family hardly had anything to eat, but they loved each other. Penny Petal appreciated every thing she got. When she was six, her father walked her around the United Center before the Bulls played the Celtics. She was excited by the crazy fans and feeling in the air. She looked forward to the day that she could see a real game. When she was thirteen, she learned to play the buckets. She was an extremely talented musician, a natural percussionist, and everyone on the block loved the rhythms that poured from her palms. By the time she was twenty-one, Penny was a successful businesswoman. Now she had everything that she had ever dreamed of and she truly loved to share her wealth and happiness with her family who supported her through all of the hard times.

Tammy and Sammy were both students in Mr. Morton’s reading class. Mr. Morton wasn’t too strict about

deadlines, and Sammy took advantage of that. He did all of his homework in his other classes but never bothered

to complete Mr. Morton’s reading assignments, figuring that he could complete them later. Tammy, on the other

hand, completed each assignment Mr. Morton assigned the night that he assigned it. She had to stay up a little

later, but she didn’t want to get a penalty for turning in her reading work late. Tammy knew reading was a core

subject and that she had to keep “C” average for the entire year or she would have to go to summer school. When

the end of the quarter came, Tammy and Sammy had both planned on going to the Enchanted Castle amusement

park, but Mr. Morton called Sammy’s mother, and she grounded Sammy until he turned in all of his work. That

weekend was horrible for Sammy. He stayed up until 2:00 AM each night and still couldn’t complete all of the

assignments. The whole while, Tammy had a great time eating pizza at Enchanted Castle, watching movies late

at night, and enjoying her weekend free of stress and pressure. At the end of the quarter, Sammy was lucky to

squeak by with a “C” minus in reading while Tammy earned an “A.” Sammy still hasn’t learned his lesson and

probably won’t complete this activity either