Second-Grade Friends (1)

Second-Grade Friends (1)

A Real Author was coming to talk to second grade about how to be a writer and have imagination.

Mrs.Rosebloom was going to put up their work in the hall, so the Real Author could see what good writers they were.

Everybody was writing and writing, except Jacob.

He put his head down on his desk, and started worrying.

" In second grade you have to be much smarter than in first grade. You have to work, work, work, every minute.
I can't do all this hard work !
In first grade I was happy all the time. "   

Franky was busy with something under his desk.
He grinned at Jacob.
He was holding a piece of paper, so it would make a firecracker noise when he pulled it open.
Franky never worried.

Gregory was writing a funny story.
He stopped and poked Jacob.
" Are you thinking again ? "

Gregory admired Jacob a lot. He was Jacob's real friend.
" Why don't you start writing, Jacob ? The Author is almost here, " said Gregory.

Jacob touched Suzy on her back just a teeny bit with his pencil eraser.
She turned around and stared at him through her new glasses.
" Stop that ! "

Jacob leaned over and whispered, " Hey, Nathan, you want to hear a good riddle ? "(riddle:謎なぞ)

Nathan looked annoyed.　" Jacob, I'm trying to work. "

" I don't know why the kids don't like me as much as they used to, " Jacob said to himself.
" Probably they won't even come to my birthday party. " 

Then he said to Franky.
" I wish I was still in first grade. "

" You are crazy ! " said Franky.

The twins LaToya and LaTanya stopped writing.
" The Real Author is coming, Jacob, " said LaToya.
" We're going to get his autograph," said LaTanya.

" You'd better hurry, Jacob, " they both said.
Then they put their heads down over their paper again.

(つづく　1/6)

Plus one
riddle:
(for example)
Q.
What is the first thing you do every morning?

A.
(×)I wash my face. I brush my teeth.
(normal):I woke up. or I opened my eyes.
(起きる、又は、目を開ける)
(joke):I dream a dream、I have a dream
（起きて、（将来を）夢見る）
I'm asleep.
(寝る)

タグ：やさしい英語 Second-Grade Friends

Second-Grade Friends (2)

Second-Grade Friends (2)

Jacob liked the yellow plastic airplanes, blue teddy bears, and red hearts holding all their little pigtails.

He was counting them when he saw Suzy looking at him through her glasses.
They made her eyes look very big and smart.

She shook her head, " Jacob, you're not working. It's important for a Real Author to meet you. "

" Oh, yes, " said Katy. " I just love a Real Author.
Once my aunt was shopping, and she saw a Real Author, and she ran after him to get his autograph.
But it was somebody else who wasn't even an author. 

Jacob said, " I would like to write a book. But it would take too long. Besides, I might get the writer's cramp. "

Mrs Rosebroom had told them how writers hands could pinch up from too much writing.

" Yeah, or a headache, " Gegory said. " Nathan's going to have a big headache. Look how much he wrote ! "

Nathan's story already went down two pages and halfway on another.

Jacob covered up his empty paper with his hand.

Mrs.Rosebroom told him, " Why don't you try a poem ? "

So Jacob decided to write one. Poem could be really short.

He looked up at ceiling. He drew pencil lines between the corduroy on his pants. Finally he thought of a poem.

" I like my teacher.
  She is nice.
  Because she isn't ..."

It was really hard to think of what would rhyme with "nice."
Then he thought of itー"pice."

" What is ' pice ' ? " LaToya and LaTanya asked.

" I don't know, but it rymes, " Jacob said.

Some of the kids laughed, because "pice" sounded so funny.

The Real Author is coming to see your work in a few minutes, " Mrs.Rosebroom told the class.

When Jacob heard Mrs.Rosebloom say that, he quickly chewed his poem into little pieces.
Then he dropped them in the gerbils' cage.

It was all right because gerbils have torn-up paper in the bottom of their cages anyway.

(つづく　2/6)

タグ：Second-Grade Friends

Second-Grade Friends (3)

Second-Grade Friends (3)

Honey was ready to read her story to the class.
She was the biggest and roundest and strongest kid in second grade.

She was also the nicest.
Honey liked everyone.
She always gave anybody who wanted one an extra-big cookie from her lunch.

" Class, Let's all be ready to help Honey with her story, " said Mrs.Rosebroom.
" Rememer, give your opinions in a kind way. "

Honey began.
" Once there was a cute little girl named Lou-Ann."
(That was Honey's real name. )
" She was the strongest in her whole class.
But her stepmother said,
" There  is a dance-ball, and you cannot go to it ! "
So she was crying in the kitchen.

Then a fairy jumped out of the microwave and said, " Come with me, and you will win a prize. "

Suzy whispered very loud to katy, " She is just copying Cinderella. "

The teacher said, " Lot of fairy tales use those ideas, Suzy. And writers always put some of themselves in their stories. "

Then she sat down next to Honey.

" Maybe you could try something that is not quite so much like cinderella. "

Mrs.Rosebroom turned around.
" Have you written anything yet, Jacob ? "

Jacob shook his head. He looked worried.

Katy told Jacob, 
" Once I didn't have any imagination, and I closed my eyes, and I got some. "

Jacob closed his eyes.

" What do you see ? " Everybody wanted to know.

" I see...beavers, " Jacob said.
Once he and his dad watched a TV special about beavers, and Jacob got very interested in them.
Every week he took out the same beaver book at libraly period.

" Beavers are boring, " Franky laughed.
" Jacob, you're wield ! "

" Why don't you write about 'My Fishing Trip with My Father’ ? "
said LaToya.

" I never went on a fishing trip with my father."
Jacob would have loved to go fishing, but his father wasn't really that kind of a father.

" Well, what do you do with your father ? " LaTanya said.

" Sometimes we read together on the sofa. He reads his newspaper, and I read my libraly book. "

" Well, what happens then ? "

" We just read, and breathe, " said Jacob.

(つづく　3/6)

Second-Grade Friends (4)

Second-Grade Frends (4)

" You should get your father to play some baseball with you, " said LaTanya.

” Like our does, " said LaToya.

Jacob didn't want to mention it, but his father didn't know how to play baseball.

Honey was getting bored working on her story.
She smiled at Jacob.

In kinderbarten, Honey used to put Jacob in the doll-buggy.
" I'm the mommy, and you're the baby, " she would say.
It made Jacob very embarrassed.

Mow, she came up behind him.
" Hey, lookat this ! I can pick up Jacob and his chair ! "

" Put me down ! " Jacob shouted.

Mrs.Roseloom hurried over.
" Honey ! You could hurt somebody doing that ! Put him down this minute. "

Honey went back to her seat and waved at Jacob.

Jacob was only mad at Honey because she liked you even when you were at mad her.

" My story is ready, " katy said.

It was about her Pinky Pony.
She really did have a Pinky Pony, just like the one on TV.

In the story, Pinky Pony found the rainbow with her little friends, rabbit, and Raggedy Ann, and " They all had a delicious party. "

(つづく　4/6) 

タグ：Second-Grade Friends やさしい英語

Socond-Grade Friends (5)

Second-Grade Friends (5)

" I wrote a space science fiction novel, " Nathan told the class.

" How many pages does it have ? " asked Mrs.Rosebloom.

" Ten, so far, " said Nathan.

" Wonderful ! " Mrs.Rosebloom said.
" But we won't have time to read it out loud now.
The Author will be here in just a few minutes.
Finish your work quickly, class ! "

But I didn't write anything ! " Jacob cried.

" Well, never mind, dear. you can hold the banner we made.
 It says, ' Welcome Author ! ' in such colorful letters. "

Jacob scuffed his sneaker on the floor.
He didn't answer.

The teacher patted him, and hurried into the hall to put up their stories.

Jacob was almost crying.
" I'm the only one with no imaginationー I'll probably grow up without any imagination ! "

" Don't make such a fuss, " said Suzy.
" You can still eat  and walk around. "

" Don't worry, " Honey told him.
" You want one of the cupcakes from my lunch ? "

Jacob shook his head.
" The Author won't even know I'm here ! He'll think I can't do anything ! "

" Well, tell him, " Gregory said.
" We'll tell him you can bend your thumb way back and touch your arm. You can show him. "

" Why don't you just write about something you're interested in ? " LaToya and LaTanya said.

" It's too late ! There's no time ! " Jacob cried.

Katy ran and got Jacob's pencil and paper.
Gregory and Franky sat him down at his desk, and pushed the pencil into his hand.

Suddenly Jacob began to write.
His ideas kept coming.
He almost couldn't write them down fast enough.

" That's the way, Jacob, " everybody cheered.
" Come on, Jacob ! "

The minute Jacob finished, Mrs.Rosebloom put up his story in the hall.

" He's coming ! "
Everybody ran to peek under the door.

(つづく　5/6)

タグ：やさしい英語 Second-Grade Friends