Homework
Reading Comprehension Activity
Elena loves school, but she also loves to play with her little sister at home. She has never had a homework assignment before – until today. How will she cope? Students will read the passage and answer follow-up questions about on the story details and the plot.
Topic(s): Realistic Fiction. Skill(s): Summary, Story Elements. Genre(s): Prose
Click for the passage & questions on one printable PDF.
Elena loved school. She woke up early every morning and ate her breakfast quickly so she would never be late. Kindergarten was fun!
Elena also loved to play with her baby sister after school. Maria slept late because she was little, so Elena had to wait until the afternoon to see her. After school, Elena and Maria had a snack together. Then Elena would put on a puppet show for Maria. Sometimes they would look at books or play with blocks. If it was a sunny day, the two sisters would take a walk outside with Mami.
One day, Mr. Chang said to the class, “Today is a special day. We will have our first homework assignment.”
All of the students sat up. Elena raised her hand. “What is homework?”
“Homework is work that you do at home. I will give you a paper with questions on it, and you will write the answers at home. Bring it back tomorrow and we will talk about the right answers together,” answered Mr. Chang.
Elena took the paper. It had five math problems on it. It looked like the same numbers they were practicing in class, but Elena felt nervous. She had never had homework before. What if it took all day to finish, and she couldn’t play with Maria before bedtime?
When Elena got home, Mami saw that she was frowning. “What’s wrong, Elena?”
“I have homework. I don’t like it!” Elena cried.
“Let’s look at the problems together,” Mami said.
Elena took out her worksheet and a pencil. She answered the first two math problems quickly.
“That didn’t take too long,” Mami said. “I’ll bring you a snack while you finish the rest. Maria is still asleep, so you will be able to play together soon.”
Elena worked on her numbers. She used her fingers to count when the numbers got too big. Before she knew it, all the problems on the paper were done.
Mami brought Maria to the table for her snack. Elena was happy to be able to play. Her first homework was done, and she still had time to spend with her sister.
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