Peggy and June
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Peggy and June are two frogs with very different skills. Peggy is worried that she will never catch up to June, but one day she learns that she has special talents of her own. Students will read the story and answer follow-up questions about character, plot, and theme.
Topic(s): Fairy Tales & Fables, Science Fiction / Fantasy. Skill(s): Theme, Summary, Character Traits. Genre(s): Prose
Today was the day of the big race, and every frog in the first grade at the Pond School wanted to win.
Peggy was not happy. She knew she couldn’t jump as far or as fast as the other frogs. Whenever she got excited, her feet twitched. When her feet twitched, they pushed her high up into the air. Peggy always jumped up instead of forward.
Her friend June was the same size as Peggy. Both were green frogs with yellow eyes and a tan belly. June’s legs were just a little longer. Peggy supposed that’s why June was so much faster.
“Are you ready to hop?” June asked Peggy. June was very excited.
“I guess,” said Peggy. But Peggy knew she would lose the race. She was happy that June would probably win, but sad for herself. It was hard to come in last place all the time.
Mr. Bullfrog made a loud sound. “On your marks! Get set! Hop!”
The frogs all began to jump as fast as they could toward the finish line. June jumped out in front, but Peggy was soon at the back of the pack. She was jumping very high, but that didn’t help her catch up. She slowed down and watched the other frogs hop away from her down the road.
Then Peggy heard a funny sound. She looked at the side of the road, where she saw a small bird. He was crying.
“What’s wrong?” Peggy asked.
“I fell out of my nest,” the bird cried. “I can’t get back up. It’s too high, and I can’t fly yet.”
Peggy looked up at the branch with the bird nest. It’s didn’t look very high to her. She hopped that high all the time.
“I can help,” said Peggy, “if you get on my back.”
The little bird sniffled. “Really?” He hopped on. “What next?”
“When I jump, hop off my back and back into your nest. You can do it!”
And they did. Peggy jumped very high, and the little bird was safely back with his brothers. They all cheered.
“Wow, Peggy! That is some great jumping!” June was hopping back down the road with a first place medal around her neck. “You can hop higher than anyone!”
Peggy smiled. The day turned out to be a good one after all, even if she didn’t have a medal of her own.
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