An Unexpected Chat

"Stick this in his hair," said Brian as he handed Jake a clump of Fun Dough. Jake held the colorful lump in his hand and considered his situation: he didn't want to make things harder for the new kid, but he was happy that Brian wasn't picking on him and it felt good to be a part of something. So Jake stuck the Fun Dough in the new kid's hair, whereupon the new kid saddened and asked Jake why he did it. Jake could not respond to this and Brian laughed as Jake was sent to the office.  

Jake sat stiffly in front of Principal Griffin's desk while the large man chastised him. Mr. Griffin blustered, hawed, and threatened Jake with expulsion, but when everything was said and done all Jake received was an after school detention. Throughout the day Jake felt vaguely bad about what had happened with the new kid, but his mood improved when he saw Brian in detention. 

Detention passed quickly for Jake as he and Brian exchanged inappropriate notes. Many of these notes contained mean messages about the teacher who was monitoring them. They compared him to a slew of farm animals and insulted his habits. Then Jake tried to talk with Brian about Death Soldiers IV, a new game that Jake had been playing. Brian discouraged Jake’s interest by calling him a nerd. Then Brian ordered Jake to procure a carton of eggs from his home so that they could "egg that chicken new kid tomorrow." Jake knew that Brian would have him do the egging, but he nodded in assent anyway.

After the period of silent captivity ended, Brian raced home. He erased the various messages left by school personnel about the day's events from his mother’s answering machine, and then he grabbed a carton of eggs from out of the fridge and wrapped it in a towel before sliding it into his backpack. He sat down on the couch to play the new Death Soldiers IV game before his mom came home. 

While playing Death Soldiers IV online, Jake and his friend Morph joined a group of local players. The game hadn't started yet and the players were talking to each other in the lobby when Jake heard a familiar voice. "...And I had to get a haircut to get this gunk out of my hair and now I look really stupid." Jake recognized the voice as that of the new kid at his school. The new kid went on, "It's just really hard because I thought the kid who did it was a pretty cool kid. He had a DS IV shirt on and everything. I mean, it would just be nice to have one cool friend at this lame school." 

Jake was moved by the new kid’s words. He turned off the game and took a deep breath. He remembered all of the times that Brian had picked on him and made him feel bad. He thought about how Brian had gotten him in trouble today and would do the same thing tomorrow. Then he thought about how Brian didn’t even like video games, and he realized that he didn't want to be like Brian. Jake took the carton of eggs out of his backpack and put them back into the fridge.  Then he grabbed his limited edition Death Soldiers IV hat and put it in his bag.    

Jake got to school early that day and waited by the bike rack. A bus parked and a line of students exited. Brian was in the back of the line. He walked over and leaned on the bike rack next to Jake. Smirking, he asked him, "Did you bring it?" Jake nodded. Brian snickered and walked over by Emily and began whispering. Brian’s face was full of restlessness and mischief. 

Finally the new kid showed up on his bike. He had a new haircut and he sneered at Jake. Jake looked at him with sincerity. "I'm sorry about yesterday." The new kid huffed. "Yeah, ok." Brian watched the interaction with great interest.  Jake continued, "No, really, it must be hard being new. I don’t know what came over me yesterday. I want you to have this as a peace offering…" Jake pulled the Death Soldiers IV hat from his bag and handed it to the new kid. The kid's face brightened immediately.  Jake looked over and saw Brian’s crinkled face. Emily giggled.  The new kid looked at Jake and replied excitedly, "This is the limited edition version! Can I have it for keepsies?" Jake nodded. As the new kid rattled on to Jake about hidden weapons and secret locations in Death Soldiers IV, Jake knew that he had made the right choice.
								      Name: ___________________________
An Unexpected Chat - Reading Skill Sheet

1. Author’s Purpose:	 entertain			inform				persuade
Why did the author write this?
2. Genre: ____________________________ Subgenre: ______________________________
Ex: Nonfiction, fiction, or folklore			 Ex: Autobiography, science fiction, fable, informational writing, etc.

3. Narrator’s Point of View: ______________________________________________________
1st-person, 2nd-person, 3rd-person objective, 3rd-person limited, or 3rd-person omniscient

4 & 5. Summarize the text: 
Five key events from beginning, middle, & end.

 

	

6. Exposition

A. Setting:_______________________________________________________________________
When and where does the story take place? 	
B. Conflict: ___________________________________________________________________
Describe the conflict in the story.
 
7. Rising Action: List some events that occur before the climax.

1. _________________________________________________________________________

2. _________________________________________________________________________

3. _________________________________________________________________________ 

Climax: 
The turning point

Falling Action: List some events that occur after the climax.

1. _________________________________________________________________________

2. _________________________________________________________________________

Resolution: 
When the conflict is solved