5th/6th Reading Competition
The School Play Jennifer was in the fifth grade. She wanted to be an actress. However, her parents had moved from America to Taiwan. Jennifer struggled with the strange and difficult language. Jennifer looked different from her Taiwanese classmates. She had long, curly, blond hair. She had blue eyes and pale skin. One day her school was planning an English-speaking play. Jennifer decided to try out. She wanted to be the star of the play. English was something she was good at. It wasn’t a strange and difficult language. It was easy. Speaking English made her feel better. The play was about a quiet, little, green kangaroo named Ting. Ting was sad. All the brown kangaroos would tease her and call her “Frog”. They would say, “Frog, what color is the grass?” or “Frog, what color rhymes with bean?” One day a snake came to the playground. Ting hid under a small bush. The snake could see all the brown kangaroos. Ting could see the snake. Suddenly, the snake bit a brown kangaroo. Ting came up behind the snake, and whacked it on the head. The snake dropped the kangaroo and quickly slithered away. The brown kangaroos high-fived Ting! They learned color doesn’t matter. They were glad Ting was green and could hide in the bushes. © Taitung County English Teaching Resource Center (Reading Competition 2014) Authors: Eden Alvey, Matt Andrews, David Hays, Bridgett Kuhns, Adam Matz, Caleb Paul, Robert Pigott, and Stephen Woggon
5th/6th Reading Competition
Jennifer did not tell her family about the play. In her bedroom she practiced her lines, and whacked her stuffed snake. The English was so easy for her. She felt good about her chances. The day of the tryout came. Jennifer and other students tried out for the part of the green kangaroo, named Ting. Jennifer’s English was great! It was so much better than the other students the teacher said, “I’m making you the director!” Jennifer was a little sad. She was not the star, but she did get to use lots of English. She helped everyone with their lines. Everyone thought she was special. The play was a great success. Her family was proud of her when she was introduced as the director of the play. She no longer felt sad. She was very happy.
© Taitung County English Teaching Resource Center (Reading Competition 2014) Authors: Eden Alvey, Matt Andrews, David Hays, Bridgett Kuhns, Adam Matz, Caleb Paul, Robert Pigott, and Stephen Woggon