A Paper Surprise

Keep reading to learn more about Aunt Suki’s interesting hobby.

1 Emi and Ken were sitting on the floor of the guest bedroom talking to their aunt. Their parents had gone out for the evening, and they were trying to decide if they should rent a movie, play a game, or make Aunt Suki’s special chocolate-chunk oatmeal cookies.

2 “What are those, Aunt Suki?” asked Emi, pointing to two brightly-colored paper animals sitting on top of the dresser.

3 “Last night, I couldn’t sleep, probably because I was still adjusting to the time difference between California and New Jersey,” replied Aunt Suki. “I was rummaging through my suitcase, looking for a book or a crossword puzzle, when I found my origami papers. ”

4 “Origami is paper folding, right?” asked Ken.

5 Aunt Suki nodded. “There is more to it than that, though. The nature of origami appeals to many people. You must concentrate when you do origami, but it doesn’t require a great deal of thought.

6 “In a way, it reminds me of counting. Once you know your numbers, counting is a simple task. But when you are counting a large number of things, you must concentrate or you will lose your place. Counting isn’t as productive, or nearly as enjoyable, as origami, though,” Aunt Suki added, smiling and showing the dimple in her right cheek.

7 Emi reached up and touched the small indentation on her aunt’s face. “Mom has one just like it,” she said.

8 “I know,” said Aunt Suki. “Your mother’s dimple is in her left cheek, and mine is in my right cheek. When we were little, we used to pretend it meant that we were twins. 9 Emi and Ken grinned. They liked the idea of their mother and Aunt Suki as little girls, pretending to be twins. “Does Mom know how to do origami?” asked Ken.

10 Aunt Suki shook her head. “Even though we grew up in Japan, I didn’t learn origami until I moved to the United States. Your mother has mentioned that it is a tradition she would like to learn one day, so I thought I might give her a few lessons while I’m here. ”

11 “Can you give us a few lessons, too?” asked Emi. She cupped the delicate origami bird gently in her hand. “I can’t believe you made this just by folding paper.

12 “Of course,” said Aunt Suki. “I’d love to. ” She gestured to the bird in Emi’s hands. “Pull his tail gently. ” When Emi did, the bird’s wings flapped up and down. Emi looked amazed.

13 “When can we start?” asked Ken, pulling the origami frog from the dresser to examine it more closely.

14 Aunt Suki shrugged. “Whenever you’d like.

15 “You can teach us first,” suggested Emi, “and we’ll help you teach Mom. We’ll be passing the tradition up instead of down. ”

16 Aunt Suki smiled again, showing her dimple. “I think your mom will love the surprise,” she said.

Spectrum Reading Grade 6

132

Mark each sentence below F if it is in first-person point of view and T if it is in third-person point of view.

1. _____ Can we rent a movie tonight?

2. _____ I moved to the United States when I was 19 years old.

3. _____ Ken examined the origami frog.

4. _____ I find origami to be a relaxing hobby.

5. _____ Emi and Ken liked hearing stories about their mother as a little girl.

6. How is Aunt Suki related to Emi and Ken’s mother?

7. Where did Aunt Suki grow up?

8. What does Emi mean when she says they’ll pass the tradition “up instead of down”?

9. What does Aunt Suki do when she can’t sleep?

10. What feature do Aunt Suki and her sister share?

11. What purpose would a reader have for reading this selection?

to learn

to form an opinion

for entertainment

12. What word in paragraph 7 means “a dent”?

13. How are counting and origami similar?

Spectrum Reading Grade 6

133