¹     School was nearly over for the year, but Mr. Johnson wanted his second grade class to make a flag to take home and put up on Flag Day. "The flag is a symbol of the United States. It represents a lot of things about our country. Does anyone know the date for Flag Day?" Mr. Johnson asked the class.
 
²     Rosemary raised her hand first. "Is Flag Day the same thing as Memorial Day?" she asked.
 
³     "No, it's not, Rosemary, but we celebrate Memorial Day by hanging out flags, too," said Mr. Johnson.
 
⁴     Felix raised his hand next. "I think Flag Day is sometime in June," he said.
 
⁵     "You're right, Felix. Flag Day is June 14 every year. How many of you have a flag at home to put out on Flag Day?" Mr. Johnson asked the class. Only seven children raised their hands.
 
⁶     "Just as I thought," said Mr. Johnson. "Today, we are going to make a flag of the United States for you to take home. School will be out before Flag Day, but you will be able to put your own flag of the United States in a window at home to celebrate Flag Day," said Mr. Johnson. "I have all the materials ready so that each of you can make and take home a flag for Flag Day."
 
⁷     "Hooray!" shouted the class. Mr. Johnson passed out the white paper background first. Then he passed out strips of red paper. "We will put the stripes on first. How many stripes are on our flag?" he asked the class.
 
⁸     Lena raised her hand and then answered proudly, "Thirteen! We will need thirteen stripes in our flag. There are seven red and six white stripes," she said, looking up at the flag hanging beside the clock in the classroom.

Paragraphs 9 to 19:
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