Strength is a Strength

Strength is a Strength

Strength is a Strength
Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 3 to 4
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	3.4

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		brainstorm, generally, readily, easily, fell, valuable, lumbered, accept, onto, however, crashed, doing, unique, among, twice, longer
	content words:		His Mom, When Arti

Print Strength is a Strength
edHelper.com subscriber options:

	Print Strength is a Strength (font options, pick words for additional puzzles, and more)
	Quickly print reading comprehension
	Print a proofreading activity

Feedback on Strength is a Strength

Leave your feedback on Strength is a Strength (use this link if you found an error in the story)

Strength is a Strength
By Beth Beutler

¹     "I'm just too big." Arti the Argentinosaurus cried. "I'm fat! I can't move fast. I feel big and dumb." Arti lumbered off to his home, feeling very sorry for himself. His team had come in last—again—at the dinosaur's relay race. He was the last runner, and all the other dinosaurs easily passed him. As he walked away, he heard the others whispering among themselves. "I wish he was faster," one said. "Yes, if he wasn't so big, he could speed up!" said another.

²     "Why do I have to be so fat?" Arti thought.

³     Arti's other friends were large and weighty too. However, truth be told, Arti was bigger than them all. He was the largest dinosaur of his time. If you weighed twenty elephants at the same time, that would match Arti's weight!

⁴     Most of Arti's weight came from muscle. However, because he was so big and he was also the youngest, he was often the last picked for the team. His friends generally wanted a fast teammate, not a strong one. It wasn't a logical way to think, and it hurt Arti's feelings—a lot.

⁵     Arti's mom and pop noticed how down Arti was when he came in the door. He went straight to his room without speaking to them.

⁶     "I'm worried about Arti," Mom said to Pop. "I don't know what to do to help him."

⁷     "I know what you mean," Pop answered. "I wish we could help him see how valuable he is. He may be big, but he sure is strong."

⁸     Mom and Pop began to brainstorm, which means to create several ideas. They wanted to figure out a way they could help Arti accept himself more readily. They thought about giving him a gift. They thought about writing him a letter. They thought about having his friends say nice things to him. They did not realize that soon, an opportunity would come that would take care of the problem on its own.

Paragraphs 9 to 22:
For the complete story with questions: click here for printable

Copyright © 2008 edHelper