¹     The children in Mrs. Ricco's class were excited. Today Mr. Lockman was coming back to their class. He had told them to think of things that made them feel afraid. They all had something to tell him.
 
²     "Good morning, little people!" Mr. Lockman said as he came into the room.
 
³     "I'm not little," Ernie said. "I'm as tall as . . ."
 
⁴     "A first grader," Michele finished. "Quit bragging, Ernie!"
 
⁵     Mr. Lockman smiled and said, "I was only teasing. So, have you been thinking about what makes you feel afraid?"
 
⁶     "I'm not afraid of anything," Abby said. "I can take care of myself!"
 
⁷     Mr. Lockman nodded. "So you aren't afraid of anything, Abby? I am afraid of snakes. Aren't you afraid of snakes?"
 
⁸     "No, I'm not," Abby said. "I told you that I'm not afraid of anything."
 
⁹     "Okay, then," Mr. Lockman said. "How about the rest of you? Did you think of anything that makes you feel afraid?"
 
¹⁰     "Well, I can tell you that I am afraid of spiders," Kathy said. "I don't like spiders at all, not one little bit!"
 
¹¹     "I'm afraid of getting into little spaces," Keith said. "It makes me feel like I can't breathe."
 
¹²     "Scary movies make me afraid," Josh said. "I get over being afraid, though."
 
¹³     "That's a good point," Mr. Lockman said. "Almost everyone is afraid sometimes. All kinds of different things can scare us. The good part, though, is that we get over being afraid. And even though we are afraid, we can still do the things we usually do."

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