edHelper.com

Small Sparrows

---

Small Sparrows
Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 4 to 5
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	4.52

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		helping, life-changing, outcome, transplant, appreciation, medical, teaching, marrow, leukemia, schools, family, exchange, news, bills, often, career
	content words:		Jeff Leeland, Sparrow Clubs USA, Sparrow Clubs, Sparrow Club, Clubs USA

---

Print Small Sparrows

Print Small Sparrows  (font options, pick words for additional puzzles, and more)

Quickly Print - PDF format

	Quickly Print: PDF (2 columns per page)
	Quickly Print: PDF (full page)

Quickly Print - HTML format

Quickly Print: HTML

Proofreading Activity

Print a proofreading activity

---

Feedback on Small Sparrows

Leave your feedback on Small Sparrows  (use this link if you found an error in the story)

---

Small Sparrows By Jody Williams

---

¹     In 1992, Jeff Leeland and his family found out life-changing news. Their fourth child became sick. He was diagnosed with leukemia. He did not have long to live. He needed a bone marrow transplant. Jeff and his wife could not afford the expensive surgery. Jeff was a teacher at the time.
 
²     Word spread around school that his child might die without this surgery. One day a student named Dameon walked into Jeff's office. His mom was with him. Dameon was a kid who did not fit in very well at school. He was often made fun of by others. He was in Jeff's special P.E. class. Dameon handed Jeff 12 five dollar bills. It was all he had in his savings account. Dameon faced his own struggles. That did not matter because all Dameon wanted to do was help. Jeff hugged him. He told him how much he appreciated him. Dameon left that office that day feeling like he could conquer the world. He knew he made a difference.
 
³     The news of Dameon's kindness was heard by many. The principal at Jeff's school started a savings account with the money that Dameon gave. That money was the seed to a huge outcome. Other students donated to the account. People in the community gave. Businesses donated. One person generously gave ten thousand dollars. The account grew from Dameon's seed of sixty dollars to over two hundred thousand dollars. That was more than enough for the transplant. Today, Jeff's son is a happy and healthy teenager. Dameon became a hero. Eight years after the transplant, Dameon became ill and passed away.

Paragraphs 4 to 6:
For the complete story with questions: click here for printable

---

Weekly Reading Books

Create Weekly Reading Books Prepare for an entire week at once!

---

More Activities, Lesson Plans, and Worksheets

Back to School Graphic Organizers Alphabet Worksheets Sight Words Math Worksheets Mazes 50 States Monthly Themes January February March April May June July August September October November December

Fractions Place Value Time and Calendar Money Earth Day Solar System Analogies Nouns Following Directions Listening Capitalization Cursive Writing Patterns and Sequencing Dinosaurs All About Me Kindergarten First Grade Second Grade Third Grade Fourth Grade Fifth Grade Sixth Grade

Multiplication Division Main Idea Cause and Effect Measurement Decimals Rounding Order of Operations Verbs Community Helpers Adjectives Plants Grammar Addition and Subtraction Contractions Bulletin Board Ideas Word Searches Crossword Puzzles Printable Puzzles Reading Comprehension Reading Skills English Language Arts

Copyright © 2011 edHelper