Yahaaa · Reading
Stories for the classroom
Short narratives that put vocabulary into a scene a learner can follow. 7,459 on the shelf, each with a discussion question.
-
Story RAZ Vocabulary L: Oil A Messy Resource
The Self-Powered Well: A Story of Energy and Determination
A resourceful oil well uses its own energy to clean up an oil spill, proving that determination is the best resource of all.
Talk about it 1. What was the problem in the story? 2. How did the oil well solve the problem? 3. What did the well learn from the experience? 4. Why was determination important in this story? 5. Can you think of a time when you used your own energy to solve a problem?
Open reading -
Story RAZ Vocabulary L: Owls Overhead
Benny and Sammy's Mysterious Adventure
A prey animal and his squirrel companion find food and fun with a mysterious jester in the forest.
Talk about it 1. What do you think the jester's true intentions were? 2. Why did Benny and Sammy agree to be the jester's prey? 3. How did Benny and Sammy feel when they found out the jester was feeding them all along? 4. Do you think other animals in the forest would have agreed to be the jester's prey? Why or why not? 5. How do you think Benny and Sammy's relationship with the jester changed after their adventure?
Open reading -
Story RAZ Vocabulary L: Plant Defenses
Prickles the Protector
A friendly porcupine named Prickles uses his sharp prickles to protect his animal friends from a poisonous fluid found in a bush by becoming the protector of the forest.
Talk about it 1. Why did Prickles roll in the bush with thorns? 2. What did Prickles do to help his sick friends? 3. How did Prickles become the hero of the forest? 4. What is the main message of the story? 5. Do you think Prickles would have done the same thing if he wasn't friendly?
Open reading -
Story RAZ Vocabulary L: Sending Messages
The Laughter Revolution: The Tale of the Instant Signal Language
A group of creatures develop the "Instant Signal Language" for faster communication, but end up using it for sending silly messages for joy and laughter.
Talk about it 1. What was the problem the creatures had before they developed the Instant Signal Language? 2. Why did Max start sending silly messages using ISL? 3. How did the creatures feel after they started using ISL for funny messages? 4. What is the moral of the story? 5. Can you think of a funny message you would send to your friends using ISL?
Open reading -
Story RAZ Vocabulary L: Shoes Around the World
The Babouche Adventurers
7 friends embark on a journey to find the world's most unique shoes, eventually discovering the beautiful and intricate babouches in Morocco.
Talk about it 1. What were the 7 friends looking for in their journey? 2. What did they find in each country they visited? 3. Why did they all agree that the babouches were the most beautiful shoes they had ever seen? 4. What did they name themselves after finding the babouches?
Open reading -
Story RAZ Vocabulary L: Sign Language and Hand Talk
Sign Language Adventure: A Tale of Inspiration and Communication
A curious prince learns sign language to help animals communicate and throws a signing party to celebrate their newfound ability to communicate.
Talk about it 1. Why did Prince Max learn sign language? 2. Who taught Prince Max sign language? 3. How did Prince Max teach the animals to sign? 4. What was the outcome of Prince Max teaching the animals sign language? 5. Who was proud of Prince Max's accomplishment?
Open reading -
Story RAZ Vocabulary L: Smelly Clyde
Porky's Refreshing Change: A Smelly Adventure
Porky the pig learns to embrace his clean and refreshed self after breaking his habit of rolling in mud mixed with manure.
Talk about it 1. Why did Porky smell so awful? 2. How did Porky feel before he changed his habit? 3. What did Porky do to become refreshed and content? 4. How did Porky react when he fell into manure again? 5. What lesson did Porky learn?
Open reading -
Story RAZ Vocabulary L: The 100th Day Project
Toony's Creative Adventure: The Story of the Flying Ice Cream Unicorn
A curious little character named Toony creates the coolest object ever, a flying unicorn that dispenses ice cream, through his imaginative brainstorming.
Talk about it 1. What did Toony find when he was playing with the grid? 2. What was the message hidden inside the grid about? 3. What did Toony create using his imagination and creativity? 4. What was everyone's reaction to Toony's creation? 5. Who was known as the king of brainstorming after Toony's creative adventure?
Open reading -
Story RAZ Vocabulary L: The Igloo
The Grizzly Bear's Rainbow Party
A grizzly bear living in an igloo in the Arctic is surprised to be invited to a colorful party thrown by his new animal peers, who lift his spirits and turn a grumpy walrus into a friend with a chip.
Talk about it 1. What made the grizzly bear in the igloo feel lonely? 2. How did the animals surprise the grizzly bear? 3. Why was the walrus grumpy? 4. What changed the walrus' mood? 5. What is the message of the story?
Open reading -
Story RAZ Vocabulary L: The Tinosaur
The Triceratops and the Lumberjack: An Adventure in the Glacier Land
A lumberjack named Harry befriends a Triceratops dinosaur and goes on adventures in a glacier land.
Talk about it 1. What was unusual about the creature Harry discovered in the forest? 2. What did Harry and Tri build with the lumber? 3. How did Harry and Tri outsmart the hunters? 4. What did Harry realize about Triceratops at the end of the story? 5. Would you like to go on an adventure like Harry and Tri's? Why or why not?
Open reading -
Story RAZ Vocabulary L: Two Thanksgivings
Benny's Harvest Adventure
An explorer named Benny discovers a village's tradition of celebrating the harvest with a big feast, which becomes famous and attracts visitors from all over the world.
Talk about it 1. What is the name of the explorer in the story? 2. Why was Benny curious about the village's tradition? 3. How did the settlers celebrate the harvest? 4. Why did people from all over the world start to come to the village? 5. What made Benny feel happy and fulfilled?
Open reading -
Story RAZ Vocabulary L: Valentines Day
George the Grizzly's Valentine Breakfast Adventure
George the Grizzly goes on a Valentine's Day adventure with his suitcase and breakfast to surprise his girlfriend.
Talk about it 1. Who is George and what does he love to do? 2. What was George's surprise for Valentine's Day? 3. What did George notice on his way to his girlfriend's house? 4. What made George laugh on his way? 5. How did his girlfriend react when she saw him with breakfast?
Open reading -
Story RAZ Vocabulary L: Wonderful Winter
The Grumpy Man's Snowshoeing Adventure
A grumpy man goes on a snowshoeing adventure and has a fantastic time, changing his perspective on life.
Talk about it 1. Why was Mr. Smith grumpy in the beginning of the story? 2. Who suggested that Mr. Smith should go snowshoeing? 3. How did Mr. Smith feel about snowshoeing at first? 4. What happened to Mr. Smith when he went on the snowshoeing adventure? 5. How did Mr. Smith change after the snowshoeing adventure?
Open reading -
Story RAZ Vocabulary L: Woods of Wonder
Skipper the Protector: A Forest Adventure
A tiny endangered creature named Skipper and his friends work to protect their forest home by replanting cut-down trees and preserving it for future generations.
Talk about it 1. What did Skipper learn about the definition of "protect"? 2. What did Skipper and his friends do to protect their forest home? 3. Why was Skipper happy at the end of the story? 4. How did Skipper's actions impact the future of the forest?
Open reading -
Story RAZ Vocabulary L: World Holidays
Luna and the Holiday Traditions
Luna learns about and celebrates Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Chinese New Year and makes it a tradition to celebrate every holiday with her diverse friends.
Talk about it 1. What is the name of the little girl in the story? 2. What did Luna and her friends do on Christmas day? 3. Can you name a few holidays that Luna and her friends celebrated? 4. What did Luna learn about holiday traditions? 5. How did Luna feel about celebrating different holidays with her friends?
Open reading -
Story RAZ Vocabulary M: Aesops Fables
The King's Lesson in Humility
A greedy king learns the value of humility through admiration for a humble farmer.
Talk about it 1. Why was the king jealous of the farmer? 2. How did the farmer respond to the king's flattery? 3. What did the king learn from the farmer about humility? 4. Why did the king become loved by all his subjects after his lesson in humility?
Open reading -
Story RAZ Vocabulary M: Art Around Us
Wanda the Weaver and the Magical Loom
Wanda, a weaver, creates a magical ceramic soft sculpture installation with the help of a special glaze and a magical loom, becoming famous in the village.
Talk about it 1. What is the main character's name in the story? 2. What is Wanda's creation? 3. How does Wanda make her creation shine? 4. How does the village react to Wanda's creation?
Open reading -
Story RAZ Vocabulary M: Arthurs Bad News Day
The Diaper Ruined Day: An Incredible Adventure with a Gigantic Bear
A baby's ruined diaper leads to an incredible adventure with a gigantic bear who embraces the unexpected.
Talk about it 1. What did the baby think when his diaper was ruined? 2. How did the bear help the baby? 3. What did the baby learn from the experience? 4. How does embracing the unexpected lead to adventure?
Open reading -
Story RAZ Vocabulary M: Brad Needs a Budget
Jack the Budget Master: A Creative and Funny Tale of Allowance and Expense".
A little boy named Jack goes on a journey to an expensive kingdom, learns the value of budgeting and becomes the financial advisor, earning all the toys he wants.
Talk about it 1. What did Jack want and how did he try to get it? 2. What did the king give Jack for his budget? 3. How did Jack become known as the budget master in the kingdom? 4. Why did Jack take the job as the kingdom's financial advisor? 5. What did Jack learn about money in the end?
Open reading -
Story RAZ Vocabulary M: Can I Vote
The Little Squirrel Who Became President
A small squirrel named Sammy wins the election for president and becomes a responsible leader for all the animals in the land.
Talk about it 1. What did Sammy promise to the animals before he was elected? 2. Why did the other animals think Sammy couldn't be a good president? 3. What did Sammy do to show he was responsible enough to be president? 4. What did the animals learn from Sammy's presidency? 5. How do you think you can be responsible like Sammy?
Open reading -
Story RAZ Vocabulary M: Dogs at Work
The Three Amazing Guide Dogs: Max, Buddy, and Lucy
Max, Buddy and Lucy, once just a guard dog and assistance dog, become the town's best guide dogs after learning from a guide dog named Lucy, helping people and catching a criminal.
Talk about it 1. What did Max and Buddy learn from Lucy? 2. How did Max and Buddy become heroes in the stadium? 3. What was the role of therapy in the story? 4. How did Max and Buddy's friendship with Lucy change throughout the story?
Open reading -
Story RAZ Vocabulary M: Endangered Birds
The Great Auk and the Endangered Adventure
A great auk joins forces with a European albatross and a California condor to save the nearly extinct kakapo from a predator.
Talk about it 1. Why was the great auk feeling sad? 2. What did the great auk and the European albatross do to help the kakapo? 3. Who was the predator that threatened the kakapo? 4. How did the great auk, European albatross, and California condor defeat the predator? 5. What happened to the great auk, European albatross, and kakapo at the end of the story?
Open reading -
Story RAZ Vocabulary M: Firefighters
Blaze the Firefighter: A Skyscraper's Saviour.
A brave firefighter named Blaze saves a skyscraper from a fire by using a new fire extinguisher and fire-retardant material.
Talk about it 1. Why was Blaze called to the skyscraper? 2. What did Blaze do to prevent the fire from breaking out? 3. Was the fire-retardant material effective in putting out the fire? 4. How did the people in the building feel about Blaze's actions? 5. What was Blaze's reward for his bravery?
Open reading -
Story RAZ Vocabulary M: Frogs and Toads
The Adventures of Ratty the Rodent: A Field Guide Tale.
A field guide named Freddy follows a clever and nimble rodent named Ratty, observing his habits, habitats and ability to escape predators, and writes a book about his adventures.
Talk about it 1. How did Ratty escape predators? 2. What was Freddy's job as a field guide? 3. Why did Ratty become famous? 4. What was Ratty's secret to survival? 5. How did Ratty and Freddy become friends?
Open reading