Grade 3 RBI - Get Outta My Way!


Article


From Time for Kids, June 8, 1998

GET OUTTA MY WAY! I GOTTA GET TO SCHOOL!

      You think recess is every kid's favorite subject? Then you never met Carol Welborn's fourth-grade class. They love to be in class. Not one of her 16 students at Pine Forest Elementary in Vidor, Texas, missed a single one of the 176 days of school this year! Sure, some came down with the sniffles. One even got scratched up in a car accident. But all pleaded with their parents and managed to attend school!

     Could the cafeteria specials be that good? Actually, the kids were out to beat a record. At the start of the school year, Mrs. Welborn challenged her class to make perfect attendance. Another class at the school once went 50 straight days without one absence. For each stretch of perfect attendance, Mrs. Welborn offered field trips as a reward. Among the treats: a trip to the pizzeria, a day of bowling and a tour of the local TV station.

     When all 176 days were up, Vidor's mayor visited the school and presented the healthy class with a key to the city. The school awarded each kid with a medal, lunch at a Mexican restaurant, and pizza. Mrs. Welborn's extra reward? Her students' outstanding grades. "Every kid made honor roll!" she proudly announced.

Used with permission from TIME For Kids Magazine, copyright 1998.


Question


Why do you think the students in Mrs. Welborn’s class worked so hard to be in school every day? Use information from the article to support your answer.

Model Answer


     I think the students in Mrs. Welborn’s class worked so hard to be in school every day because they wanted to beat the record. The article said that Mrs. Welborn challenged her students to beat the record that another class had of not missing any school for 50 straight days. She wanted them to do better than that, and all of her students were in school for 176 straight days! Mrs. Welborn gave them treats along with way, such as field trips to the tv station and bowling. Some kids even got sniffles, but they came to school. At the end, they got a key to the city and pizza. But the best part of all is that they all made the honor roll. I would like to have been in that class. That is why I think the kids worked so hard to be in school every day.

Answer cues


Scoring Tool:

Score Point 2

The response reflects a clear understanding of the text, with three or more explicit text references and extensions.

Score Point 1

The response reflects a clear understanding of the text, with two or more explicit text references and extensions.

Score Point 0


Note
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Cam Miller
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Stephen Decatur Middle School
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