Building Reading Practice

Excerpt from The Book: "Brushing is No Fun!"

When Robert woke up, He began to play with Jim, his dog. “There’s something you should do first!” said Ruth, his big sister. “BRUSH YOUR TEETH!”“I don’t want to brush my teeth! Jim doesn’t brush his teeth!” “Animals take care of their teeth too, but in other ways! We must brush our teeth to keep germs away!” “Germs are very tiny creatures that you cannot see. If you don’t brush properly, they stay in your mouth and hurt you!”“Ouch!” “YES! That’s why we must take good care of our teeth by brushing twice a day - morning and night!” “But brushing is no fun!” “I’ll tell you a secret,"Mom called out, “It’s breakfast time!” “There’s something we should do first!” said Ruth. “WASH OUR HANDS!”“But Jimmy never washes his hands!” Ruth smiled, “Jim doesn’t use his hands or paws to eat as we do! We must wash our hands with soap to get rid of germs.” “Germs are EVERYWHERE!”Ruth covered her mouth with her hands as she sneezed. “Don't do that! My teacher says that we should not sneeze into our hands!" said Robert. “Why?” “Because when we sneeze into our hands, germs stick to them. If we don’t wash our hands, we spread germs and make others sick!”Later Ruth showed Robert the proper way to wash hands. “Wash your hands, then rub some soap on them, The back of the hands and between the fingers. Scrub hands for twenty seconds! Now, it’s time to wash and dry!”When they came back home after playing, she said, “There is something we should do first!” “TAKE A BATH!” “Mom, don’t you know that germs are everywhere? We can’t see them, but they stay on our skin and clothes!” “That’s why we must wash ourselves every day” “to get rid of them!""Start by washing yourself with water,” said Mom. “Then apply soap all over!” they added. “Then it’s time to dry with a clean towel!” “SUPERCLEAN!.”“Do you want to listen to a story?” asked Dad. “There’s something we should do first!” reminded Ruth. “Clean UP!” “Remember you couldn’t find your ball the other day? Putting things away in the proper place makes it easy to find them later!”“You both are so smart!” said Dad proudly. “Bedtime!” A few minutes later, Mom and Dad heard a familiar tune. “So that’s your secret!” said Dad. “Humming a song to make brushing fun!”“And while washing our hands too!” “That’s a great idea!” said Mom. Robert and Ruth enjoy taking care of themselves. Now make up your secret song and sing it when you have to do boring things!