Simple Stories in English: The Receptionist

Season 1, episode 32

Latriz has a very important job. She is a receptionist in a clinic. The people who come to the clinic talk to her before they talk to the nurse or doctor. The people who call the clinic talk to her for guidance. Latriz needs to help them stay calm and get the help they need. Latriz’s job is very important.

This story includes a lot of dialogue and is told in the present tense. Important vocabulary in the story includes: appointment, card, fever, help, and I ask.

The Receptionist

Hello, my name is Latriz and I am a receptionist in a clinic. I like my job. I have the opportunity to help people in my community. I have conversations with many different people. Typically when people come to the clinic or call the clinic they are very stressed. It is my job to help.

On a typical day, I interact with people who come into the clinic. I also interact with people on the phone.

A man enters the clinic with his son.

“Hello, welcome to the clinic. Do you have an appointment?” I say.

“Yes,” the man responds. “My son has an appointment with doctor Krauss.” 

“What is the patient’s name?” I say.

“Jaime Lopez Flores.”

“Here it is. I only need a little information. Please fill out this paper,” I say and I give him a paper. “Can you show me your insurance or Medicaid card?”

The man takes the paper and gives me his insurance card. I check the information on the card with the information in the computer. I make a copy of the card. I return the card and the man gives me the paper.

“Thank you, sir. Now please wait in the waiting room.”

The man and his son go to the waiting room and I continue with my work. A woman calls on the phone.

“Hello, Grand River Clinic,” I say answering the phone.

“My daughter has been throwing up all night,” the woman on the phone says.

“Has she been able to drink anything?” I ask.

“No. Every time she drinks water, she vomits,” the woman says.

“Does your daughter have a fever?” I ask.

“Yes. She has a fever of 102 degrees,” the woman responds.

“Have you given her any medicine for the fever?” I ask.

“No, we don’t have anything at home,” the woman responds.

“Would you like to make an appointment with the doctor? We have an availability at three this afternoon,” I explain.

“Yes, please.” The woman gives me her information and her daughter’s information and I make an appointment for them at three in the afternoon.

“Okay, ma’am. I have an appointment made for three. Try to give your daughter water in small portions. See you at three.”

Immediately the phone rings. There is a panicking man on the phone.

“I need help. It’s my wife.”

“Calm down, sir. What is wrong with your wife?” I ask.

“She’s having contractions. She’s going to have a baby!” The man exclaims.

“How many minutes are there between her contractions?” I ask.

“Twelve minutes,” the man responds.

“Good, you have time. When there are only five minutes between contractions, you should come to the hospital.”

“Five minutes,” the man responds.

“Yes, five minutes. For now, you can prepare your things for the hospital. You will need a change of clothing for your wife and the baby.”

“Yes, my wife already has everything prepared.”

“Perfect. Then try to calm down. You can take a little walk because movement helps the process. If there are only five minutes between contractions or her contractions last more than a minute at a time, you should leave for the hospital,” I explain.

“Okay, ma’am. Thanks for your help,” the man comments. He is calmer now.

“You’re welcome. Everything will be okay,” I finish.

When I finish on the phone a woman enters with her older son. Her son is crying.

“Help!” The mother yells.

“Ma’am, how can I help you?” I say.

“My son was riding his bike when he fell. He cut his forehead and hurt his arm,” the mother explained. I see the cut on his head. It is bleeding a lot.

“This cut looks deep. When he fell, did he lose consciousness?” I ask.

“No, he never lost consciousness. But there was a lot of blood.”

“Head wounds bleed a lot, but he most likely needs stitches,” I explain.

“And his arm? Is it broken?” The woman asks.

“We’d have to take an x-ray to determine if it is broken,” I explain.

“Can you do that now?”

“No, not here, ma’am. We are a clinic. You need to go to the emergency room, but don’t worry because it is next to the clinic.”

“I have to admit my son to the hospital?” The woman asks with a little bit of panic.

“It is very probably that your son won’t need to spend the night in the hospital, but he needs to go to the emergency room for the stitches and x-ray. I am going to call the receptionist there and explain your situation,” I say.

The woman is calmer now. I give her directions to the emergency room and then I call the receptionist in the emergency room. I explain that a woman is coming with her child who possibly has a broken arm and a cut on his head.

I spend the rest of my day helping patients in person and over the phone. I like my work. I like helping people in my community. I need to know a lot of medical information to help people that call the clinic. The work of the doctors and nurses is important, but patients talk to me, the receptionist, first.

The End.

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You can download a printer-friendly PDF of this story.

Simple Stories in English: A Visit to the Dentist

Season 1, episode 31

Silvia loves sweets a bit too much. Her love of sugar catches up with her in the form of a toothache. Now she must visit the dentist. First, the hygienist takes x-rays and cleans up her teeth. Then the dentist comes in for a visit. One thing is for sure, Sylvia needs to take better care of her teeth!

This simple story is told in the present tense and focuses on the words “candy”, “teeth”, “gums”, “plaque”, “tartar” and “cavity”.

A Visit to the Dentist

There is a woman named Silvia. Silvia has a problem. Silvia likes to eat a lot of candy. She loves all sweet things. She likes milk chocolate and dark chocolate and white chocolate candy bars. She likes marshmallows. She likes gummy candy. She likes sweet desserts. She likes pastries and donuts. She likes cinnamon rolls and cake with cream and fruit.

Silvia has problems with control. When she wants something sweet, she goes to the candy store and buys a bag of candy. Then she eats the whole bag in less than an hour! Silvia needs to control herself because her addiction to sweets is causing health problems.

One day, Silvia eats a chocolate when her tooth hurts. The pain is intense. Silvia drinks a little water and tries to eat her chocolate again. When she bites the chocolate, her tooth hurts terribly. Silvia has a toothache and she needs to call the dentist.

Silvia doesn’t go to the dentist much. She knows that she needs to go every six months, but sometimes she doesn’t go to the dentist for a whole year. Silvia dials the dentist’s number and talks with the receptionist, Mark.

“Anderson Dental Office. This is Mark,” Mark says when he answers the phone.

“Hi, Mark, this is Silvia. I need to make an appointment with the dentist. I have a toothache,” Silvia says.

“You are lucky, Silvia. There was a cancellation and there is an appointment available for today at three,” Mark comments.

“Thanks, Mark. I will see you at three,” Silvia responds. Silvia is a little nervous. She believes that she has a cavity because her tooth hurts a lot.

Silvia goes to the dentist office. When she enters, she sees Mark.

“Hi Mark, I’m Silvia. I have an appointment for three o’clock.”

“Hi Silvia. Could you fill out this information sheet?” Mark says and he passes a paper and pen to Silvia.

Silvia takes the pen and paper and sits in the waiting room. The paper has basic information like her name, address, emergency names and numbers and her dental insurance information. Silvia fills in all the information and returns the paper to Mark. A little later, a woman enters the waiting room. 

“Silvia?” The woman asks.

“That’s me,” Silvia responds and stands.

“I’m Emma. I am your dental hygienist. Come with me, please,” the woman says. Silvia goes with Emma to a small room. In the room there is a special chair, a computer, and multiple dental instruments.

Silvia sits in the chair. Emma puts a heavy apron on Silvia. She moves a special machine close to Silvia’s cheek. 

“I’m going to take an x-ray,” Emma explains. “We need to see your teeth well to determine if you have a cavity.”

Emma takes x-rays of Silvia’s teeth. Then, she puts a paper dental bib on Silvia and she explains that she is going to clean her teeth well.

“Open your mouth, please,” Emma says. Silvia opens her mouth and Emma uses a small mirror to examine Silvia’s teeth and gums.

“Your gums look good. They are not inflamed. There is no evidence of gingivitis. But your teeth have problems. There is a lot of plaque and tartar on your teeth. I am going to take off the tartar,” Emma explains.

Silvia closes her eyes and thinks about her grocery shopping list while Emma takes the tartar off her teeth. It takes a long time to remove the tartar because Silvia has a lot of tartar buildup on her teeth due to all the sweets she eats.

Finally, Emma finishes removing the tartar from Silvia’s teeth. Then she uses an electric brush to clean the teeth and take off the rest of the tartar. Then she takes dental floss. Emma uses the dental floss to clean the space between the teeth. When Emma is satisfied with the teeth, she calls the dentist.

“Hi, Silvia. I am doctor Anderson,” the dentist introduces herself. “I understand that you have a toothache.”

“Yes. The pain is here,” Silvia says while she indicates the hurt tooth.

The dentist projects Silvia’s x-rays. There is a black mark in the tooth that hurts. There are other marks in other teeth too.

“You have some cavities, Silvia,” the dentist explains while pointing at the black marks. “There are five cavities. The have to make another appointment to fix the cavities. I need time to clean the cavities and fill them.”

Silvia is not happy she has five cavities, but she isn’t surprised either.

“I recommend that you eat fewer sweets and that you clean your teeth with toothpaste and dental floss every morning and night,” the dentist continues. “You need to take care of your teeth or you will have more serious dental problems.”

Silvia doesn’t want to have more serious problems. Her grandmother had dental problems. Now, her grandmother doesn’t have teeth. Silvia doesn’t want to be like her grandmother. She wants to have teeth when she is 60 years old.

Doctor Anderson leaves and Emma finishes her work by applying fluoride to Silvia’s teeth. The fluoride prevents cavities and Silvia doesn’t want more cavities – five is enough!

Finally, Silvia thanks Emma and walks to Mark to make an appointment for the fillings. When she goes home, Silvia wants to go to the candy store, but she decides that her teeth are more important than her sweet tooth.

The End.

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Simple Stories in English: The Car Accident

Season 1, episode 30

Luis just wants to dance the night away, but a car accident lands him in the emergency room with his date. Now, instead of salsa, he must deal with x-rays, stitches and a cast. What fun!

This simple story is told in the present tense and focuses on the words “crash”, “hurts/pains”, “neck”, “leg”, “arm”, “cast” and “neck brace”.

The Car Accident

Luis is a big, strong man. He is friendly and funny too. Luis has a lot of friends. He is especially popular with women because he is very handsome and he can dance. Luis dances the salsa and the tango. 

Luis uses the Tinder app to look for friendly, pretty women. One day Luis sees the photo of an especially fantastic woman. She is called Angela. Angela is tall and chubby. She is funny and friendly like Luis and she also has a lot of friends.

Luis makes a date with Angela. They go to a restaurant. In the restaurant Luis talks about work. He had a good day at work. Angela listens and cuts her steak. Angela is bored because Luis talks and talks and he doesn’t ask Angela any questions. She simply listens to Luis’s fantastic day. Angela wants to go home, but after eating Luis invites her to dance. Angela likes dancing a lot and she decides to give Luis another chance.

Angela and Luis go to a club in Luis’s car. Angela is very happy because she read on Tinder that Luis dances very well. They enter the club and Luis dances. He is incredible! Luis dances very well. But, Luis dances in a big group with a lot of women and men. He doesn’t dance with Angela. Angela is mad at Luis. She walks to Luis and says, “I want to go home.”

“What’s wrong?” Luis responds, confused.

“I want to go home,” Angela repeats.

Luis walks to his car with Angela. In the car, Angela puts on her seatbelt. Luis doesn’t put on his seatbelt. Luis starts the car and goes very fast through the streets of the city. He passes a park. There are some very pretty women in the park. Luis is distracted. He doesn’t see the road because he is looking at the pretty women. Angela looks at the road and she sees a small child. The small child runs after a dog in the street!

“Stop!” Angela yells. 

Luis sees the child at the last moment. He hits the brakes on the car and turns to the right because he doesn’t want to crash into a child or a dog. Luckily, Luis doesn’t crash into the child, but he does crash into a parked car. With the impact, Luis’s forehead hits the windshield. His arm and leg are also hurt. Angela hurts her neck with the impact.

Luis and Angela are hurt. They need medical help, but they can’t drive the car to the hospital. So, Angela calls an ambulance. The paramedics arrive in the ambulance and help Angela and Luis. They check their condition.

Angela doesn’t have many injuries. Her neck hurts so a paramedic gives her a neck brace. Angela can’t move her head well because the neck brace stabilizes her head. But Angela can walk and she walks to the ambulance.

Luis requires more attention than Angela because he has more injuries. The paramedic puts a bandage on the cut on Luis’s forehead. He puts a neck brace on Luis’s neck. Luis can’t walk because his leg hurts a lot, so the paramedics move Luis on a stretcher.

The ambulance goes to the emergency room at the hospital. In the emergency room a doctor examines Luis. The doctor is dark, short, and very intelligent.

“What happened?” The doctor asks.

“I was dancing the salsa, because I like to dance a lot, when Angela wanted to go home. On the way home, a child ran into the street. I like children and, because I am good, I didn’t want to crash into a child. I hit the brakes and crashed into a parked car. Some people think I am a hero because the child was perfectly fine,” Luis responds.

“What hurts?” The doctor asks. She is not affected by Luis’s exaggerated words.

“My head hurts a lot. My arm and leg hurt. And my heart hurts,” Luis says dramatically.

“Your heart hurts? That’s not good,” the doctor reacts.

“My heart hurts because you are so pretty, but I am here with another woman,” Luis says.

The doctor touches the cut on Luis’s forehead. “Ow!” Luis yells.

“The cut is very serious. It needs stitches,” the doctor says. She gives Luis a shot and then she gives him seven stitches to close the cut. Then she examines Luis’s arm and leg. They hurt Luis a lot

Luis goes to a special room. In the special room, a technician takes an x-ray of his arm. He doesn’t see anything special in the x-ray. Then the technician takes an x-ray of Luis’s leg. He sees a problem in Luis’s leg and talks to the doctor. The doctor talks to Luis.

“Sir, your leg is broken. You need a cast.”

“And my heart?” Luis asks dramatically. The doctor ignores Luis and examines Angela.

“What hurts?” She asks Angela.

“My neck hurts,” Angela responds.

The doctor examines Angela’s neck. It is not broken. The doctor gives her some pills for the pain and says Angela needs to use the neck brace for a few more days.

Another doctor arrives and puts a cast on Luis. The doctor is efficient and good. Luis is not happy with the cast. He wants to dance the salsa and the tango and he can’t with a cast. He can’t walk with the cast!

Luis sits in a wheelchair because he can’t walk due to his broken leg. Angela pushes the wheel chair for Luis because Luis’s arm hurts too.

Luis understands that his date with Angela was not the most fantastic date.

“I’m sorry about the accident,” Luis says to Angela.

“It’s okay, Luis. It was an accident,” Angela responds.

Angela and Luis pass a group of nurses. Luis looks at the nurses and says, “Hello beautiful ladies. How are you doing?”

Angela is very mad at Luis. First the horrible dinner, then the group of women in the club, the accident in front of the women in the park, then the doctor, and now the nurses! Angela pushes Luis’s wheelchair and the cast on his leg crashes with the door.

“Ow, ow!” Luis cries.

“Oh, sorry. It was an accident,” Angela says sarcastically. Then she calls two Ubers. She doesn’t want to spend another minute more with Luis.

The end.

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You can download a printer-friendly PDF of this story.

Simple Stories in English: Worried

Season 1, episode 29

Paloma is a near perfect child. She just has one problem that threatens to take over her life – Paloma is a worrier. She worries about EVERYTHING from school to shopping to what she wears. Paloma reaches out to her mom, who realizes that she needs more help than she can give. So, Paloma meets with a therapist. At first she is worried, but after time she begins to develop confidence and her worrying subsides.

This simple story is told in the present tense and focuses on the words “worried”, “worries about”, “don’t worry”, “feels”, “comfortable”, and “therapist”.

Worried

There is a girl named Paloma. Paloma is a pretty and polite girl. When people see Paloma, they think that she is a perfect child. But Paloma has a secret. Paloma is not perfect. Paloma has a problem. 

Paloma is always worried. She worries about everything. She worries about her school work. She worries about being sick. She worries about getting up on time. She worries about being alone. She worries about her clothes. She worries about the weather. Paloma worries about everything.

Paloma spends all day worried. She is never okay with her life. When she is in the car, she worries she will have an accident and so she puts on her seatbelt and checks the door multiple times. When she is in the supermarket, she worries about getting lost and so she is always very close to her mom. When she is in school, she worries about being wrong on her work so she is always asking her teacher questions.

At first, the worrying isn’t terrible. Paloma breathes and focuses and moves forward. But with time, the worrying is more and more obsessive. Paloma decides to talk with her mom.

“Mom, I have a problem.”

“Yes, dear? What is your problem?” Her mom asks her with compassion.

“Mom, I am not okay. I am always worried. I don’t want to do anything because I am always worried. I don’t want to talk with people because I am worried. I don’t want to go to the store because I am worried. I don’t want to do my school work because I am worried it will be incorrect, but I am also worried to not do my work because I want to be a perfect student,” Paloma admits.

“Dear, these worries are normal,” her mom responds. “Don’t worry.”

“Mom, when you say ‘don’t worry,’ I worry more!”

“Honey, there is nothing to worry about.”

“But mom, when I brush my teeth, I worry about cavities. When I swim, I worry about fish. When I visit the doctor, I worry about dying. When I travel in a car, I worry about accidents. I am so worried that don’t think about anything else. I am always worried and I can’t take it anymore!” Paloma cried. 

Paloma’s mother listens attentively. She notes that her daughter is very upset. Paloma’s mom wants to help, but she is not a professional in this area. She doesn’t know how to help Paloma, so she makes an appointment with a therapist.

The therapist is called Filomena. Filomena is very patient and understanding. She listens to children all day because she is a child therapist. Filomena is an expert in child psychology and she wants to help Paloma.

Paloma is worried about her appointment with the therapist. She is worried because she doesn’t know Filomena. Paloma imagines a strict woman in an ugly white office. She is worried because maybe she has a horrible mental problem and there is no cure. She doesn’t want to go to a mental hospital!

When Paloma enters Filomena’s office, she is more calm. First, Filomena has a pretty smile and she doesn’t seem strict. Second, Filomena’s office has toys and crayons. It is a comfortable space and not intimidating and ugly.

Paloma sits with her mom on a couch. Filomena sits on a chair near the couch. Filomena asks questions and Paloma responds to the questions. Paloma likes Filomena’s tone of voice. Paloma feels good and talks about her problems. Filomena listens. She doesn’t interrupt she doesn’t give instructions to Paloma. She just listens. Paloma talks and feels good. She doesn’t feel worried.

In the next appointment with Filomena, Paloma draws. She draws some of her worries and talks about her drawings with Filomena. Paloma feels good with Filomena. She feels that she can talk about her worries and when she talks about her worries, they don’t seem so big.

Paloma has two appointments each month with her therapist. She likes to visit her therapist. In the appointments, sometimes they color. Sometimes they paint. They play with puppets or dolls. Paloma talks. Filomena listens and asks questions. Filomena is always patient and attentive. Filomena never says that it is silly to worry. Filomena doesn’t believe that Paloma is silly for her worries.

After visiting with her therapist, Paloma feels happy. She is still worried, but her worries don’t control her life. Paloma has more confidence. When she brushes her teeth, she doesn’t think about cavities. When she is in the car, she looks at the trees and she doesn’t think about accidents. When she visits the doctor, she doesn’t think about dying.

At school, Paloma talks with other kids. She is still a little worried, but she doesn’t allow her worry to control her. She thinks about her sessions with the therapist and she is confident.

Paloma’s mom notices a difference in her daughter. She notices that her daughter is more happy. She notices that her daughter smiles more. Paloma’s mom also learns from Filomena. She learns to be patient with Paloma and she learns that the phrase “don’t worry” is not a good phrase to use with Paloma because when she hears “don’t worry”, she only worries more.

Paloma is not perfect. In the past she worried about being perfect, but now she is happier and she has more confidence. She feels good about her life.

The end.

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You can download a printer-friendly PDF of this story.

Simple Stories in English: Under the Sea

Season 1, episode 28

The Mesoamerican Reef system is the second largest in the world. Located in the Caribbean Sea, the most beautiful section of this reef is accessible through the island of Roatán in Honduras. Here you can see the plant and animal life that call this tropical paradise home.

This simple story is told in the present tense and focuses on the words island, fish, coral reef, film, and scuba dive.

Under the Sea 

There is a man named Michael. Michael likes water a lot. When he was a child, Michael played in the water all the time. He swam in lakes and rivers. He was particularly fascinated by animals in the water. He liked watching fish when they swam. 

Now, Michael is an adult and he works in the water. Michael’s work is very fun. Michael makes videos of animals that live in the water. Michael is an aquatic cameraman.

Michael travels to the coasts of several nations. He goes out in boats and goes in the water to make his videos. One day, Michael goes to the island of Roatán. Roatán is part of Honduras. Honduras is located in Central America and it has a long coast on the Caribbean Sea. The island of Roatán, Honduras is popular with underwater filming because of its coral reefs. The coral reefs of Honduras are spectacular and part of the second biggest reef in the world. They have crystal waters so it is very easy to see all the marine life, the plants, and the coral.

Michael wants to scuba dive in the Caribbean Sea to film the aquatic life. First, Michael goes in a boat to the coral reef. Michael is going to scuba dive for a long time in the water and he wears a wetsuit. He also puts on a mask. The mask gives protection to Michael’s eyes. Michael needs to swim with his eyes open, so he uses the mask to see while he swims.

Michael puts fins on his feet to swim better. The fins give a lot of movement with little energy. Furthermore, when Michael uses the fins to swim, he doesn’t need to use his hands to swim, so he can use his hands to film.

Michael is human, so he needs oxygen to breathe. The oxygen is in a tank. Michael wears the oxygen tank in a vest on his back. Michael breathes the oxygen from the tank through a regulator. The regulator is connected to the tank with a tube.

With the mask, fins, regulator, and oxygen tank, Michael is ready to to scuba dive and film the aquatic life. Michael takes his camera and dives in the water. In the water, Michael sees a lot of fish. The fish are all the colors of the rainbow. There are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple fish. The fish swim in groups in the crystal water

Michael films the fish. They swim among the coral in the reef. There are more than 60 species of coral in the waters of Honduras. Like the fish, the coral also comes in many colors. Michael’s favorites are the pink coral. There are a lot of fish among the coral. Some fish have camouflage. It is impossible to see some fish in the coral! 

Michael uses his fins to explore the reef more. He sees a movement and investigates. It is a sea turtle!  The sea turtle is big. There are six species of sea turtles in the Caribbean. Michael films the turtle while it swims. Turtles are slow and clumsy on land, but they are very elegant in the water.

The turtle leaves and Michael keeps exploring the coral reef. He sees some blue crabs. The crabs don’t swim, they walk. Crabs like spaces in the rocks. They use their pincers for protection. There are many crabs in Honduras and crab soup is a very delicious local dish. Michael thinks that he wants to eat crab soup after his scuba diving trip.

Michael continues on his adventure. He sees a very big animal. It is a whale shark, the biggest fish in the Caribbean. The whale shark is huge, but Michael is not scared. Michael is not scared because the whale shark is not vicious like other sharks. The whale shark is docile. It eats plankton and it doesn’t attack people. Michael films the whale shark on his camera. The whale shark is bigger than Michael!

Michael is very satisfied with his trip in the coral reef. He decides to return to the boat. He moves his fins and swims in the direction of the boat. Suddenly, there is movement. There are other people scuba diving in the sea. These people are looking for a particular kind of fish. It is a lion fish. The lion fish is not native to the Caribbean Sea and causes a lot of destruction to the coral reef. The lion fish eats animals that take care of the reef. That’s why there are people that capture lion fish.

Michael sees the lion fish. It is a very pretty fish because it has an elegant appearance with its many fins and stripes of brown and white. But Michael understands that the lion fish causes destruction. He films a little bit of the lion fish on his camera and then he alerts the people looking for the lion fish. They come and capture it.

Michael returns to the boat. Getting back on the boat is a little complicated with his scuba equipment. In the boat he takes off his mask, the fins, the regulator, and the vest with the oxygen tank. The boat driver is careful in the water because of the presence of other boats and scuba divers.

Michael looks at the Caribbean Sea. The water is very pretty. Suddenly, a dolphin jumps out of the water. Then another dolphin jumps out of the water. The dolphins swim next to the boat for a time and then they return to the sea.

Michael is very happy. The Caribbean Sea is magical with all its incredible animals.

The end.

You can also watch a video of this story on YouTube!

Today’s episode was inspired by @Diver23. Check out his videos of animals from the story: Schools of fish, Sea turtle, Crab, Whale shark, Dolphin

I really enjoy creating and sharing simple, comprehensible stories. I work hard to provide tools and supports for those who want to learn. Please, consider buying me a taco to support my work!

You can download a printer-friendly PDF of this story.

Simple Stories in English: Dinosaurs

Season 1, episode 27

Brandon and Julia love dinosaurs. They have a bunch of plastic toy dinosaurs that they play with together. There is only one problem. Julia’s Tyrannosaurus Rex is always eating Brandon’s dinosaurs. Brandon and Julia both know a lot about dinosaurs. Will Brandon be able to find one that Julia’s T-Rex can’t eat?


This simple story is told in the present tense and focuses on the words grabs, eats, growls, carnivore (meat eater), and herbivore (plant eater).

Dinosaurs

Julia and Brandon play in the yard. They have a ton of plastic dinosaurs. Julia has a tyrannosaurus in her hand. Brandon has a triceratops. Julia’s tyrannosaurus runs after Brandon’s triceratops. 

“I’m hungry! I’m going to eat you!” Julia growls while her tyrannosaurus attacks the triceratops.

“You’re not going to eat me! I’m attacking you with my horns!” Brandon yells in response.

“Ha, ha, ha. Your horns aren’t anything. I have big teeth,” Julia growls in a tyrannosaurus voice.

“Aaaaaaah!” Brandon yells. Julia grabs Brandon’s triceratops and pretends to eat it with the tyrannosaurus.

“Yum, yum. How tasty!” Julia growls.

“It’s my turn to be the tyrannosaurus,” Brandon says.

“No,” Julia responds. “The tyrannosaurus is my favorite dinosaur.”

“But you always play with the tyrannosaurus and you always eat my dinosaurs,” Brandon says.

“Because the tyrannosaurus is a carnivorous dinosaur and it eats other dinosaurs,” Julia responds.

Brandon looks at the plastic dinosaurs. Some dinosaurs are very big. Brandon sees an apatosaurus. The apatosaurus was 20 meters tall and weighed 35 tons. It was an herbivore. It ate leaves from tall trees. It would be very difficult to eat a big dinosaur – especially a dinosaur bigger than the tyrannosaurus.

“You can’t eat my apatosaurus with your tyrannosaurus,” Brandon declares.

“My T-Rex can eat anything,” Julia responds.

“But T-Rex didn’t attack apatosaurus because they are super big!” Brandon explains. 

“I don’t care. My tyrannosaurus is hungry. Yum, yum,” Julia grabs the plastic apatosaurus and pretends to eat it with her plastic tyrannosaurus.

Brandon has an idea. Carnivorous dinosaurs typically ate herbivores. So, Brandon needs to play with a carnivore. Julia’s T-Rex isn’t going to eat another carnivore.

Brandon looks at the plastic dinosaurs. There is one called an allosaur. The plastic allosaur is bigger than the tyrannosaurus rex. The T-Rex and the allosaur were very similar. The allosaur was a little taller. It was 12 meters tall and weighed 2 tons. Brandon decides that Julia can’t attack the allosaur.

“Now I’m a carnivore. I am going to attack the herbivores,” Brandon says. He pretends to eat the herbivore dinosaurs with his allosaur.

“An allosaur! I love to eat allosaur!” Julia growls.

“Don’t eat me! Tyrannosaurus rex didn’t eat allosaurus,” Brandon protests.

“Well, in reality, tyrannosaurus rex and allosaurus ate herbivores and carnivores,” Julia responds.

“But…but my allosaurus is bigger than your T-Rex,” Brandon declares. 

“Allosaurus was taller, but tyrannosaurus was more muscular. T-Rex weighed 7 tons of pure muscle,” Julia explains. Julia’s tyrannosaurus rex attacks Brandon’s allosaurus.

“Aaaaaah!” Brandon yells.

“Yum, yum!” Julia growls. She grabs the allosaurus and pretends to eat it with her tyrannosaurus.

Brandon needs another dinosaur. He needs a dinosaur that is difficult to eat. He sees a dinosaur with plates on its spine. It’s a stegosaurus. Stegosaurus was 3 to 9 meters tall and weighed 2 tons. It was a herbivore and ate plantes. Brandon thinks it would be very difficult to attack a dinosaur like the stegosaurus because of the plates.

Brandon grabs the stegosaurus. His dinosaur walks in the yard. Suddenly, Julia’s tyrannosaurus attacks!

“A stegosaurus!” Julia growls.

“You can’t eat the stegosaurus because it has plates. T-Rex didn’t eat plates,” Brandon says.

“The stegosaurus plates were fore helping the stegosaurus regulate his temperature,” Julia explains, “not for protection. Also, the plates were only on the spine. There isn’t anything on the stomach.”

“Aaaaaaah!” Brandon yells while Julia’s tyrannosaurus attacks his stegosaurus.

“Yum, yum!” Julia growls. She grabs the stegosaurus and pretends to eat it with her tyrannosaurus rex.

Brandon needs a dinosaur with a lot of protections. He sees the perfect dinosaur. It is an ankylosaurus. The ankylosaurus had protection from spikes and plates. Carnivores didn’t want to eat the ankylosaurus because it was a lot of work. In addition to the protection of the spikes and plates, the ankylosaurus was very strong. It was 11 meters long and weighed 4 tons. Brandon thinks that Julia’s tyrannosaurus rex can’t eat the ankylosaurus.

“You can’t eat me now,” Brandon declares. “This ankylosaurus has a lot of protection. It has protection on its back and stomach.”

Julia attacks the ankylosaurus with her T-Rex, but its teeth hit the plates of the ankylosaurus. Brandon hits the T-Rex with the big tail of the ankylosaurus. Julia’s tyrannosaurus rex falls.

“Yum, yum!” Brandon says and he pretends to eat plants with his ankylosaurus.

The End.

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You can download a printer-friendly PDF of this story.

Simple Stories in English: The Color of the Crow

Season 1, episode 26

Today’s story was originally written by Scott Wyatt.

Why is the raven black? 7-year-old Agapita has created a series of drawings to explain the dark feathers of this intelligent bird who just wanted to get a glimpse of his creator.

This simple story is told in the past tense and focuses on the words “crow”, “drawing”, “creator”, “world”, and the verbs “see/saw”, “made”, and “would be”. 

The Color of the Crow

A mother was sitting at the kitchen table with her two daughters. Her older daughter was called Agapita and she was 7 years old. Agapita was drawing. Her younger daughter’s name was Manzanita and she was 5 years old. Manzanita was eating.

“What are you drawing?” The mother asked her daughter. Agapita moved several papers with drawings to the center of the table. Her mother looked at the drawings curiously.

“I am making a story of the birds,” Agapita responded. She took one of the papers. “This is the first drawing. It is the beginning of the story of the birds.”

On the paper there was a drawing of three birds. All the three birds were white, but it was obvious that they were different kinds of birds.

“Tell me the story,” the mother said. She really wanted to hear the story from her creative child. She wanted to know about the birds. Agapita began.

“Once upon a time there were three kinds of birds on the Earth: the dove, the seagull, and the crow. In the beginning, all the birds were white. They didn’t have any color.

Agapita indicated the three birds on her first drawing. Then she moved the paper with the first drawing aside and revealed other drawings to continue her story.

The doves were full of love. They were white due to their love, because love is pure. They were only concerned about love. They spent all their time in the tree because their love was enough.

The seagulls were white at the beginning because all the birds were white. But the seagulls had a problem. They were lazy. They didn’t want to work. They started to eat things that they could steal, like garbage. Because of that, their color changed. They received gray wings and black tails.

The crows were very intelligent. They were white because intelligence is bright. But the crow was curious. He wanted to learn about the world. He wanted to know who made the world. So the crow spoke to the trees.

“Trees, who planted you?”

“We don’t know,” the trees responded. The crow was not satisfied with the answer, so he spoke to everyone.

“Animals, who gave you life?”

“We don’t know,” the animals responded.

“Ocean, who filled you with water?”

“We don’t know,” the ocean responded.

“Sun, who put you in the sky?”

“I don’t know,” the sun responded. “But I move through the sky and I see a lot. I see flowers in the fields and trees in the forest. I see animals leave their homes in the morning with their babies. I see the vast ocean. I don’t know who made all this because I see everything and I don’t see the creator of the world. I think the creator made the world in the night. You should talk to the moon.”

The crow decided to talk to the moon. If the sun didn’t see the creator during the day, maybe the moon saw the creator during the night.

“Moon, who created the world?”

“I don’t know, little crow,” the moon responded. “Like the sun, I move through the sky and I see a lot, but I never saw the creator of the world. I think that he works in complete darkness.”

The crow made a plan. He decided to wait until night to discover the creator of the world. He waited night after night, but he didn’t see anything. However, in the morning the crow saw new creations.

The crow decided that the creator could create the world in secret because it was easy to see the crow due to its white color. The color of the crow was pure and bright like snow on a mountain. So the crow made a fire and used the ashes of the fire to change the color of its feathers. The black ash changed the color of his feathers from white to black, so the crow could be invisible to the creator.

But the crow made a mistake. His fire was visible to the humans. The humans took the fire. They used the fire to take control of the world and dominate all life on the planet. Because of that, the creator became furious. The creator appeared to the humans to learn where they got the fire.

“Humans, who gave you fire?” The creator asked.

“We took the fire from the crow,” the humans responded.

The creator saw that the crow used the ashes of the fire to change its color from white to black. The creator decided to change the color of all the crows to black forever.

The crow never saw the creator and now he can’t see the creator because the creator always sees the crow first. The creator can see the crow easily because it is black. The creator created other birds, but he gave them colors like red and blue.

The crow is intelligent, but it is not enough to be intelligent. It is important to follow the wishes of the creator.

Agapita finished her story. She saw her drawings. She took a color pencil and drew more flowers on the paper with the sun. Agapita’s mom was impressed by the story, but she had a question.

“Why can the creator see the crow when he is black? Wouldn’t a brighter color be better?”

Agapita considered the question before answering. “The creator existed before the colores and before light, so he can see the color black better than the others. The creator made the colors of the rainbow, but he existed before the sun, so the color black is natural. It is the oldest color of all.

“What color would you paint yourself?” Her mother asked.

“Blue, like the sky. But I would prefer not to have color,” Agapita responded decisively.

“And what color would you paint your sister Manzanita?” Her mother asked.

“Manzanita would be red like an apple, obviously,” Agapita responded.

“And me? What color would you paint me?” Her mother asked.

“You, mom, would be all the colors, like a party,” Agapita responded lovingly.

The end.

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I really enjoy creating and sharing simple, comprehensible stories. I work hard to provide tools and supports for those who want to learn. Please, consider buying me a taco to support my work!

You can download a printer-friendly PDF of this story.

Simple Stories in English: Monarch Butterflies

Season 1, episode 25

Hello and welcome to Simple Stories in English. Hannah is a curious girl. When a butterfly lands in her back yard, she wants to learn all about it. After visiting the library, she learns that these butterflies are special and that they fly all the way to Mexico from Canada. What else will she learn about the monarch butterfly?

Monarch Butterflies 

There is a girl named Hannah. Hannah lives in the state of Texas in the southern United States. Hannah is a curious child. She likes to learn. Hannah’s mother is Ericka. Ericka is very patient. She listens to all of Hannah’s questions. When she can answer the question, she answers it. When Ericka doesn’t know the answer to Hannah’s question, she reads books with Hannah to find the answers. 

Right now, Hannah is very interested in insects. She spends hours in the yard watching the small insects. She watches ants that walk in a line. She watches bees that collect pollen from flowers. She watches crickets that jump through the yard. She watches mosquitos that bite and suck blood.

One day Hannah is in the yard. Suddenly, an incredible insect lands on a flower. Hannah knows it is an insect because it has six legs, its body has three parts and there are two antenna on its head. This insect also has two pretty wings. Its wings have many colors. Hannah is fascinated. She wants to know more about this pretty insect. Ericka is working in the yard, so Hannah yells to her mom, “Mom! Come here!”

Ericka walks to Hannah and looks at the insect. “Mom, what is this insect called?” Hannah asks.

“It’s a butterfly,” Ericka responds.

“What do butterflies eat? Where do they live? How many species are there?” Hannah asks.

“I don’t know. Should we go to the library?” Ericka responds.

“Yes!” Hannah exclaims. Hannah likes the library a lot. The library has books with information about everything. Ericka and Hannah go to the public library. When they arrive at the library, they talk to the librarian. 

“Good morning. Welcome to the library. Can I help you with something?” She says.

“Yes. I would like books about butterflies,” Hannah responds.

The librarian guides Hannah and Ericka to a particular section of the library. “We have several books on insects with information about butterflies, we have a book about the varieties of butterflies, and we have a book about the great migration of monarch butterflies.” The librarian takes the books and hands them to Hannah.

“There is a butterfly migration?” Hannah asks the librarian. 

“Yes, and the migration passes through Texas. Here in the library garden we plant flowers for the monarch butterflies. The butterflies drink the nectar from the flowers,” the librarian responds.

Hannah and Ericka go home with the books from the library. Hannah reads everything about butterflies. She learns that there are 24,000 species of butterflies in the world.

Hannah opens the book about the monarch butterfly migration. The monarch butterfly is a pretty butterfly with orange and black wings. Hannah learns that the monarch butterflies live in Mexico, the United States, and Canada. She reads that every year there is a great migration of butterflies from Canada to Mexico. There is a map of the migration. In the map, Hannah sees that the monarch butterflies pass through Texas on their migration.

Hannah keeps reading and learns more. She learns that there are several generations of butterflies. The first generation is born in Mexico and flies north. This generation stops in states like Texas to lay their eggs. The second generation of butterflies is born in Texas and other states and flies further north. The third generation or the fourth generation fly south to Mexico to hibernate. The butterflies that fly to Mexico sometimes are bigger than normal monarch butterflies.

Hannah keeps reading and learns that there is a problem. Climate change is affecting the monarch butterfly migration. There are groups that work to protect butterfly habitat to make more flower fields, especially milkweed. Milkweed is important because monarch butterflies lay their eggs in milkweed.

Hannah is fascinated. She wants to help the monarch butterflies. She explains to her mom that she wants to help the butterflies and Ericka makes a plan.

Ericka and Hannah make a special space in their yard. In the space, they plant milkweed. Every day Hannah checks the milkweed. She wants to see the monarch butterflies!

One day, Hannah goes outside to check the milkweed and she sees a monarch butterfly. Then she sees another butterfly, and another. They are very pretty! When the monarch butterflies leave, there are little eggs on the milkweed. Every day Hannah checks on the eggs. She doesn’t want another insect to eat the eggs.

Finally, little caterpillars leave the eggs. The caterpillars eat the milkweed. In only two weeks, the caterpillars are very big. Hannah likes the colors of the monarch caterpillars. They have stripes of yellow, black and white.

One day, Hannah checks on the caterpillars, but she doesn’t see any. Instead of caterpillars, she sees green sacks on the milkweed. She is worried and yells for her mom.

“Don’t worry, Hannah. The caterpillars make a cocoon. In the cocoon they change from caterpillars to butterflies,” Ericka explains.

Hannah checks the cocoons every day. After ten days of waiting, there is movement. A cocoon moves. Hannah sits in front of the cocoon. Little by little the cocoon opens and the wings of the monarch butterfly emerge. The monarch butterfly moves its wings and sun bathes. After a time, it flies north and the cycle continues.

Every year Hannah produces milkweed and flowers in her yard to help the monarch butterflies and every year Hannah – and Ericka – are fascinated by the transformation of these incredible insects.

The End.

You can also watch a video of this story on YouTube!

I really enjoy creating and sharing simple, comprehensible stories. I work hard to provide tools and supports for those who want to learn. Please, consider buying me a taco to support my work!

You can download a printer-friendly PDF of this story.

Simple Stories in English: Dayana’s Wool

Season 1, episode 24

Dayana the alpaca is surprised to learn that her wooly coat is going to be sheared. She loves her wool, so she runs away. While she is away, she meets a graceful vicuña, an overgrown sheep, and a sheared llama. Dayana learns that it might not be so bad to have her coat cut after all.

Dayana’s Wool

Dayana is a young alpaca. She lives on a ranch in Peru with a lot of alpacas. Dayana has pretty, soft wool. Dayana’s wool is incredible. Dayana likes her wool. She thinks it is very pretty.

One day all the alpacas go to a special area of the ranch. This area is new to Dayana. She is worried and nervous. She talks to the other alpacas.

“What is going on? Where are we?” Dayana asks one of the older alpacas.

“We are in a special corral. They are going to cut our wool,” the alpaca responds.

“They’re going to cut our wool?! Why?” Dayana is very surprised.

“Don’t worry. They cut our wool every year,” the alpaca says.

“Well, they are not going to cut my wool,” Dayana exclaims. Dayana doesn’t understand. Why do they want to cut the wool off the alpacas? Dayana doesn’t want them to cut her wool. She doesn’t want to be naked. She wants to have pretty wool on her body.

“But it is necessary to cut our wool. In the summer it is very hot and…”

“I don’t care,” Dayana interrupts. “They are not going to cut my wool!”

Dayana decides to fun away. She runs away from the ranch. She runs away from the old alpaca. She runs away from the people that want to cut her wool. Dayana runs away to the mountains. “They can’t cut my wool here in the mountains,” Dayana thinks.

Dayana climbs the tall mountains of the Andes. In the mountains, Dayana sees some vicuñas. Vicuñas are small and delicate. They are very pretty and elegant. Their wool is incredibly soft. The vicuñas look at Dayana and they are confused. Alpacas are domesticated animals. They live on ranches, they don’t live in the mountains. Why is this alpaca in the mountains?

“Hello, little alpaca!” A vicuña exclaims.

“Hello, mis vicuña,” Dayana responds.

“What are you doing here, little alpaca? Don’t you live on a ranch?” The vicuña continues.

“I escaped from the ranch. They want to cut my wool. I don’t want them to cut my wool. I want to live here in the mountains where they don’t cut wool off of animals,” Dayana says.

Suddenly, a group of Peruvians appears. The Peruvians have a decorated rope. With the rope, they walk near the vicuñas.

“What’s going on?” Dayana asks. She is worried and nervous.

“It is a special event. It is called the Chaccu,” the vicuña responds. “Every year, the Peruvians carry out the ritual of Chaccu. They trap the vicuñas and cut our wool.”

“They’re going to cut your wool?!” Dayana says. She is very surprised that they cut the vicuña’s wool in the mountains. Vicuñas are not domesticated animals like alpacas.

“Don’t worry. They cut our wool every year. It isn’t bad. The people that cut our wool are good and loving. The process is quick and…”

“I don’t care,” Dayana interrupts. “They are not going to cut my wool!”

Dayana runs away. She runs away from the vicuñas. She runs away from the Peruvians and their decorated rope. She runs until she can’t run any more.

Dayana is tired. She sees a cave. She enters the cave and sits. “They can’t cut my wool here in this cave,” Dayana thinks. Suddenly, she hears a sound. Dayana is worried and nervous.

“Hello?” Dayana asks de cave.

“Baaaaa,” an animal responds.

“Hello, my name is Dayana and I’m an alpaca,” Dayana says.

“Baaa. You are not going to cut my wool!” The animal responds.

“I don’t want to cut your wool!” Dayana exclaims. “I am here because they wanted to cut my wool and I escaped from the ranch.

The animal walks into the light. It is a sheep. The sheep has a lot of wool. The sheep has so much wool that it is practically impossible to see her head. Dayana is surprised by the sheep’s appearance.

“You are a smart alpaca,” the sheep says. “They are not going to cut our wool!”

Dayana is a little scared by the sheep. The sheep’s wool is huge and very heavy. It is obvious that it is difficult to move because she has a lot of wool. It is obvious that it is difficult to see through all the wool. Dayana doesn’t want to be in the cave with the sheep.

“They are not going to cut our wool!” The sheep yells. “Wool, wool, wool” echoes in the cave. Dayana is scared. She gets up and runs. She runs away from the cave and the crazy sheep.

In the morning, Dayana sees a town. In the town there is a llama. Dayana thinks that the llama looks different. When she is near the llama, Dayana notices that the llama doesn’t have wool.

“Miss llama, where is your wool?” Dayana asks worriedly.

“Don’t worry, little alpaca. I don’t want my wool,” the llama responds.

“You don’t want your wool? How is that possible? I love my wool,” Dayana says.

“It is hot in the summer. I don’t want to have wool in the heat of summer. In addition, my wool is useful. People make incredible things with my wool,” the llama responds.

“But your wool is very pretty,” Dayana says.

“Yes, my wool is very pretty. And with my pretty wool people make pretty things. Come with me,” the llama says and starts walking in the market.

Dayana observes the market. There are yarns of several colors. Some people use the yarns to knit sweaters. Other people use the yarn to make crochet hats. One woman sews a small alpaca with alpaca wool. The things are very pretty.

“The wool objects are very pretty. But, I love my wool. I don’t want them to cut my wool,” Dayana says.

“Little alpaca, your wool grows and grows. Cutting your wool is necessary. If you don’t cut your wool, it is going to be very heavy and you will be very warm,” the llama says.

Dayana thinks about the crazy sheep in the cave. She doesn’t want to be like her. The llama is right. Cutting the alpaca’s wool is necessary.

Dayana returns to her ranch. The ranchers cut her wool. They make yarn with her wool. They sell the yarn to a woman who knits a hat and scarf. Dayana is happy that her yarn makes pretty objects and in a year, she has more wool. This time, she is not worried and nervous when they go to the special corral. This time she wants them to cut her wool.

The end.

You can also watch a video of this story on YouTube!

I really enjoy creating and sharing simple, comprehensible stories. I work hard to provide tools and supports for those who want to learn. Please, consider buying me a taco to support my work!

You can download a printer-friendly PDF of this story.

Simple Stories in English: Let’s Go Fishing

Season 1, episode 23

Jayden, Charley and Theo love fishing with their mom. One Saturday they grab their fishing poles and head to the lake. Find out what they catch in today’s story, “Let’s Go Fishing.”

Let’s Go Fishing

It is Saturday. Jayden and his brothers Charley and Theo want to go fishing. They like fishing a lot and Saturdays are perfect for fishing. The three boys enter the kitchen where their mom prepares breakfast.

“Mom, we want to go fishing,” Jayden tells his mom. “Can we go to the lake?”

“What a good idea!” Their mom responds. “But first you need to eat your breakfast.”

Jayden, Charley, and Theo eat toast with eggs and sausage. Then they help their mom prepare for the day. They put sandwiches and apples in a bag. They find the fishing poles and put them in the car. The three brothers are excited for their fishing trip, but there is a problem. They don’t have bait. They need bait because the bait attracts the fish. The fish eat the bait, but the bait is on a hook. When the fish eats the bait, he also eats the hook and gets trapped.

“Mom, we don’t have bait,” Charley announces. “Can we go to the fishing store?”

“Okay, but we should go now,” his mom responds.

The three brothers and their mom get into the car and go to the fishing store. The fishing store has a lot of things for fishermen. It has fishing poles in many sizes. Some poles are very long for fishing in rivers. Other fishing poles are small because they are for kids.

The fishing poles have a reel and they need fishing line and a hook. The hook traps the fish. The fishing line connects the hook to a reel on the fishing pole. The fisherman winds the reel to catch the fish. There are several types of fishing line and hooks. If you want to trap big fish, you need stronger line and a big hook. To fish in a lake, you just need a normal line and hook.

The fishing store has clothing too. Some fishermen use special clothing for fishing. There are hats and pants and vests.

But the brothers are not interested in fishing poles, line, hooks, or clothing. They want bait. The fishing store has a variety of bait. There is natural bait and artificial bait. The artificial bait is small plastic fish or flies. The most popular natural bait is worms. Worms are long. They don’t have eyes and they are slimy. The boys think that worms are excellent. 

“Mom, we found the worms!” Theo announces. “Can we buy them?”

“Yes. The worms are perfect bait,” their mom responds.

The family buys a container of worms. Then they go to the lake. They have three options. They can fish on the shore of the lake, they can fish from the dock, or they can rent a boat and fish in the center of the lake. 

Jayden wants to fish from the shore. Charley wants to fish from the dock. Theo wants to fish from a boat.

The family decides to go to the lakeshore because it costs money to rent a boat and there are a lot of people on the dock. They walk to a little beach. The three boys prepare their fishing poles. Jayden grabs a worm from the container. He puts the worm on the hook of his fishing pole. When everything is ready, he throws the bait in the water. He is carful because he doesn’t want to trap one of his brothers or his mom with the hook.

Theo wants to fish too. He grabs a worm from the container, baits his hook, and tosses the hook into the lake. Charley also wants to fish, but he doesn’t want to touch the worms because they are slimy.

“Mom, can you help me with the bait, please?” Charley asks. His mom doesn’t want to touch the worms either. Their mom doesn’t like slimy things like worms. But, she wants to help Charley, so she grabs a worm from the container and puts it on the hook. Charley tosses the hook into the water.

The boys fish and their mom reads a book on the lakeshore. Nothing happens for many minutes. It is very calm and they listen to the sound of water on the shore. Suddenly, Jayden shouts, “I have something!” 

Jayden is very excited and winds the reel. He pulls the fishing line with his fishing pole and he sees the object trapped on the hook. It is not a fish – it is a boot! Jayden is very upset. Suddenly, Charley shouts.

“I have something!” Charley yells. He pulls the line and winds the reel of his fishing pole. When he sees the object trapped by the hook, he is upset. It is not a fish, it is algae – a plant from the lake.

Jayden and Charley take the boot and algae off their hooks when Theo shouts.

“I have something!” Theo’s line moves quickly, but Theo doesn’t do anything. He is about to lose the line from his fishing pole.

“Theo, wind the reel!” His mom yells. Theo reacts and pulls the line. He quickly winds the reel. The fish is strong and fights against Theo. Theo is about to lose the fish when Charley grabs Theo’s fishing pole to help. The two brothers pull.

The strong fish fights. The brothers are about to lose the fish when Jayden grabs Theo’s fishing pole to help. The three brothers pull. Theo winds the reel. Little by little they move the fish closer to the lakeshore.

Finally they see the fish. It is a beautiful, big, strong fish. The mom grabs a net. She gets in the water to trap the fish with the net. The three brothers pull and the mom traps the fish with the net. She lifts the fish out of the water with the net. The fish is a beautiful trout. It is green, blue and red. The fish is big; it measures 80 centimeters.

The three brothers are very proud of their fish. It was a family effort to capture the fish. The mom takes a picture of Jayden, Charley, and Theo with their fish. They are all exhausted by the fight with the strong fish, but they are happy too.

The end.

You can also watch a video of this story on YouTube!

I really enjoy creating and sharing simple, comprehensible stories. I work hard to provide tools and supports for those who want to learn. Please, consider buying me a taco to support my work!

You can download a printer-friendly PDF of this story.

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