This week I read for 40 minutes each day (Monday through Friday) with my eighth grade students from their language arts book as a whole group. We read a number of different stories, but the one that stuck out the most to me was called "Raymond's Run".
Raymond's Run was a story of a little girl, Squeek, that is very confident about being the fastest runner in her neighborhood. She is practicing for a big race that her neighborhood holds annually. She is the youngest sibling in her home, and her mother assigned her the job of watching over her older brother Raymond, that is mentally challenged. Raymond is all over the place and has been known to offend other passersby because he does things that are not socially acceptable. The people that know him and his family excuse his behavior. He is in the way of Squeek's training session and getting on her last nerve because this year she is up against a girl that may give her a run for her money. During the race, out of nowhere, Raymond starts running with the runners on the other side of the fence. Squeek was proud to see her brother, and she started running with him so fast that she wins the race and kept running way past the finish line. She ended up the undefeated champ yet again, with a new found respect for her brother.
