HomeMy WebLinkAboutRead Aloud Book Gr. 2-Lesson 17Lou Gehrig was born in New York City in 1903. His parents had moved to America
from Germany. They were poor. When he was a little boy, Gehrig loved to play
baseball. He didn’t know that he would grow up to become one of the greatest
baseball players in history.
Gehrig went to college in New York City. He immediately joined the baseball team.
One afternoon, a man from the New York Yankees came to watch a game that Gehrig
was pitching. Gehrig struck out seventeen batters! The man from the Yankees was very
impressed. Soon after, the New York Yankees offered Gehrig a job playing on their team.
Each week, excited Yankee fans fi lled the bleacher seats at Yankee Stadium. They
loved to watch the players hit balls and play catch during a warm-up on the fi eld.
During the games, Gehrig ran fast around the bases. Fans cheered when he hit the
ball out of the park. They also loved to hear the umpire yell “Safe!” when Gehrig
reached home plate on a close play.
During his career, Gehrig competed in 2,130 straight games. He was the only baseball
player ever to play so many games in a row without missing one. Only one other baseball
player, Cal Ripken, Jr., has broken Gehrig’s record.
In 1939, when Gehrig was thirty-nine years old, he began to feel sick. He could not
play baseball as well as he once could. Doctors tried to fi gure out what was wrong,
but they had a hard time. Finally, the doctors fi gured out that Gehrig had a disease
they had never seen before. There was no cure for this disease. The doctors told
Gehrig that this disease would make it hard for him to move. At fi rst, he would have
trouble playing baseball. Later, he would have trouble tying his shoes and even eating
his food.
After learning about his illness, Lou Gehrig announced that he had to quit
playing baseball. On July 4, 1939, the Yankees honored Lou Gehrig. All the Yankees,
including manager Joe McCarthy, were very sad. They told Gehrig how much he
meant to them. Gehrig then made a speech to his team and all the fans at Yankee
Stadium. Even though he had been through so much, he said, “I consider myself the
luckiest man on the face of this earth.”
COMPREHENSION How do you think Lou Gehrig’s story might inspire people?
What words would you use to describe Lou Gehrig’s baseball career?
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Hua Mulan lived with her mother and father in a tiny village in ancient
China. Life was very hard for the family because Hua Mulan was her parents’
only child. Girls usually stayed at home. They learned how to take care of the
house while boys helped their fathers in the fi elds. Since Hua Mulan had no
brothers, she did both. Unlike most girls, she grew very strong.
When Hua Mulan was a young woman, a war broke out in China. The
enemy‘s armed forces won many battles. The king was afraid that another
ruler would conquer him. One day, the king’s offi cer made an announcement.
The king ordered every family to send one man to fi ght in the war. Hua Mulan’s
father was the only man in their family, and he was too old to fi ght. He would
likely be killed. Hua Mulan knew that she would make a good warrior. So
she made up her mind to take her father’s place and go to war, even though
women were not allowed to join the army.
That night, Hua Mulan cut her hair short. The next day, she went to the
market. She used all her money to buy a horse, a saddle, and a sword. She
bought some metal and then went home to make a shield, which would
protect her from her enemies’ swords. Then she joined the king’s army.
Hua Mulan fought bravely in every battle. She learned that she was even
stronger than many of the other soldiers because of her years of hard work
in the fi elds. When the army advanced toward them, she would guard soldiers
who were not as strong. The generals in the army noticed her bravery. But
they never noticed that she was a woman.
The king heard of Hua Mulan’s courage. When the war ended, the king
offered her a high position in his court, but Hua Mulan refused it. She said
that her family needed her help. If the king no longer needed her service, she
wanted to return at once to her parents. The king said she could go.
By the time Hua Mulan returned to her hometown, news of her heroic
actions had spread. The village gathered to watch Hua Mulan ride into town
on horseback. Later, friends that Hua Mulan had made in the army came to
visit her. They were surprised. It was the fi rst time they had seen Hua Mulan
wearing a dress!
COMPREHENSION What does Hua Mulan do to help others? Which
words tell you about armies and battles?
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