HomeMy WebLinkAboutRead Aloud Book Gr. 2-Lesson 20On the outside, Gabriel Lopez was just a quiet second grader. Other kids
didn’t think he was very special. But little did they know of the great feats that
Gabriel was capable of.
One day, Gabriel sat at his desk, carefully writing his name in cursive.
Suddenly, his pencil eraser began to glow. Gabriel sprang into action. He
raised his hand and asked, “Mr. Wright, may I go to the restroom?”
Mr. Wright agreed, so Gabriel walked into the hall and then ran to his
cubby. He reached inside of it and pressed a hidden button. A wall of his
cubby opened, and Gabriel stepped onto a slide. The slide spun him around
and around and then dropped him onto his bicycle. Gabriel put on his helmet,
which had an earpiece that allowed him to communicate with Superhero
Command Central.
“Who do I need to rescue today?” Gabriel asked Command Central.
“Your librarian, Mr. Emery,” Command Central answered. “The evil villain
Dr. Quizzer has captured him. You must trick Dr. Quizzer and bring Mr. Emery
back to the school. Good luck!”
With that, Gabriel biked to the boathouse by the pond. He opened the
boathouse door and saw a ladder behind some rowboat oars. Gabriel climbed
down the ladder. Then he snuck down a hallway into Dr. Quizzer’s hideout.
Mr. Emery was in distress. Dr. Quizzer had tied him up. Gabriel moved
forward just as Dr. Quizzer stepped out of the shadows. “I knew you’d come
to rescue your librarian!” said Dr. Quizzer with an evil laugh. “After I capture
you, no one will be able to study for tests again!”
Dr. Quizzer threw a net at Gabriel. Gabriel dodged the net, fl ipped through
the air, and said, “Hey, Dr. Quizzer, pop quiz! What’s you minus us?”
As Dr. Quizzer stood thinking, Gabriel released Mr. Emery. Then they ran down
the hallway and used all their muscular strength to quickly climb the ladder up to
the surface. Dr. Quizzer was left in the dust, and Gabriel had saved the day!
COMPREHENSION How does Gabriel trick Dr. Quizzer? Which words
help you understand what Gabriel does when he is a superhero?
G abriel L opez, S uperhero
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During the winter of 1925, the people of Nome, Alaska, had an emergency. A deadly
disease was quickly spreading throughout the town. The people needed medicine. But
planes and ships could not get to Nome because of cold weather and ice. The only way
to get the medicine to Nome was by dog sled. But the sleds would have to hurry.
At the time, dog sleds were used to carry mail to Nome. Teams of dogs pulled the
sleds. The men who drove the sleds were called mushers. These mushers agreed to help
deliver the medicine to Nome. But the trip was more than 650 miles! So the mushers
organized a relay. Each team would carry the medicine for part of the trip until it
reached Nome.
On January 27, musher Bill Shannon began the trip. He and his team of dogs
charged into the dark night. They rushed forward to meet the next team. They ran fi fty-
two miles. Then Shannon gave the medicine to Edgar Kallands, and Kallands was off.
The race continued. Each musher hastened to pass the medicine off to the next
musher. They moved with great speed. The momentum continued across the frozen
landscape. Most of the teams ran about thirty miles. But one team, Leonhard
Seppala’s team, ran more than ninety miles!
Leonhard Seppala and his team of dogs ran across the sea ice. Sea ice is dangerous
because it can break apart. Pieces of ice can retreat, or pull away, from land. Seppala’s
lead dog, Togo, guided the team. The dogs ran fast, streaking across the dangerous
ice. Just hours after they crossed the ice, the ice broke apart.
Then a terrible blizzard blew in. Offi cials decided that it was too dangerous for the
dog teams to continue the trip. They sent messages telling the mushers to wait until
the storm was over. But Gunnar Kaasen did not get the message. He kept on going to
Nome. His lead dog, Balto, ran through the blinding snow. Balto kept his nose down,
pursuing the smell of other dog teams that had traveled the trail before.
Finally, fi ve and a half days after Shannon started the relay, Kassen’s dog team
carried the medicine into Nome. The doctor and nurses treated the sick right away.
The people of Nome were saved! Brave men and brave dogs had stopped a disaster.
COMPREHENSION What words in this passage are about movement? How did
the mushers and their dog teams make a difference?
The Greatest Race Ever
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