Ben and Anna

Chapter 1: A New School Day

The sun is shining. It is morning. A small alarm clock rings. "Beep, beep, beep!" Ben opens his eyes. He is seven years old. He is in his bed. His room is blue. He has toys on the floor. He has a poster of the solar system on the wall.

Ben gets out of bed. He goes to the window. He looks outside. The sky is blue. He sees a big tree and a red car. He sees a black cat on the fence. It is not his cat.

"Ben! Anna! Time to get up!" his mother calls from the kitchen.

Ben walks to his sister's room. Anna is five years old. She is still in bed. Her eyes are closed. "Anna, wake up," Ben says. Anna does not like mornings. She is always sleepy. "No… five more minutes," she says and hides under the blanket.

Ben goes to the bathroom. He washes his face with cold water. He brushes his teeth. The toothpaste is minty. It is fresh. He looks in the mirror and combs his brown hair.

Then, he goes back to his room. He takes off his blue pyjamas. He puts on his school uniform. His shirt is white. His trousers are grey. His socks are blue. He puts on his black shoes. Now he is ready for school.

Ben and Anna are in the kitchen now. The kitchen is bright and warm. Mum is at the table. She drinks coffee and reads the news on her tablet.

"Good morning, my dear children," Mum says with a smile.

"Good morning, Mum," Ben says.

Anna is quiet. She sits on her chair and rubs her eyes. She is wearing her school dress. It is blue and white. Her hair is messy.

Mum puts two bowls on the table. "What do you want for breakfast? Cereal or toast?" she asks.

"I want cereal with milk," Ben says.

"I want toast with jam," Anna says. She is a little more awake now.

They eat their breakfast. Ben eats quickly. Anna eats slowly. She looks at her spoon. Mum drinks her coffee. "Don't forget your milk," Mum says to Anna.

After breakfast, Ben and Anna brush their teeth again. They go to the hall. Their school bags are there. Ben's bag is green. Anna's bag is pink. They are heavy. There are books, pencils, and lunch boxes inside.

Ben packs his favourite book about space. Anna packs her colouring pencils and a doll.

Dad comes into the hall. He is ready for work. He wears a black suit and a red tie. He has a big bag in his hand.

"Are you ready for school, team?" Dad asks. He is always cheerful in the morning.

"Yes, Dad!" Ben says.

"Almost," Anna says. She cannot find one of her shoes.

"Where is my shoe?" Anna asks. She looks under the chair. She looks in the living room.

Ben helps her. He looks near the sofa. And there it is! The little black shoe is behind the sofa leg. "Here it is, Anna!" Ben says.

"Thank you, Ben!" Anna says. She puts on her shoes.

They are all ready. Mum gives them their lunch boxes. "Have a good day at school!" she says and kisses them.

"Goodbye, Mum!" the children say.

They go outside. The air is fresh. Dad's car is in the driveway. It is a blue car. They get into the car. Ben sits in the front. Anna sits in the back. Dad starts the car. The radio plays quiet music.

They drive down the street. Ben looks at the houses and the trees. Anna plays with her doll. They are going to school. It is the start of a new day.

Questions to the text:

What is in Ben's room? Describe it.

Why is Anna sleepy in the morning?

What do the children eat and drink for breakfast?

What do Ben and Anna have in their school bags?

Where is Anna's shoe?

Who takes the children to school?

Chapter 2: A Day at School

The blue car stopped in front of the school. The school was big and made of red brick. It had many large windows. The playground was full of children. They were running, talking, and laughing. The sound was happy and loud.

"Have a good day, you two," Dad said, turning off the car's engine. "Learn lots of interesting things."

"Bye, Dad!" Ben said, opening his door.

"Bye, Daddy!" Anna said from the back seat. She gave him a little wave.

Ben and Anna got out of the car. Ben adjusted his green school bag on his back. He held Anna's hand. "Come on, Anna. Let's find your line."

Every morning, the younger children in Class 1 and Class 2 had to line up in the playground before the bell rang. The Class 1 line was near the small play structure with a slide. The Class 2 line was next to the big wall where children drew pictures with chalk.

Ben walked Anna to her line. Her teacher, Miss Lily, was already there. Miss Lily was young and had a kind smile. She always wore colourful dresses.

"Good morning, Anna!" Miss Lily said. She looked at Ben. "Good morning to you too, Ben."

"Good morning, Miss Lily," they both said.

Anna let go of Ben's hand and stood in the line next to her friend, Sophie. Sophie had blonde pigtails and a big smile. "Anna! I have a new sticker book!" Sophie whispered excitedly.

Ben gave Anna a final nod and then walked to his own line. His class line was more noisy. His best friend, Sam, was already there, pretending his ruler was a spaceship. "Ben! My spaceship is going to the moon!" Sam said, making a whooshing sound.

"My spaceship is faster!" Ben said, getting out his own ruler. "It's going to Jupiter!"

Just then, the school bell rang. It was a loud, ringing sound that meant the school day was starting. "Okay, Class 2!" a voice called. It was their teacher, Mrs. Brown. She stood at the front of the line. She had grey hair and glasses, and she always looked very patient. "Line up nicely, please. No more spaceships for now. Time to walk to our classroom quietly."

The children stopped playing and formed a straighter line. Ben put his ruler back into his bag. They followed Mrs. Brown into the big school building.

The classroom was bright and full of light. On one wall, there was a big alphabet chart with pictures—A for Apple, B for Ball. On another wall, there were numbers from one to one hundred. There was a large whiteboard at the front of the class. Mrs. Brown's desk was tidy, with a computer and a vase with a yellow flower on it.

The children sat at small tables. Each table sat four children. Ben sat with Sam, a girl named Emma, and a boy named Leo.

"Good morning, everyone," Mrs. Brown said, standing in front of the class.

"Good morning, Mrs. Brown," the children said together.

"Let's begin with the register," Mrs. Brown said. She took a list from her desk. "When I say your name, please say 'Yes, Mrs. Brown.'"

She started reading the names. "Sarah Jones?" "Yes, Mrs. Brown." "Tom Lewis?" "Yes, Mrs. Brown." "Benjamin Miller?" Ben sat up straight. "Yes, Mrs. Brown." At school, he was Benjamin, but he preferred Ben. "Samuel Green?" "Yes, Mrs. Brown!" Sam said loudly, making some children giggle.

After the register, it was time for Maths. Today, they were learning about addition.

"Okay, class," Mrs. Brown said, writing on the whiteboard. "If I have two apples," she drew two simple apple shapes, "and Sam gives me three more apples," she drew three more apples, "how many apples do I have now?"

Many hands went up. Ben knew the answer. It was easy. "Yes, Emma?" Mrs. Brown said. "Five apples!" Emma said. "Very good, Emma! That's right. Two plus three equals five." She wrote the equation: 2 + 3 = 5.

She gave them a worksheet with simple addition problems. Ben took out his pencil and started working. He liked maths. It was like a puzzle. He finished his worksheet quickly and then started drawing a little rocket in the corner of the paper.

Meanwhile, in Class 1, Anna was having a different lesson. They were learning about colours.

Miss Lily held up a big, red flashcard. "What colour is this?" she asked the class. "Red!" the children shouted. "Very good! Can you see something red in the classroom?" Anna pointed to a red fire truck on the shelf. "The truck!" she said. "Excellent, Anna!"

Then Miss Lily held up a blue card. "And this?" "Blue!" "My dress is blue!" Sophie said, standing up to show everyone. "Yes, it is, Sophie! A beautiful blue," Miss Lily said with a smile.

They sang a song about colours. Anna loved singing. Her voice was small but she sang with happiness.

The morning passed quickly. Soon, it was lunchtime. The smell of food filled the corridors. Ben met Anna outside her classroom, and they walked together to the big hall. The hall had long tables and benches. It was very noisy, with the clatter of plates and hundreds of children talking.

They went to the line to get their food. Today, the lunch was pizza or chicken with rice. Ben chose pizza and a banana. Anna chose chicken with rice and an apple. They also both got a small carton of milk.

They found a spot at a table with their friends. Ben sat with Sam and Leo. They talked about their favourite superheroes. Sam liked Flash because he was fast. Ben liked Superman because he could fly.

At the next table, Anna sat with Sophie and a quiet girl named Chloe. They opened their lunch boxes. Mum had packed a little surprise for them: a small chocolate bar each. "Yay! Chocolate!" Anna said. They ate their chocolate first, before the main food.

After they finished eating, it was time for playtime. They had thirty minutes to play outside. The playground was a burst of energy.

Ben and Sam immediately ran to the football pitch. They joined a big game. Ben was a good runner. He kicked the ball and almost scored a goal, but the goalkeeper, a tall boy from Class 3, saved it. It was exciting. Ben's face became red and he was breathing fast, but he was smiling.

Anna, Sophie, and Chloe went to the quiet corner where there was a box of toys. They took out some skipping ropes. At first, they tried to skip by themselves. Anna could only jump two times before the rope hit her feet. Then, they decided to hold the ends of the rope and swing it while another person jumped. Sophie swung the rope, and Anna jumped. She managed five jumps in a row! It was a new record for her.

"Look! I can do it!" Anna shouted, her pigtails bouncing.

The thirty minutes felt like five. Too soon, a teacher blew a whistle. Tweeeet! "Playtime is over! Start lining up, please!" the teacher called.

The football game stopped immediately. Ben, sweating and happy, said goodbye to Sam and ran to find Anna. She was already putting the skipping rope back in the box. Her face was also red and happy.

"Did you have fun?" Ben asked, catching his breath. "Yes! I jumped five times without stopping!" Anna said proudly. "Cool! I almost scored a goal," Ben said.

They walked back to their classroom lines, tired but content. The afternoon lessons were usually quieter. In Class 2, they had Art. Mrs. Brown gave them paper and paints. "Today, you can paint your family," she said.

Ben took a blue paint and started painting his house. Then he painted five figures: a tall one for Dad, a slightly shorter one for Mum, a boy for himself, a small girl for Anna, and a small four-legged creature for Max the cat. He painted a green garden and a big, yellow sun in the corner.

In Class 1, they had Story Time. Miss Lily read them a book about a very hungry caterpillar. The children sat on a soft carpet, listening. Anna loved the pictures of the caterpillar eating all the food. When the caterpillar became a beautiful butterfly at the end, all the children went "Wow!"

Finally, the home-time bell rang. It was three o'clock. The school day was over. There was a busy sound of chairs scraping and bags zipping.

Mrs. Brown reminded them, "Don't forget your homework, Class 2! The maths worksheet is in your bags. And read your reading book to your parents tonight."

Ben put his painting carefully into his bag. It was still a little wet. He didn't want to smudge it.

He went to Anna's classroom. She was already waiting for him, holding her pink bag and a colourful drawing of her own—a picture of their cat, Max, which was mostly a black and white circle with eyes and a lot of whiskers.

They walked together to the school gate. Parents and carers were waiting there. They saw their dad immediately, standing by the blue car and waving at them.

They ran to him. "Dad! Dad!" Anna shouted. "I made a painting of Max!" "And I have a maths worksheet for homework," Ben said.

Dad smiled and opened the car doors. "It sounds like you both had a very busy day! Tell me all about it on the way home."

They got into the car. As Dad drove away from the big red school, both Ben and Anna started talking at the same time. They talked about the pizza, the football, the skipping, the paintings, and the hungry caterpillar. They talked and talked, filling the car with their happy stories until they arrived home.

Questions to the text:

What do Ben and Anna do in the playground before the bell rings?

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