Adapted from the Junior version (grades 4-6) of this article.
By Nancy Miller
A week ago, many people in Egypt became angry with their president, Hosni Mubarak. They wanted him to leave the country.
They were upset because many of them don’t have enough money for food or clothes.
The people who are mad at Mubarak think that a new president would be better. But President Mubarak doesn’t want to to stop being the president, and that’s why they are having a problem.
President Mubarak has said he will make the country better, but many of the people who live in Egypt think he will not be able to do it. They think that he needs to leave, for the country to start getting better.
People from around the world are very interested in this story because President Mubarak has been the leader of Egypt for a long time and because the people who want him to go are getting angrier and angrier.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
Writing/Discussion Prompt
When people don’t agree with each other they can get really upset. Have you ever been really upset with someone? How did you solve your problem? Do you think the people who live in Egypt and President Mubarak could solve their problem the way you did?
Reading Prompt
How did you feel as you read today’s article? If you were in Egypt would you try to make the country better by asking the President to leave or would you help the country by working with the president?
Primary
Express personal thoughts and feelings about what has been read (OME, Reading: 1.8).
Grammar Feature: Sentence Length
Did you notice how some sentences in this story are really long and that others are really short? A lot of times, writers try to change how long their sentences are to keep their writing interesting. How big is the shortest sentence in today’s article? How big is the longest sentence in today’s article? How much bigger is the longest sentence than the shortest one?
