"He’s as stubborn as a mule."

The Story (5 mins)
My little brother is one of the most annoying people in the world! I love him because he is my brother, but he gets on my nerves a lot. I remember one day when he was especially naughty. My mom told me to take him to the mall to get some new dress pants and it was a nightmare! Surprisingly enough, we got to the mall just fine and he hadn’t complained the whole way. He asked if we could go tot he arcade and I told him that we could go once we were finished doing what we were supposed to do. He just sat down on a bench and said that he wasn’t going to go anywhere if he couldn’t go to the arcade first. I had to pull him along just so that we could get moving. Once we got to the shop, I showed him some of the options he had. He didn’t like any of them and he would just look at me with his eyes closed and shake his head. He was being very difficult so I decided to tell him that I was going to call our mom. I pretended that I was no the phone with her and he jumped up and started trying clothes on. That trick works every time!

Vocabulary and Reading Practice (5 mins)
Mark the best choice.

1) Dress pants in British English are...
 a) smarty pants
 b) underwear
 c) trousers
 d) smart trousers

2) The narrator’s brother was saying ____ by shaking his head...
 a) “yes”
 b) “maybe”
 c) “no”
 d) “I don’t care”

3) An arcade here is...
 a) a covered passageway.
 b) a place to play sports.
 c) a place to eat.
 d) a place to play video games.


Questions for Discussion (15 mins)

1) Can you relate to the narrator?
2) Do you like shopping?
3) Are you easy to get along with?

Activities (15 mins)

Write down three key words to the story.
_______________
_______________
_______________

Why did you choose these three words?
Retell the story to a partner in your own words.

A Related Simile (5 mins)
What does this relate to in the story?

He’s as stubborn as a mule.