Directions: Create a “personalized” story by filling in words in the list below. Then read the story, inserting the words from your list into the blanks with the same numbers. Warning: Don’t read the story first or you’ll spoil the fun!
Remember: A noun is a person, place or thing (like book). An adjective describes a noun (like big). A verb is an action (like run). Plural means more than one. A location is a place to go and an exclamation is something you say when surprised, happy or upset (like wow!).
Word List |
| 1. A location ______________ |
9. A body part ____________ |
17. Something to wear, plural ___________________________ |
| 2. Adjective _______________ |
10. Plural noun ___________ |
18. Adjective _______________ |
| 3. Adjective _______________ |
11. Noun ________________ |
19. Verb ___________________ |
| 4. Adjective _______________ |
12. Person’s name ______ |
20. Number ________________ |
| 5. Plural noun _____________ |
13. Adjective _____________ |
|
| 6. Plural noun _____________ |
14. Noun ________________ |
|
| 7. Verb ending in “ed” _________________________ |
15.Exclamation ________________________ |
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| 8. A liquid _______________ |
16. Adjective _______________ |
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I Love Camp!
School is almost over and I can’t wait to go to MDA summer camp in 1.___________. Camp is so 2.___________! All the counselors are very 3.___________ and 4.___________. Last year, we played a joke on another cabin and put 5.____________ on their 6.___________. We 7.___________ so hard I squirted 8.___________ out my 9.____________! In arts and 10.___________ I made a 11.___________ and 12.___________ said it was 13.___________.
I won a prize for being the best 14.___________. 15.___________! My favorite part of camp is the 16.___________ dance. Everybody wears 17.___________ and looks so 18.___________.
I can’t wait to 19.___________ to camp. Only 20.___________ more days to go!
Calling All Campers! It's That Time Again
If you want to go to MDA summer camp this year – and who doesn’t? – don’t forget to contact your local MDA office to sign up. Camp is free for kids ages 6-21 who are registered with MDA. To find out more, check out the summer camp pages on the MDA Web site (www.mda.org/clinics/camp/), or read “Bad Eggs”.
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Do You Need More Sleep Than a Koala?
Having a muscle disease can make you feel tired a lot. Doctors call this fatigue. Fatigue can be caused by many things, which is why it’s important to get regular checkups of your heart and breathing. One simple cause of fatigue is that weak muscles have to work harder just to do everyday jobs.
1. Lion ________
2. Elephant ____
3. Mouse ______
4. Chimp ______
5. Sloth _______
6. Koala _______
7. Pig _________
8. Cat _________
9. Giraffe ______
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You can fight fatigue by saving energy. Some ways include resting after you’ve been active, using assistive devices (like wheelchairs) for long distances, and getting a good night’s sleep. To fully charge their energy tanks, kids between the ages of 5 and 12 need at least 10 hours of sleep a night. 
Do kids need more sleep than other animals? See if you can guess. Put a plus next to animals you think need more sleep each day than kids, and a minus next to ones who need less sleep. (The answers are at the bottom of the page.)
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Wheels of Steel
by Drew McPheron
Vroom! My power wheelchair is one of the things that is significant to me. I got it in 2002, two days after my 10th birthday.
When David, a wheelchair technician from the MDA clinic, brought my power wheelchair inside the house, I was thinking, “Put me in the power wheelchair this instant and let me cruise around a little bit.”
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| Drew
McPheron battles for the ball in a hockey
game with friends Brandon Rechtenwald (L)
and Austin Shady. |
Instead, when my mom put me in the chair, David lectured me about how the power wheelchair isn’t a toy or a weapon and not to go too fast. While he was talking I was thinking, “Yes, I now am free and in control. I can go wherever I want; I can be independent.”
Later that week I saw my friends and you could see their jaws drop. Then I decided to speed around the gym and they joined in. After that I figured out that they accepted me. I felt like the coolest kid there.
My family went to an Abilities Expo in Chicago and I learned there is a sport called power wheelchair hockey. They use a Wiffle Ball instead of a puck and use plastic hockey sticks. Some players have the hockey sticks strapped to their chairs.
I learned I was good at wheelchair hockey. I now do this as a hobby in our driveway. Having a sport for kids in power wheelchairs makes me feel really happy.
Drew McPheron, 13, lives in Louisville, Ky. This story, which he wrote last year, is part of a longer article about the ways his power wheelchair is important to him. Drew has Duchenne muscular dystrophy and enjoys playing street hockey and making PowerPoint presentations. Although he’s right-handed, he drives with his left hand, so he can keep his right free to do things.
For Drew’s full article, in which he tells how his power wheelchair helped him make friends and deal with bullies at school, go to Quest Extra at www.mda.org/publications/Quest/extra/qe13-2_power_wheelchair.html.
SLEEP Answers: 1. Lion: + (20 hours a day) 2. Elephant: - (4-6 hours) 3. Mouse: + (12 hours) 4. Chimp: + (12 hours) 5. Sloth: + (20 hours) 6. Koala: + (18-20 hours) 7. Pig: - (8 hours) 8. Cat: + (16 hours) 9. Giraffe: - (30 minutes a day, in six 5-minute naps)
