NEEDING A FRIEND

Tina stood looking out the window, "WHY did we have to come to this place?" sheasked
her brother Pedro."You know why as well as I do," said Pedro. "This is a big city. It's a good
place forDad to find work.""But I don't LIKE it here," said Tina, starting to cry. "There's no one to
play with. Theonly girl around is that stuck-up one who lives downstairs. She never comes out.
All SHE everdoes is sit at her window.""Well, WE'LL never make friends standing at THIS
window," said Pedro. "I'mgoing out!"Pedro ran out the door, and Tina looked out of the window
again."He isn't going to make any friends," she told herself as she watched him from
thewindow.But soon, two boys ran up to Pedro. The three boys talked a little. Then, they
allwalked down the street."What are you looking at?" asked Tina's sister Carla, coming into the
room."Nothing!" said Tina."You've been looking out that window for days now," said Carla. "Why
don't yougo out and try to make friends?"
"I can't," said Tina, starting to cry again. "Things aren't the same here."Then, still crying,
Tina ran out of the house and down to the street. "What is the matter?"someone asked.Tina
looked up. A girl in a blue dress was at a window just above her. It was the girlTina'd told Pedro
about."You're new here, aren't you?" asked the girl.Tina nodded."Is that why you're crying?"
asked the girl.Tina nodded again, but she stopped crying."Why don't you come in and talk to
me?" asked the girl in the blue dress."Why don't you come out?" asked Tina."I can't," said the
girl."Come on in."So, Tina walked back up the steps and into the girl's house. The girl in the
bluedress was still sitting at the window."What's the matter with you?" asked Tina. "Why are you
just sitting there likethat?""I can't walk," said the girl.
"That's why I have no one to play with.""I'll play with you if you want," said Tina, sitting
down beside the girl."But I can't go out," said the girl."That's OK," said Tina. "We can still be
friends. We can play in here.""I'm glad you've come here to live," said the girl. "I need a
friend.""Me, too," said Tina. "Me, too."

APPLICATION OF THE BARRETT TAXONOMY

"Needing a Friend"
1.0 Literal Comprehension:
1.1 Recognition
1.11 Find the sentence that tells who Pedro is:
1.12 Find the sentences on page 17 that tell what Tina and the girl in the blue dress both need.
1.13 Number these sentences in the order in which they happen in the story:
The girl in the blue dress talks to Tina.
_____Carla asks Tina what she is looking at out the window.
_____Pedro meets two boys.
_____Tina and the girl in the blue dress decided to be friends.
_____Tina runs out of the house crying.

1.2 Recall
1.21 Who are the main characters in this story?
1.22 Why are Tina and the girl in the blue dress happy they met?
1.23 How do Tina and the girl in the blue dress become friends?
1.24 How are Tina and her new friend alike?
1.25 Why does the girl in the blue dress have no one to play with before shemeets Tina?
1.26 Not appropriate in this story.

2.0 Reorganization:
2.1 Put each word under the proper heading:
Pedro dress friends Tina

City

downstairs

People

window

Carla House

Places

wheelchair

Things

2.2 What was this story about?

2.3 Pedro says that the big city is a good place for his Dad to find work. Where could we look
to find out what kind of job his father might find if he lived in our city?

3.0 Inferential Comprehension:

3.1 What else could the author have told us about Tina and her family?
3.2 What can we learn from this story?
3.3 If the story hadn't ended here, what do you think would havehappened to Tina and her new
friend?
3.4 How do you think Tina's feelings about the city change from the time she first comes to the
city to live to the time she meets the girl in the blue dress?
3.5 Why do you think Pedro meets some friends before Tina does?
3.6 What kind of girl do you think Tina's new friend is?
3.7 What do you think will happen next?
3.8 What does Tina mean when she calls the girls downstairs "stuckup?

4.0 Evaluation:
4.1Could this be a true story?
4.2 What part of the story best tells how Tina felt about the city?
4.3 Should Pedro have gone outside without Tina?

5.0 Appreciation:
5.1 What parts of the story were most interesting to you?
5.2 How did you feel when Tina was crying because she had no friends?
5.3 Why do you think the we'll and this are in capital letters in this sentence? "Well, WE'LL never
make friends just standing at THIS window", said Pedro".
5.4 How does the author let you know that the girl in the blue dress is lonely and wants to have
a friend?