Description
What do you do when your best friend makes bad choices?
This story follows Nate, a typical middle schooler, as his longtime friend Josh leads him down a dangerous path. Nate wants to be understanding and loyal—but he’s starting to realize that real friendship doesn’t look like this. He has to make a responsible (yet incredibly tough) decision.
It’s the kind of situation your students face in real life, which means they’re genuinely engaged while building reading comprehension AND responsible decision-making skills.
What’s Included:
- 1 relatable short story about friendship, loyalty, and making hard choices
- 5 reading comprehension passages (designed for 5 days of instruction)
- Vocabulary practice with every passage
- A crossword puzzle for vocabulary reinforcement (students love these!)
- Writing prompts that encourage self-reflection and critical thinking
- Responsible Decision-making SEL focus woven naturally into the content
- Answer keys included
- PDF format – just print and go!
Why Teachers Love This:
- Students see themselves in Nate’s dilemma (instant engagement!)
- Covers multiple standards at once: reading, writing, vocabulary, AND SEL
- Perfect for 15-minute blocks (bell ringers, morning work, advisory time)
- Works as independent work or guided practice
- Opens up important conversations about peer pressure and healthy friendships
- The crossword puzzle adds a fun twist that keeps students interested
- Zero prep required
Perfect for:
- Upper elementary and middle school ELA teachers (grades 5-8)
- Advisory or homeroom time
- Sub plans
- Homeschool families
- Any teacher wanting to help students navigate peer pressure and friendship challenges
How It Works: Use one passage per day for 5 days (or adapt to your schedule). Students read, answer comprehension questions, practice vocabulary through engaging crosswords, and reflect through writing prompts—all while following Nate’s journey to understanding what real friendship means.
Your students get stronger reading skills AND practice recognizing healthy vs. unhealthy relationships, standing up for what’s right, and making responsible decisions even when it’s hard. You get an entire week of meaningful content that requires zero planning.
Here are just a few of the positive reviews for this and similar products –
- The story was highly engaging, allowed for easily breaking it into parts, had fantastic SEL parts, and overall, the activities were good. I wish there were more “activities” but I just made my own like compare/contrast characters, predications, vocab fill in the blank, etc. – Courtney C.
- “Great short story for the beginning of the year! The learners were engaged and loved it!” – Danielle B.
- “Loved this, thank you! My students truly benefited from this!” – Giselle H.
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