US Common Core ELA
— A dying man in a retirement home reflects on his life's losses—a friend's death, a failed marriage, and the changing nature of chess—while watching a cherry tree bloom.
— A sonnet celebrating nature's cycles through sensory images of water, wildlife, and seasonal changes, from sunset to sunrise, rain to bloom.
— A girl and her pet mouse climb the dangerous Mt. Treacherous, facing rockslides and bears before triumphantly reaching the summit and returning home as heroes.
— A young philosopher contemplates time's mysterious nature — how it stretches through space, moves at different speeds, and ultimately asks what we do with it.
— A young guitarist loses herself in playing, as golden light fades to darkness and the music wraps around her like a quilt.
— An oak tree discovers purpose through seasons of loss and renewal, finding meaning not in being special but in providing shade, shelter, and friendship.
— Two best friends in a small Florida town face their first real conflict when Oscar starts hanging out with the popular boys instead of taking their daily walks together.
— A hiker rises above civilization to Lake Alpine, becoming one with the hawk soaring overhead, breathing pine and sage and thin mountain air.
— A clock hanging on the wall in the middle of the night ticks steadily through darkness, lonely without anyone awake to ask the time.
— Five vignettes explore monsoon rain in India, questions of faith and atheism, becoming an older sister, a medical emergency, and reflections on friendship and the pandemic.