1 Maggie has many things to accomplish over the weekend. She wants to go to a friend’s house for a party on Sunday afternoon. If she doesn’t get her chores and homework done, she is afraid that her parents will not let her attend the party.
2 As she is getting ready for bed, Friday night, she is worrying and wondering how she can do everything before the party on Sunday. Her mother tells her that she needs to prioritize her life. Maggie is not sure what that means. She thinks to herself, “What is prioritize? How does that help me in my life?”
3 Her older brother, Ronny, comes into her room. He asks her, “Hey, Sis, why the puzzled look? Why are you just sitting there on your bed looking around your room?”
4 “Ronny, what does it mean when Mom tells me I need to prioritize my life?”
5 “What’s wrong with my life?”
6 Ron laughs and tells her that she has a tendency to try to do too much stuff in too little time. He suggests that she make a list of what she needs to do. Then, she needs to make a list of what she WANTS to do. Again, Maggie looks confused.
7 He takes out one of her notebooks and starts to write. She watches as he puts his name at the top of the list along with the words - Have to Do. Then he makes numbers going down each side. He writes, clean room as number 1. For number 2, he puts down, take out the trash. Ron then writes down, mow the yard for number 3.
8 On another sheet of paper he does the same thing, only this time after his name he writes- Want to Do. On the second list the number 1 is watch wrestling on TV. Number 2 is play video games.
9 Suddenly, Maggie gets it! “Oh, I see now. Prioritize means to put things in order of importance.”
10 Her brother replies, “Duh, I knew I could help out!” Ron laughs along with Maggie. She is no longer puzzled and starts to write.
Reread the story and look for important information that might help you to answer the questions.
(If you need to, write down notes on a separate piece of paper or list the events in the order they happened. Note taking is a good strategy to use in improving your reading skills.)
