laughed

lazy

brother

another

piece

hungry

Mr. Rabbit was lazy. He did not like to work. First he tried one thing and then he tried another to see if he could live without working.

One day he was hungry. But he did not want to look for anything to eat. So he picked up a rock and went off to Brother Bear's house.

He knocked on Brother Bear's door.

"Come in," said Brother Bear.

"Good morning, Brother Bear," said Rabbit. "One of my friends has just been telling me what a good cook I am. By the way, Brother Bear, have you ever tasted my rock soup?"

"Rock soup!" said the bear. "I'd like to see what kind of soup you can make with a rock!"

"Bring me a big pot, then," said the rabbit. "Now I'll need some other things, too. Just bring me a little piece of meat and some beans and any other vegetables that you have. Oh, yes, and I'll need a little water too."

Brother Bear brought all these things. Brother Rabbit put them into the big pot. Then he put in the rock.

"What did I tell you, Brother Bear!" he said, when the soup was made. "Is this good soup, or isn't it?"

"Brother Rabbit," said Brother Bear, "this is the best soup I have ever tasted."

And he ate almost all of it up. Not all, of course, for the rabbit got some.

Another day, Brother Rabbit went to see Brother Turtle. He made some rock soup for the turtle too, and Turtle said that it was the best soup he had ever tasted.

Now Brother Rabbit went from one animal's house to the next. He made rock soup for every one. Every one said how kind it was of Brother Rabbit.

At last the rabbit went to the fox's house. Brother Rabbit told Brother Fox about his fine rock soup.

"Of course," said the fox, "I'd like some of your rock soup. Won't you make some for me?"

So Brother Rabbit made some rock soup for the fox. But when he came to put the rock in, he could not find it.

"Ha! ha!" laughed the fox, holding up the rabbit's rock. "Your rock can't make the soup any better. You just go around talking about rock soup, so you won't have to work."

And Brother Fox threw the rabbit's rock into the river. Then the fox told all the other animals how the rabbit had fooled them.

And after that, when the rabbit was hungry, he had to work.

Every story has different parts that help us remember what we have read. We can often find the same things in a good paragraph. To help you understand the main idea of any story you will want to look for these when you are reading.

This information tells you what is important to the story or paragraph. The who or what in the story is important because everything else in the story talks about it. In the story about stone soup, what is the most important thing to remember?

Why or how..........

This information tells you the what is needed to do something. You will want to know why or how something is happening to understand the main idea of the story.

Where..........

This information tells you in what place the action is happening. Remember, the location can be a place such as Mexico, or a smaller place like on the edge of your table.

To organize your information use the story map below.

Print the story map.

When you read a story or paragraph, the main idea can usually be found toward the beginning of the paragraph. The main idea is usually in the first sentence or near the beginning of the story.

Summarizing is a good way to practice reading and to remember what you have read. Summaries tell the main ideas and details of the story. Knowing the main ideas and details of the story will help you understand what you have read.