1 Bbbrrriiinng! The bell rang throughout the school marking the end of the day. Max had already loaded his backpack and was waiting for Mrs. Turner, his teacher, to allow them to go.
2 Mrs. Turner stood at the front of the room. "Don't forget to study for both of the quizzes tomorrow. You may all leave except for Max." She looked at him. "I would like to speak with you for a few minutes before you go."
3 Max groaned. It was his birthday, and he had hoped to leave right away. He was excited to get home and start the birthday fun! He tried to think of what he might have done to have to stay after school. Some of his friends stared at him wondering the same thing. Max could feel his neck and cheeks turning red. What a way to spoil a birthday, he thought.
4 Once all of his classmates had left, Max got up out of his seat and walked to the front of the room. He stood beside Mrs. Turner's desk as she pulled out an envelope from the center drawer.
5 "Happy birthday, Max," she said with a smile, as she put the envelope into his hand.
6 "Thank you, Mrs. Turner," said Max. He smiled with relief. He wasn't in trouble after all. "May I open it now?"
7 Mrs. Turner smiled. "Of course you may."
8 Inside the envelope was a colorful card and six quarters that jingled against each other. The card was nice. Max was not expecting to get money too.
9 "When I was young," said Mrs. Turner, "my teacher used to give each of us a penny for every birthday we had. I got six pennies on my birthday. You cannot get much with pennies now, so I give quarters. You can get a little treat for yourself with the money."
Paragraphs 10 to 20:
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