COMPREHENSION TOOLS

Name:
Analyze Characters TEXT B

Guitar Lessons DIRECTIONS

Read the story, and
complete the activity
1 “I’ll never be able to play this guitar!” Benito shouted.
on page 6.
2 His fingers were in agony from where they held the guitar pick.
He’d been practicing for hours now, but the notes weren’t coming. agony: great or intense pain
The songs didn’t sound good to his ear at all, and there was no
way he was going to play for anyone else. He thought he might
have to stay hidden in his bedroom and force himself to learn to
play at least one song well.

3 In truth, he was frustrated with the instrument. He’d watched lots

of instructional videos and listened to countless hours of acoustic
music, but he just wasn’t able to play like those he was trying to
learn from. He wondered if he should just give up.

4 “Benito!” his mom called. “It’s time to go visit Abuelo. Are you
ready?”

5 “Mom, do I have to? I’m kind of having a bad day. Can I go some
other time?”

6 Mom opened the door to Benito’s room. “No, mijo!” she said
sternly. “These visits are important to your grandfather. And to
me.” She tossed his shoes to him. “In the car, now!”

7 Benito, Mom, and Abuelo had lunch at Abuelo’s apartment.

Abuelo cooked, and the food was delicious, but Benito wasn’t in a
very talkative mood. He mostly just sulked and listened to his sulked: showed anger or a
mom and Abuelo talk. bad attitude by being silent
or distant
8 After lunch, Abuelo cleared the table. “How about a game of
cards?” He went to the closet to get a deck of cards.

9 As Abuelo opened the closet door, Benito caught sight of

something that made him gasp.

10 “Abuelo! You play the guitar?” he asked.

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 COMPREHENSION TOOLS Name:
Analyze Characters TEXT B

11 “What? This old thing?” Abuelo replied. He pulled his guitar out
of the closet and tested a few of the strings. “Why yes, I play
rather well, if I do say so myself,” he smiled.

12 “There’s a song I used to play for your Abuela called Malaguena.”

He took the guitar to the couch, sat down, and placed the pick
between his fingers. With the tap of his foot, he began to play. The
song was quick and full of energy. The melody filled the room as
Abuelo’s fingers sailed across the strings.

13 Benito sat in awe through the whole song, with a big smile on his awe: a very strong feeling of
face. This was something he never knew about his grandfather. It wonder, to feel amazed
was amazing!

14 “Do… do you think you could teach me?” Benito asked. “I’m new
and have a lot to learn, but I have my own guitar at home, and I’ll
practice every day!”

15 Abuelo laughed. “Absolutely, mijo. I’ll be happy to teach you.”

16 After that, Benito went to his grandfather’s apartment every

Saturday. He was excited to go every week. First, Abuelo made
them a delicious lunch, and after that came the guitar lessons.

17 Abuelo was a great teacher. He was patient and understanding, but

he also pushed his grandson to work hard. He also gave Benito
plenty of practice work for their time apart.

18 It wasn’t long before Benito began to see real improvement.

He worked hard at learning Malaguena, and after a few weeks,
he felt confident enough to leave his bedroom and play the first
part of the song for his family, with his Abuelo right there in the
front row.

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 COMPREHENSION TOOLS Name:
Analyze Characters ACTIVITY B

How Does a Character Change?

Write details from Guitar Lessons to understand how Benito changes in the
story. Then, answer the question that follows.

What is Benito like at

the beginning of the
story?

What is the sequence

of events that leads
to a change?

What is Benito like at

the end of the story?

How has Benito’s character changed?

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