The Threshold of Summer: A Final Bell at Oakwood Middle
NARRATOR: The hallways of Oakwood Middle School are usually a cacophony of slamming metal lockers and heavy footsteps, but today, the sound is different. It is a frantic, melodic buzz—the sound of three hundred students realizing they have exactly forty-five minutes left of their middle school careers. The air is thick with the scent of floor wax and the faint, lingering aroma of cafeteria pizza, but mostly, it is thick with the weight of ‘goodbye.’
MARCUS: (Frantically digging through his locker) I know it’s in here. I can’t leave it behind. It’s my eighth-grade history binder! If I lose those notes on the Industrial Revolution, I’ll be behind before I even step foot into high school next year.
SARA: (Leaning against the lockers, spinning a pen) Marcus, let it go. We are forty minutes away from freedom. Nobody is going to ask you about the steam engine in July. Look around! This is the last time we’ll all be standing in this specific hallway at the same time. Doesn’t that feel… monumental?
- Cacophony:
- A harsh, clashing mixture of sounds.
- Monumental:
- Great in importance, size, or significance.
- Threshold:
- The strip of wood or stone forming the bottom of a doorway; the beginning of a new event.
- Efficiency:
- The ability to do something well or achieve a result without wasted energy or effort.
- Transition:
- The process of changing from one state or condition to another.
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Preview questions from this passageShowHide
- 1What is the setting of the play, and exactly how much time is left in the school day at the start?
- 2Why is Marcus so determined to find his eighth-grade history binder?
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About this reader's theater passage for Middle School
“The Threshold of Summer: A Final Bell at Oakwood Middle” is a reader's theater reading passage about School Transitions, written for Middle School. It takes about 7 minutes to read (1,021 words) and comes with an interactive quiz and a printable worksheet with comprehension questions and an answer key.