The Top Team Read online

  CONTENTS

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Copyright Page

  This is Jack. Today Jack is in a grouchy mood. Ms Walton has put him in a team with Alex.

  Usually Jack works with Billie.

  ‘Do I have to work with Alex?’ Jack asks Ms Walters. ‘Can’t I work with Billie?’

  ‘Not today, Jack,’ says Ms Walters. ‘I think you and Alex will make a good team.’

  Jack sighs and gives Billie a sad little wave. She waves back.

  This week is Maths Week. Jack’s class is having a competition.

  The winning team gets a set of glow-in-the-dark stickers. Jack loves glow-in-the-dark stickers. He wants to win.

  Jack and Alex start their first maths task. It is an adding and subtracting game.

  Jack and Alex work out the answers in their heads. But Alex is always faster. He writes the answers down before Jack can even have a go.

  ‘Hey, let me do some,’ Jack says crossly.

  ‘All right. You do the next one then,’ says Alex.

  Jack looks at the maths problem. It is a very one. He is not sure if he should take away or add.

  He starts writing down an answer.

  ‘That’s not right,’ Alex says. He takes the pencil away from Jack.

  ‘Hey, I’m not finished!’ shouts Jack. He the pencil.

  ‘But you can’t do it!’ Alex yells.

  ‘Boys!’ says Ms Walters.

  She walks over. ‘What’s going on?’

  ‘Alex won’t let me answer any questions,’ Jack complains.

  ‘He’s getting them wrong!’ Alex says.

  ‘You boys have to work together or you will lose points,’ Ms Walton says.

  She walks to the front of the class.

  Jack frowns at Alex. He getting into trouble. Especially when it’s not his fault!

  Why does he have to be on a team with Alex? He and Billie make a much better team.

  Alex frowns at Jack and hands him the pencil. ‘Look, it’s like this question up here,’ he says.

  He still sounds a bit grumpy.

  Jack does the sum again and writes down his answer. Alex nods and gives a little smile.

  At the end of the lesson, Ms Walters reads out the answers.

  Jack and Alex only got two wrong.

  One of them was Jack’s answer and one was Alex’s.

  Jack and Alex are Billie and Mika are coming second.

  Jack grins happily. So does Alex.

  They give each other a

  Maybe being in a team with Alex isn’t so bad after all, Jack thinks.

  The next day in maths, Jack sits next to Alex again. Today is division. Jack frowns. Division is hard.

  He can never remember where to put the numbers.

  Jack watches Alex do the first sum. Then Alex hands him the pencil.

  ‘I’m not very good at division,’ says Jack shyly. ‘Maybe you should do these ones?’

  Alex shakes his head. ‘Remember what Ms Walton said?

  We have to do them together or we’ll lose points. Look, just watch me. It’s easy,’ he says

  Jack watches Alex do the next sum. Hmmm, he thinks. That doesn’t look too hard.

  ‘All right,’ he says. ‘I’ll have a go.’ He copies what Alex did.

  ‘Yes!’ says Alex. ‘You’ve got it!’

  Jack grins. He hands the pencil back to Alex.

  The two boys take turns to do the whole page of sums.

  If Jack gets Alex shows him where the numbers go. They are finished in no time.

  Ms Walton reads out the answers.

  Today they only get two wrong answers. Billie and Mika’s team only get two wrong too.

  But Jack and Alex are still in the lead!

  All week, the boys work together on their maths problems.

  Sometimes Alex has to show Jack how to do a sum. But usually Jack can work out the answers by himself.

  By the end of the week, their team is ahead by ten points! Jack feels very

  ‘Woo hoo!’ Jack says. He runs up to Billie after class. ‘We’re win-ning! We’re win-ning!’ he says in a sing-song voice.

  Billie frowns. ‘You’re only winning because you have Alex on your team,’ she says. ‘Everyone knows that Alex is the best at maths.’

  Jack ‘That’s not true! Alex just shows me how to do the first one. Then I copy him.

  I’m still doing the sums by myself.’

  Billie crosses her arms and glares at Jack. ‘Well you must be copying him by being a show-off, too!’ she huffs, then walks away.

  Jack feels that Billie is so cross at him. Then he frowns.

  She’s just jealous because we’re winning! he thinks.

  Today is the last day of Maths Week. Ms Walton hands out the maths sheets. Oh no! thinks Jack.

  Multiplication! That’s my worst.

  Jack watches Alex do the first sum. Then Alex hands him the pencil.

  ‘I can’t do these,’ Jack whispers. ‘You do them.’

  Alex shakes his head. ‘Ms Walton said we have to work together, remember?’

  Jack’s face turns red. He pushes the paper towards Alex. ‘No! We’ll lose if I do them. you do them, Alex. We’re running out of time!’

  But Alex just pushes the paper back to Jack.

  Jack frowns. He looks at the sums but he can’t work them out. They are too hard. He is terrible at multiplication.

  He quickly writes down half of the answers as best as he can. Alex does the other half.

  ‘OK, class,’ says Ms Walton. ‘Time’s up!’ She reads out the answers.

  Alex only gets two answers wrong. But Jack only gets two right.

  He hangs his head. Jack and Alex have lost the competition.

  ‘Sorry, Alex,’ Jack says. ‘It’s my fault. You would have won without me.’

  ‘It doesn’t matter!’ Alex says. ‘Winning isn’t everything! I had fun working with you, Jack.’

  ‘Really?’ says Jack.

  ‘Yeah, really!’ says Alex. He smiles and Jack feels inside.

  ‘We won! We won!’ Billie and Mika sing happily. Billie pulls a funny face at Jack.

  Jack laughs. Billie laughs too.

  ‘Hold on,’ Ms Walton says. ‘Not so fast. This week was also about teamwork. Jack and Alex, you remember how I told you I would take points off if you didn’t work together?’

  Jack and Alex nod.

  ‘Well, I think you two have worked very well as a team. So I would like to award you an ten points.’

  Jack looks down at the paper. This is an easy sum. He quickly adds ten points to their score.

  Jack and Alex’s team has got the same number of points as Billie and Mika’s team. It’s a draw! Jack and Alex jump up and down with excitement.

  Ms Walton smiles.

  She gives one packet of stickers to Billie’s team. And one packet of stickers to Jack’s team.

  After school, Billie and Jack walk home together.

  Billie and puts her arm around Jack. ‘I’m glad it was a draw,’ she says.

  ‘Me too,’ says Jack. ‘But I’m even more glad that we are friends again.’

  The Top Team

  published in 2013 by

  Hardie Grant Egmont

  Ground Floor, Building 1, 658 Church Street

  Richmond, Victoria 3121, Australia

  www.hardiegrantegmont.com.au

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,

  stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means

  without the prior permission of the publishers and copyright owner.

  A CiP record for this title is available from the National Library of Australia.

  eISBN: 9781743580776

  Text copyright © 2013 Sally Rippin

  Illustration copyright © 2013 Stephanie Spartels

  Logo and design copyright © 2013 Hardie Grant Egmont

  Design by Stephanie Spartels

 

 

  Sally Rippin, The Top Team

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