Never Give Up: True Stories of Resilience and Persistence
Reading Fluency Passages, Grades 3–8
Note on the two classic tales. "Three Feet from
Gold" (Grade 5) was told by Napoleon Hill in Think and Grow Rich.
Hill used three feet; some tellers say four. It cannot be verified, so
it is labeled a classic tale. "Acres of Diamonds" (Grade 6) is a
parable, but the man who told it, Russell Conwell, and what he built with it
are historical fact. Every other passage is documented history.
How to use. Have students read the passage aloud
three times (cold read, partner read, timed read). Record words correct per
minute, then answer the questions.
Grade 3: The Girl Who Was Told She Might Never Walk
About 190 words
Wilma Rudolph was born in Tennessee in 1940. She was very
small, and she was often sick. When she was four, she got a serious illness
called polio. It left her left leg weak and twisted. Doctors said she might
never walk again.
Wilma's mother did not accept that. Twice a week, she took
Wilma on a long bus ride to a hospital in Nashville. Back home, her brothers
and sisters took turns rubbing her leg. Wilma wore a heavy metal brace every
day.
Wilma watched the other children race and play, and
she longed to join them. So she practiced. She struggled to
stand. Then she took one step, then two. When she was about twelve, she took
off the brace and walked into church without it. Everyone was amazed.
Wilma kept going. She joined the track team in high school
and ran faster than almost everyone. At the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome, she won
three gold medals. People called her the fastest woman in the world.
Wilma Rudolph showed that determination can carry you
farther than anyone expects.
Tier 2 Vocabulary
•
longed: wanted something very much
•
struggled: tried hard when something was
difficult
•
amazed: very surprised in a good way
•
determination: refusing to quit when something
is hard
Tier 3 Vocabulary
•
polio: a disease that can make muscles weak
•
brace: a support worn on a body part to help it
work
•
Olympic Games: a world sports contest held every
four years
Comprehension Questions
1.
What illness did Wilma get when she was four?
2.
How did Wilma's family help her get better?
3.
Why did everyone look amazed when Wilma walked into
church?
4.
Which word best describes Wilma: quitter or determined?
Prove it with two details.
5.
What lesson can you learn from Wilma's story?
Answer Key: 1. Polio. 2. Her mother took her to the
hospital in Nashville; her brothers and sisters rubbed her leg. 3. They had
been told she might never walk, and now she walked without her brace. 4.
Determined; she practiced standing and stepping, and she kept training until
she won Olympic gold. 5. Answers vary: do not quit when things are hard;
practice can beat what people say is impossible.
Grade 4: Ten Thousand Tries for a Little Light
About 250 words
In the 1870s, most homes were lit by candles and gas lamps.
Both were smoky, and both could start fires. A young inventor named Thomas
Edison believed there was a better way: a lamp that ran on electricity.
Inventors before Edison had made electric lights, but their
bulbs burned out in minutes. The problem was the filament, the thin
thread inside the bulb that glows. It needed to be strong enough to glow for
hours without burning up.
Edison and his team at his laboratory in Menlo Park, New
Jersey, began to experiment. They tried platinum, paper, cotton thread,
and even strands of hair. They tested thousands of plant materials from around
the world. Some filaments broke right away. Others glowed for a few hours and
then failed.
A friend might have advised Edison to quit. Instead,
Edison treated every failure as a lesson. Each bad filament showed him
something that did not work. That meant he was one step closer to something
that did.
In 1879, a filament made from carbonized cotton thread
glowed for more than thirteen hours. Soon after, the team found even better
materials, and a bulb that lasted for many hundreds of hours followed. Edison
had made electric light practical for ordinary families.
Because Edison would not give up, the world got brighter.
His persistence changed how people live, work, and study at night.
Tier 2 Vocabulary
•
experiment: to try something to learn what will
happen
•
advised: gave someone a suggestion
•
practical: useful and easy to use in everyday
life
•
persistence: continuing to try even when it is
hard
Tier 3 Vocabulary
•
filament: the thin wire in a light bulb that
glows
•
electricity: a form of energy that powers lights
and machines
•
laboratory: a place where scientists do
experiments
Comprehension Questions
1.
Why were candles and gas lamps a problem in most homes?
2.
What was the main problem with the early electric
bulbs?
3.
How did Edison treat each failed filament? Why was that
helpful?
4.
What does the word practical mean in the
sentence "Edison had made electric light practical"?
5.
Write one sentence that tells the theme of this story.
Answer Key: 1. They were smoky and could cause fires.
2. The filaments burned out within minutes. 3. He treated each as a lesson that
showed what did not work, bringing him closer to what would. 4. Useful and easy
for everyday families. 5. Answers vary: persistence and learning from failure
lead to success.
Grade 5: Three Feet from Gold
A classic tale told by Napoleon Hill · About 300 words
During the gold rush, a man named R. U. Darby caught
"gold fever." He traveled west to Colorado to stake a claim
and dig for his fortune. For weeks, he swung his pick and shovel. At last, he
struck a shining vein of gold ore.
Darby needed machines to bring the gold up from deep
underground. He covered up the mine, went home, and told his relatives and
neighbors. They gave him money to buy the equipment. Then he and his uncle
returned and began to dig.
The first carloads of ore were sent to the smelter, and they
proved that the mine was one of the richest in Colorado. A few more cars, and
the debts would be paid. After that, there would be big profits.
Then something unexpected happened. The vein of gold vanished.
Darby kept drilling, but he found nothing. He and his uncle were discouraged.
After more weeks of searching, they gave up. They sold their machinery to a
junk dealer for a few hundred dollars and went home.
The junk dealer was a clever man. He called in a mining
engineer to look at the mine. The engineer studied the rock and said that Darby
had not understood the way the ground had shifted. The missing vein, he said,
was just three feet from where Darby had stopped drilling. The junk dealer took
out millions of dollars in gold.
Darby later became a successful insurance salesman. He vowed
that he would never stop again when someone said no. He remembered how close he
had come to gold.
The tale teaches that perseverance matters most when
success seems furthest away.
Tier 2 Vocabulary
•
stake: to claim a piece of land as your own
•
vanished: disappeared suddenly
•
discouraged: having lost hope or confidence
•
vowed: promised very seriously
•
perseverance: steady effort despite difficulty
Tier 3 Vocabulary
•
vein: a long, narrow line of metal or mineral in
rock
•
ore: rock that contains valuable metal
•
smelter: a factory that melts ore to separate
the metal
•
mining engineer: a scientist who studies how to
dig minerals safely
Comprehension Questions
1.
Why did Darby cover up the mine and go home after
finding the first vein?
2.
What happened after the first carloads of ore were sent
to the smelter?
3.
What did the mining engineer discover that Darby had
missed?
4.
How did the experience change Darby later in life?
5.
This is a classic tale, not a documented event. Why
might people still tell it for over a hundred years?
Answer Key: 1. He needed money for machinery, so he
asked relatives and neighbors to invest. 2. The mine proved to be rich, then
the vein suddenly disappeared. 3. The gold was only three feet beyond where
Darby stopped. 4. He promised never to quit when someone said no, and he became
a successful salesman. 5. Answers vary: it teaches a lesson about perseverance
in a memorable way.
Grade 6: The Lecture That Built a University
The true story behind "Acres of Diamonds" ·
About 330 words
Russell Conwell was a Baptist minister in Philadelphia in
the late 1800s. He was also an excellent speaker. In 1861, he enlisted
in the Union Army during the Civil War. After the war, he became a lawyer, a
writer, and then a minister.
Conwell loved to tell a story he had heard from a guide on a
trip in the Middle East. It was about a Persian farmer named Ali Hafed. Ali
Hafed owned a fine farm, but he became restless. He heard that diamonds
could make a man rich. He sold his land and traveled across the world searching
for them. He never found any. Finally, destitute and heartbroken, he
died far from home.
Meanwhile, the man who bought Ali Hafed's farm found a
strange, glowing stone in the garden stream. It was a diamond. When the new
owner dug deeper, he discovered that the land was full of them. It became one
of the richest diamond mines in the region. Ali Hafed had been standing on a
fortune all along.
The tale is a parable, a made-up story told to teach a
lesson. Conwell's lesson was that opportunity is often hidden in our own
backyards. He believed that people did not need to travel far to find success.
They needed to look carefully at the skills and chances they already had.
Conwell gave this speech, called "Acres of
Diamonds," more than six thousand times. He used the money he earned to
start free evening classes for working people who could not afford college.
These classes grew into Temple University, which today educates tens of
thousands of students.
The lecture was the catalyst for something real. One
man's persistence in telling a story created a lasting chance for others to
learn.
Tier 2 Vocabulary
•
enlisted: officially joined the military
•
restless: unable to feel satisfied or settled
•
destitute: extremely poor, without basic needs
•
hidden: kept out of sight or not yet discovered
•
catalyst: something that causes a change or
action
Tier 3 Vocabulary
•
parable: a short story that teaches a moral
lesson
•
Union Army: the Northern army in the American
Civil War
•
lecture: a formal speech given to teach an
audience
•
university: a school for advanced study after
high school
Comprehension Questions
1.
Why did Ali Hafed sell his farm?
2.
What did the new owner find, and where?
3.
What lesson did Conwell want his audience to learn from
the parable?
4.
What real thing did Conwell build with the money from
his lectures?
5.
Explain how the words parable and catalyst
each help explain this passage.
Answer Key: 1. He believed diamonds would make him
rich. 2. A diamond in the garden stream, then more diamonds on the same land.
3. Opportunity may be close to home, in the skills and chances we already have.
4. Free evening classes that became Temple University. 5. The story of Ali
Hafed is a parable; the lecture was a catalyst that led to the founding of the
university.
Grade 7: The Colonel Who Started Over at Sixty-Five
About 340 words
Harland Sanders was born in Indiana in 1890. When he was
five, his father died. As the oldest child, he helped his mother provide
for his younger brother and sister by cooking meals for them.
As an adult, Sanders's career was a long string of fresh
starts. He worked as a farmhand, a streetcar conductor, a railroad fireman, an
insurance salesman, a ferry operator, and a tire salesman. Many of these jobs
ended badly. He was often fired or his business failed.
In the 1930s, Sanders ran a gas station in Corbin, Kentucky.
Hungry travelers stopped to ask for a meal, so he began serving fried chicken
and country ham to them at his own dining table. The food was so popular that
he built a restaurant. He kept improving his recipe and began using a pressure
cooker to speed up the frying.
Then, in the 1950s, a new highway was built that diverted
traffic away from his town. His customers disappeared, and he sold the
restaurant at a loss. At sixty-five, he was nearly broke. His first Social
Security check was only about $105.
Most people would have resigned themselves to
retirement. Sanders chose instead to bet on his recipe. He packed a pressure
cooker and a bag of seasonings into his car and drove from town to town. He
offered restaurant owners a deal: they could cook his chicken, and he would
earn a small payment for every piece they sold. Many owners said no. He kept
driving, sleeping in his car, and trying again.
His franchise idea gradually caught on. By 1964,
hundreds of restaurants served his chicken, and he sold the business for two
million dollars.
Sanders's story shows that resilience is a skill that
grows each time we recover from a setback.
Tier 2 Vocabulary
•
provide: to supply what someone needs
•
diverted: turned in a different direction
•
resigned: accepted something without trying to
change it
•
resilience: the ability to recover after a
setback
Tier 3 Vocabulary
•
franchise: permission to sell a company's
product under its name
•
pressure cooker: a sealed pot that cooks food
quickly using steam
•
Social Security: a government program that pays
money to older adults
Comprehension Questions
1.
How did Sanders help his family as a young boy?
2.
What caused his restaurant business to fail in the
1950s?
3.
What does it mean that Sanders refused to be resigned
to retirement? Use text evidence.
4.
Why was a franchise a smart business plan for a
man with very little money?
5.
Which character traits helped Sanders succeed? Support
two with details from the passage.
Answer Key: 1. He cooked meals for his younger
brother and sister. 2. A new highway sent travelers away from his town. 3. He
did not accept that his working life was over; he drove from town to town to
sell his recipe. 4. Restaurant owners supplied the cooking, so he needed little
money to grow. 5. Persistent (kept driving after rejections) and resourceful
(used a franchise instead of building new restaurants); other answers
acceptable.
Grade 8: The Boy Who Traded Bread for Letters
About 380 words
Frederick Douglass was born into slavery in Maryland around
1818. By law, enslaved people were forbidden to learn to read.
Slaveholders feared that education would help them think freely and demand
their rights.
When Douglass was about eight, he was sent to live in
Baltimore with the Auld family. Sophia Auld, his mistress, began to teach him
the alphabet. Her husband, Hugh, stopped the lessons at once. Learning to read,
he said, would make Frederick unfit to be a slave.
Douglass later wrote that he understood something important
in that moment. If reading was the thing his enslavers feared, then reading was
a path toward freedom.
He was resourceful. He carried a loaf of bread in his
pocket and traded it to hungry white neighborhood boys for lessons. He copied
letters that carpenters had chalked on lumber at a shipyard. He challenged
other boys to spelling contests and learned from their corrections. At about
twelve, he bought a copy of The Columbian Orator, a book of famous
speeches and dialogues, which gave him powerful arguments about liberty.
Reading changed how he saw the world. It also made him more
aware of the injustice he lived under, and that awareness hurt. But it
gave him purpose. Years later, he taught other enslaved people to read in
secret Sunday classes.
In 1838, Douglass escaped to the North by disguising himself
as a sailor and boarding a train. He settled in Massachusetts and became a
gifted speaker. He wrote several books, including his 1845 autobiography, which
became a bestseller. He argued for the end of slavery, for women's rights, and
for equal treatment for all citizens.
Douglass transformed himself from a boy denied a
basic education into one of the most influential writers and speakers of his
century. Every letter he learned was a step toward freedom.
Tier 2 Vocabulary
•
forbidden: not allowed
•
resourceful: good at finding ways to solve
problems
•
challenged: invited someone to compete or test
their ability
•
injustice: unfair treatment
•
transformed: changed completely
Tier 3 Vocabulary
•
abolition: the movement to end slavery
•
autobiography: a book a person writes about
their own life
•
oratory: the art of public speaking
•
literacy: the ability to read and write
Comprehension Questions
1.
Why did slaveholders forbid enslaved people from
learning to read?
2.
Describe two ways Douglass learned to read after the
lessons were stopped.
3.
How did Hugh Auld's reaction influence the way Douglass
thought about reading?
4.
In what ways did literacy both help and hurt Douglass?
5.
Write a paragraph explaining how Douglass's story shows
that resourcefulness can overcome barriers. Include one detail from the
passage.
Answer Key: 1. They feared education would help
enslaved people think freely and demand their rights. 2. Traded bread for
lessons; copied letters from lumber; challenged boys to spelling contests; read
The Columbian Orator. 3. It showed him reading was a path to freedom,
which made him more determined. 4. It made him aware of injustice, which hurt,
but gave him purpose and the tools to fight slavery. 5. Answers vary; look for
a clear claim supported by text evidence.
Fluency Tracking Chart
|
Grade |
Passage |
Words
(approx.) |
Date |
Words
Correct Per Minute |
Notes |
|
3 |
The Girl Who Was Told She Might Never Walk |
190 |
|
|
|
|
4 |
Ten Thousand Tries for a Little Light |
250 |
|
|
|
|
5 |
Three Feet from Gold |
300 |
|
|
|
|
6 |
The Lecture That Built a University |
330 |
|
|
|
|
7 |
The Colonel Who Started Over at Sixty-Five |
340 |
|
|
|
|
8 |
The Boy Who Traded Bread for Letters |
380 |
|
|
|
Passage 1: Grades 3–4 (Early Intermediate)
- Prosody Focus: Pausing appropriately at commas and shifting tone to reflect the contrast between the neighbors' doubts and William's success.
- Quick Check: What problem was William trying to solve, and how did he get the materials he needed?
Passage 2: Grades 5–6 (Upper Elementary / Early Middle)
- Prosody Focus: Expressing determination and urgency in Gertrude’s dialogue and emphasizing strong action verbs (battering, urging, shattered).
- Quick Check: Why did Gertrude's trainer tell her to stop swimming, and how did she respond?
Passage 3: Grades 7–8 (Middle School)
- Prosody Focus: Navigating complex, multi-clause sentences smoothly while maintaining an empathetic, reflective tone.
- Quick Check: What physical adaptation did Beethoven make to his piano, and why was it effective?
Fluency Administration & Scoring Reference
- 1-Minute Cold Read: Have the student read aloud for 60 seconds while you mark errors (omissions, substitutions, reversals, or words supplied after 3 seconds).
- Calculate WCPM: $\text{Total Words Read} - \text{Errors} = \text{WCPM}$.
- Repeated Reading Routine: After reviewing missed words and modeling expressive phrasing, have the student re-read the same passage 2–3 times to build automaticity and confidence.
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