Izzie was bouncing to Kids Central.
"Gurp, gurp, gurp," she croaked.
She was thinking about her pet frog, Gurpy.
He was at the vet today.
Miss Shelly blew her whistle as Izzie walked in the gym.
"Time to go outside!" the teacher called.
"Today we're going to play hopscotch," Miss Shelly said.
She had drawn a hopscotch board on the blacktop.
Izzie bounced up and down.
"We're going to hop, just like Gurpy!"
"We're going to do more than just hop," Miss Shelly said.
"This is a special game of hopscotch.
You will all write an activity in each square.
When you land in a square, you have to do that activity."
"What kind of activities should we write?" Nina asked.
"Something fun," Miss Shelly said.
"Like ten jumping jacks!"
"Or five push-ups?" Bobby asked.
"Or spin around eight times?" Jason asked.
"Exactly!" Miss Shelly said.
"Grab a piece of chalk and fill in the blank squares."
Izzie knew exactly what to write.
When everyone was finished, they lined up behind Miss Shelly.
Miss Shelly held up a beanbag.
"To start, toss this beanbag onto a square.
Hop to the square on one foot.
If you hop on a line, you are out!
When you get to the square, do the activity.
If you can't do the activity, you're out."
"I'll go first!" Izzie blurted out.
Izzie tossed the beanbag.
She hopped to where it landed.
"Six push-ups," she read.
"That's mine!" Bobby said proudly.
"One, two, three, four, five, six."
Everyone counted as Izzie did her push-ups.
"Yay!" Nina cheered.
She was next.
She hopped to her square.
"Five frog jumps?
This must be yours, Izzie.
What's a frog jump?"
Izzie giggled. "It's when you jump like Gurpy!"
She squatted down and then jumped and moved forward. "Like this!"
Nina's face turned red.
"Do I have to?" She turned to Miss Shelly.
Miss Shelly nodded. "It's part of the game."
"Otherwise you'll be out," Ethan said.
"When you do them, it brings good luck for frogs," Izzie said.
Everyone looked at Izzie.
"Really?" asked Jason.
"I think so," Izzie answered.
Nina sighed and did five little frog jumps.
"Yay! Those were perfect frog jumps!" Izzie cheered.
Ethan was next.
He had to do a cartwheel.
Bobby spun around ten times.
Jason did the crabwalk for one minute.
Then they all took another turn.
Soon it was time to go back inside.
"How is Gurpy doing?" Miss Shelly asked.
Izzie looked down.
"He's at the vet.
He wasn't eating," she said.
"Oh, Izzie, I'm sorry.
I hope he's okay," Miss Shelly said.
Izzie nodded. "Me too."
Just then Izzie's mom arrived.
"Mom!" Izzie called.
"Good news, sweetie.
Gurpy ate five worms today.
Everything is okay!" her mom said happily.
Izzie jumped up and hugged Nina.
"I knew those frog jumps would work! Thanks, Nina."
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