Reading Like Writers in the Heritage Literacy Lab

During the month of September, Heritage students in grades 3rd - 5th are studying mentor author Dav Pilkey and his 3rd person narrative craft moves. Crafting stories of ourselves in the 3rd person can be very tricky...but all students are experiencing success in this new writing territory.  As students publish their pieces, samples will be shared on the Heritage Highlights Blog, so please check back to read and enjoy bits of our published work!

Here are a few 5th grade pieces to kick off our narrative study:

The Hot Chocolate Drinker
by Rachel

The cold winter days of the hot chocolate drinker are very relaxed.  On these days, the ground is blanketed with a fresh coat of snow.  It is too cold to go outside, but it is warm like a summer day inside her house.  The hot chocolate drinker heads downstairs still in her pajamas from the night before.  She heads straight for the kitchen where she makes herself a bowl of cereal and a cup of hot chocolate.

When the hot chocolate drinker is finished making her breakfast, she devours her cereal.  But the hot chocolate sits in the glass, still full.  The hot chocolate sits there, untouched.  But the hot chocolate drinker waits.  She has learned how to do this, and she has gotten quite good at it.

She moves into the living room with her hot chocolate.  She sits down on the couch and turns on the TV.  A burst of color explodes from the TV as the hot chocolate drinker begins to flip through the channels.  When she finds a good channel, she begins to drink.  The world now feels more vibrant and colorful to the hot chocolate drinker as if the hot chocolate allowed her to travel into a different dimension.

The hot chocolate drinker finishes her show, turns off the TV, and walks back upstairs.  She changes into clothes.  And she goes back downstairs, ready to start the day.

The Dancer

by Jules

The Mondays of the dancer are burning and sweaty…even in the winter.  She carefully picks out an outfit she knows she can easily move in and takes her dance bag out to pack.  And after she knows all of her shoes are packed, she walks downstairs to the kitchen to get her water and phone.  And after she makes sure she has everything, she goes down to the car where her mom is calling her to leave.

At the dance studio she puts on her jazz shoes and starts stretching.  And after she has stretched enough she does her splits.  Most people have trouble with splits but the dancer has learned how to do this, and she is good at it.

After hours of dancing, the dancer is exhausted.  And hot.  But she was doing what she loved.  Her favorite time of day.  As her mom pulls up she gets in the car.  And drives home.  Then she throws her bag on the floor and falls asleep dreaming of her next dance.

The Fisher Boy

by Jonathan

In the early morning, the fisher boy wakes up.  The wet wind blowing on his face while riding on his bike.  It is foggy and windy while he rides through muddy water puddles.  And watching cars drive by.  Boom.  He is slamming his brakes so he does not crash into the trees.  He walks down in the rocks trying to balance.  He makes it by the lake so he sits down and puts his tackle box on the ground.  And sets his rod, trying to put the worms on the hook.

Then he throws the hook with the worm on it.  One minute, two, three, four, five, six minutes later the bobber goes down.  Fish on.  He pulls it in.  It is a twenty inch Bass.  He is so happy.  

The Porch Sitter

by Tyler

Every morning at the beach, when the sun is just waking up, the porch sitter has already awoken.  And is listening to the ocean breeze with not one person in sight.  Just the porch sitter.  You will always find him alone…occasionally with a small treat for breakfast.

The porch sitter likes to creep down the hall past his sound asleep sister and two parents that are not up yet. And most of the time he hits the kitchen to grab a snack.  After that, he goes to the porch and listens to the sounds of the beach.

Once his parents and sibling are up, his glory is over, and it is time to spend some family time.