It was Zachary's second birthday.  His mama and daddy wanted to make it a fun day for Zachary, so they decided to take him to the beach.  There would be many exciting things for him to see and hear there.
    Zachary's first experience at the beach was hearing the sounds the pigeons made as they flew way up in the sky and the sounds of waves gently crashing on the shore.  Other sounds that caught Zachary's attention was the low buzzing of a boat's motor as it sped across the ocean and the sounds of dolphins splashing and playing.  These sounds were fascinating to Zachary.  His eyes got wide, and he turned his head every way he could  to try to find the place from which each sound was coming.  Although the sounds were fascinating to Zachary, the sights he saw were much more interesting.
    When Zachary saw the colorful beach toys his parents had brought for him, he smiled.  He had a bucket, a shovel, and a beach ball.  Zachary and his daddy used the shovel and bucket to make a big sand castle.  Zachary spent most of his day playing with his new toys.  He would not take his eyes or hands off of them until he caught a glimpse of something gray moving in the water.  In the water, not too far from the shore, were two dolphins playing and making the jovial sounds which Zachary had heard earlier that day.  They made Zachary laugh, but not quite as much as his mother made him laugh when she tripped and fell head-first in the water!
    Zachary's first trip to the beach was a day of fun!  He saw and heard many things which he had never seen or heard before.  He heard and saw the joyful dolphins, and he saw the ocean and heard the sounds its waves make.  Also, he saw and heard the pigeons and the boats in the distance while feeling, for the first time, the roughness of the sand and coolness of the salt water against his skin.  Unfortunately, Zachary's day at the beach had to come to an end, and he and his parents headed home.  To Zachary, however, his first trip to the beach was experienced over and over again - in his dreams.

Critical thinking questions to ask students that would change your story to their story:
1.  How would you change the main character? (Introduction)
2.  Where would your story take place? (Setting)
3.  What would happen to the main character in your story? (Plot)
4.  How would your story end? (Ending)

Tesha's Page

tlalexander@valdosta.edu