Diana Goes to the Beach
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Now that Diana knows how to fly her green balloon by telling it what to do, where will she go next? Students will read the story and answer follow-up questions about the language and the plot.
Topic(s): Science Fiction / Fantasy. Skill(s): Summary, Context Clues. Genre(s): Prose
Diana was bored. She was tired of all her books and toys. Her brother Carl was taking a nap. Her parents were busy cleaning the house.
“I wish I could go to the beach,” Diana said. She kicked the floor with her toe.
“Why don’t you outside to the sand box with your bucket and shovel? You can pretend you’re at the beach instead,” Mom said.
“I don’t think that will be the same,” Diana said, but she went outside anyway.
Diana’s sand box was under a tall tree. As she walked closer, she saw a green string on the ground.
“My balloon!” cried Diana. “I must have left it outside!” Diana grabbed her green balloon and smiled. “Now I can go to the beach for real!”
Diana’s green balloon was full of air, but it was lying on the ground. It bounced up and down as she pulled it towards her.
“Take me to the beach, balloon!” Diana commanded.
The green balloon did as it was told and floated up above the tree. Diana held tight to the string. She was flying over her house!
Diana watched the ground as she flew over her town. She could see the top of her school and her favorite park. She also saw the highway that her family usually took to the beach when they drove in the car.
There were fields with black and white cows. Diana also saw a farm with six yellow haystacks. Soon the green corn fields began to change to open spaces with tall grasses. Diana could smell the ocean on the breeze. She also saw a white sea gull flying nearby.
“Hello, gull!” Diana said.
The gull screeched and flew away. The green balloon was floating to the ground in a sandy spot. Diana landed softly just as a wave crashed up towards her feet.
She jumped back so her shoes wouldn’t get wet.
Diana walked along the shore and collected some pretty seashells and sea glass. She knew she couldn’t stay long because her parents would miss her. She put her shells and sea glass in her pocket to keep as a memory of her first trip to the beach by herself.
“Okay, balloon. Let’s go home.”
And they did.
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