Grade 5: Story

Give your readers this important information right away!

In your first few paragraphs, introduce at least one main character, the setting, and the problem.

A young penguin slid off the edge of an ice shelf and dove into the icy ocean. After six months of being fed by his parents, he was just learning how to catch fish on his own. Already he felt as much at home in the water as out of it.

Swimming farther from the ice shelf than he ever had before, the penguin caught a number of plump, silver fish. He was heading home when he sensed danger. Rather than look behind him, he swam with all his might, leaped back onto the ice, and started waddling inland toward his parents. Behind him, a large leopard seal, an enemy even to adult penguins, flopped onto the ice and lunged forward. The young penguin squawked and waddled faster.

Just then there was a loud boom. A huge crack appeared in the ice and widened directly in the penguin's path. Moments later, the penguin and the leopard seal were together on an ice floe that had broken away from the shelf.

• 
•