Grade 4

Jet Bikes Have you ever run a business from a playhouse? My friends and I have. It is a bike shop. We call it Jet Bikes. One day my friend Trent asked me and my brother Jared if we wanted to build a bike shop out of his old playhouse. Jared and I said, “Yes.” So we went to get permission from my mom to go to Trent’s house and get started. The first thing we did was get some things out of his garage. We got old, rusty bolts; new, shiny nuts; black tape; wrenches; half-empty cans of oil; and screws. Then we built a new roof for the playhouse.

Rules One day, on the way home from school, my mom told me she was going to make up some new rules for me and my brothers and sisters. Before this, we knew she wanted us to be good, but we really didn’t have any rules. Well, Mom took care of that. On Sunday, she started giving us the “house rules.” Clean your rooms every other day. Be ready for dinner at 7:00 p.m. (that means sitting at the table, with clean hands). If Mom is having a meeting in the house, be very quiet (that means turn down the music and the TV). Be ready for bed at 9:30 p.m. (that means lying in bed, with clean faces).

My Mother Do you have someone who is great, spends time with you, cares for you, and is an important person? Well, I do, and she has black hair, brown eyes, and a caring touch. That’s my mom. My mom talks to me about many things. One of the things she talks to me about is what will happen when I grow up. She tells me what to do in case of an emergency. And one day I had a really bad day with my friends, and she told me what to do about it. My mom and I spend a lot of time together. We play games, bake cookies, make necklaces, and draw doodle tricks. But our favorite thing to do is read.

Ann Do you have a friend who loves you? Well, I did. Her name was Ann. She was a very close friend of mine. She was almost like family to me. Ann was very kind, and she had bright blue eyes and curly gray hair. I loved her very much. She invited me to go swimming every summer. We had a lot of fun all those summers. But she could not get in the water most of the time because she was sick. Sometimes my sisters would come swimming, too. But it was better with just Ann and me because I just wanted to spend time with her. Ann always listened to me when I had a problem.