Lesson 28:The Sand Castle

The
Sand Castle
by
Sela Greenblatt
illustrated by
Bernard Adnet
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN

The
Sand Castle
by Sela Greenblatt
illustrated by Bernard Adnet
Copyright © by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
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Marcelo sat on the beach and
looked at the big world around
him.
“The sky is so wide,” he said.
“The clouds are so large.
The waves are so tall!”
Marcelo looked down at
himself. He felt very small.
2

Just then, the wind blew a big
ball across the beach. It hit
Marcelo and sent him flying
across the sand.
“That does it!” said Marcelo.
“I may look small, but I am
going to do something big. . .
something really big!”
3

Marcelo thought and thought.
Then an idea popped into
his head.
“I’ll build a sand castle! It
will be the biggest castle ever.”
Marcelo got right to work.
He scooped some sand, added
water, then dumped it out.
The sand stood up by itself!
4

Marcelo worked hard. His
castle was going to be HUGE!
Then Marcelo heard a loud
roar. A big wave rose up and
then—SPLASH! It flooded his
castle. When the wave rolled
away, all that was left was a
mound of wet sand.
5

“Nooooooo!” shouted Marcelo.
His friends came over to see
what was wrong.
“I was making the biggest
sand castle in the world,” said
Marcelo sadly. “Now I just have
a lump on the beach.”
6

“You should build another
castle!” said Bird. “Make it
farther from the water. Then
the waves won’t reach it.”
Marcelo shook his head. “I’m
too small for such a big job.”
“We’re all small,” said Crab.
“But we can do a big job if we
work together.”
7

Everyone nodded. Marcelo
grinned.
“Let’s make the biggest sand
castle ever!” said Marcelo.
They found a new spot and
began building. One wall of the
castle fell down.
“Don’t worry,” said Marcelo’s
mouse friend Marta. “We’ll find
a way to fix it.”
8

“This sand is too dry,” said
Marta. She added more water
and built the wall a second time.
It stood strong and tall.
Bird used her beak to peck out
windows and doors.
9

“Great work!” cried Marcelo.
He climbed the castle and shouted,
“I have the world’s biggest sand
castle!”
Marcelo saw his friends smiling
up at him. He shouted even louder,
“I have the world’s best friends!”
10

Responding
TARGET SKILL Story Structure
Who is this story about? Where
does the story happen? What
happens in the story? Make
a chart.
Talk About It
Text to Text Think of another
story about friends who had a
problem. Do you think the friends
in that story worked together?
Tell what you think and why.
11

across
ball
cried
WORDS TO KNOW
head second
heard should
large
LEARN MORE WORDS
flooded mound scooped
12
TARGET SKILL Story Structure
Tell the setting, character, and
events in a story.
TARGET STRATEGY Infer/Predict
Use clues to figure out more about
story parts.
GENRE A fantasy is a story that
could not happen in real life.

Level: K
DRA: 20
Genre:
Fantasy
Strategy:
Infer/Predict
Skill:
Story Structure
Word Count: 388
1.6.28
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN
Online Leveled Books
ISBN-13:978-0-547-02732-6
ISBN-10:0-547-02732-X
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