UNIT

1 INTRODUCTION

LAUNCH TEXT | NONFICTION NARRATIVE

This selection is an example of

a nonfiction narrative, a type of
Wagon Train
at Dusk
writing in which an author tells
a true story. This is the type of
writing you will develop in the
Performance‑Based Assessment at
the end of the unit.
As you read, look at the way
the author describes events and
experiences. Mark the text to
help you answer this question:
What descriptive details make this
narrative realistic and memorable?

NOTES
Sulky: Someone who is sulky is sulking
1

“S ometimes you just have to laugh,” I tell my daughter, who is

having an especially bad day. She’s lost her favorite bracelet,
she turned in the wrong homework assignment, and she just
or is unwilling to enjoy themselves.
found out she would be playing Marshmallow #2 in the class play.
Shoebox diorama: A diorama is a 2 “Oh, you wouldn’t understand,” Sarah says, sulkily.
replica of a scene, typically a
three-dimensional full-size or miniature 3 I ask her if I’ve ever told her the story of the diorama.
model, sometimes enclosed in a glass
showcase for a museum. 4 “Yes, Dad. More than once,” she says.
5 That doesn’t stop me. “When I was in the sixth grade,” I say
A diorama is a replica of a scene,
typically a three-dimensional full-size or in my storyteller’s voice, “we had to make shoebox dioramas
miniature model, sometimes enclosed
of a scene from American history. I decided to do a wagon train
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in a glass showcase for a museum.
traveling across the Great Plains in the mid-1800s.”
Show up: "Show up" has a lot of
meanings. "Showing someone up"
6 Sarah pretends she isn’t rolling her eyes, but I keep going.
means to embarrass someone by being
superior.
“I wanted it to be great. A diorama to end all dioramas! I wanted
to be famous. I wanted to be on the local news. But what I really
Evenly matched: equal in skill or ability wanted was to show up Jorge Nuñez,” I say.
7 “Jorge and I had been in the same class since fourth grade.
Conceived: to think of a new idea, plan
etc. and develop it in your mind We were pretty evenly matched when it came to test scores and
homework, but for hands-on projects, there was no one like Jorge.
Executed: to do something that has
been carefully planned He always came up with these unique creations, beautifully
conceived and executed. Jorge’s mom and dad were architects, so
Architects: a person who designs
buildings and advises in their maybe he had a leg up, but who knows.”
construction
8 Sarah shrugs in sympathy—which I take as permission to
Have a leg up: to have an advantage continue. “As soon as I heard Jorge announce that he was making
over others
a shoebox diorama of a log cabin, I decided to go one better. I’d
Log cabin: a small house made of logs

6 UNIT 1 • CHILDHOOD
 ESSENTIAL QUESTION: What are some of the challenges and triumphs of growing up?

create a fleet of Conestoga wagons in a circle formation around

a campfire at dusk, with miniature people and horses and dogs NOTES

made of pipe cleaners, and children running around playing

hoops. It would be a masterpiece. And that’s just how it turned Fleet: a group of vehicles that are controlled
by one company
out: a masterpiece! I carried it upstairs to my room and that night I
went to sleep with a smile on my face, imagining Jorge’s reaction.”
Dusk: the time before it gets dark when the
9 “Then,” I go on, “in the middle of the night I was jolted awake sky is becoming less bright

by a ripping sound. My heart stopped. I felt sick. I know that

Jolted: to move suddenly and roughly, or to
sound, I thought. There was no mistaking what it was—Lucy make someone or something move in this way

was demolishing my masterpiece! You couldn’t even tell what

it was supposed to be! I lay there in a stupor of self-pity and the Demolishing: to completely destroy a building
sense that nothing in the world would ever be right again. The
dog ate my diorama, I thought, and I pictured myself saying this Stupor: You’re not in a stupor if you’re reading
in class. I pictured the hoots and guffaws and hollers. I pictured this. A person in a stupor is barely conscious,
just really out of it.
my teacher’s puzzled expression as she tried to work out if I was
being serious.” I make the expression myself, and Sarah smiles. Hoots: a shout or laugh that shows you think
10 “Then I said it out loud: The dog ate my diorama. It was funny, something is funny or stupid

actually. The more I said it, the funnier it got. I started laughing.
I laughed until my sides hurt. I couldn’t stop laughing.” Guffaws: to laugh loudly

11 “And then?” Sarah says, knowing what comes next.

12 “Well,” I say, “I picked up all the pieces and put them in the box Hollers: to shout loudly

and took the whole thing to school. I called it ‘Wagon Train After a
Tornado.’ The teacher loved it. Everyone enjoyed my story. I think Reluctant: slow and unwilling
Jorge was actually jealous.”
13 Sarah gives a reluctant smile, like she’s supposed to. “So,” she
says, remembering that there’s a lesson in there somewhere, “you
learned to laugh at bad things. Right?”
14 I shake my head. “Nope,” I tell her. “I learned that some things
aren’t so bad.” ❧

 WORD NETWORK FOR CHILDHOOD

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Vocabulary A Word
Network is a collection of
words related to a topic. As
you read the selections in this sulkily
unit, identify interesting words
related to childhood, and add
them to your Word Network. diorama CHILDHOOD
For example, you might begin
by adding words from the
homework
Launch Text, such as sulkily,
diorama, and homework.
Continue to add words as you
complete this unit.
Tool Kit
Word Network Model

Wagon Train at Dusk 7