The Class Trip

         Libby was writing in her composition book. The assignment was a theme about the class trip. This is what she wrote.

         Miss Ellis’s fourth grade class went to the zoo for our class trip. Nothing happened until the gorilla got out of his cage and went around opening all the other cages. We had to hurry and get into one of the empty cages so we would not get eaten by lions. Pretty soon the people were all in cages and the animals were all walking around looking at the people. The monkeys were pointing at us and laughing.

         At first it was fun watching the animals but then we started getting hungry and wondered how we were going to get home. There was no food in the cage where we were because the rhinoceros that lived there ate it all before we got in. The teacher said we would have to wait until all the animals went to sleep at night and then run for the bus in the parking lot. So that is what we did. That was our class trip to the zoo. The End.

         Her mother read the theme and handed back the book. “Is that what really happened?”

         “No. I changed some things.”

         “What things?”

         “Well, there was no gorilla. And nobody let the animals out and we didn’t have to wait in the rhinoceros cage until after dark, but the rest is all true.

         “What is the rest that’s true?” her mother asked

         The child read over what she had written. “This part: Miss Ellis’s fourth grade class went to the zoo for our class trip. Nothing happened.”

         “Do you think this is a good theme about your trip?”

         “Sure. I just punched it up a little.”

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