Tommy and the New Playground
By: Michelle Abretske
EDU291 Section 2617
Final paper: Children’s Book/Picture Book
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The first day Tommy saw his playground at school he
was very excited. Tommy was going to be going into
kindergarten next week and his mom brought him to the
school today to meet his teacher and see where his
desk was.
Tommy really wanted to see the playground that his
sister and cousins had played on a long time ago. You
see this playground had been around for a long, long
time and it was old. So old in fact that his cousin, who is
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now in high school, played on it when he
was in kindergarten.
“Wow!” thought Tommy, “That sure was a long time
ago.” Mrs. Padderson, Tommy’s teacher, asked him,
“What do you think will be your most favorite thing at
school?”
Tommy replied, “Well let’s see, I like to color and
count but the best thing is playing with my new friends
on the playground.”
Mrs.
Padderson thought that was fun also. Mrs. Padderson
told Tommy that there was going to be a big surprise on
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the first day of school. Tommy could not wait and kept
wondering what the surprise could be. The first day of
school, Tommy got there early because he wanted to
play before Mrs. Padderson blew the whistle.
Unfortunately he was not the only one who had the
same idea. There were so many children playing on the
playground equipment Tommy thought for sure he
would never get a chance to play. He finally had a
chance to go down the slide but had to wait a long time
to go down again.
He was excited that he could finally play on the
same stuff his older sister and cousins got to play on
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but there sure were a lot of kids. “I wish the school had
more slides and tunnels,” Tommy said quietly to
himself. That is when Mrs. Padderson blew the whistle
telling all the kindergarteners to line up.
At the end of the first day Tommy was able to go
down the slide 3 times and climb through the tunnel 2
times but it just did not seem like enough play time for
him.
Just as the day was ending and Mrs. Padderson was
doing the last star of the day she said she had a
surprise.
“That is right” Tommy thought. I forgot Mrs. Padderson
said she had a surprise. “Attention class, Mrs.
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Padderson said. “As some of you may know our
playground is small and has been here for a very long
time.” Tommy and his classmates shook their heads
“Yes”.” Well, guess what class?” Mrs. Padderson
asked. “A group of parents at our school are helping
the school get a new kindergarten playground.” Mrs.
Padderson stated.
“WOW” “YIPPEE” Mrs.
Padderson’s class shouted.
“In a couple of weeks the playground should be
ready to play on.” Mrs. Padderson said loudly over the
classes’ excitement. Tommy was so excited but thought
that a couple of weeks were way too long to wait.
A couple days later Tommy and his classmates
heard loud trucks outside of their classroom. Mrs.
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Padderson allowed the class to go look from the
window to see what was happening. Outside, the big
trucks were moving the first
big piles of dirt so the new playground could be built.
Tommy had a hard time working later that day on his “M
is for Mouse” paper.
He kept
thinking about going down the new slide for the first
time.
Two days later Tommy and his class were coming
back from singing Halloween songs with Mrs. Melody
the music teacher. When the class turned the corner
and saw water where the new playground was suppose
to be they grew excited. Tommy and his classmates
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thought that the new playground was going to have a
pool with it. Barry said, “Won’t it be fun to slide down
the slide into the pool?”
Matilda said I have a new
polka- dot bathing suit to wear for the first day of
playing on the playground.
“I am glad I learned how to swim this past
summer.” Tommy said
Mrs. Padderson had bad news she said. “There will
not be a pool with this playground. One of the big trucks
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hit a pipe that was underground and that is why there is
the water.” Tommy’s class groaned but they soon
remembered they were still getting a new playground
once the water and mud were cleared out.
After a couple more weeks the playground looked
like it was ready to be played on. Tommy wondered why
it was taking so long. Mrs. Padderson told the class that
even though the playground looks ready, some safety
people have to come and make sure the playground is
safe.
The next day Tommy and his friends saw some
men checking out the slide and tunnel of the new
equipment. The men were trying to shake and move the
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equipment but it would not budge.
They
kept writing things down on these funny looking boards
in their hands. Tommy was sure hoping that they found
everything to be okay so he and his friends could play.
Two days later Mrs. Padderson received a note
from the principal’s office. Was Mrs. Padderson in
trouble? Tommy asked her “What did you do wrong”.
Mrs. Padderson giggled and said she did nothing
wrong. She said, “This note here tells me that the
playground is ready for us.”
Everyone cheered. Tommy was
really hoping to be the first to go down the slide. He
raised his hand to ask if he could be first. Mrs.
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Padderson said no because the note from the
principal’s office also said she got to be the first one
down the slide.
That day, after Mrs. Padderson went laughing
down the slide, Tommy and his friends got to play on
the new playground. Tommy lost track of how many
times he went down the slide and how many times he
went in and out of the tunnel but he knew it was a lot
more than before. After playing, cookies and juice were
provided by the parents. There were even cookies and
juice to have after playing that those special parents
provided.
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At the end of the day he knew that all of the
kindergarteners at the school were just as tired as he
was.
That night at home he told his sister and cousins
about his exciting day. They told him that they
remembered their first time playing on the playground
also and how lucky he was to have a new playground.
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Playground Rules
*One person on a slide at a time. Go down facing
forward on your bottom.
*Everyone will have a turn, do not push
*Sand stays on the ground. Please do not throw sand
The End
What a cute story with wonderful graphics to add to the
text. I made a grammatical suggestion in the story;
other than that, it was perfect. I would love to know
where the playground is so I can go by and take a look.
Thanks so much. It has been a pleasure working with
you this semester. 145/150
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