Riff on Opening Lines

Your new assignment for the week is "Riff on Opening Lines" It must be completed by Tuesday, January 22nd

You must choose one of your favorite children's books that you read when you were younger. Find the opening line to that children's book, this is the first sentence of the book, and create your very own story from this line. Your story must have a beginning, middle, end. It must also include a main character that we know a lot about and have a conflict somewhere throughout to complete the plot. Below is your rubric for the assignment:


_____/5 Title and author of children's book is given
_____/5 Opening line of children's book is typed out completely and fully
_____/15 Story has a beginning, middle, and end
_____/5 the main character is vividly portrayed
_____/5 there is a very distinct conflict/problem that has arisen
_____/10 The story is 1,000 words long (this leaves about 333 words for each part: beginning, middle, and end)
_____/5 Grammar, spelling, and punctuation are correct (HAVE SOMEONE PROOFREAD!!!!)
Total: ______/50

Here is a very short example of the format you should use on your blog:

My favorite childhood story was "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" by Beatrix Potter.

The opening line of this story is: "Once upon a time there were four little rabbits, and their names were - Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail, and Peter."

Once upon a time there were four little rabbits, and their names were - Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail, and Peter. They lived at the edge of the enchanted forest just outside the garden of Ol' McGee where they would travel to find fresh carrots and lettuce all week. Ol' McGee's farm had some of the best, freshest vegetables in the area and they were quite lucky to be able to feast upon them regularly. Their mother had warned them though to never go the garden without a lookout therefore they always traveled in pairs.

One Day Peter and Cottontail were playing bunny hop just at the edge of the forest when Mopsy and Flopsy approached them complaining about how hungry they were today.