Delia and the Paper Whale

Delia and the Paper Whale

1Delia's class was building a giant paper whale to hang in the school's front hall. Delia had drawn the plan herself, and she was sure it was the best one. "I'll be in charge," she told her group. "Just do what I say, and our whale will be perfect."

2For three days, the group tore newspaper into strips, dipped them in paste, and smoothed them over a huge balloon. Delia told everyone where each strip should go. When Owen raised his hand, Delia said, "Not now, Owen." Owen lowered his hand and went back to work.

3On Friday, the group added a long tail made of wet paper strips. Then Mr. Haddad, the art teacher, lifted the whale to see how it would hang. The tail was too heavy to hold itself up. It flopped down, and a big rip opened where the tail met the body.

4Delia's face turned hot. The whale was supposed to hang in the front hall on Monday, and now it had a big rip. She stared at the floppy tail. Then she remembered Owen's raised hand. "Owen," she said slowly, "what were you going to tell us?"

5"A long tail needs something stiff inside," Owen said. "We could cut one out of cardboard." Delia took a deep breath. "That's a good idea," she said. Owen cut a cardboard tail, and the group covered it and the rip with fresh strips. This time, Delia asked everyone for ideas. Rosa wanted to paint the whale dark blue, and Jun wanted to add a white belly.

6On Monday, the whale hung in the front hall with its tail curving up. Under it, Delia taped a card with every group member's name. She wrote Owen's name first.