Free Reading Passage: Mel's Story

Mel’s Story

The following reading passages are based upon the characters in “The Black Silk Path” by Heather Doolittle which is available through several Amazon Marketplaces. “The Black Silk Path” follows the skill progression of the Level 3 Barton Reading & Spelling System scope and sequence. The following reading passages use all the skills introduced in Barton Reading & Spelling System Level 3. For more information on which skills are used, visit the “The Black Silk Path” page at DecodableAdventures.com.

PDF Version

Narrator:

This reading will help you get to know Ed and Mel a bit better. They are still under the spell of R.L. Nox, so much of what they share is like a riddle. If you have not yet met Ed and Mel, the book “The Black Silk Path” will explain who they are and how they came to be under the spell of R.L. Nox. To catch you up a bit, the spell is an attempt to foil Ed and Mel’s efforts to find their kidnapped parents. The spell stole their ability to speak, read, and spell words. They have found they can learn to read again. Reading is giving them back their words to speak. Ed and Mel don’t let their loss of words stop them. They work with what they have. Here Mel shares a story.

Note:

Some words have a plural s at the end.

There is  -olk in the word folk. This acts like a unit but is not taught in Barton.

© 2020 Heather Doolittle All Rights Reserved

Student text:

     I’m Mel. When I was ten, I went to camp. At camp I could fish, run on the track, and run in a ball match. I could act and sketch. I could run to the big rock and then jump off and swim in the big pond.  It was a lot of fun.

     I had a pal at camp, Chad. Chad and I did want to fix up a van for the old folk next to the camp. The van did not run. The van had a flat. It did stink in the van. It was a big job to fix it. 

     Chad got a small box to set in the van. It did help the van to smell fresh. I did dust and scrub the filth off the front. Chad did get the back spick and span.

Chad and I did fix the flat. I had to jack the van up and get it on jack stands. The rim with the flat was bent. Chad got it off the van. He then got an old rim that did match and was not bent. I did fix the flat. I had black hands from that.

     Last, Chad and I had to get the van to run. I did check the gas. The gas was old and bad. I got fresh gas for the van. The van was old. It had a carb. Chad did check it. It had a clog from the old gas. Chad did fix that. The man at the camp did help us fix the rest.

     The camp did get the van to the man who did help the old folk. They were glad to have the van. It can help them shop. It can help them get to church. It can get them to the doc. Chad and I were glad to help. It was fun to fix the van at camp.