Pick a Squiggle line, and what comes to mind? First, my students created beautiful (or humorous!) works of art from their squiggle line. Then, they story mapped the 5 W's and an H of writing:
~Who is in the picture
~ What is happening
~ Where
~When
~Why (the story line)
~ How it ends
Once they had these notes, they were able to write awesome stories with clear beginnings, middles, and ends. Enjoy these entertaining samples!
The Princess and the Harp
by Ella (6th grade)
One early morning, Princess Leila walked gracefully over to her harp. She lifted her skirt and placed herself gently down onto the stool. It was a new day, meaning a new song.
Princess Leila loved music, but she was a mute girl, so she couldn’t sing. She also had a unique disease called Muscular Dystrophy, meaning her body was rather weak, so she couldn’t dance. But she did have extremely elegant hands that could move very quickly or very slowly, depending on her mood. So to express her passion for music, she played the harp, every moment that she could.
Princess Leila had been trapped in a tower for almost 6 years of her life because of her delicate body and struggles to express. Though it was somewhat fair, it still hurt Princess Leila to think that people thought of her as weak and incapable. She was so lonely in her tower and wished so badly that she could make new friends in the outside world, but being held captive in her tower kept her from doing so.
So Princess Leila proceeded on with her day. She positioned her hands softly onto the harp strings and closed her eyes. As they were shut, she took a deep breath and thought deeply about her mood. It was just another day of the many years that she had been in this tower, so it should’ve just been like any other. But no. Today, Princess Leila was feeling a rather abnormal emotion. Something that felt like burning in her chest. Her eyes began to water and her neck began to sweat. It was like she was a trapped chick trying to break free from the egg to reach the real world.
Then she realized. The emotion she was feeling was nothing but anger. She wanted justice, and she had to be able to express that. Her fingers began pulling and turning rapidly as the harp strings produced a beautiful melody. But this melody wasn’t like any other one that she had created before. The melody was angry. Tired. It was full of passion. The words that she couldn’t speak were being expressed in the melody of the harp.
It had been several minutes, and Princess Leila was still playing. The people of the town below had begun piling up under her tower, as they were heavily attracted to the music.
For the first time ever, she had an audience.
She began playing deep notes, resembling her hopelessness. High notes, resembling her stress and will to break free. Her hands were out of her own control as they played on.
Then something absolutely peculiar happened. The audience recognized the words she was trying to speak.
“She’s trapped! She needs to be rescued!”
“We have to help her!”
“The Princess is in despair!”
“Somebody get a ladder!”
Princess Leila would’ve been feeling another emotion by all of this encouragement, but she kept her mind, heart, and hands in the passionate angry mood of the song.
“Princess Leila! We have come to rescue you!”
Princess Leila cocked her head slightly to face her window and saw a prince with his hand stuck out to her.
“Come on!”
Princess Leila had never thought this moment would happen. She had a chance to be free, but she realized that would mean letting go of the harp she had played for her entire life. She was torn between the life she already had and the one she was being offered.
The melody of the harp began speeding up. She was stressed and panicked. The prince noticed.
“Princess Leila? Are you okay?”
The Princess stuck out her hand as the other one kept on playing. She shut her eyes and took a deep breath.
She had been waiting for this moment her entire life, and it was here.
Then Princess Leila realized.
Life is all about letting go and moving on. From growing up to losing a loved one, moving on.
This was one of those moments, Leila realized.
So she let go of her harp.
I’ll see you again soon, she thought as she planted a kiss lightly on the surface of the golden harp.
She walked steadily over to the window and grabbed the prince’s hand.
Letting go.
She’d find a new way to speak for herself someday. For now, goodbye to the harp that carried her through all the endless days of suffocation.
