This is one of my favorite assignments, and is where I usually get to see my students' personalities shine through! I tell them they are to become an object for one day, and use personification techniques to take the reader through their day and what they do, see, hear, and feel. We brainstorm first, then story map the beginning, middle, and end of our days while focusing on how the object would perceive the things happening to them. These are always entertaining pieces. Enjoy these samples across the grades!
A Day in the Life of a Piano, by Ella (1st grade)
I got picked up for the store and I was very excited. I got to the car and some kid's parents carried me early in the morning.
In about five minutes, we arrived at their house. The kid's parents set me up.
Everyone began playing me. I felt so ticklish! I felt so happy. I was so amazed with what they were able to play. They were good at playing very loudly and very quietly.
I stayed still when they were playing so they did not mess up. I was trying to be kind.
Later, they were very busy doing homework.
Soon, they played for the last time today! Then they went to bed.
My day was so much fun!
A Day in the Life of an Egg, by Wesley (2nd grade)
I was in an egg carton with my brother and sister eggs, but then our egg carton house got picked up. It felt like I was floating!
Finally, we were set down. "I'm really cold!" I said to myself.
"Hi Really Cold! We are in a fridge!" I heard an apple say. "Welcome, egg! My name is Patrick the apple."
The next morning, a human grabbed me. She lifted me up in the air, and hit my head on the side of the pain! It really hurt!
Then I got cooked! It felt like I had 1,000 sunburns. And all of the other eggs were laughing at me.
A Day in the Life of a Stuffy, by Evy (3rd grade)
I wake up on a beautiful day, waiting for someone to take me. I just feel horrible, will no one want me?
Suddenly, I see a wonderful, beautiful girl with brown curly hair, and she comes to take me. "Yay!" I think in my head.
When I get to this cool place, I get put on a goofy, white pillow. Thirty minutes later, I get hugged and my owner sleeps soundlessly.
After she naps, she leaves me behind. "Oh no! Does she not like me?"
"No, she loves you," says another stuffy.
Finally she comes back, flips off the lights, and lies down. Aahhhhhh! It's so dark and creepy, so I decide to poke her. Then she turns on her night light. Oh, much better!
I love being a stuffy!
A Day in the Life of a Stanley, by Momo (5th grade)
“SIGH, when will I get out of this giant room and get to see the world?” I think as I look at $10 blankets. I feel my buddy’s hand brushing against my back. Every single day, I always hear desperate-for-me-voices say “Mom, can I please, please get this Stanley?? All the other girls have one at school.” Then the mom says, “No, Honey, we already have enough water bottles at home.”Water bottles. Ha! As if there is any comparison. I am unique. I am special. I am enormous! I am….
A STANLEY!
Finally, a 12 year old girl with her mom come into the room. They make their way over to my social circle. I hear the girl say, “Mom, since it's my birthday, can I get this Stanley please?”
Then, the mom says “You know what? Sure! It will match with my new tumbler too!”
The girl places me into the basket along with a *cough* knockoff Stanley.
They take me home and place me onto the counter to sleep until the next day. The girl twists my hat off and puts ice, water, and a lemon slice into my body and twists my hat back on. Then on my feather, she puts a cute pizza cap onto it. After that, she takes me into the car next to the *cough* knockoff Stanley and we have an argument about what fruit is better in water, lemon or cucumber. Obviously lemon is way better!
The mom drives into this long lane and the girl grabs me and jumps out of the car. She walks into the school and I see so many things! Lockers, desks, so many doors, and a million backpacks! The girl takes me to her classes and I learn so many new things. Did you no that you don’t spell no like no but like know? So cool!
The mom drives up again into the long lane and my awesome self and the girl hop into the car. The girl places me into the throne and I continue my argument with the *cough* knockoff Stanley.
When we get home, the girl takes off my hat and takes out my water and lemon. She dumps them down the sink. Then she takes this soft white sponge that feels like a cloud, lathers it with soap, and puts it into me. “That feels so good! It’s like a spa! Ahhhhhhhh…. Keep on scrubbing there!” After that she places me upside down onto a towel. Nice!
I can’t wait until tomorrow for the spa again!
A Sad Day in the Life of a Cloud, by Lena (5th grade)
I am floating about the atmosphere, minding my own business and letting the day fly by like a gust of wind. But at the moment, I feel like a thunderstorm. I feel fogged up, gloomy, and cloudy. How could this day get any worse?
The sun comes out and says good morning! She always makes my day brighter. I start to feel better, and I wish I could feel her kind sunrays on me forever. Sometimes they tickle, and they sure tickle today. I laugh so hard, vapor keeps bursting out of me! It sure feels nice to be the sun’s only friend, and I am such an introvert. The sunrise is especially vibrant today, with vivid neon pinks and oranges, yellows and blues.
I observe the beach, the whales sticking their tails out of the water. The shark fins peeking out. I watch the bustling people going to work, school, or just doing whatever they feel like. I hear the church bells. “RINGGG!” I feel so much more refreshed.
I hear a deep stormy laugh. “Rumble… Rumble……” I start to wonder what I’m hearing, so I check who it is. There is another cloud! I notice that when he came around, everything turned grey and sad. What happened to my sunny day? I see the sun go away, the sky turn murky and gloomy, the happy people go inside.
I feel miserable. I have no choice but to cry. My big melancholic tears fill rivers and flood the city below, creating puddles to splash in tomorrow. the tops of buildings, umbrellas, and houses.
The sun leaves me, and I am stuck with this annoying cloud as she abandons me for her shift on the other side of the earth.
The Day My Boring Life Ended
by Maya (6th grade)
I woke up in darkness as usual. The other paints and brushes rustled around me in their neat, jam-packed rows. What time is it? I wondered. A sleepy voice came from above me.”Alexa-ugh-what time is it?” “The time is 10:26 AM”, came the robotic response. 10:26?? She should be up by now. I’m talking about the Girl Who Lives Upstairs. She sometimes gets down and walks past our paint house to visit her neighbors, a whiny little girl, a woman who yells often, and a guy who always leaves the neighborhood around 8:00 and returns at the same time at night.
I was wondering why the girl didn’t rush back and forth from her house and the others’, like she often does (their houses are connected by only a door). But I realized, it must be one of those break days, where everyone stays at home and relaxes. “Hey, do you think we’ll be used today?” I whisper to Navy Blue, who is one spot across and one spot up from me.
“We’ll never be used! Ever! We’ll be left to rot in this dark, crowded house forever!” wailed Navy. He started sobbing loudly, causing the other paints to wake up.
“ARGHHHHH!” screamed Deep Red. “WOULD YOU SHUT UP ALREADY!”
“Guys… let’s all calm down,” said White serenely. She sighed and started snoring gently.
I settled back into my cramped space in our house under the bed while the other things under the bed began to wake up. “Hello!” said Barbie, waving her scratched, dirty hand. The Barbie horses neighed in response. Meanwhile I went back to sleep.
I was awakened by our house being pulled out into bright lights. The Girl Who Lives Upstairs was standing next to our house, looking down on all of us. She reached down her enormous hand and moved it over our neat rows, as if searching. The other colors went mad with excitement.
“YESSSSS!” squealed Warm Yellow. “SHE’S FINALLY GONNA CHOOSE ME!”
“Not me,” I grumbled. She almost never uses black.
Her hand finally stopped. Right over me!
The next part was kind of a blur. I remember flying through the air, gripped by The Girl’s hand, screaming to the other paints, and a room with cardboard pieces littered on the floor. Then, The Girl TWISTED OFF MY HEAD. Once I recovered from the shock of LITERALLY BEING BEHEADED, I saw her squeezing black paint out of my corpse. Strangely, once The Girl was done, I felt hollow, but I guess that makes sense, since I was probably missing half of my insides. I also saw what looked like all of my important organs on a shiny white plate-like thing that was stained many colors, some suspiciously red.
Then The Girl dipped a stick with smooth bristles on the end into the black paint, and spread it over the cardboard. This went on for some time until all the paint was gone.
Then, the most unthinkable, shocking, horrifying thing ever happened. The Girl picked up my squeezed-out, shriveled, dead body and my head. She walked over and pulled out this HUGE container. She opened it, and I saw a bottomless pit of darkness so toxic it made my non-existent eyes water.
She dropped me inside and the lid slammed shut.
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