Snowman Draw Game!

 My returning students were very excited to play this  On Demand Writing Game (think Monster Daw a few months back!) where they get instant feedback on the importance of descriptive language and adjectives!  Here's how you play:

Step #1: Draw a snowman, complete with background and plenty of colors.

Step #2: Describe your snowman and scenery with adjectives that tell size, shape, color, and number.  Make sure your writing can be read!  Don't leave out a single detail, because....

Step #3: Trade papers, and draw your partner's snowman as they try to draw yours!

Winners were voted on by the class.  Enjoy this set of amazing artwork and writing!

Kaia's Snowman (5th grade)

        My snowman's head is separated from the body.

        The snowman is on a green and gray slope that goes pu to about 1/3 of the paper.  In the top right corner of the paper, there is a full moon with five different sized craters, and it is colored yellow, and then colored over in a thin layer of pencil.  Below the moon there are two purple birds that look like v's.  On the other side of the paper, there are two more purple v birds at the same height as the first two birds.

        On the top of the hill, there is the snowman's body, but not hte head.  First draw a medium-sized circle on top of the hill, then draw two circle buttons in the middle of the medium circle.  Then draw the stick arms, but make sure they are painted diagonally to the ground.  On top of the medium sized body, draw a bigger circle on top.  

        On the bottom of the big circle, draw a round button.  Then outline all the body in purple.  Then on the right side of the paper on the hill, draw a circle smaller than the medium circle.  Then draw two coal eyes.  Then draw a mouth with seven coal circles, and a carrot nose in yellow-orange, facing the right side of the page.  Then outline the head in purple.  Then on top of the head, draw a black top hat with a stripe of red.

        Net, draw a pink flower on the left side of the page, then draw a smaller purple flower on the left side of the pink one.

Wow!  Kaia was so detailed, and so very creative with her art!  Her clear directions got her partner Aarushi (5th grade) to draw this near-perfect match!

Cora's Snowman (3rd grade)

        This snowman has three snowballs stacked on top of each other: smallest on top, biggest on the bottom.  The biggest one is a bit more oval-ish, but that was an accident.

        The eyes are two big circles with smaller black circles inside.  The black circles are slightly looking up but still not touching the bigger circle.  The eyes are about thumb width apart.

        The nose is a small-ish medium carrot that has no sharp corners.  The carrot starts below the middle of the eyes, about halfway through the head in both directions.  The carroti s facing the right side of the page.  The nose has some lines in it, and is colored with yellow-orange.

        The mouth is right under the nose and is pretty small.  It is close, and softly smiling.  

        There is a kiwi green scarf that is in between the head and the middle snowball.  The tie on the scarf is on the right tassles on the end.  There are some shadows and shading around the scarf in pencil.

        On the second ball there are two star buttons colored with pencil.

        The arms are sticks that have pointy things on the end that look like fingers, but there are only three of them.  The left arm is down and the right arm is up like it is waving.  The left arm has two leaves and the right arm has one.  The sticks are brown and the leaves are kiwi green

        The third ball is blank but behind it is a bumpy line that looks like snow.

Wow!  Cora's description is so clear that Marlo (4th grade) could draw this practical twin! 

Joon's Snowman (4th grade)

        My snowman has two circles, with a square on top.  The bottom one is indigo, the middle is red, and the top has a blue top and black bottom.

        In addition, the middle snowball has an indigo triangle and the bottom has three brown buttons, top to bottom.

        There is a small red sun to the right, up above the snowman.  There are tiny circles surrounding my snowman!  Finally, my snowman has a green line under it, with a brown line under that, stretched to the sides of the paper.

From that clear description, Matthew (4th grade) was able to replicate Joon's snowman precisely!

Angela's Snowman (6th grade)

        This snowman is in the middle of the paper, but the head of the snowman is the length of your middle finger away from the top of the paper, bascially meaning that it is a little higher than the middle to leave space for the ground.  To begin with, a regular snowman's three body parts are usually smallest to biggest, top to bottom, but my snowman is biggest to smallest top to bottom.  In the biggest circle, which is the head, there are two regular eyes the size of your pinky nail.  For the nose, instead of a carrot, it is a 5-pointed star colored in sky blue, about the same size as the eyes.  On the nose's left and right, there are small little circles in red for cheeks.  For the mouth, there are eight small orange triangles to make a smile.  On top of the whole head is a sky-blue star in the center, a little bit bigger than the nose.

        The second body part is a circle slightly smaller than the head, with two star arms sticking out the same size as the star hat on top of the head.  By the way, the stars are diagonal to resemble the regular stick arms.  In the body are two green circles, a little smaller than the eyes.

        In the last part/circle, the circle is smaller than the second one.  A green button/circle is in the part, the same size as the first two.  The rest of the snowman is colored in peach.

        For the ground of orange snow, there are three violet purple stars the size of your pinky nail in the ground.  First, draw a squiggly line under the snowman's bottom part for the ground.  The stars are on the center top, bottom left and bottom right.  There are three squiggly lines on the top left, top right, and bottom center.  The rest of the ground is orange.  There are six yellow stars in the sky, the same size as the star hat.  Three are on the left, three are on the right.  Make sure you scatter them.  The rest of the sky is green, facing out on the top.

Wow!  What detailed writing!  These two girls have won this game before, and make an excellent reading and writing team.  Here is Allison's (6th grade):

Audrey's Snowman (5th grade)

        My snowman has three balls.  All of them are about the size of your fist balled up.  You will draw these with dark blue.  Then shade them with light blue.  The snowman is in the middle of the page.  The first ball has nothing on it.

        The second ball has three dark blue buttons.  They are about the size of the eraser on your pencil.  They are positioned vertically with space in between them for another button.  Next there are two arms sticking out.  They are dark brown.  The arms are horizontal and the width is about the size of the buttons and the length is about an inch.  You should have a shaded in rectangle when you're done.

        The third ball is the face.  There are two eyes that are also the same size as the buttons.  They are black.  Then draw a carrot for the nose.  It is a right triangle.  It is pointing to the right side of the paper.  Next under the carrot, there are six pieces of goal arranged in a smile.  On the outside of the third ball, there is a pair of green ear muffs.  The ball part is even with the eyes.  Draw a curved line above the head to connect them.

        There is a house to the left of teh snowman.  The house is a triangle on top of a square.  The outline is brown.  The house is the height of the first ball.  There is a red door with a doorknob in the middles, and there are two blue windows with a cross in between.  The triangle is shaded in with dark brown.  The square is light brown.

        There is a purple circle to the right of the snowman as a moon.  There is a purple line as the ground under the snowman.

Audrey is a pro at this game, but Sheryl (5th grade) had never played before.  Sheryl did a fabulous job reading Audrey's careful details; look at this match!

Congratulations to our winners!

Super Sentence Writing!

 It's time for another session of "Authors and Artists Club," and we always begin the same way: the study of sentences.  We dive into grammar and how we can use it to make our sentences more interesting to read.  We learn about dependent clauses and prepositional phrases (yes, even my youngest students!) and how it is our job as writers to paint the perfect picture in our readers' minds of exactly what we want them to see.

We start with studying a boring sentence:

The snowflake falls.

It has what a sentence needs: A capital, a mark of punctuation, a noun, a verb, and a complete thought.  However, it is boring to read! With a guided lesson, the students each improve their sentences unti they become as unique as the snowflakes they created themselves!

Enjoy these samples from across the grades!

Because it is so excited, the pretty, white snowflake swirlingly falls on the snowy ground as I walk around the block. -Ella, 1st grade

The white sparkly snowflake falls in a fat frog's mouth on a cold icy morning because it's the last day of winter. -Anders, 2nd grade

The pretty amazing snowflake falls slowly into a little cute house on a cold midnight because it was starting to get sleepy and wanted to go home. -Evy, 3rd grade

Because the frozen cloud is sad, the fragile exotice snowflake falls elegantly into the calm ocean as the bright sun sets. - Matthew, 4th grade

As the sun hides behind the mountains, the elegant and fragile snowflake falls gracefully on the frosty cold grass. -Acey, 5th grade

A Wish List for Others

 This time of year, we find outselves creating wish lists for ourselves, but these fabulous 3rd-4th grades created a wish list for others!  Enjoy these sweet samples.

A Wish List for Fiona, by Cora (3rd grade)

        When I write my Christmas list, I usually ask for things for myself.  This year, I plan to make a second list just for my furry friend.  I hope this list makes her life better.  

        First, I would give my dog some tasty bones to chew on, to keep her busy in doggy paradise while we do human stuff.  Also I would get some new toys and.... more new toys.  Dogs and cats LOVE to play with toys, especially new ones.

        I hope Fifi will feel great with these new things for Christmas.

A Wish List for my Mom, by Rhys (3rd grade)

        At Christmas time, I usually ask for things for myself.  This year, I have a wish list for my sweet mom.  I hope this helps her calm down at her quiet time.

        I want her to have a sign that says "Stop" or "Keep out." I also want her to have a lock in case the signs don't work.  Also a blanket, some pretty lights, a Zen book, some candy, a charger, and some scented candles.  This would make her the happiest and most calm mom ever!  She'll feel more happy and zen.

        Have a sweet Christmas!

        A Wish List for Pom Pom, by Diba (4th grade)

        At Christmas, I usually ask for things for just me.  This year, I decided that I have a wish list for someone even more speial.  It is my adorable bunny named Pom Pom.  I hope that this wish list will change her life.

        I chose two things for Pom Pom.  The first thing is a friend.  By friend, I mean another bunny.  It is because when my parents are at work, and my sister and I are at sdchool, she is all alone, so I would like to get her a friend.  I also think that she should get a bigger cage.  It is so she can play in a bigger cage that will have much more space to play.  If she got this wish, she would be the happiest Pom Pom ever!

        As you can see, getting Pom Pom a friend and a bigger cage can change her life and she would be so happy to have a friend and a bigger cage.  Merry Christmas for all bunnies, every animal, and all people!

Let's Vote!

 Right around Election Day, the students were given a special assignment to either pretend to run for political office, or create a proposition that would make life better!  This was persuasive writing, so they had to use good adjectives to describe themselves, or be very clear on what their proposition would achieve.  Enjoy these samples from across the grades!

Prop 1522 by Ashley (2nd grade)

        Prop 1522 would make it so there are two school days and five-day weekends.  And we'd only have one piece of homework a week.  Kids could play more at home because they don't have to go to school.  They can also not do their homework until the last day of the weekend.  If you want more weekends than school, then vote for Prop 1522!

Say Yes to Prop 85! by Mina (3rd grade)

        My prop is Prop 85: Every school gets a theme park! Why is this a good prop to say yes to? It would make sad people happy, kids would like school, and they would be inspired. If you like fun and theme parks and want school to be more fun, say yes to Prop 85!

Prop. #93: Every school should assign less homework!

by Rylie (4th grade)

        Every school should assign less homework.That way, children have time to relax and take a break.

        Schools should assign less homework. Most children need time for extra-curricular activities. Some kids have a DREAM that they need time to focus and practice to achieve. The kids that don’t have extra-curricular activities can take that time to sit back and relax. This benefits teachers because at school, the students are not tired or sleepy and their brains are refreshed and ready to learn. Also, having less homework gives us time for extra-curricular activities which weyou can put on your college applications. That helps you get into a good college which helps you get an enjoyable and good job and that makes your life better.

        REMEMBER…

        VOTE for proposition #93!This gives time for kids E.C.!

Joon for President! (4th grade)

        If I would be president, I would be for so many reasons. I am smart, brave, fair, and kind.

        As your next president, I would make more churches to spread the gospel. I would almost make a PERMANENT law that you have to have a baby harp seal photo in you rhouse, because they are cute. Finally, I would create Proposition 99, which would make homework illegal. My prop would solve the stress of kids. Some kids get stressed with too much homework. But kids will need to do some more work at school to be fair.

        Please vote for me, for my knowledge, bravery, forgiveness, and kindness to thrive!

Vote for Prop 66, The DroneZone!

by Chuyu (5th grade)

I’m here to tell you about Proposition 66, DroneZone. This Proposition helps make more space on the surface of the earth by moving roads underground and switching from gasoline powered cars to nuclear powered human transportation drones. It also lets drones park in the sky and charge in stations in the sky.

America should switch from cars to drones because there is no more space for nature and more buildings. Moving everything underground would solve that problem. Another problem that is solved is pollution. The drones will be non-exhaust to prevent air pollution. These drones are silent because of a complex design of the rotors. They’re also faster than most cars with an average speed of 110 miles per hour so you can get wherever you need to go faster. Their nuclear power saves money and doesn’t need a recharge until two years after the last recharge. This will get rid of electric and fuel stations and therefore save a lot of space. These drones will range from two to thirty-two seats and use hydraulic doors and windows. The drones will be cheaper than cars because of the simple production line.The drones will also be more sturdy and stable because of the aluminum shells. These great drones will fly in underground tunnels that have openings to the surface every one-eighth of a mile to let you get to your destination on the surface. These roads will be stable and have room for up to 24 drones at a time.There will be four columns of six drones each. The roads are situated underground because of easier fire and chemical control. The drones will drop you off and then park in a designated spot in the sky. It will stay there until you call it again when you want to leave. The drone auto-drives and you only have to tell it where to go. This would absolutely eliminate drunk driving.. The roads that already exist will be destroyed to build more houses, stores, schools, and business offices. The money will be raised by donations and taxing you based on how much you earn per month so no one becomes broke. This way everything is fair.

If you want more space on earth for a better future, vote yes on Proposition 66, DroneZone.

VOTE FOR PROP. 21- TRAFFIC SHOULDN’T SLOW ANYONE DOWN! by Maya (6th grade)

When you are late for school or work, traffic only delays you. No one likes to be stuck in traffic when they are trying to get somewhere. If you are one of those people, take a look at Prop. 21 ! 

This proposition will make good use of your tax dollars by building better roads to the places you want to get to. By observing which places are the most popular, like work buildings and schools, we will use your money to build more and wider roads, so the traffic flow will spread out. For example, if there is a road to a Google work building, where a lot of other roads meet at once, I will build more roads from each area that lead to the same place. I would also build more roads that are equally direct. So, if there was an accident on one road, and it was blocked off, there would be another option, and it wouldn’t be a long, windy road that makes you late. Now, some people might say that they don’t want to pay more money for taxes, but it’s only a few dollars more for much less traffic. Doesn’t that sound awesome? No more late arrivals because of a traffic jam! 

If this sounds great to you, vote for Prop. 21, because traffic shouldn’t slow anyone down!

Wishes Accomplished, by Angela (6th grade)

Hello fellow citizens, my name is Angela and I am running for the office position of mayor. As your mayor, I will be a respectful communicator towards my community. I will be helpful to my people by solving whatever requests or concerns they propose. I will always be confident about my decisions that have been thought through thoroughly before I make them come to life.

The first thing I would do is make school start at 8:30 A.M, which is important so students can be less tired if they sleep late with lots of homework the previous night. There would also be less traffic at that time because lots of adults go to work at 8:00 or 8:15 A.M. In schools, I want libraries to be in every single school so students can fulfill their thirst in reading. Second, I would have more workers clean the dirty streets that have been untouched because of how bad the condition is originally from pollution of homeless people. Talking to the governor, this plan would definitely work! Last but not least, every school should teach all the education needed to make students prosper, instead of there being different levels of learning in public and private schools. An example is that we learn more complex math, writing, and grammar in certain private schools, and vice versa for public schools.

 Angela as mayor, wishes are solved everywhere.

Pumpkin Life: Show Not Tell

 As my students continued to practice the concept of Show Not Tell in their writing, they became a personified pumpkin a couple of weeks before Halloween.  Their job was to write a story about the last day of their life, with an emphasis on Show Not Tell writing styles.  How would it feel to be carved?  Baked?  Dropped?  Forgotten?  My students did such an amazing job with this that one of my students said, "I will never carve a pumpkin ever again after this assignment!  I feel too bad!"

Enjoy these entertaining stories!

My Story, by Lucas (3rd grade)

        Hi, my name is Desert Horn Viper, and I am a happy, big, round, green pumpkin.  I have a story to tell you about my last day of my life!

        Today is Halloween, and the craziest thing happened earlier today.  First, Michaela carved into my top, and I felt fierce.  Next, SCRAAAAAPE!  A mean person scooped my seeds out.  I looked at them, and they were disgusting.  I saw goo and seeds all over the plate!  Then, someone started to carve a hole in my right eye and then my left eye.  He carved a nose and mouth as well.  I got to finally see everything! Meow.  I saw a cat eating delightfully.  Finally, a weird person placed a strange stick-like thing in me, and I felt warm.  But in a while, I felt hotter and hotter, until CRACKLE!  I was on fire!!

        I was burned to death.  The firefighter came and put out the fire.

        So now, here I sit in a big, round puddle.  My life was etremely funny.  Why couldn't I have been a black mamba instead?

The Dirty and Rotten Day I Die, by Zivah (5th grade)

        Here I am, sitting on a counter, ready to be carved by despicable humans.  I am wasting my life to be carved for this "fun" holiday called "Halloween."  It is like humans have no common sense at all.  Life is boring.  It always will be.

        As I grumble on the counter, a dwarf human approaches me.  "Look, a pumpkin!" 

        "Oh wow, how surprising," I say with obvious sarcasm.  It doesn't matter though.  No one can understand me.

        The tall and annoying human comes up to me.  "Time to carve this little pumpkin!" I say.  Don't call me "little," you hairy giant!  She smiles.  I start to ponder if humans have brains.

        With the sharp blade on the evil knife, the giant slices my head off.  The pain rushes to my face.  I see my sticky orange guts splatter on me.  My heart hurts even more than my head.  I feel my life has been snatched out of me.

        Once the despicable giant is done scooping my guts, they put some useless candle inside me.  Did I really lose my life to have a candle put inside me?  I want to say no.  The giant puts me on a crowded porch.

        The giant lights the candle in me.  Something happens.  I feel a change in my heart.  I smile.

        Halloween arrives, and everyone loves me.  I finally feel special.  "Look at the pumpkin!" says the dwarf kid.  Maybe life isn't boring.  Maybe you have to change the way you see it.

December 25: D-day, by Audrey (5th grade)

        At least I survived Halloween and Turkey Day. I’m glad that I wasn’t the big orange kind of pumpkin that everybody wanted to carve. On Turkey day, I was relieved when I wasn’t made into pie. Life would be fine if not a little bit boring. I was safe unlike my cousin, the squash, who got made into an appetizer.

        The living room table. Tell me about it. Uhhh! That navy blue color is so ugly, I would do anything to not be stuck there. Day after day, month after month, the children running by, the mother telling them to stop running. 

        The worst part was when the family started decorating for “red and green day”. They got it totally wrong! Nothing could go even worse.

        Dang it! I probably jinxed it. They started putting up a pine tree right in front of my eyes. It didn’t even look real! Even worse, they were putting red, green, and gold balls on the tree. For heaven's sake, gold. Seriously? GOLD out of all colors. 

        Interrupting my misery, suddenly horribly cheerful music blasted out of the kitchen. Oh, this day couldn’t get any worse! I tried to zone out but the music was just too loud. 

        Wait, did I just wake up from a nap? The sky was already dark. Now the family was eating ham and mush. That same cheerful music was playing again. That was definitely not music to my ears. 

        One moment later the children were up and running again. I think they were playing tag. They were running around the ugly blue table that I was on. Three short minutes later, the children were running so fast like the wind, I was afraid I was going to meet my death. I was right! The next thing I knew, I was tumbling off the table. 

        Those mere three seconds seemed like eternity. Oh the pain! I was pretty sure I broke 17 of my bones. All of my orange and gooey insides had become outsides and the children were screaming. Then the mother came over and picked me up and tossed me into an endless hole. I got quite dizzy when the mother tossed me into the pit of doom. When I finally hit the ground I was actually surprised I was cushioned by some rotten lettuce. I asked them where we were and they said something that sounded like smash jam. What?!

         Then I felt quite different. My brain was getting really fogged up. The last thing I comprehended was that I was in a smash jam which could also be called the endless hole of misery and death. At least I can get my boring life published in a journal. 

        Well, maybe.

The Monster/Pumpkin Draw Game!

 This Halloween-time game is always a favorite of my returning students!  Here's how you play:

Step 1:Each student draws a monster.  (My younger students drew creative pumpkins.) They should include a background and many different colors to practice using adjectives in their writing.

Step 2: The students write a detailed desription on their monster.  Adjectives are crucial, for every single noun!  Size, shape, color, number.

Step 3: Students exchange written work and attempt to draw each other's monster with no talking or asking for clarification!

Winners are voted on by the class.  Congratulations to our winners below!

Angela's Monster (6th grade)

        My monster has a gorgeous smile with peach colored teeth.  His eyes are drawn using a pencil, with the pencil lead coloring in the whole eye, which is a little smaller than a pinky finger.  Furry the Monster only has one eye because it's facing the left, so it's only showing one side.  The whole body is yellow-green.  There are dark pink bunmy ears on the head.  To be specific, it is considered a dinosaur.  

        Next up, we have the body.  As I mentioned in the first paragraph, it's yellow-green.  There are peach colored spikes along the back and all the way to the tail, the same color as the teeth.  There are pink polka-dots near the spikes.  It has a spiky tail.  It's standing upright.  There are two arms sticking out of the belly.  There are two feet on the bottom of the dinosaur, or polka-dotted monster.

        In the background, use the same green as the dinosaur's whole body for the grass, not too tall.  Make a brown stem, one-side green leaf on the right of the steam, yellow center, and red petals around the center.  Draw the type of flower I just described on the left side of the monster, and one on the right side.  Draw a blue cloud on each side of the dinosaur, making the right one a lot bigger than the left.  When drawing the clouds, make the base flat and three bumps on the top of each cloud (not bumps all over the place like a regular cloud.)

Angela wrote so clearly, from the cloud styles and location, to the flowers, to the direction the monster was facing, that her partner Allison (6th grade) drew this twin picture!

Adelynn's Monster (5th grade)

        My monster has a pumpkin-shaped body, two ovals overlapping an oval in the middle.  The body is orange and medium-sized.

        There is a mushroom on the pumpkin.  The mushroom has a stubby stem that is a light yellow color.  The stem of the mushroom is located where the stem of the pumpkin would be.  The mushroom cap is wide and almost covers the length of the whole pumpkin.  It has a wavy bottom and is bright red with three white spots, one on the left, one on the bottom right side, and one on the top right side of the mushroom.

        There are two eyes, one on the top left side of the pumpkin and one on the top left side of the pumpkin.  They are oval-shaped with points on the ends.  There are two lines coming from the top to the bottom of the eye.  They are slightly curved and there are diamonds for the pupils.  The pupil is black and the iris is dark purple.  The eyebrows are really small compared to the eyes, and are thin black lines that are slightly curved.  They are as wide as your nail, the white part of your nail to be specific.

        The mouth is in the bottom middle part of the pumpkin.  It is the shape of an almost-full moon, with a tongue that is an oval in the bottom of the mouth.  It is a magenta color, and the rest of the mouth is black.

        The legs are almost to the end of the paper.  They are slightly curved lines.  There are four of them on each side of the pumpkin.  On the end of every leg, there is a purple foot.  It is a small circle.

        Under the pumpkin is a wavy line that goes across the paper.  All of the space under the line is a mahogany color.

        There is a sun on the top left corner of the paper.  It is a yellow circle with two little black circles for eyes and a small U-shaped mouth in between the eyes.  There are nine black rays that are just a line, and all of them are spaced evenly.

Wow! Adelynn put a LOT of time and effort into her writing, so her partner Mabel (5th grade) drew this!

Vivia's Pumpkin (4th grade)

        My pumpkin is a large round orange pumpkin with dark orange lines.  It has two dark pink triangle shaped eyes, a dark pink upside down triangle shaped nose, and a dark pink smiling mouth with two fangs hanging off the bottom of the mouth.  It has three long blue straight whiskers on the left and right side of it.  It has a medium blue headband with cat ears attached to it.  It has a sort of thick pencil gray stem that is slightly tilted to the left.  The stem is not that long.  My pumpkin sits on tall green grass that goes almost halfway up the page.  Above it, there is a blue sky.

Wow!  Look at this twin that Ella (4th grade) drew!  Great writing, Vivia, and great reading, Ella!

Jaime's Pumpkin (4th grade)

        My pumpkin is a jack-o-lantern.  It is big and orange, and the mouth looks like a watermelon that is colored in with pencil.  It has big round glasses, the color of pink and purple, but more of a purple, and they are overlapping.  The color of th epumpkin is lightly colored orange with a dark outline of orange. The stem is also outlined with dark green and colored in with light green.  It kind of looks like a volcano because it goes up and then there is a circle connected to it.  It is a light green stem that goes in a loopty loop eight times on the left.  Under the pumpkin is grass with zig zags to the sides.  In the middle of the colored-in grass is where the big pile of dark brown dirt is, in mostly scribbles.  Over him is a small sun on the right hand corner with very short lines going out, mostly toward the left.  It is colored in yellow.  The sky has no color. 

This brother and sister paid had Sibling power!  Little brother Wesley (2nd grade) read carefully and drew this:

Congratulations to our winners!

Show Not Tell!

 What began as a warm-up exercise for my 5th grade class turned into sentences so fantastic that I had to put them on the blog!  The lesson was writing in a style called "show not tell."  The idea is to take a simple sentence or scenario, and make it so the reader can see and hear a fantastic picture in their minds of what the author was trying to convey.  Adjectives, adverbs, strong verbs, similes and metaphors, and onomatopoiea can all be used to achieve this challenging-yet-rewarding style of writing!

The students were presented with the following simple scenarios involving personifying a piece of paper, and their job was to improve them with show-not-tell styles of writing.  I hope you enjoy this "warm up" activity as much as I did!

Scenario 1: The paper is getting written on.

Max: I feel like I'm being pushed, the hard lead tip smashing through my skin.  The sharp graphite is putting colors on me, and the pain is coming at me like a bullet train.

Zivah: The sharp pencil piereces my thin skin.  The bold graphite stains me.  It hurts me so badly, but nobody can hear me cry.

Scenario 2: The paper is getting cut by scissors.

Sara: The unforgiving, ruthless points cut right through my life.  I am speechless, and only the pure thought of despair can bring me away from the violent rip.

Mabel: Snip, snip.  "Ouch!" I yell.  I feel the scissors cutting me into thousands of pieces, and the sharp pain makes my paper eyes water.  I am ripped into jagged pieces, falling to the floor.

Leo: The unforgiving, cold metal scissors cleave through my unfortunately thin, delicate skin, and I hear the screech of the multiple blades ripping me apart.

Scenario 3: The paper gets thrown away.

Aria: After the aimless marks stop, I am suddenly being gripped by a pair of giant hands.  My feet touch my nose, and my mouth touches my elbow as they crumple me.  Suddenly, I am being whisked away, soaring high-- "I am flying!" I thought.  I land in a musty gray bin.

Grayson: I am lifeless as I feel myself turn into a ball with many holes.  I hear the crackle as I fall into the "basketball hoop."

Adelynn: Crumple, crumple, crumple.  I feel the cold strong hands shrivel me up into a worthless ball.  They throw me into the pit of darkness where all the useless things go.  I have no more purpose anymore.  I feel myself being sucked into the half-drunk soda, which makes me soggy.... or is it just my own tears?

Kaia: I feel the pain as two big hands squash me into a small, wrinkly ball.  I start to fall and soon I am drowning in tears as I have been thrown into the dark, unforgiving, inescapable hole.  A trash can.  The place for unwanted things; disappointments.

Backwards Land Paragraphs and Postcards

 Our second and third assignments blended beautifully together.  Assignment #2 was Paragraph Writing.  The students spelled various places forward and backwards to create a new imaginative land.  They then constructed five unique sentences, to give their paragraphs a nice flow and to avoid sounding "boring" by using the same formats.

Assignemtn #3 took the students on an adventure to their backwards land.  They wrote a 1st person story with a clear beginning, middle, and end about their journey to their imaginative place.  I have included both the paragraphs and the postcards, so you can see how nicely the students used what they had written in Assignment #2 to make Assignment #3 beautifully connect.

Can you read backwards and figure out what these places were originally?  And would you like to vacation here yourself?  Enjoy!

Aidni, by Vivia (4th grade)

Rendrag, by Leo (5th grade)