After Halloween was over and the students had plenty of time to enjoy their candy, my older students did a fun assignment on the concept of "Show not Tell" and using the five senses to write sensory details about our favorite candy. I posed this question: If an alien came down from outer space and you were asked to describe your favorite candy to a being who has never seen or tasted it, could you do it?
My students came up with a clever beginning in story-telling form, to explain how they encountered an alien in the first place. Then they went on to describe their candy of choice. Some students wrote about their favorites, while others wrote about the gummy Lifesavers I brought in to inspire them (there are LOTS of sensory details about gummy Lifesavers, by the way!)
Alien's Lifesaver, by Diba (5th grade)
One day at my mansion, an alien named Al-ien said, "What are you eating, Human?"
I said, "This is a strawberry Lifesaver, but it can't save my life. It can save yours though."
Al-ien said, "Well, what is it?"
I answered, "This strawberry Lifesaver has a wrapper. When you open it, it is loud and crunchy, and when you eat it, it sounds chewy."
"It looks round like a donut. It is a neon reddish pink. It even has the words 'Lifesavers' on it."
"It smells like a Red-40 medicine. I can't forget the fact that it is very, very artifically flavored. I can even smell it."
"It tastes sweet with a gummy texture. It tastes like a strawberry flavored piece of plastic."
Al-ien respoded, "I don't want it anymore. Good bye!"
I can't say I blame him.
.... So I Sold an Alien a Lifesaver, by Adrian (6th grade)
Ahhhh... November 1st. I mean, Halloween is great and all, hanging out with friends, getting candy and all that. But November 1st, that's when it pays off. I have so much candy it'll all go stale by the time I get halfway through. What a waste, is it not? Why wait around with so much loot just for it to expire in a month? Why not sell it?
So here I am on quite a plentiful November 1st, outside the school selling yesterday's sweets to hungry students. I see a figure moving towards me. Must be a customer, I think. But as this consumer gets closer, I see an oddness in his skin; it almost looks green.
"Greetings, Scrawny Earthling," says the weird man with a voice that almost sounds like musical notes. "I, Zaphod Beeblox from Beetleguese 4 would like to make a purchase." He scans my selection with his red eyes. "One of those things please." One of his 24 fingers points towards a pack of Lifesaver gummies, one of the less valued items due to the fact that NO ONE LIKES THEM.
"You sure?" I ask in a bit of disgust. "One of those?"
"Of course, foolish carbon-based life form!" The alien chuckles grimly. "Now, give me ten of those things and I may spare you from your planet's inevitable vaporization."
"What?"
"Now, what are these 'Lifesavers?'"
"Ummm...." I say, dumbfounded. "Well..."
"Earthling, Earthling," the alien scolds, "with those giant ears you have, can't you tell me how they sound?"
"I mean... the werapper sounds kinda crinkly, and when you open the bag it sounds like a 'rippp.'"
"Hmmm... very good Earthling," the alien purrs. "Now how do these Lifesavers look?"
"Is this some sort of trick question?"
"No."
"Oh, okay," I mumble. "They're multi-colored and I guess they almost look like little donuts."
"Donuts?" questions the alien.
"Not important," I respond. "They're also transluscent."
"How do these things feel?"
"They're squishy," I respond, "and sticky, and bumpy, and gummy, and soft, and dry."
The alien purrs again.
"You happy now?" I ask.
"Just tell me how they smell!" insists the alien.
"They just smell like a bunch of sugar."
"I can tell you don't like the smell, how about the taste?"
"All they taste like is some dusty plastic, artificially flavored with like ten gallons of Red-40--" I get cut off by sirens in the distance.
"Oh no!" yelps the alien. "It is NASA! I need to go!"
As the alien hops on a UFO to escape, I start to rethink my life choices...
MORE TO COME!
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