A Genre of Excitement: The Adventure Story!

The "Awesome Authors and Artists" got to write adventure stories.  One of my schools took the traditional "What I Did On My Summer Vacation" Story and gave it a twist of adventure.  They were to start their story with events that truly happened, and somewhere in their story create a tall tale.  Enjoy these two fabulous adventures!  They are loaded with vivid adjectives and have a clear beginning, middle and end.  Bravo!

Summer Adventure in Hong Kong                                                         

By: Emily (4th grade)

This summer I experienced am adventure in swimming at Hong Kong. One day, I went swimming with my dad and uncle. While I swam around the pool, I saw a big rock at the edge.  There was an opening in the stone slab! I slipped in and gasped. This was no ordinary rock! I didn’t know what was about to happen next…

The hole closed behind me, and I took a couple steps back, stunned. Suddenly, I slipped on water and fell into a vat of ocean water! I started to paddle frantically. After a minute, I made no progress, but I could miraculously breathe in water! I swam down and saw an octopus, a giant clam with giant pearls, and more! I had some fun discovering my abilities to actually do stuff underwater.

Suddenly, a voice boomed, “You will become my dinner!” a shadow came over me and I looked up. Two hideous yellow teeth hovered inches above me. “I’m Fang!” the shark growled.

He snapped at my arm. I dodged. He tried my leg. I kicked Fang’s jaw shut. Then, I punted his stomach. “Mommy!! I mean, No Fair!” Fang screeched. He barred the two big teeth and aimed for my head. I swam onto his head and started jumping. But, because of the lack of gravity, the result wasn’t so good.

Fang started chasing me past a field of seaweed, through a maze of stinging jelly fish, over big chunks of coral, and back to the giant clam. The enormous shark opened his mouth and started coming towards me. I quickly grabbed the big pearl from the clam and swam to the shark. I jammed the pearl into the shark’s mouth. “Agh-Kig-Ooog-Ogige!” he said with difficulty. Grinning, I started to swim to the top the ocean. As I started to climb out, I remembered I needed to say thanks to that clam! He did let me use the pearl. But, when I took a breath of water, I started coughing and spluttering. For some reason, I couldn’t breathe under water anymore! I shook my head and staggered to the rock. The rock opened, and I ran outside.

“Emily! What took you so long to swim to and back?” Dad asked.

“Uh, um…I went to eat a snack,” I replied, seeing the vending machine near the pool.

“That‘s a long time to eat a snack. You were gone for almost two hours,” Dad said, his voice rising.

I told him every single thing that happened just then. I expected him to call the Hong Kong News station (not that I knew any), but he didn’t.

Can you BELIEVE he didn’t believe me???!!!

 

Ellery & Me! The True Story Of My Experience With Ellery The Lake Monster

By

Abby (5th grade)

      This summer I went to Gray, Maine for the fourth of July. I met my second cousins Avery and Alexa, my Dad’s cousins Paige, Carrie and Becky and my great uncle Art and my great aunt Gail. It was so much fun road tripping Maine for a day, tubing, and just relaxing. But I can’t really call my first 4^th of July in Maine relaxing…

     We went to Avery and Alexa’s grandparent’s house on Annyrelle Lake with a dock and a full cook-out buffet of everything red, white and blue! There were lobsters, white cake, mussels and more!

     After about an hour, all the kids asked if we could go tubing. I didn’t know what tubing was so I just grabbed a life jacket like everybody else and followed them to the dock. Little did I know that this afternoon would be much more than I bargained for!

     Tubing was so much fun! The tube went bouncing to the left, to the right, here, there, and everywhere! Then, about half way through our ride, Avery yelled, “Switch!” and everybody was scrambling to get to a different spot. The back flap was open, and Avery asked me if I wanted to get on it. “Sure, why not?” I thought. So I clambered to the back of the tube and the ride started! We took off, bouncing and bumping!

     At first it was fun. But after about one minute, it started to become torturous. The water was pulling down my life jacket squeezing through the big hole at the top. Lake water was spraying into my mouth and nose, and it was hard to breathe.

     “Help!” I screamed, but no one could hear me. “Help!” I screamed again, louder.

     Suddenly, something scooped me up and lifted me high in the air. I screamed and screamed until Sam and Avery heard me. Somehow, they got my dad to stop the boat, and they all looked up at me in awe.

     “Turn around!” yelled Alexa.

     Slowly, I turned around.

     “Are you OK? Because you don’t look so good,” said a high voice. Standing in front of me was a light green animal with dark blue spots, 50 feet tall.

     “Wha-what are you?” I stammered.

     “Oh, sorry. I’m Ellery. I live here in the lake. Oh, but don’t worry,” she added. “I would never, ever hurt you.  I’m a lover, not a fighter. And plus, I want a new friend.”

     Phew. I thought. I started to relax a bit. This huge, wet, fuzzy…well, thing, wasn’t going to hurt me, it just wanted a friend.

     “OK. I’m Abby. This is my first time here. Do you think you could show me around?”

     “Sure!” she replied with a huge grin on her face. “Hop on!”

     So I jumped on to her back. I was a little nervous, but then I remembered how nice Ellery was.

     “Ready? Let’s go!” she shouted, and she shot into the water. At first it was kind of scary the way she zoomed past the muddy ground. But it was all like one giant super fun roller coaster ride.

     “I almost forgot,” she said out of breath, “that you can’t breathe underwater like I can.”

     “You’re right, I can’t!” I said to Ellery. And from who knows where she pulled out something that looked like a baseball cap.

     “Put this on,” she said. “It will make you breathe underwater.”

     So I gingerly put on the baseball cap. Should I trust this thing? Would this cap hurt me somehow? All in a few moments I’ll find out, I thought.

     “Ready?” she asked. I nodded, scared. “Let’s go!” She zoomed off again, taking an excited me with her. It was the biggest, fastest, scariest roller coaster I had ever been on! It was so much fun shooting above the muddy ground and across reefs and next to fish. She shot out of the water every once in a while and I saw Avery using a waterproof camera to take pictures of Ellery and me jumping. Before I knew it, Ellery slowed down and took me to the surface of the lake.

     “That was so fun, Ellery! Thank you so much!” I exclaimed, twitterpated.

     “Yes, but now its time for you to have dinner. But before you go I want to give you this piece of seaweed,“she said, handing me a long slice of kelp. “If you tap the seaweed, you’ll be able to see my face and talk to me. I hope you’ll remember me!” she said sinking slowly into the water.

     “Ellery, wait! Here are my earrings for you to remember me by,” I said, handing them to her. So we said our goodbyes, and nothing would ever be the same again. I would call every night on the seaweed line, and no one but my family and I knew the truth about that twitterpatic day in Maine.

Another one of my schools used their "Backwards Land" paragraph (see prior blog post) as a springboard for their adventure story.  They also had to write from the 1st person point of view, but their assignment was to put themselves in their Backwards Land, and write a letter to someone about their experience!  So you have a frame of reference, I will include Crystal's (5th grade) paragraph AND her letter to her mom.  I hope you enjoy these as much as I did!

C.D. Notgnihsaw, by Crystal (5th grade)

     C.D. Notgnihsaw is a musical, breezy suburban town.  Because everyone loves playing records and the weather is windy, the musical notes are carried far off, and tourists are drawn to the devilish pulsing music against their own will.  The climate of C.D. Notgnihsaw is thunderstormy and windy.  All of the evil in the town rubs off on the weather, so the clouds are dark gray and gloomy all the time.  While the climate of C.D. Notghnihsaw is loathesome, the culture is even worse.  Every person plays records to lure tourists to the town, and they trap the tourists so they can never go home.  Be sure to never go to this windy, instrumental town!

And now her letter to her mom:

Dear Mom,

     Hi from C.D. Notgnihsaw!  I wish you were here, but you aren't, so I'll share my adventures with you.

     The ride here was totally awesome!  I arrived by kangaroo, and I rode inside its pouch.  There was a flat-screen TV inside (it was an eight feet tall pouch), and it kept me entertained for almost the entire trip!  Guinea pig servants served me food and beverages the whole way.  Even better, I had a dance party with five hamsters!  Sadly, the journey only lasted an hour, which was way too short.

     When I arrived in town, I was instantly drawn to the music that the locals were playing.  Then, I walked through the iron gates and to my "hotel."  It was a smelly, one-room building, and that room was mine!  I slept in a roach-infested, filthy cot that horrible night.

      The next morning, I set out to meet some of the townsfolk.  Suddenly, I noticed that everybody was gloomy, and the weather was thunderstormy and windy.  Everyone was wearing black raincoats and boots.  The gray clouds in the sky matched their outfits.

     Mom, make sure to never come back here!  Now, because I did, I can never come back home because of the evil music that traps all who visit in a lamp!

     Love, Crystal

Adventure Stories

After great paragraph writing, the students were ready to move on to a special genre: Adventure Story Writing!  Both classes had different assignments.

The Juniors class spring boarded off of their Backwards Animal paragraphs, and wrote "A Day in the Life with" their animal.  These proved to be very entertaining!  I saw all kinds of adventures, from a trip to Disneyland to a sneaky attempt to keep their discovered animal as a secret pet.  Some stories were scary, some sweet, and all very adventurous!

Here is Luka's (4th grade):

The Weirdest Day of My Life

     It was 11:59 PM.  My alarm clock went off and instead of saying the time, it read "Beware."

     At 12:00 AM, a portal sucked me up and took me to this place.  I saw a sign saying, "Welcome to Survival Land."  Then I saw this thing.  I came up to it and asked its name.  "Effarig!" it said.  Then it tried to kill me!  I ran and ran and ran.  You don't want to know what happened next.

     It turned me into a lot of fur and stuck it on to himself.  (Teacher interjection here: Luka's Effarig is a bald creature because its mother bites the fur off of it as a baby!)  It transported me to the bottom of the deep, dark, blue ocean!

     Nobody saw me for years because it transported me to an under water mansion!  Then the portal sucked me up and took me back to my house.

      I say that this is the weirdest day of my life!

The Seniors class had a different assignment.  They were assigned the traditional "What I Did on my Summer Vacation" story... with a twist of adventure.  At some point in their story map, they were to change their true story into something completely adventurous, crazy, or strange that happened.  From this map, they would write a story with a clear beginning, middle, and end.

George (5th grade) wrote a story with an ending that made me laugh.  Can you just picture his family not even realizing his adventure occurred?!

Jet Skiing

We got to Crete  on a small 25 person plane and went to a 5 star hotel. On the last day, I went jet skiing on a very bumpy ocean. It was super fun!! Let me tell you what happened.

I hopped on the jet ski. I got out of the harbor and floated into the center of the bay. I zoomed around the bay at 70 km per hour. I explored a cavern and went back out.

I was riding around fast, but the jet ski suddenly jerked to a stop. Shockingly, tentacles wrapped around me and I plummeted into the ocean! I put on my emergency goggles. I saw Atlantis! I then saw a 2 foot round gold ball. I reached for it but I was still in the grasp of the huge octopus!

Luckily I found a dagger in my  pocket and cut off the tentacle holding me. I swam to the surface.

I found my family on the beach and they were all on lounge chairs. I yelled, "COME ON DIDN'T YOU NOTICE I WAS GONE!!!"

Arushi (6th grade) wrote a beautifully entertaining story.  Her use of descriptive words is absolutely fantastic!  While George wrote his story in the past tense, Arushi chose to use the present.  We talked about the benefits of both styles.  George is telling us a story that already happened; Arushi is taking us through her story as it occurs.

Hiking with Jetpacks

The sunset is always the best part of the Grand Tetons. The sun shines red and soft pink on the mountains. The lake is clear and still, perfect for seeing the gorgeous reflection of the mighty Teton Peaks.
    Because it’s morning, and not evening, I’m getting ready to go hiking with my dog. Sophia is such a cute maltese! She’s so confident in the wilderness that I take her everywhere I hike.
    This time I’m going to Jenny Lake. I plan to go up to Inspiration Point then climb down and have lunch at Jackson Lake Lodge. The lodge overlooks Jackson Lake, and they tell me I can see Trumpeter Swans and White Pelicans at the edge of the water.
    But today I don’t have time to stop and go bird-watching. I head down to the dock and catch the first ferry ride across the shining clear lake.
    Excitedly, my dog barks. I almost feel that I know what she’s saying. It sounds like, “Come on!” I tell myself that understanding animals is ridiculous. No way could that change now.
    “You come on,” I say.
    We go. I let Sophia guide me to the creek. It is actually more of a small river with enormous rapids.
    “Really, Sophia! You’re going to fall in!” I scold. Obediently, Sophia comes to my side and rubs my leg.j
    This time, I lead Sophia. We climb to the top of a big rock. There’s no path, but I see a moose with an unusual rear end. It turns around and I see a jet pack attached to its tail.
    “Follow me. I’ll be your ride.” The moose walks toward me.
    “What in the world?” I exclaim. This is getting strange. Still, the moose has some kind of magnet and I am being pulled in.
    “Get on!” The moose attempts to pat his back with his own antlers, but they get stuck to the jet pack.
    “Um, a little help here?”
    I go to the moose and free him, but as I am already next to the moose, whose name is Jet, I hop on.
    “Where’s Sophia?” I wonder.
    “She’s on Ben the Bison, having the time of her life.”
    I peek over my shoulder and see Sophia prancing around on Ben’s back, who looks half amused and half annoyed. I shake my head, get off, and buckle Sophia in.
    “Don’t fall off!” I warn.
    She does.
    Sophia starts barking at a marmot, then a pronghorn. The big-horn sheep come in a herd and surround us. An elk joins the party.
    I look nervously around me, then at Jet.
    “They’ve come to say goodbye and good-luck to you,” he reassures me, but it doesn’t help. Jet navigates his way through the animals to reach Sophia and put her back on Ben.
    “Really, Sophia!” I scold. “Stop falling off! And who made this awful Bison Seat?”
    One of the sheep sheepily steps forward and mumbles his apologies. Then he hands me the Bison Seat Deluxe.
    Thanking him, I strap it onto Ben and strap Sophia into it.
    “Thanks!” Sophia barks.
    “You’d better stop talking before we eat lunch,” I grumble, not even bothered by Sophia turning “human.”
    “We’re off!” Ben and Jet take off with Sophia and me clinging onto their backs. “Where do you want to go? Have you been to Yellowstone yet?”
    “No, we haven’t. Can you take us to all the sites in Yellowstone?” I yell.
    “Off we go!” Jet and Ben blast off at full speed.
    Chico and Mammoth Hot Springs have the despised odor of sulfur, but they are beautiful. Hovering above the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone is amazing. We fly down to the river and wave at all the gaping tourists. And, if strolling on the boardwalk at Norris Basin is heavenly, flying above it is better. Old Faithful aimed pretty well because Ben almost got scalded. Still, we stayed high enough and I think I got the closest aerial shot of the sights with my camera. That must have been a strange sight for all to see.
    Jet and Ben let us parachute down to Jackson Lake Lodge, waving good-bye.
    “We’ll see you next time!” Sophia and I call.
    Who knows when that will be? 

Riley's (5th grade) story is entertaining and funny.... with an outstanding ending! 

The Bigfoot

by Riley
At first my Coppercreek experience was just fine, at least until the
night of Capture the Flag.  The teams were picked and it was my job to
hide the flag.  I ran in the dark forest until I found the perfect
hiding spot: A dark cave.

To be honest, I was scared.  I was in a giant dark cave in the middle
of a forest.  Scary.  I took a breath and went in.  I was trembling
with fear.  I stuck the flag deep in the ground.  I heard the game
start over the loud speaker.  "Game".  I started to say, but rocks
fell over the entrance and I was stuck.

Something moved.  I was horrified.  It was about 6'4" (my dad's
height).  "Hello?" I asked.  The thing stopped.  No answer.  I backed
away towards the rock wall.  I smashed the rocks away and light came
in.  The moon shined on the hairy creature before me.  BIGFOOT!!!

I ran past the border between sides and right to the other teams flag.
I pulled it out and ran back.  I won!  Everyone cheered.

We walked back to the cabin area.  When my counselor asked about the
flag so I told him about Bigfoot.  Of course he didn't believe me.

The next week was a thrill.  Because I found the flag I became a
legend.  After I said my goodbyes I got in a truck and we drove to the
airport.  The drive was boring until a tall hairy man waved to me.

Bigfoot??

The end