The Snowman Draw Game!

     This partner writing game is always a favorite, year to year!  Students can't wait to play it and improve and learn from their mistakes in the game they played earlier in the year, "Monster Draw."  (Scroll down to see the results of that game!)  This year, we practically had twin drawings, the writing and reading was so good!

     Here's how you play:
Step 1: Draw a snowman and a winter scene.
Step 2: Describe your snowman with.... You guessed it!  ADJECTIVES, ADJECTIVES, ADJECTIVES!  Describe size, shape, color, and number with every sentence!  Organize your writing into paragraphs, so it is easier for your partner to read and comprehend.
Step 3: If you did Step 2 well, you will be able to hand your description to a partner, and they will be able to draw your picture almost exactly!

     Winners were voted on by the classes.  It was an exciting competition.  In fact, all three of my schools had ties, so you are getting a treat seeing SIX sets of work!  Enjoy!

My Snowman, by Tyler (5th grade)

Intro/General

     My snowman is handsome.  He is made up of three snowballs.  The top one is medium sized, the middle one is big, and the bottom one is very large.  The page is vertical.

Top

     He wears a black top hat with a small orange triangle on the top of the hat.  He has two small black coal eyes.  He has a pickle nose facing towards your right.  It is medium-sized.  Finally, he has eight small coal dots for a mouth stretching across his big smiling face.

Middle

     My snowman has three black small dots for buttons in the middle ball going down vertically.  He wears a blue open vest about one inch from the buttons.  My snowman has two big stick brown arms with three twigs for fingers.  On his right arm he is holding a pure red candy cane.  On his left arm, he is holding a medium black sized box that says, "Cold Coco Mix Starbucks Special."

Bottom

     He has nothing on his bottom ball.

Background

     There is a 1 1/2 inch amount of green grass underneath him.  There are two sweat marks on each side of him, near the head.  In the sky, there are two inches of blue sky coming down.  In your right, put a medium sun in the corner.

     Can you draw my snowman?

     

Tyler and AnaRose (5th grade) are pro's at this game.  As partners, they have won before with Monster Draw!  Careful writing by Tyler and excellent reading comprehension skills from AnaRose led to this twin!

Natalie's Snowman (4th grade)

      My snowman has two balls.  The top one is a medium-size ball, and the bottom is huge.

     The head of my snowman has blue ear muffs that are really fluffy, and you can see the texture.  It also has two medium-sized coal eyeballs, and seven small coal pieces for the mouth.  It also has a medium-sized orange carrot for the nose.

     The bottom ball has a pink coat that has three buttons.  The one nearest to the first ball is small, the next one is medium size, and the last one is big.  It is holding a cold cup of cocoa ON YOUR LEFT. It has red medium boots.

     In the background, six snowflakes are in the air.  The one on YOUR LEFT is small.  The one below that is big, then below that is a medium one.  ON YOUR RIGHT it goes medium, small, big snowflakes.  My snowman is standing on the gray sidewalk, with a front yard but NO house.  Since there is snow, there are little bits of grass sticking out four on each side.  That's how you make it.

This 4th grade team got a lot of votes from the class!  Shijun (4th grade) did a great job with careful reading, and Natalie of course wrote very clearly:

Vanessa's Snowman (4th grade)

     My snowman has three circles, like an original snowman.  The first circle is small, then the middle circle is medium, and the bottom is large.

     In the small circle, there are two black eyes, an orange carrot nose where the pointy side is pointing right, and six dots for a smile.  At the top of the small circle, there is a Santa Claus hat.  The original colors, red and white.

      In the middle circle, there is a bow tie that is purple and three vertical circles that are blue.  On the outside of the middle circle, there are two sticks.  The right one is pointing at the top right corner, and the left one is pointing to the top left.  For both the sticks, draw two orange mittens at the top of the two sticks.

     In the large circle, there is nothing and it is empty.

     Outline the body of the snowman pink.

     The background has a pine tree on the right side.  The leaves are green and the trunk is brown.  On the left side, draw a cabin.  The normal square that is brown and a triangle on the top, which is red.  Then draw one door in the middle of the square, but make sure it is on the bottom.  Color the door red.  Then draw four small snowballs falling down and four on the other side.   Outline the snowballs green.

Vanessa is a very careful writer, and she gets very competitive, in a fun way, with this game!  Theo (4th grade) is very experienced with this game, and read very carefully to come up with this!

Emma's Snowman (4th grade)

     My snowcat is cute and adorable.  Her body and head are made of three snowballs: a slightly smaller one on top, a medium size one in the middle, and a large one on the bottom.  She is white.

     She wears a pink bow (like Hello Kitty) and has cat ears that are quite sharp.  She has two perfectly round coal eyes (set in the spot human eyes are).  They are black,  Twi slightly drooping, long whiskers on either side of the face (four whiskers in total!). She has a cat mouth with no nose.

     She is wearing a fat yellow scarf that is just below her head, and she has two 1-inch arms with three short fingers on each arm.  There is NO vest or buttons or mittens.

     She has no boots or anything near her feet.  (Her feet are not visible.)

     The snow cat is traced, but not colored in gold.  The outside of the ears, head, middle, and bottom are all traced with gold.

     The snow below her is white.  There is one green pine tree with brown trunks on either side (two trees in total) with a star on top of each tree.  There is a sun at the right side of the paper, and the sky is blue.

 Emma's snowcat is so cute!  Allie (4th grade) drew an adorable match!

Lia's Snowman (6th grade)

     My snowman has only two balls.  The balls, not the details, are all white.

     My snowman's body is 1/3 of the page.  It I about one inch from the bottom.  There is a line across the middle of the body.  The TOP half is two suspenders.  There are two smallish, ant-sized buttons that are circular.  The buttons are black.  The buttons are in the middle going vertically.  The suspenders are teal with a thick black line going through the middle of it.  (Not huge though.)

     The bottom half of my snowman's bottom ball has a pocket half the width of the bottom ball.  The pocket is in the middle of the bottom half.  In the pocket is a second pocket that is half the size of the first pocket.  The color of the pants (not pocket) is mauve.  On the pockets, there is a medium-sized strip on the top of the pocket (for both pockets).  The color of the first pocket is raspberry.  The strip on the top is magenta (press hard.). The second pocket is magenta, with a a navy blue strip.

     There are two arms coming from each side of the snowman, sprouting from the middle line of the bottom ball.  From each size is three fingers.  The arms are black.

     The head is half the size of the bottom ball.  In the middle, spread evenly, are two eyes.  The eye are the same shape as buttons.  There is a pig nose (with two nostrils) halfway from eyes to the bottom of the head.  There are also two pig/cat ears on its head.  These are both bubble gum pink.  The snowman has two whiskers coming from close to its nose (not touching).  The whiskers go to just out of its head ball, a tiny bit.). The whiskers are black.  From between the two ears, is a small black top hat.

     From where its neck would be is a scarf that goes around its head once.  It comes out on your right.  There are six tassels coming from the end of the scarf.  The scarf is slate colored.

     There is a sun on your left.  The sun is half the size of the head ball.  There are eight rays spread proportionally around the sun.  The sun is mango colored.

Wow!  Lia wrote so carefully, that her partner Angela (5th grade) came up with this.  (I am impressed she got that pocket right!)

Jennifer's Snowman (6th grade)

     My snowman is happy and likes summer.  His body is two snowballs in the middle of the page.  The bottom snowball is bigger.

     He is wearing a beach hat that is yellow with an orange ribbon.  There are pencil colored sunglasses on the orange ribbon.  He has two pencil colored coal eyes and four coals for the mouth.  He has an orange nose pointing to the right.

     He is wearing a scarf.  There are two stripes on each side, and the left stripes on top go up left, and the ones on the right go up right.  The outer stripe is red, and the inner stripe is purple.  The center is blue with a sun.  The middle of the sun is orange, and the rays are yellow.  His body is just white.  His arms are brown with three fingers.  The right arm is diagonally pointing up.

     His legs are two round circles that partially go into his body.  They are about one inch apart.

     The snow on the left covers half the page, and it goes higher into a hill on the right.  The sky is blue with circle snowballs falling.  There is a big umbrella to the left.  The umbrella bottom is not straight; it is curvy.  It should have six bumps, in red, yellow green, blue color order.  He is sitting on a horizontally long mat with vertical stripes that go yellow, green, yellow, green etc.  There are 14 stripes.  There is a beach ball on the bottom left side of the paper.  There are eight sections on the ball.  The color order goes red, blue, purple, blue, repeat.  On the right, there is a red beach bucket and a plastic shovel half buried in a mound of snow.

WOW!  The class and I were very impressed with the amazing detail in Jennifer's art.  She wrote very carefully, and Veronica (6th grade) read very carefully!  Look at this cute twin!

Congratulations to our winners!

     The "Budding Authors and Artists" class played the game a little differently.  Their game was a guessing game.  After drawing their snowman, they worked on a "Help Sheet" that had them fill out Size, Shape, Color, and Number Adjectives for everything in their picture.  They were then guided into forming interesting sentences for each feature.  When I read these aloud to the class, the students were to pick the picture hanging on the board that matched the description.
     This session, every single picture was guessed the first time!  That means that we had some EXCELLENT writers who were very thorough and descriptive!  Enjoy these samples.

     My snowman is made up of three big snowballs with blue shadings.  It has round, black eyes.  Its nose is yellow-orange, and cone-shaped.  It has a long, medium mouth with six dots slanting up to the right.  On the top its head, it has a half-oval green and orange hat with a purple puff.  My snowman has long, brown, skinny arms.  I love its clothing!  It is wearing five buttons made out of coal.  The background has a bright, yellow crescent moon, and an icy ground.  I think my snowman is awesome!

Candice, 3rd grade

     My snowman is made up of three round snowballs.  It has two black circular eyes.  Its nose is triangular and orange.  It has a big black mouth with a smile of nine dots.  On the top of its head, it has a red, large hat.  My snowman has two skinny long black arms.  I love its clothing!  It is wearing purple medium-sized mittens.  The background has a brown cottage.  I think my snowman is wonderful!

Yanbing, 2nd grade

Session II has started with Snowflake Sentences and Art!

 Session II of "Budding Authors and Artists" and "Awesome Authors and Artists" started up in late January, and I am finally getting caught up and making my blog selections.  Grades 1-5 took a boring base sentence: 

"The snowflake falls."

     And turned it into a masterpiece with adjectives, adverbs, phrases, and clauses!  The "Awesome" class even learned how to start a sentence with "Because."  Of course, no sentence would be complete without glittery snowflake stickers and glitter pens!  I hope you enjoy these samples across the grades!

The petite, white, amazing snowflake falls gracefully on top of Mrs. Huff at 2:45 pm as "Authors and Artists Club" starts!

-Leah, 2nd grade

In the backyard of a cute family house, while the kids are playing baseball outside, the sparkly, fluffy snowflake falls urgently, because his mom had pushed him off the bushy cloud.

-Natalie, 4th grade

Because the air is cold in the snow-covered forest, the delicate frosty snowflake quickly falls, as the sun begins to rise.

-Penelope, 5th grade

A Wish List for Others

     I love this assignment!  It's a nice one to end the session with.  Here is the help sheet the students were given:

     This is a time of year when we tend to ask for gifts for ourselves.  Let’s dig deeper and think about what others who are in tougher situations than we are might need.

     Is there a family member, friend, neighbor, or any members of a community who are struggling right now, who could use a wish list?

      Here is a help sheet to help you get started:

1. I am going to write this assignment in the form of (circle one)

a letter a prayer an essay

2. I am going to write for ____________________________,

who needs ________________________________________.

3. Reasons details: ______________________________________

4. Conclusion: __________________________________________

Enjoy this one by Lucas (5th grade):

Dear Santa,

     We should definitely help homeless people for various reasons.  First, they need a house or a small shelter for the cold winter.  This is so they can feel warm and not get hypothermia.  Most importantly, they need water, as it is essential for life.  Last but not least, they need food to survive.  A human can only last about three weeks without food. 

     We must help them survive, because it will make you feel good that you helped someone in need.  Also, everybody deserves to feel loved and supported by others.  

     To sum it up, homeless people are humans too, except that they aren't as lucky as we are.  So, if there is anyone that can help, it's us.

                           -Lucas

Here is one by Yanbing (2nd grade):

Dear Santa,
     I am writing this letter for Mom, who needs medicine.  She needs this because her head is hurting.  If you give her this, she will feel better, comfortable, and happy.  Thank you so much, Santa.  I love you!
                     -Yanbing

The Day I Met My Backwards Animal

     After the "Awesome" class completed their paragraphs and research papers on their backwards animal, it was time to write a creative story.  The theme was "The Day I Met My Animal."  The students story mapped the beginning, middle, and end to their day.  They worked on setting, and a clear story line with a clear ending.  Would their animal become their pet?  Would it return to the wild where it came from?  Enjoy these samples across the grades.  And don't forget to quiz yourself on the name of the animal forwards!

A Mussop of a Day, by Aarav (5th grade) 

The darkness was closing in. 

            Squeezing me.

            Killing me.

            No escape.

            No power.

            Nobody.

            I closed my eyes and waited for death…

            I woke up with a start, clutching my throat and gasping for breath. Sweat dripped down my face like hot fire, like I’d just ran a marathon. There was no darkness, I told myself. It was all just a nightmare. I wiped my brow clean and looked out my window. A searing light blinded me, and I shielded my face to get close enough to shut the blinds.

            Now sitting upright, I blinked my mahogany brown eyes a few times to clear them, then straightened my jet-black hair.  With Mom and Dad out of the house for their little excursion, I’d be home for the whole twenty-four hours, manning the house, being responsible. Which started with having a good sleep. 

I already had it all planned out: First, I’d make a quick and simple breakfast. Then, an hour or so of reading. Then, I’d venture to the park and get in some exercise. Lunch and TV would follow. After an hour of story-writing, it would be time for dinner and sleep. It was time to execute that plan.

            I was stumped on Numero Uno (number one). Once I’d brushed my teeth, straightened out the tangles in my hair, and hopped down the stairs to the breakfast/ kitchen room, I soon realized that—even with the added help of a small back stool, I was too short to reach any sort of food. Most of it was kept in cupboards lining closer to the ceiling, right above a large marble counter of sorts. I could probably use the aforementioned stool to climb up onto the counter, but I could fall and hurt myself, and it would show that I couldn’t take care of myself. Even if Mom and Dad never found out because it went well, I still had my conscience to worry about. 

So that wasn’t an option. A pantry was located near the kitchen, and I probably could go there and find something to eat, but it certainly wouldn’t be enough to make a sustain me ‘till lunch, so that wasn’t an option. My stomach growled. I must be hungry, I thought absentmindedly. 

            Another growl.

            This one sounded inhuman, like it didn’t come from me. But…That was impossible. I was the only one in the house. The same thing growled again, making me jump. What the…

             I located the sound coming somewhere from the couch that lay just outside the perimeter of the room I was standing in, so I stumbled cautiously over, peeping over the side of it to see what was on it. 

The thing that lay on the couch was like no animal I’d ever seen. It had ruffled, brown-orange fur covering the whole of its plump body and face. On its head lay a mass of multicolored curls shaped into what seemed to be a disco ball. It had a snout that would make a lying Pinocchio look at his own nose and start spouting lies like crazy to make it longer than this one’s. Its hands and feet were webbed, and large, rhinestone-studded spikes were visible jutting out of them. Its tail had feathers sticking out of it, which looked quite similar to the ones on top of its eyes, serving the purpose of eyelashes, presumably. It had three angelic wings protruding from its back, two on its sides and one down the middle. The middle one seemed to be a little shorter than the others, which was surprising. 

But the fact that an unknown creature was on my couch didn’t worry me. What did worry me was: a), it was unconscious, and b), it had a huge gash running down its spine. It was definitely breathing well, since I could see its chest rising and falling at regular intervals, but it was in pain for sure. 

All thoughts of breakfast dissipated, I cuddled the creature into my hands. It felt warm and fluffy, like hugging cotton candy. The nearest vet was only a minute away by walk, so that was definitely efficient. But did I really want to mess up my schedule to save this creatures’ life? 

Yes.

The answer was yes.

I didn’t even know why I had to ask myself that. This thing needed my help. And I was going to give it. I bolted out the door, hastily putting on sneakers and a jacket and running down the street. I turned to the right and, without breaking stride, jogged to the other side of the road, where the vet stood, towering above me and the creature. 

It was a bright silver and gold, the color contrast allowing the sun to make it even brighter. Windows were placed around the building in seemingly random places, though one never knew the architects’ thinking when making something like this. A sign was hanging from the top of it, proudly boasting the words, “Our Vets Will Help Your Pets!” A catchy slogan, if I do say so myself. The doors on the front opened and closed automatically, allowing for easy access if the pet needed immediate attention. 

Like mine right know. I rushed through the doors in a flurry and placed it on the counter. Behind said counter was a young woman in her mid-twenties with azure eyes and blond hair. She looked up from her work and said, smiling, “How can I help you?” 

Rapidly, I told her my situation. “This animal, it just showed up on my couch. It has this huge wound on its side, and I’d hoped that you guys could help.” 

Calling the being my pet felt right, but not as right as when the lady said, “Your pet will be okay, sir. Leave it to us.” She took it in her arms and pushed through doors behind her marked, “Vets only.” 

I couldn’t hold my excitement.  It was going to be alright! I’d saved its life! I was definitely keeping it as a pet once it came back out.

My Day With a Yeknom, by Natalie (4th grade)

"Dad Dad Dad Dad Dad Dad!  Can we go bungee jumping for my birthday?  Please?"

"OK," my dad said.

"Yes!  What are we waiting for?!  Let's go!"

It wasn't that long until we were at the bungee jumping location.  Then, I got strapped up and.... Ahhhhhhh!

The next thing I knew, I was flying in the air.  I saw a cloud and a.....

YEKNOM!  It was so colorful.  How did I know it was a Yeknom?  Back in 4th grade, I wrote a research paper on the Yeknom.  It was soooo cute.  And fluffy!  

As soon as I was in the clouds, I said, "Hi" to the Yeknom and she invited me to dinner.  Dinner with a Yeknom!  So cool!  I loved it.  We had cloud soup and cloud bread for dinner.  Next, she pushed the blankets flat on a cloud bed and said, "This is where you're going to stay tonight!"

"Do you like it?" she asked.

I quickly said, "Yes, it's perfect!"

I loved the fact that I was staying in a Yeknom house!  I was so excited.  After the night at the Yeknom's house, I had breakfast.  She made cloud pancakes.  After breakfast, I realized my dad was still waiting for me!  Then I told the Yeknom the news, and she took a rope, tied it to her house, hooked me up, and said good-bye.

And next I was on the ground.  My dad was down there, looking so worried.  He grabbed me into his arms and hugged me tight.  He said, "Let's go home now."  

On the way home, I told him about my adventure.  He was so amazed and interested.  I loved my Yeknom adventure.

I adored spending time with the Yeknom.  I almost adapted to its habitat!  It was so cool!

Fabulous Fairy Tales... from the "other" perspective!

     The "Awesome" students had a challenging assignment: Re-write a fairy tale from the point of a view of one of the characters.  They were taught how to use voice and perspective to make their story entertaining (and believable!)  It was so fun for me to read the opinions and recollections of famous characters like The Wolf, Cinderella's step-sisters, All Three Pigs, The Bears, and more!  Enjoy these entertaining stories!

The Three Little Pigs

By: Shijun (4th grade)

     Well, you’ve probably heard about The Three Little Pigs. Everyone thinks brother James is the

smart one. Well, nobody knows he’s the real nut head. Brother Jones and I heard was James’s version. Now, this is my version.

     Well, Mom or us. But then, she lost her job. We ate less. It was hard for me, for I was fond of food. Then, one day, there wasn’t enough food to last a month! So, dear Mama packed us knapsacks filled with corn cake, bread, one bottle of milk, and a small box of bacon with eggs and fruit.

     After a few days, she kicked us out. So, we bid our goodbyes, and parted our different ways.

I walked for days, dependent on my knapsack and caves that I had discovered for shelter. Then, I decided to make a house. So I searched for supplies.

     Then, one back breaking Friday, I saw chunks of stone. I looked closer. They were bricks! There seemed to be enough for a small apartment at least, and apartment in the woods. So I sprinted towards the bricks. 

     Then, James suddenly came out loudly through a bush. He oinked, “Thanks for the bricks!”He then snatched the bricks and ran away.

     “Hey! Come back!” I yelled desperately. But there was nothing but my own oink echoing back. I cried. 

     Then, upset, I walked to a nearby creek and washed. I drank the last of my milk, and the last bit of corn cake. After eating my dinner of the cold and hard corn cake, I lay down to sleep. That’s when I noticed tall grass sticking up at the side of the creek. I leaned closer to look. It was straw! I pulled great amounts of it, creating a bed for my fat and tired body. I lay down gratefully, and drifted to another place.

     The next morning. I was already hard at work. I fashioned myself a hut of straw. I opened the soft deerskin door flap and looked inside.”Perfect,” I oinked. So, I ate a quick snack of bread and fruit. Then I went in the soft and snug hut to take a well earned rest. I sank into the soft straw bed and closed my eyes.

     I woke up suddenly, feeling hungry. So, I ate some bacon and went back to my snug bed. Then, I heard a howl, piercing through the dark night sky. My blood froze as I heard the sharp sound of a wolf. I ran around frantically. I packed up my sack with food I picked and planted with wahat was left of my Mama’s cooking. I packed my hat and my bed. Then, Whoosh! MY beloved straw hut suddenly came crashing down on me.

     As the smoke cleared, I saw the hut destroyed. My eyes filled with tears. A wolf sat on my precious bed, eating from my knapsack “Good food,” he said as he munched on eggs and my newly harvested apples.”Your house was easy to blow down. You must be mighty tasty.”

     “What are you going to do with me?” I oinked in obvious panic. 

     “Simple, I’ll boil you for dinner.” said the wolf wickedly. As the horrifying words sank in, I fainted and that was that.

     Well, the next thing I knew, I awoke. I was lying in a bed in a brick house. Turns out James saved Jones and me. I’m grateful all right. But, this wouldn’t have happened if he hadn’t stolen the bricks.

     We still have issues. But we’re okay. So, now you know the truth about Three Little Piggies.

THE END!!!

Little Red Riding Hood, by The Wolf

by Jennifer (6th grade)

     Hello.  And before you ask, yes, I am the wolf.  And I'm supposed to be all evil and scary and blah blah blah.  At least that's what everyone thinks.  Has anyone ever bothered to ask for my side of the story?  Well, you are gonna hear it now.

     Let's start with how I really, REALLY hate meat.  Ewwww!  Meat doesn't even have salt on it.  Still gross.  I am, in fact, a vegetarian.  I especially like baked goods.  But unfortunately, you don't find a cupcake in the middle of the woods.  Life.

     Anyway, I was basically kicked out of my own pack because I am a vegetarian.  My sister, Tina, is the meanest, biggest, baddest wolf ever.  Not me.  Okay.  Are we clear?  Then we will go to the real story.

     I was chasing a rabbit one day, when I tripped and twisted my ankle.  I dragged myself over to my den, barely making it.  I spent days there, so hungry and thirsty.  I thought I might die, but then, I spotted a flash of red in the forest.  A fresh, yummy smell drifted over to my nose.  So hungry.

     I slowly walked after the red, trying not to hurt my ankle more, and I finally found a little girl holding a basket of treats.  I begged her to give me some, but she turned away, and said something about a cottage with a yellow door.

     She seemed really upset that I disturbed her.  I felt sorry, so I pointed out a place where she could get the loveliest of flowers.  She was so excited, that she dropped a muffin while skipping away.  The muffin started rolling down the hill.

      Well, I was starving by then, so I chased after it, forgetting about my twisted ankle.  So, I tripped, again.  I landed at the bottom of the hill, wincing in pain.  In front of me was a cozy little cottage with a yellow front door.

     The muffin had disappeared into one of the thorn bushes.  But the house, well, it had a muffin smell inside, too.  I assumed the house was the little red girl's house, and that she wouldn't mind if I went in to rest my ankle a bit.  I knocked on the door to see if anyone was in there, and a plump, old lady was standing in the doorway.

     You know when you are so extremely hungry that anything looks good?  That's how I felt.  I gobbled her down, and looked into a closet and found a warm nightgown and night cap.  I climbed onto the bed and fell asleep immediately.

      When I opened my eyes, the little red girl was standing there.  I was still so hungry, so, I ate her up too.

     You know the story after that.  The huntsman came and killed me and all that happily ever after stuff.

     But I didn't really die.  I got remade in a fairy tale called "The Three Little Pigs."  But that is a story for another time.

     

Thanksgiving Thoughts

I love this simple, fill-in-the blank writing prompt about Thanksgiving!  Enjoy this sample by Audrey (3rd grade).

Noun Poems

They "Budding" class had a fun lesson in Nouns (Proper and Common) when they surprised themselves filling in the blank for these fun noun poems!  First, they came up with nouns without knowing the context of their answers.  Then, we filled them in in the order they were given.  Enjoy these two fun samples!

by Leah (1st grade)

by Matthew (2nd grade)

Pumpkin Guessing Game

     The "Budding" class got to design jack-o-lanterns, and then learn how to use descriptive words (adjectives!) to describe size, shape, color, and number.  All art work was hung on the board, and after reading descriptions, the students got to guess which pumpkin was which.  If their pumpkin was guessed first, it meant that they were an excellent writer and describer!  Enjoy this one by Isabella (2nd grade):

If I Were An Animal....

     The "Budding Authors and Artists" class got to imagine what it would be like to be an animal of their choice for the day.  They brainstormed by answering many questions about what they would eat, where they would live, who would be their friends, and more!  Enjoy this piece by Seoyoon (2nd grade).

Monster Draw!

Adjectives, adjectives, adjectives!  They tell size, shape, color, and number.  And if you don't include them, your reader will get an incomplete picture in their mind of what you are trying to describe!  That was the theme of our On Demand Writing Game, "Monster Draw."  Here is how you play:

Step 1: Draw a monster, complete with background if you have time.

Step 2: Describe every aspect of your monster and background.  Don't leave out a single detail!  Because....

Step 3: Trade descriptions with a partner.  Now you will draw each other's ONLY by reading what they have written.  No talking or asking questions allowed!

As you can see, this game gives students instant feedback about their ability to use detail in their writing.  We all had some good laughs as pictures were compared near Halloween Day.  The winners were voted on by the class.  Enjoy!

Kevin's Monster (5th grade)

     My monster's head is a triangular slice of pizza.  The slice is pointed down.  The crust is brown.  The pizza is cheese flavored, so it is yellow cheese.  There are three pieces of pepperoni.  The pepperoni is red.  There is one in the upper left corner (not on the crust), one on the upper right corner (not on the crust), and one on the point of the pizza.  It also has two, blue, triangular ears on top of the crust.  Its head hovers a little over the body.

     Its body is a pumpkin with the top cut off.  The pumpkin is orange.  It also has a green BOO cut out in the center of the pumpkin.  It has two stick arms, one on each side of the pumpkin.  The arms are pink.  It has three fingers on both stick arms.  Its feet are black springs.  It has two feet below the pumpkin.

     It is standing on green grass.  The grass is cut, so there are thirteen triangles sticking up on flat grass.

Kevin must've been in a hungry Halloween mood this day!  He described his creative monster so carefully, that Lia (6th grade) was able to draw this:

AnaRose's Monster (5th grade)

     My monster is a cat.  It has four ears in a row on the top of its head.  The outside of the ears are yellow, and the inside is aqua green.  The eyes are aqua green, and are thin slits.  The nose is at the bottom of the face and is also aqua green.  A tongue is sticking out, and is yellow.  In the middle of the tongue, there is a small black line going down.  In a dark black, it seems to be smiling.  The rest of the face is black.  The mouth is darker than the face.  The face is facing you, and the cat is sitting.

     Right underneath the head is a collar.  It is aqua green, and the tag is a pyramid.  It has six lines across, including the end of the pyramid.  On the top, it has two blocks, and in the second row, there are three.  You add one block for each row.  On the body, you can only see the front leg and the back leg.  On the front paw, you can see two aqua green claws, one high and the other low.  On the back paw, you can only see one aqua green claw.  It is low on the paw.  The rest of the body is white.

     The tail is cured near the end of it.  It is thin, but grows bigger as it goes.  On the curve part, there is a section that is yellow with aqua green wavy lines.  There are five in total.  The rest of the tail is black.

     The cat is sitting on a pillar that goes to the end of the page, which shouldn't be a lot.  The cat is sitting on a platform that is black.  Its width is only as big as the paw, and a little more.  In the middle of the pillar part, there is a pyramid just like the tag, except bigger.  On the left high side, there are wavy aqua green lines that go diagonally to the bottom right side.  There are twelve lines in total.  The wavy lines don't go over the pyramid.

     In the background, there are six stars.  There are three on the left side of the cat, and three on the right side of the cat.  The first star on the left is about one inch taller than the first star on the right.  All stars are yellow.  The second star is bigger than the first, and is a little bit away from where the side of the face is.  It is even with the start of the eye, but the top half is higher than the eye.  The third star is a little bit higher than the front paw, and it is small, and about a little bit over an inch away from the leg.

     The first star on the right side of the cat is lower than the first star on the left.  It is about the same size though.  It is about an inch away from the head, and the top of the star ends about an inch away from the tip of the ear, but it is not right over it.  The second star is in between the space of the body and the tail.  It is the same size as the first star, and the middle of it is even with the end of the tail that is not black.  The third star is even with the pyramid on the pillar.  It is about an inch and a half away from the pillar.  The bottom of the star is where the tip of the pyramid is.  The star is medium-sized.

     Can you draw it?

Wow!  I've never seen such a detailed description of a background before!  Tyler (5th grade) really took his time, read carefully, and came up with this!  The class decided that, even though the art styles are different, they turned out super close!

Theo's Monster (Grade 4)

     My monster's head starts from the middle of the page.  The head is medium sized, orange, and shaped like a Pac-Man.  It has a small triangle eye which is yellow with a green pupil.  It has two green oval ears.  The mouth of the Pac-Man face has two long yellow teeth.  The Pac-Man is facing to the right side.

     The body is a rectangle, with the corner cut off, and it is orange.  It has a big blue question mark in the middle of the body.  The two arms are long, yellow, robot arms.  The arms have yellow pinchers at the tips.

     The legs have no feet.  They are stubby and green.  They are long ovals.  They have spikes on each side of the legs.  There are two legs.

     There is a bush on the left side, which is green.  On the right side, there is a big gray rock with a little brown squirrel on top of it.  The sky is purplish-blue.

Careful reading by partner James (4th grade) led to this twin monster!

Congratulations to our winners!!

Backwards Animal Research Papers

For our third assignment, we took the concept of paragraph writing, and then applied that skill to writing a Research Paper on our Backwards Animal.  Research papers can be very daunting to students, but teaching them to have the fundamental outlining skills required for organization is key.  They learned a research paper is simply:

1. Introduction

2. Body Paragraphs 1-3

3. Conclusion

Their body paragraphs were to include the same themes from assignment #2: habitat, diet, appearance, or personality.  And the research came straight from their imaginations!

Enjoy learning about animals you never knew were possible!  And make sure you quiz yourself and figure out what these animals' names are forward!

The Nihplod, by Natalie (4th grade)

     The nihplod is a unique animal.  It has a beautiful appearance, but strange diet.  It has a huge habitat.  It is very fun to study its lifestyle.

     The nihplod is cute and fluffy.  Its fur is pink, purple, and light blue.  The nihplod has big strong wings to soar.  When it sees someone, it flies away, because it gets scared by noise.The nihplod is adorably small and soft.  

     The nihplod eats a lot of berries.  It picks fruit with its cute mouth.  The nihplod loves mangoes, and they are easy to eat for the nihplod.  It likes apples, but apples are too hard.  So, people need to cut up small slices of apples for the nihplod.

     The nihplod has a huge habitat.  It is hidden in the clouds, so it is hard to find.  Inside the cloud, there is a pink sky with beautiful colorful rainbows above the pool.  The pool can turn warm and cool depending on how the nihplod is feeling.  The rainbow illuminates lots of colors, which makes its habitat look pretty.

     The nihplod is a really fascinating animal.  It has a pretty appearance and strange diet.  The big habitat is very interesting.  One day, I want to see a nihplod.

The Natugnaro, by Drew (5th grade)

     The natugnaro is fierce.  It looks like a plant, but acts nothing like it.  If you encounter a natugnaro, your best chance to survive is to run, or stay very still.  However, a natugnaro is very patient, so you'll probably be there for over a day.  Because the natugnaro is fast and aggressive, it doesn't have that many friends.  This animal is so ridiculously strong and fierce that you don't want to mess with it.

     A natugnaro's diet is unlike any other animal's diet.  Its most adored food is pizza.  It loves to have mushrooms, sausage, and ham on its pizza.  However, you can only find pizza in a building, so that's when it uses its amazing speed to flash inside the building, and then flash out.  All in all, the natugnaro has a truly unique diet, and will probably not change any time soon.

     A natugnaro is as strong as a tree stump, so if you try to knock it over, you'll probably end up being knocked over instead.  Not even an elephant tries to stomp on it.  It can lift about two tons.  Its main competitor is the adnap.  The natugnaro has a green body and an orange head.  It's pretty short-- about two feet tall to be exact.

     The natugnaro lives in the Amazon Rainforests.  Its favorite spot in the forest is by the Amazon River.  It practically owns the place, wherever it goes, because nothing wants to stand up to it.

     The natugnaro is truly an amazing animal.  It is one that I hope everyone will love.

Paragraph Writing: Backwards Animals!

After learning what makes a great sentence, we moved on to paragraph writing.  The theme was variation of sentence patterns, to keep the reader interested.  Our topic?  Spell real animal names backwards!  Then write a paragraph on their habitat, diet, appearance, or personality.  There were five steps the students were to follow:

1. Write an interesting introduction, which includes your animal as the subject, and an expressive adjective in the predicate.

2. Replace your subject with a pronoun, and give a reason to support your first sentence.

3. Continuing to support your topic sentence, make sure this sentence has a super strong verb.

4. Start this sentence with a "where," "when," "while," "because," etc. to vary the sentence patterns.

5. End with a super conclusion that connects to the first sentence!

Kelly Anne (5th grade) spelled "Phoenix" backwards, and imagined this creature in her mind:

       The xineohp is quite magestic.  It has colorful and shiny scales, which appear to be very reflective.  It always tends to its scales very carefully, and polishes the wicked, curved spikes at the bottom of its tail.  When the scales become dirty, the xineohp always remembers to wash them, because for the xineohp, fashion is always first.  Clearly, the xineohp is a unique creature.

     My "Budding Authors and Artists" also came up with some very creative animals!  Being the younger class, they were given sentence starters to use to vary their sentence patterns.  The use of adjectives was emphasized, as you will soon see.  Here are two 3rd graders, Charlize and Kyler.  Their animals are VERY different!

Fabulous Sentence Writing

Our first assignment was a fantastic lesson in grammar and sentence structure.  We learned that a sentence only needs five things to be complete:

1. A Noun (Subject)

2. A Verb (Predicate)

3. A Capital Letter

4. A mark of punctuation at the end

5. A complete thought.

But these things alone can lead to very boring sentences, such as this one:

The ocean waves crash.

So, my classes learned to add adjectives, adverbs, "when" phrases and clauses, and "where" phrases and clauses.   The final masterpieces, shown here complete with creative artwork, display how a boring sentence can be turned into an exciting one if you know the tools to use!

"The calm and shining ocean waves crash smoothly against the soft, gleaming beach when it's summer break."

By Emma (4th grade)

 "On the bright sunny day, the small shiny ocean waves crash quietly against the pale sand bank."

by Clara (5th grade)

"At sunset, as the birds fly through the clouds, the smooth, glistening ocean waves crash gently onto the soft pale sand."

By Lia (6th grade)