Critical Thinking/Persuasive Writing

Critical thinking, and being able to persuade others, are such valuable skill sets! In March 2021, my students were presented with this assignment:

It’s been about a year since Covid-19 caused schools to shut down and youth sports to be canceled. How do you feel about that?  Today, you will persuade the reader that your opinion is the right one, and one that governmental leaders should act upon. We will learn how to use three Aristotelian appeals to make an argument for opening up schools and sports, keeping them closed, or any hybrid model you can come up with.  If you feel strongly things are going just as they should, it will be your job to convince us that it should continue that way.  If you feel there should be any change in policy, your job is to convince us that you are right and we should change things!  

There is no wrong or right opinion.  Your job is to convince us, to sway us, to persuade us, your readers!

Pathos: a quality that invokes strong emotion

Ethos: a quality that appeals to ethics

Logos: a quality that appeals to logic and reason (includes facts or statistics).

Each of these is used in an argument to convince an audience.  The argument may be heavier in one over another.  However, a strong argument will contain some of all three of these concepts.

My students put a lot of thought and heart into this assignment. I was so impressed, as I watched their critical thinking skills grow. They first outlined an introduction with three points, then wrote body paragraphs for each point (as they attempted to include ethos, pathos, and logos), and then a conclusion.  

Enjoy these samples. This is a blog entry for the history books, for sure!

Why We Should Reopen Schools and Sports

by Kevin (6th grade)

Schools have shut down due to Covid-19. We have all been doing distance learning and have discontinued sports for the past year. Covid-19 has been around for a long time now, and I think it’s time to reopen schools and start in-person sports.

We should reopen schools and sports because students want to play sports.  Their happiness depends on it!  Students will get fatter and fatter as they exercise less and eat more. Also, playing sports is healthy for the body. Immune systems get stronger when people are healthy and they exercise regularly. I, for one, am a student who wants to compete in sports. Also, surveys have shown that 69% of girls and 75% of boys participate in youth sports. You’re basically taking away something from these students if sports are still closed. Obviously, schools and sports should reopen because students want to play sports. 

Also, we should reopen schools and sports because distance learning is worse than in person learning. Don’t you feel bad for the students who get A’s in in-person school, but then get B- in distance learning? I know people that aren’t doing as well with their grades as they were before Covid-19 hit. Also, sometimes students can’t ask questions. Since when teachers are sharing their screen on zoom, they cannot see the students’ faces, and therefore cannot see when the students have a question.

Finally, we should reopen schools because students can then see their friends again. They can play with them and have fun with them. Also, parents don’t have to make lunch for their child at home. Students can have hot lunch at school instead of parents spending time they don’t want to spend cooking for their child because they are stuck at home.

In conclusion, schools should reopen because students want to play sports, distance learning is worse than in person learning, and because students can see their friends again. 

6th Graders Deserve Better

By Penelope (6th grade)

Do 6th graders get to play ball, make friends, socialize, learn better and just have as many rights as the graders below? That’s just it, they don’t! The three main reasons 6th graders deserve better is because of the anger inside them, the need for socialization and time to play, and the need for more time on campus for better learning - I should know since I’m an 11 year old 6th grade kid myself! 6th graders deserve better, please!

Imagine all of those poor kids, standing in the cold heavy rain, hearing the laughs and screams of kids playing, and watching them play 4 square climbing on the playground, running around the black top with the yard duty chasing after them because it’s raining. Sitting in their chairs at home, staring blankly at their screens, unsure of what to do next. 6th graders now don’t enjoy school the way they used to before the events of covid-19, they barely even do enjoy it. 6th graders now think school is unfair and boring. Their lack of everything makes them angrier day by day. Most of them don’t even think P.E. is fun anymore! In fact, about 48% of 6th graders are depressed because of loneliness and such because of what’s happening to schools caused be covid-19. 6th grade anger is not because of them, it’s because of what teachers are choosing wrongly for them!

The 6th graders sit in their classrooms as their teacher teaches a long boring lesson that takes up most of their time on campus. There are still kids outside running around, messing, playing, climbing… yet the 6th graders don’t even get to play. Even their recess time is only 10 minutes when it’s supposed to be 15. This is what happens every day on campus at this school. The same boring cycle over and over again. 6th graders don’t even get to play a fun game of ball with each other. All they can do now is walk around the general area of the classrooms 6 feet apart and come back when the teacher calls. This makes them very bored and unfit. They barely even get to socialize because of the lack of students in the class. 8 at most! Some kids don’t even have friends in their classes. 6th graders need to socialize, or depression will become more likely. In fact, the average number on a scale of 1 - 10, 1 being “I don’t like people” and 10 “I need people” 8 was the average! 6th graders deserve better with playtime and social time.

The 6th graders try to make the most of their 2 hours and 15 minutes on campus. They return home, barely smarter than they were the day before. They get picked up and driven home where they face a big bright screen of terror. No teachers can help them there. They face the remaining 3 hours and 45 minutes staring at a screen, trying their best to learn as their eyes redden. 6th graders don’t have enough time on campus to learn the way they need to. The teachers think they’re old enough to deal with it on their own, but no, It’s not like that! We may be half way through school… but we’re only half through school! We still need a little help and we also need more time to learn. Unfortunately, all of this is because teachers believe that 6th graders “bodies are different”.  But there is not enough proof for this reasoning! Most kids in 6th grade are 11, and even a lot of 5th graders are 11, too! 12 year olds have very strong immune systems, and also are not that contagious to it! Over 1 million kids lack connectivity and brain cells because of this! 6th graders deserve better with learning and time on campus.

As you can see, the graders aren’t being treated fairly when it comes to school, just because of their “age group”. Just imagine what it’s like for us! 6th graders deserve better… and that’s FINAL!

                                                                Hybrid is the Way to Go!

                                                                        by Dylan (5th grade)

    Schools and sports should be opened but with restrictions for Covid-19.  Covid-19 is bad for kids. Kids are getting bored without interaction with other kids. Kids are getting fat without exercise. And, virtual classes don't give the same one-on-one experience.

First, kids get bored without interaction. imagine being full of energy, and not getting any chance to let it out? Kids are trapped in a room for a whole day! That might not be tough for adults, but on kids, that's torture. Imagine how terrible kids feel! The emotional impact of the Covid-19 quarantine was assessed for children from Italy and Spain. Participants  included 1143 parents of children aged 3 to 18 years who completed a survey about the effects of the  quarantine on their children, compared to before the home confinement period. The study found 85.7% of parents reported changes in their children’s emotions and behaviors during the quarantine. The most frequently observed changes were difficulty concentrating (76.6%), boredom (52%), irritability (39%), restlessness (38.8%), nervousness (38%), loneliness (31.3%), uneasiness (30.4%), and worries (30.1%). About 75% of parents reported feeling stressed about the quarantine situation. Parental stress was associated with increased reports of emotional and behavioral symptoms in their children. Kids are changing for the worse. During covid, I personally noticed that I feel a lot more depressed and bored than I usually would on a normal day. I feel lonely and out of reach from everyone. The few days I do get to talk with them, I feel SO happy. I am in a better mood, and I leave all bad feelings and stress behind. These changes are not just me. The entire world is changing.

Second, kids are getting fat without exercise. I am a kid, and I know that during the pandemic, I was not the only kid to be much more tempted to eat junk food. I saw the lines at baskin robin’s grow, A LOT during the pandemic. If we eat more bad food, we will make our body weaker and not able to fight the virus. Kids need sports. Not only do they let your energy out, it also gives you exercise! Exercise is vital for everyone, and during covid, nobody can get it. Kids get sad because of no chance to show all of their practice! Try to imagine working SO hard for a competition, and then it gets cancelled at the last moment! How depressed do you think those kids feel? In addition to that, Severe Obesity from ages 2-19 has increased from 5.2% to 19% in the last 20-30 years. Imagine how much it has increased NOW because of Covid-19 and no physical sports? It has increased A LOT.

Finally, Virtual classes are not the same. We come to the classroom to learn and have fun. During the pandemic, we can't do either. Kids are separated from their friends, and they can't learn because the teachers can't give feedback! The kids must feel so sad because of interaction limits, and parents would also be sad because their kid is not learning anything.

A team of researchers at Stanford University crunched NWEA test scores for students in 17 states and the District of Columbia and reached a terrible conclusion this fall. The average student had lost a third of a year to a full year's worth of learning in reading, and about three-quarters of a year to more than a year in math since schools closed in March, the report estimated.  Through 5th grade, I have noticed a bad change in school. During the pandemic, kids don't get enough 1-1 time. This is bad because teachers don’t get to look at the students' work, and students don't get feedback to improve. This defeats the whole purpose of learning, because you don't get any better.

   In conclusion, hybrid is the way to go because in virtual, kids get bored without interaction, kids get fat without exercise,  and virtual just isn’t the same. If we keep this up, hopefully covid will end and we won't become emotionless zombies. So vote hybrid.

How-to Writing: My Great Invention!

     "First, second, next, then, after that, finally...." All of these words naturally guide readers to understanding the steps in directions or in picturing actions in the correct order in their minds.  Guide words are important, but adjectives are as well.  To practice these important concepts, the students created an amazing invention in their imaginations.  They drew it, then described precisely how it would work.  Add in an introduction and a conclusion, and we had ourselves awesome "how to" essays!  Enjoy these samples across the grades!

                                                           "Fish Legs," by Bobby (5th grade)

     If I could create anything in the world, I would create "Fish Legs."  Have you ever looked at your fish and it looked bored?  Well, you can change that, because you can take your fish on a walk!

     When you get your own fish walker machine, the first thing you want to do is fill the bowl with water.  Second, place a can of fish food in the fish food holder.  Whenever the fish gets hungry, the machine pours food into the bowl.  Third, flip the "on" switch underneath the bowl.  Fourth, carefully place your fish into the bowl.  Fifth, connect the leash that comes with the Fish Legs to the bowl and enjoy your walk!

     You can click a button on the leash to turn the legs into wheels.  Also, the fish bowl is made of bullet proof glass, so your little friend doesn't get hurt.

    

     Your fish has been stuck in your bedroom his whole life.  He deserves some fresh air!

                                                The Carbon Sucker, by Nirav (5th grade)

       Do you really want Earth to become a lifeless ocean? I don’t think so. To prevent this from happening, use the invention I want to make: the Carbon Sucker. The Carbon Sucker inhales air, separates the carbon dioxide and hydrogen from other stuff, and uses them to make oil in a way that doesn’t harm nature.

To use, first put Filter 1 in the small slit between the vacuum and filter 2. In other words, slide it between the upside down cone and the spring. Then, press a green button to turn on the vacuum and filter 2. The vacuum will suck in 25 cubic pounds of air per minute. As the air goes through filter 1, particles of dust will get left behind. Make sure to clean filter 1 after use by washing it with cold water and using a towel to dry. As the air passes through filter 2, the hydrogen and carbon dioxide are separated from the rest of the elements automatically. You might see a mist as the rest of the elements are sent back to the atmosphere via the funnel. When the Carbon Dioxide and Hydrogen enter the storage area, you will see a gauge move towards full. This tells you how much of the elements is being stored. When the gauge is at roughly half, press the red button to turn off the vacuum. Then, turn the valve with your hands to send carbon dioxide and hydrogen to the oil combustion chamber. There, you press a blue button to cause the carbon dioxide to split into a carbon molecule and two oxygen molecules. The oxygen is sent into the air with another funnel, while the carbon and hydrogen is fused together to create oil. Meanwhile, get some of the 50 liter canisters included. Twist the caps off the canister and put it under the tap. Turn a handle to switch on the tap, and oil will flow into the canisters. Once that is finished, store canisters in a place away from anything flammable. When ready for use, unscrew the cap and fit in the funnel. Use the funnel to slowly pour oil into your car. And then, once you are out of oil, repeat the process.

While sucking carbon dioxide helps reverse climate change, using it to make oil cuts unnecessary emissions and saves you the time and energy of taking your car to the garage for an oil change. And now, everyone can live happily, knowing that the air quality is very good!

                                                            My Great Invention! 

                                                                by Liberty (4th grade)

If I were a great inventor, I would invent an “Anything Cube”. This invention would allow you to pull anything out, even a human being or a house!

“The “Anything Cube” would be easy to use. First, you would double click on the screen and a keyboard would pop up. Next, you would type what you want on the keyboard. Then, you make sure it is “appropriate” or “the right size”. If it is, continue to the next step. If it is not the right size, click the “GROW” button and your cube will grow to be a bit bigger than the size of your object. Be careful if you are doing this step indoors. After that,  a door will open up, and you reach in and pull/roll (it will be on wheels if it is really heavy) your desired item out. If it is not appropriate, WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THAT ITEM?!?!?! (such as a cigarette or guns for bad people, or something else bad. Although, weapons to the army would be allowed.)                                                                                                             

My invention would help people who are poor, work in the army, live in a poor country, don’t have food or clean water, or any person who really wants something. It could provide  people a tent, food or water. If they work in the army, it could help them by pulling out a medic!

 The “Anything cube” comes in different shapes, sizes, and colors.The original is a 4 inch by 4 inch by 4 inch cube. It is black with blue on the edges. Although, you can customize your color and shape to be anything you’d like!

 I think my “Anything Cube” would be amazing and helpful!

                           

On Demand Descriptive Writing: The Snowman Draw Game

 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,  "Snowman Draw."  Here is how you play:

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

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

Step 3: Trade descriptions with a partner.  Now you will draw each other's snowman 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.  Many of these students played "Monster Draw" just months before, and they showed amazing improvement from then to now!  The winners were voted on by the class.  Enjoy!

Julia's Snowman (4th grade)

Warning: You should probably read each paragraph first, then draw, and move to the next paragraph. The last paragraph is probably the hardest to draw.

My snowman is traditionally shaped, plain, and not very interesting. His smallest ball is at the top of the snowman, around the middle of the page, the medium ball in the middle, attached to the smaller one by the smaller ball over lapping the middle ball in the top quarter. The middle ball does the same for the largest one. All of those balls are white.

The bottom ball is the most boring. All it has are two, black, medium size shaped, and round buttons.

The middle one has the same black balls as the largest one, and it has two, plain, traditionally shaped, brown arms that jut out at the middle of each side. The middle ball also has a light cerulean and true green, striped scarf, that is between the middle ball and the small ball. The scarf has 12 sections, and light cerulean and true green alternate starting from the left with blue, adn going to the right with blue, green, blue, green, and so on.

The smaller ball has a black hat that is formed by two rectangles, kind of like a top hat, but without a buckle. The eyes are black, small, and of course there are two of them. The nose is the same shape and size, a little below the eyes, and in the exact middle of them. My snowman’s smile is formed with the same black circles as the other facial features, only that there are five of them. 

This snowman stands on plain, white ground, and the snow is a pattern falling around him. It starts with three circles at the top of the page, dividing the page in fourths, then four snowflakes (circles) below them, splitting that part into fifths, and right in between the first three snowflakes. The pattern then repeats and creates a kind of diamond shape with every four snowflakes that are together. If you see this snowflake pattern at the right angle, you will see that it is only eight diagonals. It is crucial to see it like that because the coloring will alternate between cerulean blue and white, starting with blue, and coloring each of the snowflakes in the diagonal the same color. The paper is vertically placed.

Julia wrote so clearly, that her partner Jessie (4th grade) drew this twin!

Kevin's Snowman (6th grade)

My drawing is vertical. My snowman is in the center of the paper. He is made up of three snowballs. The first one is towards the top of the paper in the middle . The first snowball is circular. It is pretty “medium-ish”. In this snowball, there are the snowman’s two eyes, spaced evenly horizontally. They are towards the top of the first snowball. They are black and are pretty small. He has a carrot nose pointing downwards. It is orange and is a downward-facing isosceles triangle. It is not very big. Underneath his nose are four dots shaped so that they are my snowman’s mouth. They are arranged so that he is smiling. All of them are circular and are pretty small as well. 

My snowman’s second snowball is in the middle of the paper. The second snowball is bigger than the first but not too big. He has to round coal buttons (black) which are bigger than the eyes but still not too big. The buttons are evenly spaced throughout the second snowball, both horizontally and vertically. My snowman has two stick hands (brown) protruding from the second snowball. The stick part of it is not short but not long. He has three fingers. This applies for both stick arms.

The third snowball is toward the bottom of the paper. There are two coal buttons (black) in the third snowball. They are also both evenly spaced horizontally and vertically. That’s it for the third snowball 

He is standing on a flat black line. My snowman has a mini snowman next to him. It is the exact same as the other snowman but with smaller parts. The first snowball is towards the right of the big snowman. It is about as big as one of the buttons in the third snowball on the big snowman. He has tiny black eyes, a downward facing carrot nose, and four black pieces of circular coal to form a smiling mouth. The second snowball is bigger than the first snowball and has two pieces of black circular coal in/on it. This snowman has stick arms that are both not very long, but has red oven mitts for hands instead. The third snowball is bigger than the first two and there are two small but not tiny buttons on it

On both snowmen they have a top hat. It is as wide as their heads and as tall as two times their heads. The size of the top hat varies with the size of the snowman. In the middle of the top hat there is a yellow buckle. The strap thing is black and there is a yellow square in the middle holding the left strap and the right strap together.

In the background, there is a yellow circular sun in the top left hand corner that is as big as your hand. In the top right hand corner, there is a bullet train. The bullet train is as long as your index finger. It has seven windows evenly spaced apart. It is riding along one brown line/rail right below it. Below the first rail is another line/rail (brown). There is a green triangular mountain that starts from one edge of the paper and goes to the other. It starts from the middle of the left side, the peak is towards the upper left-ish, and it ends on the right side. The sides are green but the mountain isn’t green. There is a black squiggly line from the left side of the mountain to the right side. It starts from 5 cm from the peak on the left side and ends 5 cm from the peak on the right side. There are metal supporters that support the rails from the bullet trains. They are grey. They are 0.5 cm thick. They are evenly spaced from left to right. Their length depends on where they meet the mountain.

To the left of the snowman there is a tree. It is made of 3 green triangles stacked on top of a 1 cm brown stump. 

That is my picture you are done. YAY!

Kevin and Claire (6th grade) are old pro's with this game!  Look at this match!

My Snowman, by Tyler (6th grade)

My snowman is in the middle-right side of the drawing.  He is exactly 2 and a half inches tall.  The bottom ball, which is the biggest, has one button on the top of it and 2 small black boots on the bottom.  The middle ball is a little bit smaller and has the last 2 buttons on it.  Also he has 2 stick arms facing out of the middle ball with three fingers on each stick.  The top ball of the snowman is small and has 2 coal eyes, a pickle nose, 4 coal for a smile, and on top of it is a black top hat.

Background

To the right of him is a Christmas tree.  It is 4 and a half inches tall.  There is a sun in the top right of the paper from your perspective.  To the left of you there is a suburban house.  It is going off to the left of the paper.  The roof goes off to the left side of the paper and is skinny and it is colored blue. The door is just off to the left of the middle of the page. Right next to the door to the right side is a garage.  The borders on it are red but the garage door is brown.

Hope you like my Snowman.

Right down to the pickle nose, Ryan (4th grade) nailed all of these details!

My Snowman, by Carissa (4th grade)

My snowman has three main snowballs as the base. The biggest one is on the bottom, the 2nd biggest is on top of the biggest one, and lastly the smallest ball is on top of the 2nd biggest ball. It is sitting on plain white snow.

On top of the snowman's head is a halo crown. It is colored an orangy-yellow. In the middle  of the back, there is a red heart with a thin black cross leaning to the left. On both sides of the heart, there are one beat music notes. On the left the note is facing to the right, and on the right the note is facing on the left. Next, on the front part of the halo, there are math signs. On the very end on the left there is an addition sign, then moving to the right there’s the subtraction sign, next a multiplication sign, and last but not least an division sign at the end right of the halo. On the right side of the snowman’s head are four music notes. The first is just one beat, the second one is two. Then above the note with two beats is a one beat, but a staccato. Then below the staccato note there is a three beat note. 

For the face, there are two black circular eyes. Then in the center of the face, there is a petite carrot nose. It is pointing to the left. Just below the carrot nose is the mouth. It is made out of six little stone pebbles. My snowman also has a scarf that is a greenish blue that is wrapped around the bottom of the head, and has two little pieces of the scarf hanging out. 

On the middle snowball, there are three little red hearts going straight down the middle. On the sides there are medium sized twigs with three little sticks pointing outwards. 

On the bottom there is nothing.

There are two skinny trees on both sides. There is also a pattern on the bark on the tree. The one on the right is taller. They have tiny, weak branches coming out of the top. On the left there are 10 branches, and on the right there are 13. Floating in the air are 14 snowflakes. They have just four lines. There are 3 whites ones and 3 light blue on the right side. On the left side there are 8 light blue ones. 

What a creative and beautiful snowman, and what a thorough description!  Sammie (9th grade) was able to draw this match!

My Snowman, by James (5th grade)

     My snowman is made of three balls: one large ball, one medium, and one small.  My snowman takes up 2/3 of the page and sits on the bottom.  The paper is vertical.

     My top ball has black glasses.  It has one pupil per lens, and there are two lenses.  His mouth is a horizontal line.  It has two buck teeth right next to each other.  The head is entirely yellow, except for the yes, teeth, and lens.

    The middle ball has two green money symbol eyes.  His mouth is a black oval cut in half.  It is also yellow.

    The bottom ball has a small frown for its right eye, and an eye with a pupil in it.  It has the same mouth as the previous one with a tongue sticking out of its left corner.  

    There is a tree on your right that is a vertical brown line that goes up to the top of the middle ball.  It has diagonal green lines facing the bottom.  There is a crescent moon that is hello, and next to the right side of your name.  The sky is dark blue and only goes to the top of the top ball from the top of the paper.

James is a pro at this game!  He is so carefully detailed!  His partner Quinn (5th grade), had no problem drawing this twin.  I love the buck teeth!

Victoria's Snowman (5th grade)

     The floor goes straight, left to right.  There is a medium blue line down the middle.  To your left of the line, the floor is completely blue.  To your right, color the floor medium purple.

     My daddy snowman has a big, completely gray snowball at the bottom.  The bottom ball is on top of the horizontal line on the floor.  On top of the gray snowball, there is a long, medium-sized yellow triangle.  The triangle has medium sized arms with five twigs as hands on each arm.  The arm is brown, facing down sightly with two blue icicles on each arm.  

    The head of the daddy snowman is a small circle, entirely purple, with two small round circles in the middle of the face.  The small round circles are the eyes.  The eyes are white, with one black dot in each.  The snowman has a medium afro on his head.  The afro is bumpy, and shaped like a half circle.  It is rainbow colored horizontally.  The red starts on your left.  Instead of the last color of the rainbow (purple), it will be red.  The rainbow repeats only once.

    To the daddy snowman's left (your right), there is a miniature daddy, but with no afro.  His triangle middle is blue, and his face has a black outlined white face with two coal eyes and a small green triangle as a nose.  His arms are red and going up with only two twigs as fingers.  He has arm pit hair that's green.  The hair is curly and looks like broccoli.

    To the right of the daddy snowman (your left), there is a huge popsicle stick.  It is the size of your pinky.  The rest is a yellow popsicle top.  Horizontally down, there is a blue line that's zig zagging down.  To your left of the line, there are five red dots going down evenly spaced on an imaginary line.

    On top of that big popsicle is a small popsicle.  It's orange and has no zig zags or dots.

    There is a balloon hovering over the small snowman with a red outline and two red dots as eyes, with a big red smile spread over the face.  The balloon has a curvy gray string hanging down, the size of your pointer finger.

Wow!  Victoria didn't miss one detail!  Penelope (6th grade) was able to draw this match!

Ella's Snowman (5th grade)

    

    My snowman is happy and relaxed.  He is made of three snowballs: the bottom is large, the middle is a bit smaller than the bottom ball, and the top is smaller than the middle snowball.  He sits on a lounge chair near the pool.

    He has a bald head.  He wears pitch black sunglasses.  You can not see his coal eyes.  He has a small, pointy, orange carrot in between his sunglasses.  There are vertical lines in the carrot, and the carrot points to the bottom right corner.  Lastly, he has a big, bright smile made of five dot-like pieces of coal.

    He has a blank chest with twig arms sprouting out of his sides.  His arms stretch behind his head, making a V-like shape starting from the side of his head to the side of his middle snowball.  The middle snowball has part of the top covered behind the top ball.

    Like the middle snowball, the bottom ball is covered by the middle ball.  He has no pants, but he has twig legs.  The legs are bent and cross each other.  His feet have oval, yellow flip flops.

    In the background is an upright, bean-shaped pool. The pool has tiles around it.  The tiles are beige/peach.  The pool water is light blue, with a pink, donut-shaped float.  He sits on a green and pink lounge chair.  The pool is on the right side of the paper.  The lounge chair's top is on the left, and the bottom ends in the right.  Near the bottom left is a lemonade.  The lemonade is in a clear glass, and the glass if all of yellow lemonade.  There is a pink straw and a lemon on the bottom.  At the top of the glass are three ice cubes that are white.  In addition, at the bottom of the chair is a sunscreen bottle.  It is a squire type.  It is white and light blue.  It is labeled "2000 PF."  Last, at the top of the paper, are clouds and a sun.  The sun is at the top right.  It is a yellow ball with orange triangles surrounding it.  One cloud is near the top left of the paper.  It is puffy and fluffy.  The other cloud has part of its right side covered by the sun.

WOW!  What a cute, summer snowman!  Ella gave such perfect detail, and Clara (6th grade) read so carefully,  that the class voted them the winners!

My beginner authors played the game a little differently.  They drew a snowman, then described it with adjectives, too.  Their game was different in that it was a guessing game.  After I read each description, students were to point out which snowman fit the description.  A first-time guess meant the student aced the use of adjectives!  Our entire class loved Mika's (4th grade) cute art and very thorough description!

    My snowman is made up of three aqua snowballs, size small, medium, and big.  It has round and cute eyes.  Its nose is medium, pointing to the right.  It has six rocks for the mouth with a beautiful smile.  On the top of its head, it has a purple and orange pom pom hat.  My snowman has two big brown arms.  I love its clothing!  It's wearing three round black buttons.  The background has snow and 54 snowflakes.  I think my snowman is classic, like in the movies.

Congratulations to our winners!  I hope everyone enjoyed the lesson in the importance of ADJECTIVES!