Stories give spice to everyday life!
Every one of us has sat down at the dinner table and heard the tales of the our family members' days. When telling a story we search for the perfect words to capture our audiences attention, no matter how mundane the actual plot might be. Rather than bluntly stating "I went to the post office and the line was long," we tell the story of the little old lady standing so long that she had to be nudged awake by her grandchild. Or, we tell the story of the obnoxious teenagers who pushed their way to the front of the line, without any consideration for the weary faces amongst the crowd. Ultimately, it's the same story. It's all about the facts you emphasize and the words you select.
This year my 6th-9th grade English students have been working on several major projects. We're reading novels including: Around the World in 80 Days, Tuck Everlasting, The Westing Game, and To Kill a Mockingbird. We're reading daily poems and learning to identify literary devices such as tone, mood, alliteration, hyperbole, similes, and metaphors. And, ultimately, we're learning about the structure of a story through daily journal assignments and other writing projects. We're asking questions such as:
- What makes a story (or any type of writing) enjoyable to read?
- Does my spelling really matter, especially now that spellcheck exists?
- Does our diction, our word choice, really make a difference?
- What is a sentence? How do I know when i've written a sentence fragment or turned a sentence into a run-on?
- Is grammar really important? Does anyone notice?
. . . Join me in applauding my students' efforts as master story tellers! Below are a smattering of stories selected from each of my classes. (Keep in mind, these are their original stories. No grammar has been edited-- no spelling has been changed.)
6th Grade
My Cat Saves the Day!
by Ruth
I've been made a teacher; students will be arriving in ten minutes! "What am I going to do?! What am I going to do?!" I ask my cat, Enkidu, who is snoozing on my desk. He blinks at me and goes back to sleep. Five minutes . . . . three . . . one . . .
Enkidu quickly puts himself on the chair under the desk. I run fingers through my hair, the door at the other end of the room bursts open with a bang. "Good morning teacher." they all shout, and they look around for one. "G-good morning c-class." I stammer "n-now we will be learning Biology." "From you?!" I rest my hand on Enkidu and feel his heart pound alongside mine. "Yes" confidence rising as I feel Enkidu's warm, warm fur. "Ok, today we-" "Your not really our new teacher are you?" says a scrufy kid in the front. "Today" I ignore the other kids. "We will be learning about," I cut across another comment. "about the, um, what do you call it, thing." I think a while.
Enkidu stood and walked along the desk until he found a marker. My desk is right next to the board and marker in his mouth, Enkidu did something extraordinary. He wrote on the board with a slight squeak:
Lesson 1.
The class went wild. But there was still more.
Environmental
Aquariums
They all went crazy and clapped a lot. Enkidu on the other hand bowed so low that his wiskeres touched the desk. He was my hero. Not only do cats turn out to be really good spellers, but they give you the courage when things get tough.
The Opposite Day Curse
by Ify
I'm walking to school . . . Huh? NOW I'm walking home, no . . . I'm walking to school . . . Augh!!! THE OPPOSITE DAY CURSE! When Insano man almost destroyed all the Supers, he created a black metal orb that was so powerful it destroyed him. But one of the last Supers tried to defeat the orb. It snagged him and now bears his curse every 3rd Wednesday of November. Now there are no superheroes or super villains . . . Now there's ALL heroes and villains . . .NOW there is . . . AHH! The Opposite-oh, you get the picture. I'm not in my classroom . . . YIPE! DETENTION! Now I am! I am in the classroom! --OHHHHHH . . . ! Whatever. It's not tomorrow. Ahhh, NOW it is tomorrow. No more opposite day. BUT ALL THE SUPERS ARE BACK! I don't need supers! I want a normal life. Hey, I'm in my bed. Ahhhh . . No, I Don't have eto sit in the day that was created by Opposo. I am FLUSTERED! Can't life be . . . Oh, I don't want . . . "Good morning". I'm an . . Hey, What are you . . . ! I'll show you! Listen BIG FACE . . . I'll . . . It's NOT OPPOSITE DAY! Oh, don't be rude. Oops, Sorry.
7th Grade
Media
by Jackson
Today I’m going to write about the when media decided to role the world! It started with a toilette, he got frustrated with his job for obvious reasons and decided to rebel agents the humans. First Tony the toilette got sinks, tubs, and shower heads; they ransacked a radio and TV station and sent their message out to the world about how they where going to role the world! They invaded towns and villages with the help of their new allies, the TVs and radio boxes. Later after they took over villages and such, they decided it was time for the bigy, they where going to attack N.Y.C! AS you can imagine the world panicked, and the government chickened out, so it happened, toilettes, sinks, tubs, TVs, radios, Computers, video games systems came by the millions and surrounded N.Y. They where about to attack but on the horizon came the sound of banana powered choppers…MONKEYS!!!
8th grade
Squeak, Squeak
by Heidi
Squeak, Squeak was the noise that the swing made as I swung on it. It was a lovely fall afternoon and the leaves were just starting to turn. The crisp fall air was just the right temperature. There was a slight breeze, not the kind of breeze that gives you the chills, but not such a slow breeze. It was nice. My cat Mr. Bittersman came and sat on my lap. After he became comfortable I began to stroke him. He was softer than rabbit fur during game season. He began to purr. “There you are Jasmine!” I whipped my head around. “I’ve been looking all over for you!”
9th Grade
Rain
by Hannah
There are many poems
About rain
And pain.
But can’t we gain
Anything from the rain?
What about the spring rain
Soft and sweet
On a hilltop where
Dreams and reality meet?
Or what about cold,
Dark, autumn rain?
Is it really that bad?
It’s not always sad!
Listen to the rain
On a window pane.
Reading a book
So you won’t go insane.
You see, there are many nice
Things we can gain
If we’ll only be thankful
For the rain.
