Words from Our Young Authors at Joaquin Miller

This session, our theme was Treasure and Found Objects. We explored all kinds of concepts, from different types of treasure to how found objects can create poetry.

From Treasure Maps, Details & Point of View - an exercise where students created a treasure map with lots of concrete detail, then wrote a story about it using the 2^nd person point of view.

Treasure in Mural Park

You walk to your car, get in, and start the engine. You drive around and see a homeless person on the street. You get out, after parking, and confront him. You take out your wallet and just as you're about to give $30 to this poor person, he gets up, takes your wallet, and runs. You chase him, then trip on a tree branch poking out of the sidewalk cement on 5th Avenue in Goldsberry, Texas. You fall, holding your fist up and yelling, "You'll pay for that!"

The homeless person laughs and keeps running. A piece of paper flies out of his pocket, and you wonder what it is. As you go to pick it up, you thank yourself for once: "I am so glad I only put money in there, not any cards or receipts!" When you finally get to the paper, you find it is a map of Mural Park -- a treasure map, in fact. It shows the south end of the park, with the mountain mural, the ducks, and the pond. There is a big yellow X right above the mountains in the picture, on the right-hand side. You also see a bright orange trail running right through the middle.

You decide to go check it out, and you hop back into your car. You know how to get to the park from the years you spent with your children before they went with your sister Aggie. While you drive, you start to cry thinking about the time you spent with your kids.

When you get to the park, you notice that there are only six other people in the whole south end. You wonder why, then get out of your car and ask around.

The first person you encounter, a young student from the University, says, "It has been like this since the flash." You look confused, and he sighs and pulls out a paper from his backpack. You take it and see it is a newspaper with the caption, "Fire Flash Striked Mural Park." You keep reading...

-Olivia

From Word Scavenger Hunt - an exercise where we explored the possibilities of imagery and descriptive language by doing a “reverse” scavenger hunt. The instructor provided the object, and students provided descriptive clues.

Brussel Sprouts

My brussel sprouts are sitting on my white, reflective plate. They are watching me, I swear. Those puke-green, repulsive-tasting, poison-carrying vegetables. They just had to be on my plate. Brussel sprouts. Code name for some cold-hearted stuff that couldn't be edible, meant to demolish a kid's happiness, not to mention dinner.

-Luke

From What Is Treasure? Creating plot and answering the 5 W’s to describe different kinds of treasures.

The Million Dollar Dress

I was walking across the foggy road, then I suddenly tripped over a log and fell into a revolting mud puddle. I shrieked, because my million dollar gown was ruined. I was so frustrated, because I was supposed to go to the ball, and now I had to return to my castle and clean my gown. There was no way I could change because my father wanted me to wear this specific dress. He'd said: "My mother wore this dress to her first ball; now you must wear it to yours."

I raced into the nearest taxi cab, and it was full of germs and terrible smells. I arrived back at the castle and asked our maid Mildred to clean the dress. She said there was absolutely no way anyone could get it clean. Without any other choice, I would have to wear a different dress.

To be continued...

-Morgan

From The Museum of Found Objects - students created their own “exhibit” of found objects and chose one to write a story about.

Fry Dude

Hi, my name is French Fry. You can just call me Fry Dude for short. I have this jelly-filled doughnut that I bought this morning, and this is my story.

2 Days Later

"Help! Help! I lost my doughnut! Do something to help my precious jelly-filled doughnut." I called 911 and said, "I've lost my jelly-filled doughnut." Seconds later, the SWAT team showed up. "Okay, what is it?" they said. "I lost my jelly-filled doughnut!" I said. Then it felt as if time froze like ice.

3 Hours Later

I woke up in a dark room with an incredibly soggy jail suit on. I stood up to the sight of puddles everywhere, a tiny window with bars, and a battered army cot on the uneven concrete. Thud, thud. I heard pounding on the door. They pulled me out of the jail cell, and the world seemed different. I saw a sign with a date on it: the year 2026. Weird, I thought to myself, and scratched my beard. Wait a minute, I never had a beard...

To be continued... 

-Gavin

From Treasure Maps, Details & Point of View - an exercise where students created a treasure map with lots of concrete detail, then wrote a story about it using the 2^nd person point of view.

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"I'm not going to make it bos-"

That was it. Another man down. Many people had tried to get the treasure, and many had failed. So a treasure association was built. They hired people who had found treasure in Colorado. They hired a specialist in mapping. That specialist was you.

To be continued... 

-Marco

From Treasure Maps, Details & Point of View - an exercise where students created a treasure map with lots of concrete detail, then wrote a story about it using the 2^nd person point of view.

To Find My Way Through

You're standing in your great-grandpa's rusty, dusty, and old-smelling attic. Man! There is so much stuff up here, with old boxes that must be from the sixties. But one box catches your eye: it is labeled MAPS. It's much dirtier than the other boxes, so you think it must be super old. As you look inside, there are hundreds, maybe thousands, of maps. More maps than you can carry. One out of all of them catches your eye. It has green, plush trees and beautiful mountains. You can hardly make out the squinty little handwriting, but you think it says Owl Landia, home of the owls. You absolutely love owls, so you say, "I wish I could go there!"

The world jumbles and fumbles, twists and turns. You finally find yourself upon green, plush trees and beautiful mountains. Everything around you is beautiful, and you think to yourself, "I must be in Owl Landia!"

To be continued...

-Julia

From You Name It, We’ve Found It - an exercise where students learned about a NYC company that reunites people with items lost in taxi cabs, then wrote stories from the point of view of the taxi driver and passenger.

Ski Mask Switch

1. Joe

Hi, my name is Joe. This is an old tale, about two years old. I was doing my usual route and a man jumped into my cab and said, "Step on it! Time Square!" So I drove, and he said drive faster, so I did. When I pulled up to Times Square, he handed me two dollars and jumped out. "You're going to need more than $2 to survive in New York City!" I yelled. That's when I realized he had left his ski mask.

2. Drew

At the time, I went into the grocery store on the way back from my ski trip. I was hungry, so I tried to grab some ham from the meat counter. BEEP! An alarm rang in my ears, and I realized it was me touching the ham. That's New York City grocery stores for you. So I left, got in a taxi, and said, "Step on it! Times Square!" to the driver. He wore a name tag that said Joe.

To be continued...

-DJ

From Treasure Maps, Details & Point of View - an exercise where students created a treasure map with lots of concrete detail, then wrote a story about it using the 2^nd person point of view.

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James Bond, you have a new mission. First you have to go to Till's-Land Island. Then you must go over the Tomb Hills, and then you have to walk aside The Lake. After that you must cross The Bridge, then climb the everlasting, ever-erupting, red-orange, earth-created Volcano. Then walk over more round, green hills, and then you will find the treasure!

From,

Your Boss

P.S. I am pretty sure the treasure is a pigeon with a pack of gum.

P.P.S. I think the bridge might be broken.

P.P.P.S. I am actually pretty sure that there is no volcano.

P.P.P.P.S. Call me at five or whenever you get the treasure.

-Pearce

From Treasure Maps, Details & Point of View - an exercise where students created a treasure map with lots of concrete detail, then wrote a story about it using the 2^nd person point of view.

Map

You're walking to the supermarket, but you trip on something. You look down and see it is a map with lots of details. It's a map for a place called Candy Land, and at the end of it is a blue X. Twenty seconds later, you get sucked into the map!

Soon you're surrounded by candy, and your mouth is watering. You look at the map in your hand and decide to find the treasure. First you start near a bunch of lollipop trees, and the dots on your map point out of the trees and southeast. A chocolate river appears, too deep for you to cross. You see a piece of paper that says, build a bridge. You collect some marshmallows and throw them in the river. Then you quickly across them to the other side.

Next there is a big slide. You spin up the stairs like a rabbit, wondering why you have to go on the slide. Then you realize that below you are thousands of beasts, like dragons, mermaids, dinosaurs, and lots of others.

To be continued...

-Dani

From Treasure Maps, Details & Point of View - an exercise where students created a treasure map with lots of concrete detail, then wrote a story about it using the 2^nd person point of view.

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To find the mystic treasure, you must swim through the Water of Death with violent waves roaring against you. Then you must go through the exquisite Unicornlandia, where majestic unicorns live with their silver coats and paper-white horns with unique engravings. Then you go through the steep rolling hills, following the map's path to avoid dying (you will notice graves every five steps, if you think death is near and want a peaceful death without anyone stepping on you, simply leap into a vacant tomb).

After that, you must go to the Balking Chickens of Fear, and you will see humongous chickens with their high-pitched, ear-pearcing balks that will make a deaf man hear again. Then go to Bobville, where everything's name is Bob. Run as fast as lightning to avoid Bob-itis and pass safely through the Daggers of Death. Find your way to the Maze of Death, where plants grow together to make a huge maze. Exit the maze and go through the roaring, erupting volcano, where the blood-red lava is pouring down.

Leave the volcano and stay on the path until you arrive at Creepy Hollow, where all you can hear are shrills and screeches of the owls. Go to the red X and try to find your way back. Good luck.

-Samantha

From Word Scavenger Hunt - an exercise where we explored the possibilities of imagery and descriptive language by doing a “reverse” scavenger hunt. The instructor provided the object, and students provided descriptive clues.

Something Homemade

As I hunted around the house for an old earring box, I tripped over a toy. "Oliver!" I felt something under my well-worn glove. Success! A box the perfect size.

Rushing around, I found my baby blue paint in a mad paw through the big black paint box. Squeezing the last drops of sparkling paint out carefully so I wouldn't waste the last of it, I smoothly stroked the paint on. As I set the box to dry, I proudly looked over the work I had done. The box shone like Io, the Greek Godess of Dawn, had shone her light on it.

Here came the hard part. Quietly, I snuck into my parent's room. Slipping a diver's suit under my coat, I flashed out. I cranked open my side window and climbed down the rickety fire escape. As I dressed up for diving, I prepared the old boat for takeoff. Once I reached the heart of the ocean, I hooked my rope around the kelp forest trees and leapt off the boat. As I paddled down to the oyster bed, I immediately spotted two perfect pearls. Snatching the pearls, I thought to myself, "That was easy." I had a spare change of clothes on board the boat, and I changed as quickly as possible and rode home.

To be continued...

-Marley

From Treasure Maps, Details & Point of View - an exercise where students created a treasure map with lots of concrete detail, then wrote a story about it using the 2^nd person point of view.

Bob

You wake up in a dark, misty jungle full of life. You look around and see many jungle trees and ferns. You pick up your REI axe and start hacking away at a tree. It falls to the ground with a thump! You find some vines from the tree and cut them off. You start to make a boat with your axe, hollowing out the tree as you go, and finish just before nightfall.

You set out on the silver sea with glistening water. You must paddle with branches that you found, and it takes two hours just to get out of sight of the steaming island you now dub Breegronkfrizelcrob. It's another two hours before you and your boat reach a monkey-shaped island with a broken sign that says, "Welcome Bob, to Death by Monkeys Island. Meet my evil cat named Fluffy!"

To be continued...

-Hunter

From Word Scavenger Hunt - an exercise where we explored the possibilities of imagery and descriptive language by doing a “reverse” scavenger hunt – the instructor provided the object, and students provided descriptive clues.

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The noise in the cafeteria was loud.

The volume in the echoing lunchroom was so ear-breaking, it sounded like 1,000 lions were roaring at different times. Almost like 100 mad monkeys. I wish this noisy lunchroom was like a green meadow with soft, neighing horses.

-Marcella

From You Name It, We’ve Found It - an exercise where students learned about a NYC company that reunites people with items lost in taxi cabs, then wrote stories from the point of view of the taxi driver and passenger.

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One day I was celebrating our team's World Cup win. I decided to leave a little bit early so I could go home and play video games with my friends. When I got into a cab with my trophy and bodyguards, I realized that one of my bodyguards was playing with his choo-choo train. I was about to yell at him, but just then a very round pig with a jetpack and a snort-oink translator flew right into the cab.

The pig said, "You shall die, fellow potato!"

"Dude, I'm not a potato," I said.

"Dude!" the pig said, "I'm not a dude. I'm Mr. Round Piggy."

The bodyguards rushed out of the cab, screaming like newborn babies but 500 times higher in pitch.

To be continued...

-Louka

Jamie Steps Inside a Clock's Perspective

Ode to Clock

I walk all around my room going tick, tick, tick I never stop. Sometimes someone will take me down And stop me And replace me. People like me. They look at me till I ring And then they go. I still will go tick, tick, tick. It takes me 60 steps to get all Around my room. They call me a clock When they're in their room. I love being their Well, "clock."

-Jamie, Thornhill Elementary

Reilly Tells Us Where He's From

I Am From

I am from worms squirming in my hands From feeling that splash when I jump into the pool From the breezes rustling the leaves on trees From the sun's rays tickling the flower petals From laughs and smiles.

I am from waves crashing on the beach From birds flying high From the beating of a hummingbird's heart From my mother's sparkling eyes, and my dad's special smile From moons, suns, and stars I am from earth and sky.

-Reilly

Words from Our Young Authors at Crocker Highlands

Mmmmm delicious food, food, food…so necessary that our lives are focused around it, and important to and imbedded in many cultures that this session we explored food writing. We learned how to describe food using juicy adjectives, onomatopoeia, and alliteration. We explored food similes and metaphors. We wrote odes to our most beloved foods and dishes and we personified food, writing delectable tales of mystery and intrigue. We hope you enjoy some of our favorite excerpts from the session below!

In the beginning we wrote poems to introduce ourselves to each other:

Ana-Li

Smart – Kind – Strong – Proud Daughter of Lisa Lover of horses, pigs, and dogs Who feels nervous, excited, and brave Who needs dogs, horses, and even more horses Who gives necklaces, bracelets and rings to Kimora, Ella and Sasha Who fears bears, fire, and being alone in the dark Who would like to ride horses, walk and play with dogs Resident of Oakland, California

- Dillon

Next we explored food through similes and metaphors:

Corn looks like tiny hills with a little melting patches of snow. The snow is butter.

- Megan

Jello is like a mountain made of glass and colorful ice cubes.

- Mia

Fudge pieces are like chocolate bricks being stacked on top of each other.

- Maya

Original bubble gum is like an explosion of flavor in your mouth.

- Balana

We worked on describing food through the use of descriptive adjectives, onomatopoeia, and alliteration:

Describing Macaroni and Cheese:

Yesterday, I made a big, hot, steamy pot full of golden macaroni and cheese. When it cooked it smelled so yummy that it made my stomach growl! When it finished cooking, I took it out of the oven and it was steamy hot! When I took a bite, it tasted delectably slimy. I ate it super quickly because it was deliciously wonderful!

- Maya

“C”

Choo the chimpanzee chewed on crunchy cherries.

- Megan

“B”

Balana ate bratwurst, beastly!

- Balana

“P”

Peter the porcupine loves to eat pasta, over and over again. One day Peter got a note from the pediatrician and could not eat pasta anymore.

- Mia

We even worked on describing food we absolutely do not like or are afraid to try:

Tomatoes

I hated tomatoes because of the taste; they’re too sweet, they are squishy and breakable. The seeds are gooey and gross when you eat them. The texture is kinda rough and all I want to do is spit it out!

- Ana-Li

Doritos

Doritos are a tasty thing. They give out tasty flavors of spicy. They are very crunchy and when the spicy touches my tongue it gives a quick flash of taste.

- Megan

Then we switched gears and wrote odes to our favorite foods:

Ode to Invisible Marshmallows

Sweeter than regular marshmallows Oh invisible marshmallows are magical. They are really hard to find in the market, because they are invisible.

Invisible marshmallows, you make unusual s'mores Your graham is floating up in the air And your chocolate delicious

Invisible marshmallows can be used for magic tricks too All you need is a little tape and thread And you float and dance in the air.

I really, really want to try glow-in-the-dark invisible marshmallows!

- Jiana

Ode to S'mores

Oh you delicious delectable s'mores You remind me of camping around a fire. Your three flavors: Graham cracker, chocolate and marshmallow All melt into one.

- Maya

My bread

You’re so soft but hard. When I bite your inside is holey. It’s like Swiss cheese but better. But in the morning I come in and you’re on the counter with butter and jelly you’re better than Paradise.

- Mia

We had a few lessons on personification, where we took a favorite food and gave it human characteristics (Our story telling group really liked this activity):

Simbolene Ice Cream Girl

Simbolene lives in the freezer, a big one. She has a sister named Amber and her neighbor Claire. The other side of the freezer is The Dark Side. The left side where the ice cube monsters are.  One day they got lost on the dark side, not knowing where they were going.

Claire and Simbolene were best sister friends. They are both chocolate chip cookie dough flavored ice cream. Amber is chocolate ice cream.

Claire and Simbolene got lost on the dark side when they forgot their right from left, an ice cube lady came up and said, “My name is Blizzard Tundra.” She was quite jolly but they just ignored her. They were scared and saw the ice cube monster. The ice cube monster cuffed them and brought them to his cave. They tried to escape but the monster had guards. Claire suddenly remembered that she had a watch that sucked any hotness such as the sun into it, so heat doesn’t kill them. So Claire tried to kill the ice cubes by letting the heat she had caught out. She stood back so they (Claire and Simbolene) wouldn’t get burned. But that did not work. Because Simbolene saw an ice cube watch camera, which is a security camera, so they threw ice at the camera and it broke! Then they used Claire’s watch and they escaped. Since the cave was far away from home, they found a sled and rode it back home!

The End

- Jiana and Balana

Chol The Cherry

“Hi! I’m Chol” Chol is a cherry. His whole family are cherries. Chol and his family (Mom, Dad, and annoying sister Tina) lived on Fuggy Food Island. There town is called Cherry Chewer. One evening when Chol was playing video games, so was a different cherry named Chip. Chip was like Chol. He liked video games and they both wanted a dog and the usual things cherries like.

One day Chol was going to the animal shelter, so was Chip. Because of this they met at the shelter. Chol and Chip both saw this cute dog. Chol and Chip both said, “Awww!” Chol got the dog and Chip was sad. But Chol said to Chip, “Hey, you’re my next door neighbor!” So from then on Chip was friends with Chol.

On a perfect Saturday the friends were playing with Chol’s dog Sparky. “Go fetch!” said Chip. One minute later Sparky came back with a …map? “Look,” said Chol. “Sparky has a map. Come here boy.” Sparky dropped the map at Chol’s feet. “Hey, it’s a treasure map!” said Chip. “Awesome!” said Chol. “We should get started on our adventure !” So Chol and Chip packed and off they went.

To Be Continued…

- Megan

And no writing about food would be complete without a few recipes; so we wrote recipes of ourselves:

Recipe of Me….Jiana!

5,000 tons of Club Penguin 3,000 tons of kittens and cats 5 cups of humor 9 scoops of cookie dough 1 pound of ice cream 9,000 pounds of monkey butter 9 quarts of fashion 11 scoops of candy canes 91 mustaches

First mix Club Penguin, candy canes and ice cream Next wisk with kittens and cats, cookie dough and humor After that add mustaches, monkey butter and fashion

Make sure it is fully smooth.

Bake it in an oven for 1 hour then set it down to cool for 11 minutes.

Serve with a side of creamy chocolate.

Serves 11 people.

- Jiana

Recipe of Me…Mia!

20 cups of my cats 15 pints of silliness 10 scoops of ice cream 1,000 tons of horses 50,000 tons of my Mom 2,000 gallons of friends 12 scoops of math 20,000 tons of FUN!

First take 50,000 tons of my Mom Next mix it with 1,000 tons of horses. After that add in the rest of the ingredients in any order you want. Finally you mix it all with a blender and put it in the oven at 70 degrees for 4 hours. Then you refrigerate.

Serve on a plate with salad, chicken and soup and sorbet.

Serves 100 people, more or less.

- Mia

Words from Our Young Authors at Park Day, Grades 2-3

This session’s curriculum has been Poetry Palooza! Students have thrown themselves headlong into odes, alliterative poems, free-form poems, riddle poems, nature poems and more. Students have sharpened their metaphors, honed their personifications and written through all five senses. The results speak for themselves.  From: On Turning Ten, an examination of the free-form poem by Billy Collins

On Turning Ten

On turning ten I hope to still be able to Still play imaginary games Still want to learn about Greek Mythology Still have time to go swimming and ride my bike

What scares me about growing up is that I might not be able to imagine the same thoughts I am thinking right now ever

-Zoe K

From: Imitation of the poem “Life Doesn’t Frighten Me At All” by Maya Angelou

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Snakes slithering on the ground Spiders creeping up the wall Darkness in the sky Clowns with red noses Sharks swimming through water They don’t frighten me at all

-Zoe M

From: Poetry with a rhyme scheme

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Lightning strikes the highest peak Sometimes it makes a little leak You fall from so high in the air Sometimes you give me a little scare

-Dolci

From: Odes to things

Cookie

Sweet Yummy You are crunchy You make me happy and excited when I bite into you Lovely Awesome Appreciated

-Meera

From: Odes to things

Snow Leopard

I see you pounce around the forest missing, jumping, getting food Oh dear snow leopard why so prancy? why so pretty, why so dancy?

I see you try to climb trees high I see you fall, I see you cry. In the snow I see you eat I see you kill, I see you eat meat.

Oh dear snow leopard why so prancy why so pretty, why so dancy?

-Aidan

From: Odes to things and experiments with the 2^nd person

Light

Sunny colors orange and yellow you help me see in the dark your light can change every part of my day at daybreak you’re up and lighting up my day at dusk your light is dark orange and the skies are purple, blue and pink people celebrate your light in Alaska

-Meilin

From: Odes to things and experiments with the 2^nd person

Monkeys

O Monkeys swinging through the sunny trees O screeching, so ever can be I hear rustling through the leaves I see you through the greenish grass I watch you from my windowsill, playing

-Anonymous

From: A letter poem

Dear painting,

I am very glad you are here to excite my simplicity to add your color to my blank white surface And just so you know, my best color is orange So please can I have orange?

Sincerely, Canvas

-Ellie

From: A letter poem

Dear Wasabi

Dear Wasabi,

I like the spiciness you give to me. I like when you swim in the soy sauce.

Sincerely, Sushi

-Max

Words from Our Young Authors at Hillcrest Elementary

This session we focused on food-related writing; we wrote about foods we love, foods we hate, and even what foods would do if they became human. From our exercise about "food fright," in which students wrote about food that makes, or used to make, them squeamish.

Night of the Living Crab Cakes

I'm on a cruise ship in Europe. My dad asks me to try the crab cakes. I say that I'll think about it. I don't want to try them but I do. It's weird. We walk to dinner. My sister, I, and my mom wearing pretty dresses, and my dad in his handsome dark suit. We look at the menu. I remember my dad said we have to try new things in Italy. My sister and I order Shirley Temples. My mom and dad order wine. My dad convinces me to try crab cakes and we could split gnocchi. I couldn't back out. It was already in the cage. The waiter brought our orders over. I took one bite. I loved it! It sort of had a boom then pow then kaboom pow! It was so good! The texture, the flavor, it was amazing. To this day I still eat it at Claremont.

– Maggie

From "Tangerine Delight," an exercise that asked students to eat a tangerine slooowly, bite by bite, and write about the experience.

Tangerine Delightsy Appetitesy

Peeling apart the segments of the tangerine taunts me until the last drop of gooey, orange joy is resting on my tongue. My jaw slowly clenches and this wonderful splash of flavor is riding around my mouth. I imagine the orange liquid rummaging through my mouth, spraying every inch like someone watering the ground with a hose. I swallow and the world becomes a grey lonely place again and the world is not colorful and playful until I eat the tangerine, watermelon, banana fruit salad at dinner.

– Hayden

From our food personification activity, which let the kids write about characters inspired by food.

Part One

Watermelon was a watermelon that had orange hair, blue eyes, and her skin color was green, red, and black. She lived in a rainbow-colored pineapple with her pet Waddles. She was taking a walk with her pet Waddles. Waddles would bark and bark. Watermelon still went to school. She was in 2nd grade. Her parents would not be home so she had to walk home by herself. One evening when she was walking home she fell into an ice cube. Watermelon did not know what to do. The ice cube was too slippery to get out. She could not think of anything. Her friend Melon Mark came strolling along when he found Watermelon. Watermelon said to Melon Mark, "Help me! Please! I'll give you a treat!" Melon Mark liked the word "treat". He pulled her out, thinking what a hero he was. Watermelon invited him to stay over for a little bit. They both had an amazing time. Watermelon and Melon Mark would never ever forget that moment.

Part Two

Melon Mark and Watermelon were soon in 5th grade. They were still in the same class. Melon Mark and Watermelon were becoming friends. At the end of school Watermelon would do her homework and play. Melon Mark had feelings for Watermelon. Watermelon had feelings for him too! At school the first period Melon Mark asked Watermelon if Watermelon could go on a date. Watermelon was shocked and then said "yes". That night Watermelon got all dressed up for Melon Mark. At the date they went to a French restaurant. Melon Mark had onion soup. Watermelon had steak with peas and mashed up potatoes. After dinner, Melon Mark dropped off Watermelon at her house.  Melon Mark and Watermelon had grown up ten years later. They both got married and had children whose names were Mars, Melvin, and Waton. They got a huge lovely house.

The End.

– Sara

Another from our food personification exercise:

The Pie

The poor cute little pie was hoping that somebody would one day buy her from that prison store. At least the little pie had Whitey the Butter, her friend, that was also a prisoner there.

One day a little boy that was picking his nose grabbed the little pie and bought her.

The little pie was so happy that she got taken away from the prison store. She was on a beautiful glass table, suddenly something jumped up on the table, and happily chewed the little pie. It was the darn dog! The little pie was chewed into pieces in the dog's stomach. The little pie wasn't so happy, but at least she was out of the prison store. Or was she in another prison place?...AAAHHH!

– Sonyamia

From our family recipe activity, in which we wrote stories inspired by favorite family dishes:

Food Story

As the all-vegetable pot stickers, or gyoza, sizzle and crackle in the saucepan, my salivic glands and nose go on overdrive. The soy sauce salty smell overpowers my nose. As my mom calls me from the computer to set the table she turns off the glitchy knob and it stops clicking.

When I am done putting the cold silverware on the table, and pouring the varied drinks, I collect my plate and sit down ravenously. The first bite I take is warm and soy sauce salty. The savory/sweet vegetables come almost instantly afterwards, YUM! After the first three gyoza are gone all that salt has made me hungry and I take a sip of the oversweet orange-peach-mango-juice, OPMJ. When I am done drinking I sit back, contentedly sighing.

– Noah

This is from our "I Am From" poetry exercise, which let the kids get creative while describing where they come from.

I am From

I am from a bunch of ancestors lined up one by one, generation after generation with me at the end of them

I am from a tree with branches growing stronger each day, with the parents standing next to me on any kind of day

I am from a big, tall hill full of life with an urban farm house crowning its head

I am from all those art and dance shows and people cheering me on

I range from a long telephone call to nights studying for a test

I am from making a dream come true no matter what

And making the best of things, cuz it's just in those blue worn out jeans.

– Nicola

Yet another from our food personification exercise:

Caseeeeeeeeey the Cake

            Once upon a time there was a cake called Caseeeeeeeeey. She was a chocolate cake and she had chocolate frosting and she had chocolate sprinkles.

            Once upon Caseeeeeeeeey three candles were pushed into her soft, crumby yumminess and they got lit on fire. She threw them at José the jalapeño. He got lit on fire. Then he danced around for ten days and two seconds. Then he drank water. So he was okay.

            Once upon a sunny summer day José walked into a Mexican restaurant. He hid behind a booth. Then Caseeeeeeeeey walked into a Mexican restaurant. They just happened to be the same ones. The cake saw José. She picked him up and showed him to the cook. The cook saw José and took him and made him into salsa.

            Once upon a long, long, long, long, long, long, long time in the future (about thirty seconds), Caseeeeeeeeey opened the door to her house and went in and drank a cup of coffeeeeeeeee and lived happily ever after.

                                    The end is near!

                                          The end

– Jonathan

From our "Tangerine Delight" exercise...

Tangerine

Tangy, yet sweet Sour, yet candy-like Seeping onto my tongue Filling my mouth with a floating sensation Orange is the color that I can taste Squirting around my mouth Yum.

– Reilly