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Words from Our Young Authors at Thornhill (2nd & 3rd Grade)

Lend an eye to some of the work our 2nd and 3rd graders came up with for our "Poetry Palooza" session this Fall! From an exercise on alliteration poetry:

Adriana went to the airport, she ate an apple at the airplane, and had an ant with an aunt, the ant was in a box.”

- Adriana, age 7

From a dialogue-themed free write. Students were given one word on which to build their dialogues. Aidan’s word was “leave”:

"Your name is weird...you’re not my friend at all" "Well, you’re not my friend either, you’re so rude." "No you are...You’re my last friend in the world."

- Aidan, age 7 

From a Halloween exercise in which the kids were asked to write poems about facing their fears:

Shots that leave dots, Stage fright, Bee bite, Life doesn’t frighten me at all.

- Amanda, age 8

From a free-form poetry excercise in which the students were asked to reflect on how it feels to get older:

When I was four I believed I was a fairy princess, who danced, and skipped, and played, and would be four for the rest of her life, But now I don’t care about staying the same age, I don’t care how old I am, I am me, and I like me.

- Ava D., age 8

From an exercise in which students were asked to make a list of items, and then write a poem using those items:

Red sauce lots of cheese with sprinkles and marshmallows All of these things are in my pizza tonight. Strawberries and apples and chips, All of these things are in my pizza tonight.

- Ava S., age 7

From an exercise on alliteration:

Lauren eats lolly pops Lauren eats lunch Lauren leaps Lauren likes laughing Lauren likes loop de loops Lauren likes lizards.

- Lauren, age 7

From an exercise on personification. Sophia wrote her poem from the perspective of a soccer ball:

The life of a soccer ball is not very easy I get rolled in the grass I get kicked in a net I’m getting bored of my color black and white I wish I was colorful!

- Sophia, age 7

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Why Not Write Wednesdays? Creative Writing Prompts for Kids!

Every Wednesday our creative writing prompt challenges you to pick up your pen and indulge your author self! Recount a time in which you had to face a challenge as if you were climbing a mountain. What struggles did you face on the way up? Were you ever close to giving up? What did it feel like to finally reach the top?

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Words from our young authors at Oakton Elementary

This fall, we asked our students at Oakton Elementary to come up with a list of Halloween monsters and to write a short spooky story where the monster was either the protagonist or the villain. See some excerpts from the eerie tales they concocted! From Bayan's piece, "Night of the Zombie Candies":

"...Hi, my name is Jimmy. On my most recent Halloween, I went with my brother, Billy, to go trick-or-treating. When we got back it was too late to eat anything, so we went to bed. The next day, I saw a lot of people dressed as zombies. Then, when someone completely fell apart, me and Billy ran home! Our parents saw what happened so they believed us. We locked ourselves inside the house and then I saw my dog, Sausage, eating some candy. Suddenly, he became green and his eyes were completely white. He was a zombie!"

 

From Aaron's piece, "The Machine":

"Once, a man named Fred walked straight to a haunted church and ate some blood -- he was a zombie. He had friends named Ted, Ned, Bob, and Ben who were also zombies and were rich (zombie money is blood). A gallon of blood or more means you are rich. Fred was poor because he only had a cup of blood...The next day, a machine appeared out of nowhere, but nothing happened - yet. Fred went out to get some blood, but no one seemed to have any. When he got back the machine was moving and killing zombies! Fred threw all the meat from his house at the machine and it exploded blood. He now has 1000 gallons. Fred is rich and has a happy ending."

 

From Wesley's piece, "The Halloween Night":

"'Twas the night before Halloween and everything was dark. There was a monster getting ready for Halloween - he was a ghost named Klober. But Klober wasn't a full ghost: he could also change into a human. He was a cop, but on Halloween, he would change into a ghost so that he could trick people. He had a ghost dog named Scare. This year, they were going to steal candy from babies and from everybody else (but mostly from babies). Klober loved Halloween..."

 

From Charlie's story, "The Monster Behind the Door":

"Once upon a time, there was a kid named Jason. He was graduating from wizard school. When he graduated, he received a magical staff with a crystal on the top. When he got home from wizard school, he heard a creaking and a growling from his closet at the top of the stairs. He slowly opened the door and there was a giant monster standing in his closet! The monster swung at Jason, but he ducked. Jason grabbed his staff and shot five plasma bolts at the monster. The monster was defeated. Suddenly, another monster came up behind him, but he was prepared this time. He summoned lightning to the crystal on the staff and sent it into the monster's chest. He had won. He had defeated all the monsters."

 

From Dillan's untitled story:

"One night, a couple of teenagers were having a party. Some of them were drunk, but not Jack. They heard strange noises, like footsteps, but when they looked out the window, they didn't hear a single thing. Jack, who paid more attention, heard the noises ten times, and they kept getting closer and closer. Then he saw Jason in his hockey mask with a bloody machete. Jack ran to his car and drove as fast as he could - somehow he knew that all his friends had died...Today, Jason is still alive and is coming for you."

 

From Erin's untitled story:

"The night was beautiful, with many stars in the sky. It was cool outside. Every child was asleep -- except for one. He lurked in the shadows all night. He slept in an old abandoned house all day. He was unknown to almost all, except for his grandfather. This boy had a scar doing down his face, from the middle of his forehead to his right cheek. He had brown hair and bangs, and a skin-tone darker than pale, but not very tan at all. He was tall and wore a black jacket and navy blue pants. He was a very mysterious boy. He never came out of the shadows until one day, when his grandfather found him and brought him home on Halloween..." To Be Continued...

 

From Emily's story, "Grandma's Haunted House" :

"Many years ago, during the Silver War, many people were killed in a forest and were turned into zombies. When they woke up, they went looking for a place to live and they found a haunted house. They went inside, and there was Grandma. They decided to kick her out of her house, and attacked her. Luckily, Grandma knew karate and could defend herself. Grandma still lives there today, but the zombies were never seen again."

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Why Not Write Wednesdays? Creative Writing Prompts for Kids!

Every Wednesday our creative writing prompt challenges you to pick up your pen and indulge your author self! Describe your breakfast this morning using all five of your five senses. Did it crunch and crackle? Did it smell like a warm oven or burnt paper? Use your imagination to make your everyday breakfast sound extraordinary!

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Words from Our Young Authors at Havens Elementary

This Fall at Havens Elementary we concocted bedtime stories, faced our old fears of monsters, and more! See some of the excerpts we have to share with you below!

From “My Name Is"... prompt – students inserted an emotion or personality trait for “Name”:

My creativity is giant and growing. Every day. My creativity is made from dreams and everything around me. My creativity can be sad, happy, gory, awesome, shiny, gross and lots more.

-Jack

 

Excerpt from bedtime story:

One upon a time Pooh Bear, Christopher Robin, Owl, Rabbit, Eeyore, and Tigger were all standing on a cliff, watching the foamy waves crash against the shore. Pooh (that’s what everyone called him when he was silly) took a couple steps forward. When he was three steps away, a rock tripped him. “Poooooh!” everyone  screamed. “My life is ending!” Pooh called back.

-Sara

 

Excerpt from bedtime story:

Strike wondered where Luna had gone. She hadn’t told him a thing or left a note. Luna was in Braindude’s hideout. She was very scared. She thought that Braindude would eat her. She was in a dark structure that was old and covered from wall to wall and ceiling to floor with all sorts of gross things like webs, mice, rats and mold.

-Hannah

 

Excerpt from bedtime story:

Once Bo got to Dr. Mammoths’  house/lab/life he figured he shouldn’t use the doorbell so he just kicked the door open! “Aww Bo, hmmm, how did I know you were coming?” cackled Dr. Mammoth. “Because I have a brain.” Then, unexpectedly, a cage dropped right over Bo. Bad Luck!

1. Bo was trapped. 2. He really needed to use the bathroom. 3. He was bored and 4. well… nothing for #4.

-Jihae

 

From "This I used to believe":

I used to believe in the toilet monster. Whenever you flushed the toilet, a monster would jump out! It was very scary. One night I had a dream about the toilet monster. It had a toilet head, a water body, toilet fingers and toilet paper eyes! It was the scariest thing I’d ever seen. I was so scared of it that the next morning, I almost never went to the bathroom!

-Sophia

 

Excerpt from bedtime story:

Once upon a time there was a peanut named Paul the Peanut. Paul was not like ordinary peanuts. Paul could talk. When he was born, he never wanted to be eaten. He had nightmares about being eaten.

One day a little girl came up and got the peanut jar down from the shelf. Slowly, she twisted the jar. It popped open. She picked up a peanut. “Noooo!” cried Paul the Peanut. “Not Aunt Susan! Goodbye! I love you!”

-Harper

 

Excerpt from bedtime story:

The ground began to rumble and blackness surrounded the house. My mouth opened. The house had red blocks holding the roof up with glass windows next to every red block. Right in front was a small waterfall leading to a pond with Chinese fish. A rocky cement pathway led to the house’s red door. We entered the house.

-Eleanor

 

Excerpt from bedtime story:

Gloria is a flamingo. She has a great-great-great grandfather who is very old. He is a turtle and is 9,999. She hopes that he does not die. Her great-great-great grandfather’s name is Bob. Gloria’s great-great-great grandfather gave her a turtle shell as a gift. Ever since, she wears it as a hat. It is very fashionable. All the girls at school want one.

-Elizabeth

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