May's Teacher Spotlight

Want to get to know some of the creative writing masters behind “Take My Word For It!”? Meet this month’s teacher spotlight, Annie Rovzar!

Name: Annie Rovzar

Currently working at: Claire Lilienthal Elementary

Hometown: San Juan Capistrano, California

What’s your favorite bookstore? Green Apple

What’s your favorite VERB? I love the diversity of verbs out there too much to single out just one verb. But I will say that I'm delighted by verbs that also function as nouns, like "surfaces" for example.

If your life was a book, what would be the title? "Why I Wake Early"

Did a teacher or another writer inspire you to write? How?

Yes, there have been many! I think the first person who ever inspired me to write was my best friend in grade school...I remember she once wrote a poem about the beach, and there was a line in it that went something like "the crashing waves are a screaming tea kettle". I think we were in fourth grade then, and at the time, the metaphor really blew my mind and inspired me to start writing. In high school, I was quite moved by the poetry of e.e. cummings, William Blake, and Emily Dickinson...each in their own way awakened this deep desire in me to encounter the world through language. There have been so many poets and writers since then who've continued to inspire me, but those three definitely made a claim on my life that's stayed with me years later.

Words from Our Young Authors at West Portal

This Winter at West Portal Elementary, we’ve been exploring the theme of “secrets” using a variety of writing exercises such as secret recipes, secret identities, and secret codes. Take a look!  

From an exercise where each student acted as a reporter and wrote a front page headline about their superhero and secret identity:

Blue Vulture in Town!

Last night the first national bank was robbed, but someone dressed as a vulture stopped the crime. Witnesses heard some fighting. The Blue Vulture punched a thug out the door. He nailed the second thug to the wall using his feathers. The last guy almost escaped. But the hero appeared in front of him. The police captured him. The hero kind of looked like Mike Lee, the reporter on the case!

-Skylar

From an exercise where each student choose a secret and expanded on it:

My dad is a secret agent

My dad secretly first goes to his secret lab and gets his gadgets. He was going to go to a crime scene but then his computer suddenly started beeping - there was a mission. Someone stole the Statue of Liberty! He dropped his water on the floor and suddenly left the base. He was on his way to New York - he was on time when the police were there. The criminal got away and the next day he came back to steal something else but then my dad caught him and sent him to jail!

-Bryan

From “Secret Recipes” where students create their own secret recipes using secret ingredients:

How to Make Weird Cake

How to Make Weird Cake

1. Take one hair.
2. Take one eyeball.
3. Add a piece of Butterfinger.
4. Make a piece of bone and put it in a soup.
5. Bake it.
6. When it’s done, take a knife and cut it.

-Stephanie

From an exercise where each student choose a secret and expanded on it in journal form:

The secret is: “a fairy lives in my room and sleeps under my bed”

Dear Journal,

I don’t like this fairy here. It’s very annoying because she’s talking all night. I want to tell my best friend Jenna, but I’m not sure what to say. The fairy’s curly hair keeps on tickling me. And her big teeth shine like the moon. Everywhere I go, she goes too. I feel worried about this thing here. I don’t really like the happiness that she gave me (or maybe it didn’t work.) I think I should make a trap. Then I’ll be very happy!

-Angel

From an exercise where each student acted as a reporter and wrote a front page headline about their superhero and secret identity:

Extra! Extra! Jump Up Girl Saves the Day!

Last night there was a bad guy. He went in to a spaceship and flew up into space. The space ship had a lot of money in it. But then the Jump Up Girl jumped into space. She can hold her breath for ten hours. So she jumped to space and pushed the spaceship down. Then the police came and arrested the bad guy.

-Zoe

Words from Our Young Authors at Sonoma Mountain Elementary

This Winter we explored the wonderful world of food in our “Peanut Butter and The Pen” curriculum. We practiced writing vivid descriptions of food, using adjectives and active verbs, similes and metaphors. Students wrote stories, advertisements, warnings and odes, as well as a “Recipe of Me.” Read some of our favorite excerpts from the session below!  From an experience trying a suspicious food for the first time:

I thought frog legs were not good tasting but after I went to the same buffet for the second time, my mom urged me to eat the frog legs. To my surprise, the fried frog legs weren’t mushy. The fried frog legs were not that salty. It tasted a bit like chicken.

- Alan

Mushrooms have a mushy, gushy, slimy and nasty taste. I think they look cool, but taste gruesome. They should be against the law. They have a frothy texture. I forever hate mushrooms. The first time I tried them I felt sick!

- Sophia

From an exercise using similes, metaphors and/or personification to describe the following foods:

Chips taste like something from Yellowstone Park. Corn on the cob tastes like little rubber tents filled with liquid. Jello looks like a see-through jelly substance. Bubble gum looks like cooked slime brains. Barbeque ribs taste like the ribs of an alien animal with traditional smushed brain sauce.

- Nathaniel

From a prompt – A mad scientist invents a new glow-in-the-dark food using weird ingredients, and tries to get an unsuspecting kid to volunteer to eat it:

A mad scientist invents a glow in the dark food that contains globs of chewed up liver, killer zombies and 18,000,000,000 glow worms.

- Dominic

From a prompt – Describe your breakfast this morning using all five of your five senses:

The fried eggs I had for breakfast were golden brown. Bubbles appeared and instantly popped, creating a sizzling sound. Its aroma filled the air.

- Zenas

Once there was a vial. It lived happily with his test tube brothers. Then one day there was a mad scientist and he poured a green liquid into the vial and the vial turned evil. He poured himself into drinks and food. Then one day he made the mistake of pouring himself into a rich person’s drink and it was then that he met his enemy the antidote, who saw the person choking and went to the rescue. (To be continued...)

- Cody

From a prompt –I discovered a new food: CHEESTERAMBOCCOLLI. What is it?

Cheesteramboccoli is cheese with broccoli. It looks like broccoli drizzled with cheese. The broccoli is cooked with oil and fried, and the cheese is melted.

- Emma

From an ode – a poetic form written either to praise or pay tribute to the subject of the poem (in this case, food):

Ode to Orange Chocolate Ganache

Spit out your orangey flavor Give me thick, coarse dark chocolate Don’t just leave me I will always love your flavor Now, you may leave me now Wait! May I have another bite?

- Tiffany

From creating a food character (personifying food) and writing its story:

Patty Potato was doing nothing one night in her Potatomobile but licking her pink hair. She then saw the potato signal and jumped into the potato suit. She zoomed through the produce section and into the frozen aisle. There, standing with stainless steel throwing sporks, was Annette Applehead. She hurled a spork at Patty but Patty dodged, and the spork hit some microwave lasagna. When Patty turned around, Annette was gone. She hopped in her vehicle and zoomed through the chips and bean dip section. She got out of the mobile and searched the aisle. “Kieahh!!” came a loud cry. Patty jerked her head towards the sound, just in time to see Gabe Garbonzo bean leap on top of her. She shucked him off, and pushed a secret button. A bowl appeared out of nowhere and cooked him! (Continued...)

- Daniel

From a Recipe of Me – write ingredients that include characteristics about you, plus measurements and directions for preparing, cooking and serving:

This great looking recipe is full of strange, awesome ingredients. After eating this you’ll jump as if you are doing gymnastics!

1. Add 20 teaspoons of kindness with 12 ounces of candy lover. Stir in 1 big bowl.

2. Blend 9 cups of shyness with 100 tablespoons of gymnast. Add a little less than ½ of a micropinch of kind sister. Put into 2^nd bowl. Cook in pan until turned into cake.

3. Last, add caramel to 1^st bowl and make frosting out of it. Drench the frosting over cake and... EAT!!!

- Audrey

"Take My Word For It!" Partners with Girls on the Go for Summer Camp!

This summer we're thrilled to collaborate with Girls on the Go to bring a "Take My Word For It!" creative writing focus to 3 Berkeley camp sessions in July and August! Campers will be travelling with pencils in hand drawing their writing inspiration from their adventures.

• Register Now

Make sure to register for one of the following dates!

• July 8–12 (FULL)
• July 15–19 (LIMITED SPACE LEFT!)
• August 19–23 (FULL)

Ages: 9-13 Location: Berkeley Times: Basic Day: 8:00-4:00, Extended Care: 4:00-6:00 Prices: Basic Day: $360/week, Extended Care: $420/week

- Schedule for the week of July 15-19 -

Monday July 15:  We will begin our morning with a writing workshop in Oakland. Afterward get ready to rock climb at the Great Western Power Company.

Tuesday July 16:  First we’ll take a Precita Eyes Mural Tour in San Francisco. After we work up an appetite, we’ll enjoy some Papusas.

Wednesday July 17: Our second writing workshop for the week will take place in Berkeley then we’re off to San Franisco where we will eat lunch and have some ice-skating fun.

Thursday July 18: Swim Day at Lake Anza, Tilden Park, Berkeley. We will take an incredible hike from the bus stop down into the park.

Friday July 19:  We will head to Playland-Not-At-The-Beach in El Cerrito for some carnival and arcade games. Then we will have our last writing workshop for the week in Berkeley.

Girls on the Go offers field trip camps in the Bay Area camp where girls can explore, learn, and share in a fun, respectful environment. Campers learn about travelling by bus and BART and see a variety of Bay Area locations!

• Register Now

Words from Our Young Authors at The Booksmith

From bedtime stories to beliefs, check out the poems and tales concocted by our class at The Booksmith in San Francisco this Fall! From her Bedtime Story:

Kings, queens, princes, princesses, emperors and empresses came from playgrounds far and wide, from playground Calldia to playground Zngwillia. It was amazing. Even Princess Ellsia from the park of Blaziall, the playground of playgrounds, was there.

-Lainey

From “This I Used To Believe”:

I used to believe that… tooth fairies were real. I grew up. Now I think that it is my mom, dad or grandparents. I used to tell my mom and dad in the morning that I got money from the Tooth Fairy! My mom and dad just congratulated me. Now I think that the Tooth Fairy is fake. My sister still believes that the Tooth Fairy is real, but I can understand that because she is only 5 years old.

-Sequoia

From "My Name Is":

My name is made from something that disappears easily.

I found him in a brain and named him Bob

My name can hide away from people, hatred, want and life.

If I lost my name he would flinch, cry and weaken. I will find him again and he will renew.

-Sabrina

From "My Name Is":

My name came from mischief. My mom and dad got the name from a movie. The movie is Milo and Otis.

-Milo

From "This I believe":

I believe that ghosts exist. I believe that spirits exist. I don’t believe that when there’s darkness it’s harmless.

-Alex

Words from Our 4th & 5th Grade Writers at Sunset Elementary

Our young writers had a blast letting their imaginations run away with free-writes, Amelia Earhart theories, and more at Thornhill Elementary this Fall. Take a look at some of our favorite excerpts from the class below!

A Fun Rainy Day!

(From a freewrite where the students were asked to describe the last night's rain.)

The rain came down hard in school! It sounds like thunder or probably like fishes flopping on the land’s ground. In the rain, it smells like dirt and muddy puddles everywhere. It felt like somebody was tapping on me a thousand times! It had no scent. Then I ran back to the class and started on my homework. Then I told one of my friends “It’s raining cats and dogs out there!”

-Tiffany

The Pops Comedy

(From a freewrite where the students were asked to list a bunch of common household objects, then use personification to bring them alive.)

One day I was eating my cereal, “Pops.” It was a sunny day just to tell you, too. When the sunlight reached the Pops, they turned alive. I was about to take my spoon and eat until the Pops said “Stop!” I looked at my cereal. What? The Pops said, “Don’t eat us because we are alive! The sun turned us alive. I know it’s weird, but it’s true.” I turned my face and saw one Pop named Jack was dancing. Wow! “My God what are you doing, it’s time for school,” my grandmother said. I was hungry at school, sadly. After school I came back to the Pops. They all were not alive. Only one of the Pops was alive. I ate him because he was as annoying as a frog. I went to sleep. The End.

-Joshua

What Happened to Amelia Earhart

(From our Amelia Earhart exercise, Take Flight Curriculum. The prompt was "What do you think happened to Amelia Earhart?")

What happened to Amelia Earhart is that she was flying for 33 days but one day she fell asleep near an island. Her plane dived for the island and she crashed her plane but was never found. She had enough food for years. She lived on that island but no one ever found her. No one knew she was stranded. Her copilot got dropped off at another island. Amelia Earhart built herself a shelter. She used wood to build a raft and tried to find fish. She was smart - she knew that the small raft could not go through the giant ocean. So she stayed there and used the few resources she had to make a big difference.

-Jonah

Friends

(From a freewrite prompt - "What's your favorite thing about being you?")

I have a lot of friends and they live across the world. One of my favorites is Alex. He lives in Australia, does home school, and surfs real good. One time I was surfing with him and we got in a water tube! My other friend lives in Saint Petersburg and knows everything about the city. His name is Dan. He took me across the whole city without me even having to pay. And last but not least Fred. He lives in Brazil and is great at soccer. He even knows how to do a bicycle kick! But most of my friends are here in America.

-Pasha

The Rain

(From a freewrite where the students were asked to describe the last night's rain.)

The rain came down hard. I could hear the rain plip plop plip plop. So I woke up but then I saw there was a flood. I was so wet. I saw people swimming in it. It was funny but then I saw thunder. But then I felt hungry. I smelled pancakes and syrup - it smelled yummy. So I opened my blinds and ran to the kitchen and I ate some pancakes. Then I watched some TV. Then I went downstairs to play the computer. Then it was time for lunch. When I finished it I drew a picture. Then I looked outside again and the people were still swimming. Then I found out they were really walking to get to their cars. Then I started watching TV again. Then we went to the car so we could drive to Costco, but when we opened the garage door and water came pouring in and then we drove through the rain. We finally got to Costco but it was flooded so we had to go home. Then it was time for bed.

-Sydnie

Puffy the Bumblebee

(From our prompt, Flight of the Bumblebee. The students listened to "Flight of the Bumblebee" and wrote a story based on what they imagined.)

Hi! I’m Puffy! I’m a bumblebee and I’m owned by Nectar, a honey and insect fairy. Today I’m flying home from a successful day of nectar gathering. Let me tell you about how Nectar and I work together. I collect nectar then Nectar makes honey. Unfortunately the flower and garden fairies live away from Fairy Garden, so Fairy Garden has no real flowers. Today I visited Snapdragon’s garden. Her flowers have lots of nectar and pollen. I like to mix the two together. Now I’m flying home to Fairy Garden. I’ll bet Nectar has made an excellent honeycomb by now. I hope she makes beeswax dumplings and honey cake. Yumm! I’m glad that nectar has given me many good foods, like Hot Frogs, and I think I’ve tried the most foods of all the bumblebees.

-Helena

The Diary of Frank, Amelia Earhart’s Copilot

(From our Amelia Earhart exercise, Take Flight Curriculum. The prompt was "What do you think happened to Amelia Earhart?")

Dear Diary, Thirty days ago Amelia and I left for our around the world trip. I got this diary from New Guinea and wanted to start using it today. Everything has been going smoothly so far. I’ve had the best time on this trip than I’ve had for awhile. Oh! Gotta go.

Dear Diary, The strangest thing happened, but luckily we’re safe. Amelia and I were flying through the night sky when a portal opened out of nowhere. We tried to turn right, but out plane just wouldn’t let us. Right when we got to the world, two unknown creatures which we soon called Lanzas took us into a room which looked a bit like a science lab. The Lanzas took our blood and put it in test tubes. We’ve actually been treated well in the world of other captured humans and Lanzas. Everything is fine except the food is made of green goo.

Dear Diary, Weep, weep. Something terrible has happened. Just as we were getting settled in, Amelia fell down a stairwell and went into a coma. Her sickness was so bad she has never woken up. I can only see her on the weekends. Ugh, I can’t write anymore. My paper is too wet.

-Illysa

The Tale of the House

(From a Halloween freewrite, inspired by a picture of a spooky-looking house.)

Hi, I’m Kip. There’s this house of an old man and there’s a rumor he’s a wizard. We hear that it’s true, me and my friends Tyse, Zack, and Carl. “Come on,” said Tyse. “Ok,” said Zack and Carl. We went in. “This is weird,” I said. “A bone!” said Zack. “That’s just a dog bone, he has two dogs and ten cats,” said Tyse. “Oh yeah,” said Zach. “Grrrrrr,” said a dog. “Rarrrwr,” said a cat. “Hello,” said a voice. Aaah, who’s there? To be continued....

-Niall