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Park Day School - TMWFI Creative Writing Excerpts

 

2012-06-06 14.31.55

Jake (POV Story inspired by a portrait)

Monday, thought Mrs. Donaker as she rolled out of bed. Mondays, oh how she dreaded Mondays. She would rather go back to college than have to write an ode to Mondays. But don't get me wrong, Mrs. Donaker was a grandma and full-time teacher who worked hard. She wasn't just some annoying old lady that hated on random nouns. Mondays, for Mrs. Donaker, meant lunch duty.

 

Lucy P. (Idiom Story)

It was the day of the play and I was backstage with my best friend. She said, "Break a leg!" and I said, "Thanks!"

I went out onto the stage. A few minutes into the play, it started to rain cats and dogs! A cat fell right onto my face and I fell off the stage and broke my leg!

I got to the hospital and my best friend was there. She said, "I didn't mean for you to really break your leg!"

"I know!" I said. "And I didn't mean to actually break it!"

2012-06-06 14.33.29

 

Hayley (From a freewrite)

I peeked through the key-sized hole in my neighbors fence and saw... a hairy, sweaty hippopotamus with chickenpox, asking the lords for a tiara, a magenta eye patch, an indigo-spotted beard and a yellow belly button with gravy pouring out (because he eats so much of it). Isn't that disgusting?

 

Lucy S. (Ode)

Ode to Computers

I love computers

everything about them

The way the little pictures on the screen

come alive

The unlimited amount of knowledge

right before your eyes

The computer mouse scurrying around the screen

as if it were an animal with little ears and feet

The way they go to sleep

just like we do

Their keys smooth as silk

when your fingers press down to write

whatever you want whenever you want

I love the way you can pack them up and take them anywhere

to keep you company

Oh yes, I love computers

 

 

2012-06-06 14.33.08

Clara (Personification Poem)

Hear the needle

as it hugs the record and then moves into a 

groove

it may walk or run

or talk or sing

it will keep on running

on and on

occasionally a crackle

will disturb its 

melodious

voice

 

Zoe  (Idiom Story)

One sunny day I was walking. Suddenly it started to rain! I put my umbrella up and then I heard a whump! on top of it. Then I saw a cat fall at my feet. I put down my umbrella and looked uP. It's raining cats and dogs!

The next day it started raining geese and ducklings. I was wondering what was going on so I went to the top of a skyscraper and I jumped into the clouds. I fell! I landed on a duckling and I said, "Fly little duckling, fly!"

 

Charlotte (From a freewrite)

I peeked through the key-sized hole in my neighbors fence and saw... nothing. No, not what you think. My neighbors' yard simply did not exist! No grass, no trees, no flowers, no anything. Just an empty grayness which wasn't gray. It wasn't really any color at all. It was more like a space where there should have been something, but there wasn't. I gasped and stepped back. The Petersons had always seemed odd, with their vacant, staring eyes and the way they never quite seemed to hear what you were saying.

 

2012-06-06 14.32.24

Olivia (Ode)

Ode to Witty Comebacks

Witty comebacks

keep the world at bay,

shutting up your

enemies, and

there's an endless

supply of choices

for all of your 

situations!

And the best part,

savored the most

is this: the look,

the expression

that takes hold of

their face, of

utter disgust,

surprise and shock, 

making me 

personally

feel warm and

fuzzy inside!

 

2012-06-06 14.31.27

Ruby S. (Idiom Poem)

Butterflies in Your Stomach

You are walking down the road,

A monarch flutters above,

You jump and graze its wing,

Try again,

Secure it in a jar,

You spot more,

Thousands,

Blue, Magenta, Burgundy, Periwinkle, Spotted, Dotted and Striped.

Your jar is crowded now with 

not much room to breathe.

Sit down and gaze at the

abundance of flapping wings,

Forceful yet Delicate.

What would it feel like to eat

these tokens of grace?

One after the other, they are

placed on your tongue.

Protesting until life is abandoned,

Your stomach becomes a graveyard.

 

Kyra (Personification Poem)

A radio sits silent and staring

Until the flip is switched

Then it starts to talk

To babble and buzz

Sometimes it sings

Sometimes is lectures

Then, when the flip is switched

It's silent... for now

2012-06-06 14.31.37

 

Ruby H. (Personification Poem)

Up and down, up and down, back and forth, back and forth.

Like the sad stars in the sky, like the happy moon, but,

somehow different. 

An endless pulse of beating energy, like a heart.

Then down it goes, losing energy by the seconds,

down to hit the burning desert floor.

Then being pulled back up, into the wind.

A heart beat going up and down.

2012-06-06 14.32.04

Ciel (Idiom Story)

Hover

I'm walking in the woods. It's raining and I'm headed to my house. My name is Avery. My dad, mom, twin sister Bethany and I all live in a house in the woods. One mile from our house there is a tree. It is the largest tree in Midnight Woods and it has a tree house in it built by my dad. When I step inside out house, I dump my stuff on the floor, along with my jacket, soaking wet. Summer is finally here. No more school. But here it rains 24/7, so summer isn't really a time for the pool or anything. We live in one of three houses in Midnight Woods, the others occupied by my friends, Amy and Lillian. Our houses are half a mile apart. And oh, I can walk on air.

2012-06-06 14.26.30

Cate (Personification Poem)

Drifting through dream state

Flowing and indistinct

I am awakened by screaming

It's my alarm clock

Squawking like a bird

"Get up!" it screeches

"Your late for schoo!" it hollers

I wish it owned a calendar

I wish it knew it was Sunday.

 

2012-06-06 14.34.19

Paola (Ode)

Ode to Island of the Aunts

your thin pages

unfold

a world of

dreams

all the aunts

with their

crazy

outfits

it's slippery

cover

reflects

the sunlight

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Crocker Highlands

Artimagination-1

http://thecostaricanews.com/art-imagination-and-insight/9788

Tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes.

Such treacherous, terrible tomatoes.

On my tongue, I do not love

My terrible, treacherous tomato.

Red is pretty. Orange is amazing

But on a tomato, what a disgusting

Zoo of ewww. Like fingernails on a chalkboard.

--Jessie, 4th Grade

 

With a hint of tartness. A little crunch. Blue on the outside, green inside. Imagine that, all in one combined. A little crown on top. It was air dancing on my tongue. Like the tartness of candy. As if it was a sunset on my tastebude. Yummy.

--Cameron, 4th Grade

 

The Jello was as red as blood. It was as shaky as an earthquake.

--Will, 4th Grade

 

The smell of onions was like losing a friend.

--Esme, 4th Grade

 

Once there was a blueberry. The bump on a blueberry with the seeds popping, like running laps at P.E. The color on the outside blue as the water's deep. The blue as can be, sprouting out of me. I see them on a tree outside. Sometimes sweet, sometimes sour, like someone you can't trust.

--Sydney, 4th Grade

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Lakeshore (4-5)

Tom - Personification

Once there was a clock, hanging on the wall of a clock shop in Denver. One day the shop owner tried to fix the clock because it was broken. The shop owner took a hammer and opened the clock, but a spring flew out and hit the shop owner in the eye. The shop owner got so mad that he crushed the clock with his hammer. That was the end of the clock. 

2012-04-19 16.06.00

Dylan - Freewrite

I don't know what goes on under the ground but I suspect dead, stupid, deranged, angry zombie cows kill dragons with "49ers" written on their backs. I bet the dragons with the 49ers on their backs go deeper. Then the dragons with "49ers" on their back turn into flying, killing zombie pigs and the flying, killing zombie pigs watch the Superbowl.

Hannah - Secret Poem

My secret is made from the purest of gold, the whitest of pearls and the deepest of water.

I found it lying on my bed in the winter, sleeping on my pillow.

This secret can destroy my dog, it can split the sun and shoot lasers from the sky.

If I lost this secret I would crack the air and I would hide with my dog at the midnights of Taco Tuesday. 

Emma - I Remember

I remember

being locked in my brother's room,

he and his friends were laughing

I remember 

hoping for that one 

thing

I remember

being too scared to even try

2012-04-19 16.05.51

Andrea - I Remember

I remember when my brother took a tooth out with a sock that was dirty.

I remember when I accidentally took a one hundred dollar bill from my uncle.

I remember when my little cousin was born. I remember that they wouldn't let me in the room to see him.

I remember when I played for a team called The Golden Stars.

I remember my first day in this school. I was really shy.

I remember when my whole entire family went to Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon.

2012-04-19 16.06.35

Zoe - Free Association Word Exchange Story

One time there was a dynamite explosion in Canada. It happened because a man was trying to catch some fish for his dinner. When he got home, he saw a red dragon with sparkles coming out of it around his neighborhood. It looked like it belonged in a Chinese New Year parade. 

2012-04-19 16.05.30

Ari - What would I bring to outer space

X Box 360, TV, PS3, 200 Video Games, Arcade Games, Air Hockey, iPads, iPhones, iPods, Androids, Videos, CD's, 3 Helicopters, 10 Fighter Jets, 6 Monorail Systems, 1 King Size bed, 3 cats, 2 dogs

2012-04-19 16.06.14

2012-04-19 16.07.06

2012-04-19 16.06.46

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Oakton Elementary School

Here are some writing excerpts and photos from students working with instructor Ben Wilkins at our far-flung outpost in Oakton, Virginia.

In our Six Word Story exercise, the goal was to imply a whole story with a beginning, middle, and end, in just six words.  Here are a few samples that could almost go together:

By Bailey

Help me now because God won't.

By Erin

Scary murderer chasing me. No! AHHHHHH!

By Tristan

The beast broke out: none survived.

  Bailey and Tristan

Secret Poetry

By Aida

My secret is made from

the sweetest fluff,

melting chocolate everwhere,

sugar pouring on it.

You take a bite of the sweetest thing.

If I lost this secret, 

my parents would cry with joy.

  Aida

By Jason

A triangular prism staring in the night

Hard to follow its lazy light

It has been hidden far far away

It's secret hidden since then

People stare its prism hairs

People run away from its bears

The secret stamp has been pealed

The secret of the prism has finally been revealed

  Jason and Bayan

By Lyana

A face which mine is not

Hidden behind something genuine

Fall in love with me

But "me" is not who you look at and love.

Pull off a smell

Underneath it's dark...black

I can't breathe.

 

Don't pull it off

You'll find someone you see only in your nightmares

I'll see you again soon

Goodnight.

  Erin and Lyana

...And an excerpt from the story "Jimmy and the Bellybutton" 

by Bayan

There was once a boy named Jimmy Joe.  One day, while he was taking a shower, he learned that if he pressed his bellybutton he could turn invisible.  He also learned that when he was invisible, if he touched anything it would turn invisible too...

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Check us out! Montclair Elementary TMWFI student writing samples

Ode to French Fries by Izzy

Oh you crispy, golden potatoes

You must be my weakness how I love you.

The smell of salt and olive oil,

the taste of a golden award.

But when you leave, I dream of more.

 

"Timo the Taco" Personification by Sophie

Yo! Hey you! I'm talking to myself! And you're gonna listen!

I was born in the Tarantula Taco Tiki. I was made with the finest ground beef, the most expensive cheese, the glossiest lettuce, and the spiciest salsa! Long story short--I'm "rich." But I'm lonesome! I am the taco who dropped out of Taco school two years early. I want to be a detective! But so far all I am is...Timo, the taco detective that never was, or will be!  

  SophieIzzyAva

Ode to Broccoli by Ava

You are like mini trees to

be hacked down by my teeth

with a slight rain of ranch

even though you make my friends gag

I love you.

 

Recipe of Me by Victor

talk a lot

football books

parks

two sisters

1 brother

blue and gold

strawberries

1. Put all ingredients into a big blender.

2. Push fast.

3. Don't forget to put the lid on.

4. Pour in a pot.

5. Turn on the flame.

6. Cook for 7 hours.

7. Pour into bowls.

8. Serve it hot.

9. Serve brownies for desert.

  Victor

Ode to Tea by Laila

Tea, hey you tea, you are my best friend. You are nothing when you are just simple water. You are tasteless and you have no reason to drool. But when your flavor is dropped in, your fabulous self begins in a split second and that is something to lick your lips for. The tea bag swills and the soon-to-be-tea gets its deliciousness by the ticking of the clock. I take the tea bag out and suck it, this is my first taste of your exquisite self. Green, chocolate truffle, lemon, chamomile, vanilla chai, and much more flavors you come in. So tea, hey you tea, I'm talking to you. You are my favorite and I need to taste you again.

  TiaraLaila

Ode to Calamari by Tiara

As brown as gold, so crispy that it's sometimes crunchy. It's flavor is dancing on your tongue. Soon the flavor pops then your stomach has a fiesta as it yells "come on, throw more calamari down," but then it stops and every things back to normal.

 

Food Fright by Miles

I hate peanuts! Those ugly crunchy little things. They're moldy and wrinkley. I bet they come from the underworld. Devils made those ugly little peanut things to infect tongues and anything that touches them. Those little meanies. If I eat them one more time I don't know what I would do! I might turn into a devil. Miles the devil. It sounds horrible.

  Miles

Recipe of Me by Lillian

Add the quart of smartness to the 2 cups of memories into a bowl carefully. Put the gallon of love in a bowl with the 5 pinches of silliness and the pint of talkativeness. In the last small bowl, put the bright blue eyes with the teaspoon of cuteness. Then add all of it together and thoroughly add in the 3 tablespoons of athleticness. Once done, bake in a pie plate and put in an oven for 5 hours to bake slowly. Before eating, place on a golden plate. Then eat up.

  Lillian

Similes and Metaphors by Allison

The fudge was the deep, rich color of a redwood tree deep in the forest.

The jello shook like a belly dancer in Morocco.

The avocados bumpy skin is like a toad preparing to leap. The avocado is like an oyster, waiting to be opened for its inside beauty.

  Allison

Personification excerpt by Maya

There once lived a tiny cupcake named Babycake. Babycake decided to go on a cruise to Kauaii. She didn't want to leave her home in Mariposa Bakery because she loved it there, but she said goodbye to Papa Pizza, Cindy Cinnamon Roll, Flora Foccacia Bread, Wendy Whoopie Pie, and Chunk Chocolate Chip Cookie and started on her way.  The next morning she was looking at a map and discovered she had made a wrong turn. Babycake tried to go back, but the wind was too strong. It pushed her into an island. When she got off she discovered it was Marshmallow Island. All of a sudden a marshmallow came running up to her...

Maya

Recipe of Me Elizabeth T.

Pour the 1 quart of a British accent into a gold plated mixing bowl with the mostly American and German background. Then whisk the batter together while slowly adding the pinch of clumsiness. Then take out a small bowl and grind the 1/4 Cup of talkativeness and the 2 tablespoons of teenage girl show off together. Then pour the gallon of crazy, funny, and random stuff into the pan and saute it with some olive oil and then evely cut it to put it in the bowls that will serve 14.

Elizabeth T

Similes and Metaphors by Szophia

As the piece of chocolate heaven slips past my lips, I feel the deep cream dance across my tongue like a ballet dancer, with footsteps light as a butterfly's wings.

The jello was the color of a blooming rose, red as the depths of a volcano, it slides around my mouth like a new born colt.

The sweet vanilla ice cream slips down my throat like a breeze on a hot summer day, reviving my throat as if it were a potion made by faeries.

Szophia

Recipe of Me by Elizabeth G.

1. Put journals and books in large deep bowl. Pound and blow about until all oages are mixed up. Save spines for further use.

2. In a separate bowl drop sugar, spice, fire, and ice. You will see spurts of flame, ice crystals, sugar white marzipan unicorns, and spice demons. DO NOT touch the bowl for at least five minutes or until demeons and unicorns stop trying to kill each other and start to meditate.

3. Go back to where we left off with step 1. Add in the blue something if liquid. Boil over low heat. Add awesomeness 2 cups at a time.

4. Dump the solution of "de laughs" in all at once. You should hear tremendous laughter. This is good.

5. Take bowl off heat.

6 . Return to where we left off with step two. Dump in the Italian food.

(...to be continued)

Elizabeth G.

Ode to Peaches by Talia

I love peaches. They're fuzzy and soft. Inside they're full of juicy peach sweetness. When I take a bite of a yellow crunchy peach, I feel like I am sitting on a big puffy cloud loving my peach.

Talia

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Check out Student Writing from West Portal Elementary!

Winter 2012 - West Portal Elementary

Jessica (Secrets on a Line): “One day, a girl named Kim was sleeping. She woke up in
the middle of the night and thought she heard a wolf howling. She ran out the door and
looked out to see nothing…around one, Kim heard it again…”

Caitlin and Jessica

Caitlin and Jessica

Claudia Chiu (Secret Recipe): “…Jerry found this strange piece of paper in the
attic…He read the piece of paper and discovered that his grandfather won the noble
prize…A few years later, Jerry became a scientist and he created a potion to raise the
dead animals.”

Caitlin Huey (Secret Recipe): “One day when Sara was looking through her grandma’s
attic, she found a treasure box, she wondered what was inside…the whole day she was
searching for the key…she opened the box carefully…”

Reiley Johnson (Secret Recipe): “The story of the transformation potion was very
accidental. Once there was an evil wizard named Starzanda Silvia or S.S…He tried new
experiments all the time, so it wasn’t quite accidental…he mixed crazy things and they
always made a potion…”

Reiley and Erica

Reiley and Erica

Erika Lee (Secret Recipe): “There once was a girl named Kayla. She liked cheese
pizza. She always thought there was too little tomato sauce.,,she thought of five
ingredients…finally got a secret recipe. Kayla called it the creamsauce...Kayla was happy
when she ate pizza and lived happily ever after.”

Megan Lenn (Secrets on a Line): “When I was 7 I loved going to bed late at night. I
heard a thumping in my closet. I thought I was going to die! I screamed and woke up my
whole family. They came into my room as fast as they could…”

Rolland Liao (Secret Recipe): “He headed towards the graveyard and poured it on 10
graves. Slowly the ground started to rumble and out came 10 fully grown people. Those
people were proof that Joe’s potion worked.”

Rolland and Anthony

Rolland and Anthony

Kailey Sjauwfoekloy (Secrets on a Line): “The only person that knows is my friend
Sophie. She’s in the same grade as me and doesn’t approve…but does care if the Pop-
Star-Ulars (PSU) make fun of me…”

Anthony Velasco (Secret Recipe): “In the 1900s when the US was at war almost all our
infantry was dead so this man made a chemical to bring the dead back to life. He tested it
on a dead guinea pig and it worked…”

Jayde and Kailey

Jayde and Kailey

Jayde Wong (Secret Recipe): “My days as a sorceress began when I found this recipe
tucked into the ruins of the historic museum. It was a healing potion, one of the rarest
potions in the world. I went into hiding…and spent 10 years working on the potion…”

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