"In Flight" at Joaquin Miller Elementary

In this session, the 3rd-5th grade writers at Joaquin Miller Elementary explored the theme of flight. They composed letters from Amelia Earhart to the girls of the world, used sensory details to describe the flight of the bumblebee, and wrote a first person account of Icarus’ fateful flight. Students experimented with a variety of craft elements such as point of view, sensory details, simile, personification and metaphor. The result was a collection of imaginative, colorful, odd and humorous fiction and poetry that illuminated humankind’s age-old obsession with flying. Prompt: Write about Icarus’ fateful flight from the first-person point of view.

Flight of Icarus

My name is Icarus. I have been locked inside a stupid tower almost my whole life. One boring day I was putting out birdseed when my dad said that something was done. I was like, “Whatever,” but he said, “Let us fly!” He put a pair of wings on and jumped out the window and I followed. I flew high, the wind in my face. After a while, the feathers started falling off. I thought, Oh no! I went too close to the sun! I fell into the water. It felt cold on my flesh.

-Dylan

Prompt: Invisibility vs. Flight – Write a story in which you have one of these powers.

Dr. Ginko’s Amazing Am-777

Hi. I’m Dr. S.R. Ginkos. Some people call me Dr. Sr. Ginkos, and some people call me Dr. Sr. I’m a scientist who works for the military and I have figured out a way to make people invisible using an acid called Antrixamacility or Am-777. About ten other scientists know about it. We only have about five quantities and we plan to use it on the five most aggressive soldiers at a base in South Florida.

-E.J.

I Am There

I am there. Following. Watching. Waiting. Why, I wonder, do I do this? I am a shadow. I must mirror your every move. Sliding in and out of existence as if can’t die. But I can. I’ve been killed over and over by deadly assassins but regenerated every time. I wake with no feet, live without a heart. Skimming the ground, I fly soundlessly over light. Dying slowly every day, vengeance has become a part of me.

-Marley

Nox and Nob

There once was a man who discovered a gem the size of a bowling ball. He named it Nox and went home with it. When he got home, he was about to turn on the lights when he noticed that Nox was giving off a whitish blue glow. Nob went to brush his teeth but nearly fell into the bathtub. He looked in the mirror. In the reflection was nothing but the bathroom wall.

-Miko

Prompt: Use sensory details to describe what it feels like to fly.

When Pigs Fly

When I, Mr. Piggy, fly, I don’t fly straight. I have special wings that glide through frost and coldness, high in the air. The feeling is completely different from being on the ground. It’s better. High above the humans, I feel safe.

-Marco  

Prompt: Use Significant Detail to render the place you are from using the phrase "I am from..."

I Am From

I am from clean up your room from cinnamon roll donuts and maple oatmeal with brown sugar. I am from Mexico on Spring Break from from swimming with my friend and reading Greek mythology. I am from snorkeling in Belize from from Mine Craft and reading for too long.

-Josh

Secrets! from our young writers at Weibel Elementary

This spring at Weibel Elementary School in Fremont, our students have been writing about a variety of secrets--from secret codes to secret recipes--while simultaneously learning how to craft better fiction using classic story elements such as plot, setting, character. The writing has been spectacular, quirky, and creative. Here are some snippets:  

From: Secret Recipes (Students create their own secret recipe - for anything!)

How to Make Fizz Soup

Ingredients (which you probably don't have) 2 rocks from Mars 6 white sea urchins 7 c flour 1/2 c green tea 1/6 c melted Pluto ice rocks 1 c tomato sauce (or any sauce you like) 8 cactus spines 1/4 c butter other spices that you like Step One: Squeeze the sea urchins until they're dry. Step Two: Wash the melted ice rocks from Pluto, and slice the sea urchins and cactus spines. Step Three: Mix the flour and butter until you get a thick paste. Step Four: Add green tea until the thick paste becomes much more watery. Step Five: Take the cut sea urchins and cactus spines and crush them to tiny bits and put them with the mixture. Step Six: Stir. Add sauce and spices. Step Seven: Add Mars rocks and ENJOY

--Alisha

Recipe for Chicken Sauté with Peanut Sauce Which Gives You Special Powers

Regular Ingredients: Chicken from 3 chickens in California Peanuts from a farm in Cape Town, South Africa Milk from a cow in Calcutta, India Sugar from a plant in Hawaii Magical Ingredients: A frog's wart A piece of coral from the Great Barrier Reef Water from the Caspian Sea Exactly 1 lb of sand Note: Recipe must be made at exactly 6:30 PM every year on June 21.

Instructions:

1. Get a really huge cauldron 2. Dump all the ingredients in the cauldron 3. Let it sit there. 4. At around 6, June 21, put the mixture in the freezer 5. At around 6:10 boil the mixture until 6:30 6. It will be finally ready to eat for magical powers at 6:30'

--Atri

From: Secret Codes (Students created secret codes with partners and then wrote stories inspired by the codes.)

His mother saw the message. She jumped and she asked Percy, "Where did you find this?"

He said, "At the park."

She ran to the park and Percy followed. his mom dug a hole really deep, then picked up something. She told Percy to open it. He did, then a gleaming light came out and Percy saw a bunch of treasure and gold. His mother said, "This is a treasure people fought a war for, now it is yours...forever."

--Shivam

From: Secrets on the Line (Each student selects a secret that is written on a piece of paper hung on a clothesline. That secret becomes the centerpiece of his/her story.)

Adam then shows me his rather ugly so-called "time machine."

"It's just a cardboard box!" I said impatiently.

"Yeah, but it's magical, and I got it from rentatimemachine.com. They even delivered it to me in two days!" said Adam, quite proud of himself for finding that website.

"So, you didn't build it yourself?" I asked, puzzled.

"Of course I didn't. I just told you that I got it from rentatimemachine.com," said Adam, laughing his head off.

"Oh yeah," I said, blushing.

"Where should we go?" asked Adam.

--Chaitanya

My secret started when I saw a sparkling, dusty blob in the sky, not much bigger than my fingernail. It flew around and seemed to say, "Com on! Let's go!" I just rubbed my eyes to see if it was true that I had seen a real life fairy. But, when I looked back again, it was gone, so I just went back into the house. When I got inside, I ran to my room and I started drawing fairies.

...

One day, I decided to go off for an adventure to find out what was causing my troubles...Suddenly, a mysterious force pulled me upwards. I climbed into a parachute that was made of grass and leaves. I climbed inside and it floated to a shiny wonderland.

--Shreya

Treasures from the Students at Marshall Road

This session of "Take My Word For It!" at Marshall Road was all about treasures. What makes a treasure a treasure? Where and how do we find treasures? Can a person be a treasure? From long lost twins to treasures found in the backs of taxi cabs, the treasures imagined by the writers at Marshall Road were inventive, exciting, and written with great care.  

Screaming Donut

Hi, I’m Fabi. I’m ten years old. Guess what happened to me. I lost a sceaming donut in a taxi! I mean, even I know that screaming donuts are so creepy, but I really liked that guy… or girl donut so I didn’t care. It was the screaming donut’s birthday! I guess I could tell you the story…

It was my screaming donut’s birthday, so I was going to take her on her first taxi ride. Cool, right! Well, not cool. I was hungry and I decided to go get some coffee and I left her in the cab! Poor screaming donut. I looked for her for 15 minutes. So long!

Then a week later, I was really hungry and going to get some coffee when I saw the taxi driver on the street yelling like some crazy guy. He was telling the world that he saw a screaming donut. That was it! Breathlessly, I asked him if he knew where she was. He said she ran away.

I was getting really hungry so I was going to have some pizza of sorrow. Then, I saw her-my screaming donut on the street! We ran toward each other in slow motion. I hugged her and hugged her so much that… I ate her. Ooops, my bad!

-FABI

(From: I left a treasure in a taxi cab!)

The Thief’s Cane

Once there was a thief who lost his cane, which he used to help him when he was on a trip to steal stuff. He mostly used it to make his trips more successful. He could grab things with it and store things in his cane which was much bigger than it looked. But one day, he lost his cane and after that his thieving trips weren’t so successful.

A few weeks later, he was outside walking to the store and he saw a paper hung up on a tree. He got curious, so he read the paper and saw that someone had lost an incredible thing. He really really wanted that thing. It was a treasure. So that night, the thief went to the museum where all the lost items are to see where that lost item was. He tip-toed right in and began his search.

UP AND DOWN, LEFT AND RIGHT, it seemed like it wasn’t there. Finally, he recognized something familiar. He was happy he found it and proud of himself. It was his lost cane!

But then he heard someone coming so he hid.

He was very frightened of being caught. It was a police officer, who had heard him make noise. The office didn’t see anyone so he went away. The thief was so happy that he forgot to get the first item that he liked. From his fright, he never stole again.

-ZAINAB

(From: The Museum of Found Objects)

Funion Cun and His Diamond

“Have a fit body, run run run,”

Said good old Funion Cun.

Funion Cun was a very rich man,

For he had a diamond, one special diamond,

Shaped like a can.

He thought with it, laughed with it, played with it, fought with it, but there is one thing Funion Cun never dared to do.

And that was give his diamond to the man with only one shoe

Or give it to the lady who’s making a zoo,

Never to the man who paints big doors.

Said Funion Cun, “I loved my diamond ever so much,

I prepared to give her a ring.

But when I asked her to marry me,

She said nothing.”

-- REAGAN

(From: The Story of a Valuable Object)

Missing Shoes in NYC

I was running to catch a cab in New York. That busy place (ugh). It’s always sooo hard to catch a cab, but I did it! When I stepped into the cab, I gave the cabbie my name, Veronica Joni. I’m a famous actress from the one and only smash hit Lucky Gold.

As the cabbie drove away, I applied my cherry red lipstick and my so thick mascara. A girl does her makeup, people, duh! Suddenly, the cab came to a complete halt. It was at my destination, downtown New York. That’s where all the starz go. As I left, I made sure I had everything: purse, nail polish… but not my extra pair of expensive shoes. My shoes! Oh my goodness. How could I forget those shoes? They cost $500, and that was the price on sale! Besides, Veronica Joni, does not forget stuff (actually, I do, but that’s not the point!).

Before I thought it through, I grabbed my cell and called 911! It takes forever for the police to pick up the phone, even when someone calls 911. Finally they picked up.

“Hello, how may I help you?” the man’s voice came through the other line.

“Yes hi, I need to report that my designer shoes have gone missing,” I said.

“Uh… I’m sorry, ma’am. We can’t help you,” the policeman said, giving me the bad news.

“But I’m Veronica Joni, you have to respect--hello?” Darn those police officers, hanging up during the worst emergency ever! And to think they say they’re the best in New York.

Get yourself together, Veronica, I told myself over and over. I’ll get those shoes. But three days later all I could think was, I won’t get those shoes. The cabbie hadn’t called me back in three dumb days, agh! I did give him my number. People can take precautions, right? Thank goodness the the taxi programs have daily route maps. I went to the nearest taxi booth and grabbed a map. I looked at the map and noticed that the next stop was downtown New York, where I was! The cab would be here any minute.

Two hours later, the cab was there. I tried to look my best, but my hair was frizzy because I was very impatient.

“Sir, remember me, Veronica Jon--”

“No.” the cabbie rudely interrupted.

“”Okay, um, I think I left my designer shoes in your cab.” I waited for a response.

“Oh, you mean these beauties?” The cabbie handed me back my shoes… but not all in one piece.

“Ahhh!” I cried, wiping tears off my face. “What happened to my shoes?” I whined.

“Funny story, they fell into the mud and then got ripped and chewed on,” the cabbie explained.

“Who chewed on them? And by the way, that story was not funny!”

“Me,” the cabbie admitted. “Sorry, I’m weird like that. Eating shoes is my thing. My mom made me stop eating glue sticks, and what else was I supposed to eat, French fries?”

It’s okay, Veronica. It’s okay, I told myself. I took a deep breath and told the cabbie that I didn’t need those shoes back. What I didn’t tell him was that he was about to get sued!

-- KENNEDY

(From: I Left a Treasure in a Taxi Cab!)

Found Poem

Fun

Music

like smoothies…

Smoothies where you rock out.

Energized, Happy, Purple, Orange

Pink-cloud-tropical-cool-springy smoothies.

-- CAMILLA

(From: Found Poetry)

Words from Our Young Authors at Grattan Elementary

This session, our 3rd, 4th & 5th graders at Grattan Elementary have been writing about long lost twins and buried treasure, examining what it means to consider something treasure--must the thing be sparkling with gems, and dipped in gold, or could it be a small scrap of paper found in the backseat of a cab? Can a person be treasure? To answer these questions, they have been writing stories and poems and letters and even drawing maps, about vivid characters going on fantastic adventures in dangerous and beautiful places. After drawing Treasure Maps, the students wrote stories about the map itself, about the adventure taken with the map, and about the treasure at the end.

Catherine Cohen’s Exploration

Objective: Get the treasure from the island. Day 1: I started my 3 day journey to the island on the ship. We have lots of food and my bed is pretty comfortable. The only bad thing is that it creaks. I thought it would be boring on the ship, but it is huge and I look forward to exploring all of the rooms on it. I am very tired so I will go off to bed now. Goodnight. Yours, Catherine

- Lucie

The Adventures of Bobby Joe

I was running, not sure of my location or direction, just running. I heard the sound of dogs and policemen behind me. Just running. I couldn’t see everything, just running. Okay, here’s where things start getting out of hand.

- Ben

The Quest

To Lilyin, I have a new quest for you. You will need to go to the Emerald Forest with the jet. And there you will need to head to the Ominous Ocean. Cross the Ocean with a boat. Now it’s time to get real. On the way to the other side of the island you will pass a sea monster.

- Charlotte

X

To get to the treasure you will have to reach the Serpent Sea by dawn. The sail to the edge of the island of danger and reach it by 7. Then you’ll have to walk an hour to reach the entrance of the Forbidden Forest. In the Forbidden Forest you will encounter lots of weird things. For example, owls with 3 eyes, puffy round animals with wings, and many more.

- Althea

The students wrote about what a cab driver might find left behind by in his or her cab, what they might do with those things, how they might get it back to their rightful owner.

In the trunk he found…

“What the?” Said the cab driver as he opened the trunk. What he saw inside was a bunny rabbit. It jumped out and gobbled him up. Several people saw this catastrophe and quickly scrambled away! The bunny lunged at them.

- Axel

The Lego

A Lego lonely in a pocket. The Lego fell out of the pocket and is in the pool, and the Lego is 4 years old today.

-Hannah

(I brought in an array of my own “treasured objects”--from a piece of ribbon, to jewelry, and figurines--and then asked the kids to choose an object and write a story about it.)

My Treasure

My treasure is a heart shaped ring. My treasure can make me invisible, it can make me fly, and many other things. It can turn into a friend who can walk, run, speak, and dance, and many other things. My ring came from a volcano. It got trapped in the volcano by a fox named Dedech. I know it got out when the volcano erupted, but I don’t really know how. I do know that it was before the dinosaurs.

- Karina

Zipper the Kitty

This is the story about THE END of the planet Paper. This is a sad story about the invasion of the Kitties. Once upon a time, Paper City was having a party, and things got out of hand.

- Uma

Untitled

Once there was a guy named Bob. He lived in an oaken log. He found some seaglass in some green grass and threw it in the sea. 20 years later, he found it in a gator and threw it on the wall. Then it shattered and got all battered, but then it started to glow. It shot a laser and turned into a blazer, and Bob went up in smoke. End.

- Wai-Kirn

The students wrote Poems beginning with "My Name Is..."

My Name Is

My name is a Tsunami. My name is made from humongous waves. I found my name in the Galapagos. My name can destroy. It reminds me of distraction.

- Tate

Treasure! from our Young Authors at Oakton Elementary & Marshall Road Elementary

Our young writers have been busy in Northern Virginia! The 3rd &  4th graders at Oakton Elementary & Marshall Road Elementary have been exploring Found Treasures. Recently, they finished the following activity: Draw a treasure map that lists 3 details on 1 treasure, 3+ challenges/obstacles, and 3 descriptions of how to overcome these challenges.

Oakton Elementary:

Zeeyou (Jenny) - Age 9  

Ideon - Age 10  

Wesley - Age 11  

Charlie - Age 11  

Michaela - Age 9  

Vikram - Age 11  

Marshall Road Elementary:  

Donovan - Age 10  

Caroline - Age 8  

Yeryeon - Age 9  

Elizabeth - Age 10

"Meet" our Young Writers!

Hearing our young authors read their work aloud is one of the highlights of what we do. They have the opportunity to share their work at the end of each session when we host a reading for parents & friends. Watch some of them read their writing on our YouTube page.

We also frequently post the work of our young writers on our blog. Curious to read more? Find their writing here.