Read and hear the work of our young writers!
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You Read it Here First! - read "Take My Word For It!" students' work
Young writers at New Traditions in San Francisco wrote and illustrated poetry with "Take My Word For It!" teacher Annie. A parent shared some photos she took at our reading where the kids proudly shared their work with an audience of parents and friends. Pictures from the Reading
Join us for the next "Word Party!" at the Oakland Public Library Dimond Branch (3565 Fruitvale Avenue). Each month TMWFI holds this free writing class for young writers between the ages of 8 & 13.
Info: Wednesdays 3:45 – 4:45pm February 11, March 11 & April 13, 2015
It is hard to believe that 2014 has come to a close. We had an exciting year with new cities, new schools, new camp partnerships & a new program, the Next Chapter Club! We'd love to end our year by sharing some pieces from our Next Chapter Club students - work from our new, virtual classroom!From an exercise exploring the personification of clocks & "Frozen in Time"
I, Big Ben, was very tired of keeping time for the eccentric Londoners. I mean, seriously, when they named me, they didn't know that I was actually a girl. So, one day, I made time stop by freezing my clock hands. It stayed six in the morning forever. One human child was yelling about how it must have been thirty minutes, but it was still sunrise. "Please can I play outside?" said a slightly older child. "I'm pretty sure you can," said the mother. "It must be eight-thirty already." I chuckled at the look of shock on her face when she found it was still early in the morning. The snowflakes stayed in their positions as they were about to go down. I got a few calls from my clock friends around the world. (Yes, clocks have telephones.) "It's not even morning yet!" complained an alarm clock in California. "My hands can't even move!" shouted the clock tower in Switzerland, the clock capital of the world. "Enough's enough!" screeched a digital clock from Shanghai. "Yeah, do you know when it's time to stop, Ben?" asked a clock from Italy who I barely knew, so it was creepy how he got my phone number. "Ha-ha, get it?" "Fine, if you say so," I said, and with that, time returned to normal. The weak winter sun was at its rightful place in the sky, and I believe I saw him wink at me. The grown-ups were still shocked by what they had just seen, but the children, being children, just went out and played in the snow, glad that time was back to normal. I vowed that if I didn't want any angry phone calls from my friends, I would never stop time again as long as I lived.
- NiaI moaned with agony as the kindergardeners shrieked. I could not stand these children. Always screaming, and their teacher would just put in ear plugs and sip her coffee. No one ever thought of me. I mean, I'm just a clock fairy. You know, the little creature that makes the hands spin on clocks? But they thought I was the clock. Nothing more. And people tend not to care about the hearing of inanimate objects. One day, I just snapped. The children were screaming their lungs out during Free Time, while the teacher just sat there at her laptop, ear plugs firmly wedged in place. And I decided I couldn't stand another second. I stopped turning the hands, and kept it that way until the janitor took my clock down. And I had another stroke of luck-- the fairy in the fifth-grade classroom was being promoted to a clock at a basketball stadium, and I moved into that clock. And I lived happily ever after.
- Charlotte
After reading an excerpt from a short story by Ursula Willis Jones: “The Time Sweepers“, students created their own time sweeper stories.
You can't really talk to a time-sweeper, for they would be so intent on their work they might not hear you, or on the very few occasions they are not busy, they will disappear as soon as you get close enough to talk to them. You can easily tell the males from the females. A female would wear as many sparkles on her shoes that she can stand (all of them hide their hair as much as possible) . A male would wear a rust-colored jacket (like painted-on rust-colored, so if a female were to splash mud on her coat, you'd still be able to tell). The time-sweepers love their jobs. They only love their jobs, though, because it's been their tradition since the beginning of time. There are children time-sweepers, but there are certain requirements for children. You must be at least ten years old to start sweeping time. Not only that, you have to be three foot eight, at the least. When they sweep up lost time, the lost time they sweep up is a bunch of scratched pearls having fallen from a necklace. The wasted time they sweep is just dust. The time sweepers wear watches made from the lost time they clean. With the wasted time, they sweep it into special dustpans. They empty the dustpans into little Mason jars and add them to their collections. So, if you waste time, you'll be adding to the time sweepers' collections.
- Nia
Students were asked to design an original alarm clock that could wake them up no matter what & then create an advertisement for the clock.
The alarm clock I'd make would be a solar-powered little metal box with a handle, with a clock on the front. Here is how it works...
When it's time to get up, the alarm clock stops time in a little bubble around you until you wake up. Then, it plays soothing music and extends soft arms that massage your feet to help you get up and out of bed. It clothes you in what you want to wear, then the box opens to reveal a hot breakfast that is different every morning. It then unfolds into a scooter that you can ride. If you push a little button on the handlebar, it lets you get off, then folds back up into a box.
I would sell it under the title: MorningClock®, by INAMP, Inc. (INAMP stands for "I'm not a morning person.")
AD: "Do you have a little trouble getting up in the morning? Then the MorningClock® is the alarm for you! Thanks to advanced technology, it lets you sleep in as long as you want without being late. It clothes you in whatever you're in the mood for. It gives you a hot, delicious breakfast PLUS a nutritious lunch. And it can unfold into a scooter to get you places fast! Best of all, its compact size and EZ-Carry™ handle makes it easy to bring with you.
Buy your MorningClock® today for only $29.99 at 1-800-995-0793."
It would be targeted at people like me who have trouble getting up in the morning and really need the MorningClock®!
Customer Review: "The MorningClock® really helped me! My morning used to be an unpleasant rush, but thanks to it, they're not, and it saves me the trouble of packing a lunch! Thanks, MorningClock®!"
- Charlotte
This fall's young writers at Claire Lilienthal Elementary explored time - time personified, the passage of time, time machines, "time" idioms and much more. We had a wonderful time with a large group of 3rd, 4th and 5th graders. Here are some of their writing projects (many of these pieces are early drafts that were later revised for our final reading this past week). Click on each picture to see the work in his/her own writing! After reading an excerpt from a short story by Ursula Willis Jones: "The Time Sweepers", students created their own time sweeper stories.
We explored idioms (time idioms were a highlight) & personification.
We created our own time machines.
Students invented their own alarm clocks and advertisements for the ideal user.
Incorporating this class' love of storytelling and illustration, each student created a timeline with narrative elements.
Students were given the prompt "You'll never believe how time ran out..."
Time ran out because we’re wasting time right now…because we’re talking and not doing anything important. It runs out because we’re not focusing on it. We never think about catching it; time is very rare.
Doing important things means that you’re using time because you’re doing something that can change the world, something that can make a big difference. People usually don’t do important things, but people who do important things usually use time wisely. Time is rare, it’s not really rare, but it’s rare that people try to find it.
- Jun Hao
Students wrote about a moment when they would turn back time & change it.
Worst 2 days ever! Oh hi there. Today I missed the best day ever, Halloween!!! I had the whooping cough and mom would not let me go to school. Which means I missed the Halloween contest (I could've won I am a day of the dead skeleton), potluck, movie, treats and all that jazz. I also missed trick or treating which means, NO CANDY!!! Now it's Saturday and I have to wait all the way till next year for Halloween.
Today I went to the doctor and was waiting for the doctor to come. Mom was in the bathroom. I decided to make a little trouble so I went and dug into the doctor's bad. Then I found a stick. I was talking to myself and then I said "I wish I don't have the whooping. I wish I could go back in time." Then all of a sudden, I was back in my bed and it was 7:00am. I looked at my calendar and today was Friday. Then I realized it was Halloween. I still had the stick in my hand.
I was so excited because it is Halloween right now. I changed into my costume and went to school. At school, I won the costume contest and got a basket full of candy (I ate it all in school). Then I had a potluck. At the potluck, I got so much food. I got nachos, johnnycakes, french fries, mashed potatoes and fruit. I got seconds of everything. For dessert I got ice cream, banana and chocolate pie, cookies and cupcakes. We watched a movie called THE SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS. Then we packed up and went home. We also didn't get any homework which was awesome.
I went home and watched 2 scary movies. Then I called all my friends so we could go trick or treating. When we were trick or treating, I said to my friends, "I wish I could get 10 bags of candy." Then I saw a little sparkle of glitter come out of the stick. I got a bag of candy trick or treating and I ate half of it already. Then I saw a lottery ticket on the floor. I said, "I wish I could get a million dollars!"
When I got home I was watching the news for the weather, when all of a sudden the number on the lottery ticket I got was my number. I was screaming because the prize is a million dollars. I went to mom and told. She was so excited. I went to my room and on the bed was 10 bags of candy. I still had the stick on me. Then I realized the stick was a wand because I kept wishing things and the wand kept sparkling every time I wished for things.
I went to sleep and the next day for some reason I went to the doctor. When I got there, the wand disappeared. I got freaked out because I thought I was going to lose everything I wished for.
- Maya
Our young writers at work!
**some pieces have been transposed at the student's request
In this writing activity, we asked members of our Next Chapter Club to use personalization to create a clock character who decides that he’s/she’s tired of keeping time. Below is a unique story written by Charlotte:
"I moaned with agony as the kindergardeners shrieked.
I could not stand these children. Always screaming, and their teacher would just put in ear plugs and sip her coffee.
No one ever thought of me. I mean, I'm just a clock fairy. You know, the little creature that makes the hands spin on clocks? But they thought I was the clock. Nothing more. And people tend not to care about the hearing of inanimate objects.
One day, I just snapped. The children were screaming their lungs out during Free Time, while the teacher just sat there at her laptop, ear plugs firmly wedged in place.
And I decided I couldn't stand another second. I stopped turning the hands, and kept it that way until the janitor took my clock down. And I had another stroke of luck-- the fairy in the fifth-grade classroom was being promoted to a clock at a basketball stadium, and I moved into that clock.
And I lived happily ever after."
We started a new program for 3rd-5th graders at Chabot Elementary this fall: WRITE OUT LOUD!, a songwriting class led by two veteran teachers, Annah Wilson & Joseph Shumake.
The students worked both independently and collaboratively to write lyrics, work out rhythms, create bridges and make music. We think the videos speak for themselves (check them out: a looping exercise & testing out lyrics).
Student excerpts from lyric writing exercises: Stick to Me
Do you see that the sky is calling… Do you see, do you see, that the sky is calling…
Too Much Too Late Too Much You big fool
If you don’t… the sun will burn and the rain will start If you don’t… the sun will burn and the rain will start
Too much Too late Too much Hurry Up
I’m in a far away town Waiting for you
(Too Late) (Too Late)
-Andrea
Up and Down
The sun comes up, the sun goes down The moon comes up, big, full and round
Big and round Up and down In the night Things spin me around
The planets spin ‘round and ‘round Nothings there, just darkness in the air
Big and round Up and down In the night Things spin me around
-Ashley
Blue Day
I had a sad, blue day So I decided to push it away
You make me stay When I want to go You make me go When I wish I could stay
I’m far away from yesterday I feel like I want to wreck this day
You make me stay When I want to go You make me go When I wish I could stay
You are mine and I am yours Don’t put me away, don’t close the door
Make me stay But I want to go Make me go When I wish I could stay
-Ilyasia
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