Words from Our Young Authors in Fremont

Earlier this week, we did a workshop in Fremont with "TGIF" - The Gifted in Fremont.  

Our theme was "Take Flight" and the pieces below were written after the students were asked to personify things that fly. We also used "My Name Is..." as an opening writing prompt.

Writing about things that fly - this is a piece about Co2!

Whoosh! It blew out. Far it traveled many miles, a long distance, only to go back into a leaf, be changed, and come out. Then into a human's nose it dances, swirling into its respiratory (system), to be changed into its true self again. This is down, and as the first speck of light appears, it prepares to dance its long journey again.

- Meenakshi

Writing about things that fly - UFO Spaceship:

I'm flying through the night time sky of planet earth. I'm trying to land somewhere they won't see me. I'm going to sneek inside the Arce's House and hope that they don't see me. I would stay in the back yard but the fence say "beware of dog" and I don't want to be eaten. Tomorrow I think I'm leaving. Or not ah -----------

- Aliyah

Writing about things that fly - Dust:

Secretly traveling in the wind Landing on anything they can find But when they do find a home, the breeze picks the nomads up and they soar away

- Kaede

Writing about things that fly - Dandelion Seeds:

Puffs of smoke out of a chimney drifting toward heaven, recieving cries of delight, forming more lives, pushed toward the south, onto a towaring feild of crops.

- Angela

From the prompt "My Name Is...":

My name is small, not like me because I am tall My name is made from ant forming words I found my name in an ant's mouth yaking all around My name can yell at everyone he sees If I lost my name I would turn the word upside down to find it.

- Ian

From the prompt "My Name Is...":

My name is a wish, wished on the day of my birth It is made from the sweet, gentle sound of bubbles in a brook I found my name in a song and the ancient city of Madhurai My name can make the darkest moment seem happy If I lost my name, the city of Madhurai would be in ruins

- Meenakshi

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!  When days turn rainy, foggy or snowy, all we want to do is curl up with a good book - or our writing paper! Use today's prompt to escape from the weather.

"She saw a place she would not soon forget."

Share with us! Post your descriptions in the comments section of our blog.

Words from Our Young Authors at Crocker Highlands

Lindsey's young writers shared their stories of things lost and found (part of our Found Treasures curriculum) for parents and friends at Crocker Highlands Elementary School in Oakland.  

From Treasure maps: Setting and Concrete Details

Treasure Map 1. Over the red mountains 2. In the redwood forrest 3. Through the magic jail 4. Under the yummy table 5. Go to the yellow hills!

-Summer

From Found Poetry: creating poems from the New York Times

To Make it Work To Make it Work you need to think of new experiences

-Iona

From Found Poetry: creating poems from the New York Times

Food A snack that smiles back creamy mashed potatoes and three-ingrediant gravy quick-roasting turkey with thyme butter and pear cornmeal cake with rosemary syrup.

-Josh

From Scavenger Hunt: descriptive story-writing

My New Dragon I just got a little dragon. It is green with red under her wings. I hand-made a fluffy sweater which is blue; it fits my dragon. I love my socks because they can slip and slide like a newborn deer.

-Emilia

From Museum of Found Objects

City Chicken And he got so mad that he barged into Pig’s house and took him to Jail. He put him behind some very strong bars made out of curly fries. But after a couple of years when Pig was old, he ate his way out.

-Beya

From Scavenger Hunt: descriptive story-writing.

French Polar Bear Girl Polar Bear sat on her porch chewing Hawaiian Punch Gum with curly letters. Polar Bear was a person. A real girl. She was French. She started drinking her mom’s pink Pie Lemonade.

-Carly

From Scavenger Hunt: descriptive story-writing

Surprise! Once upon a time there was a girl who has a special something. No, you don’t get to see it until the end of the story!

-Lotus

From Scavenger Hunt: descriptive story-writing.

All Hail the Dragon One day I was walking down a street and I saw a map, it looked like this: I followed the map and when I got to the haunted house I heard a strange sound.

-Kiran

From Scavenger Hunt: descriptive story-writing

My list 1.   A new bed 2.   Homemade soda 3.   My mama 4.   Band-Aids in my desk 5.   Why I even wanted to cut my hair

-Balana

From Scavenger Hunt: descriptive story-writing

Missing! Sir, I need your help. Three things have gone missing along with a broken window. I had a diamond. Large. About the size of a half dollar. It was red and smooth. Cut like a diamond you think would be cut.

-Ella

From Scavenger Hunt: descriptive story-writing

Piper One day in Chicago Piper was walking down the street. She could not help noticing that something did not belong. She did not know what. She kept on walking until she got home but she could not stop thinking about the thing that did not belong.

-Ellie

Words from Our Young Authors at Chabot Elementary

This fall, Chabot Elementary 3rd, 4th & 5th graders explored our "Take My Portrait" curriculum.

The prompt used is called "Paint a Word Portrait". We had some discussions & practice-runs with "metaphor" and "simile," and then the kids were asked to use these techniques to describe the physical features of someone in their lives they care about - read some excerpts below!

"Fran and Leto had small, black eyes like basalt drenched in water..." -Rocco

"Her eyes were clear like two circles of jicama..." -Lumumba

"Her eyes were like two curled up rolly-pollies" -Zora

"Zelda had eyes like the ocean after a storm." -Eliana

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!  Looking out the window this morning, all that can be seen is leaves in a rainbow of colors.

Today, write a letter as a leaf detailing his/her adventures this fall!

Share with us! Post your descriptions in the comments section of our blog.

Words from Our Young Authors at French American International School

In October, eight 7th grade girls at French American International School spent 3 days using writing to explore who they are on the inside versus who they show to the outside world using our "Inside-Out" curriculum.

From the prompt “My name is...”

My name is a strong wind blowing forever It is made from the heat of a dragon’s flame and the soft lull of the ocean, I found it in my great grandmother’s many creations, My name can make me run wildly through any obstacle, sink into a roiling ocean of my imagination, or close my eyes for just a second of calm. If I lost my name I would follow a trail of adventure with a majestic dragon to find it.

-Ella

We created Black Out poems by taking magazines, selecting words we were drawn to, circling them and then blacking out all of the other words. Here's Emma's: Struggle in triumph Groundbreaking dream for freedom. Passionate reality, impressive effort reach skyward to emit a glow of beautiful art and history. Individuals share their treasures reminding us all that appreciating experience is essential to tell this story.

- Emma

Here is Sydney's Black Out Poem:

In a previous life, I liked offering guidance to accomplish even a hug or two.

You will meet the lives of a major spirit, bringing in light, creating space, finding a location that uplifts a home.

- Sydney

Margaret's free write from the prompt “I woke up and decided I didn’t want to go to school this morning, so I packed my backpack and hit the open road...”

I woke up and decided I didn’t want to go to school this morning so I packed up my backpack and hit the open road. Being the 12 year old that I am, my instinct said that what I was doing wasn’t illegal and in fact probably my best plan yet. Who wouldn’t want to walk for days along the side of a highway feasting on canned food and bags of Cheetos that I bought with the little money I had brought? I obviously didn’t bring much food or clothing because it would take away space from the flatscreen TV I had brought and the Wii. My genius plan was to start an incredibly successful business in the desert selling raincoats to the people traveling by on camels. I even had plans to make a camel coat. Once I became rich, I would buy a hotel and retire comfortably at the age of 25 and return to a life of sitting in front of the TV all day eating twinkies and ordering junk on Amazon.

-Margaret

This is from a writing activity where the girls closed their eyes and picked a word out of a basket of words. Samantha picked the word "honey":

Honey poured down the side of the room, and because I liked it, I painted it that way on purpose. I like how it glows through the hall when the sun hits it through the french doors. I take a lick of the wall and smile at my handy work. I lick again and close my eyes; I see memories of me when I was a kid at my grandmother’s honey bee farm. I see myself and my sister running around a tree, when grandma calls us in to taste the fresh honey that just came off of the honey comb. I open my eyes and feel a tear roll down my cheek. They were not tears of sorrow because grandma had passed away. No, they were tears of joy that made me tear up, because there is nothing better than having happy memories.

-Samantha

The girls had to write a story based on a first line created by someone else in the group. Maxine's given line was "I was running, running for my life."

I was running, running for my life. All of a sudden something pounced on me, the air was knocked out of my lungs and I screamed. Then, I opened my eyes, groaned and immediately felt stupid. I WASN'T in a jungle. I WASN'T getting chased by a tiger through spiderwebs and mobs of man-eating monkeys. I was in my room. The thing that had pounced on me was my dog Rory who was now licking (my) face. The night terrors have been going on for a while and have been getting steadily worse. The worst thing is that they are all tied with reality. One day, for example, I had gotten terribly beaten at dodgeball and that night I dreamed that a thousand cannons were pointed straight at me. In every dream, something really bad is going to happen but I wake up some amount of time before the beast eats me or the cannons are fired. Lately, I've been waking up closer and closer to the occurrence of the bad thing. One time, I even woke up after the pirate pulled the trigger but before the bullet hit me.

- Maxine