Student Writing
Here’s a new story from Grace, a 5th grader. Grace has been working on writing with details.
My Lost DS!
A DS System is very fun to have and to play with. I now have a DS that has 2 screens one on the top and bottom. DS’s are like GameBoys and are as big as a book, but because mine is the new version, DSiXL, it is bigger.
My parents made me work for a year to get a DS. I had to do exercise, like pulling on things or jumping on a small trampoline, which makes me dizzy. I also had to clean my bedroom and the stinky bathroom. I had to clean the toilet too. I didn’t like cleaning up the bathroom because it was really boring and dirty. I got a DS on the morning of my 10th birthday. I played on it right when I opened it, even when I was brushing my teeth. I told my friends at recess, and after school I kept on playing on it. I put giraffe stickers on it. I had to work a half a year to get a game, Mario, but in the summer I didn’t have to do much work. Sometimes I have to share the DS with my sister, but I only let her play if she is really bored. My sister would wish for a DS if she could wish for anything. She feels jealous, and I feel special.
One day, when I went to my friend Eliza’s house, I brought my DS. We went up the spiral stairs and started playing in her room. Eliza has a dog, Marshmallow or Marshy. He is really hyper. Marshy is white, fat and comes up to my waist. He sleeps with Eliza but when I’m there Marshy is in his cage because I don’t like dogs. Eliza doesn’t have any brothers or sisters, so she has her own room. She has two shelves and a dog bed in her room. We started playing the game, My Friends, which she gave me for my birthday. We played Tag, Catching the Most Bubbles, and Last One to be Tagged on our DSs. Then we went downstairs to feed Marshy snacks and when we came back, I put my DS in Eliza’s room. I went back downstairs to get my shoes and I took off my jacket because we were going outside. I thought they just cut the grass because it was really long the last time I came and now it was shorter. We ran around the yard playing tag. Then my mom ding-donged and I had to go. She said we were in a hurry, so I grabbed my jacket and said bye and we left.
I couldn’t find my DS for a month! One year of work would be gone and I couldn’t play on it anymore! If I lost my DS I would be bored. I looked everywhere in the house, but I couldn’t find it. I looked on the ground, bed, car, and cabinets. I thought about bad things that could have happened to it, like maybe my parents thought it was garbage. I thought I left it in Eliza’s house and Marshmallow ate it. Over the time I couldn’t find it I would think about more bad things like maybe leaving from Eliza’s house it quietly slipped onto the ground when I was going to the car. Maybe Eliza kept on stepping on it because I left it on their stairs. When I went over to Eliza’s house on a sunny afternoon and we were planting flowers, I asked her if she saw my DS. She said “I might have seen it.”
“Where?” I asked.
She said “I probably just saw a book.”
We took turns digging holes in the yard and planting. When it was Eliza’s turn to dig I went to get some more flowers. Then she jumped up and said “I feel something soft!” I ran over and it looked like my DS case. We pulled it out and it had dog prints on it. It was my DS. Marshy got in trouble. He didn’t get to sleep with Eliza for 2 months. We played on it and it still had batteries which were full and it still worked. I was so happy I was jumping up and down like a jelly bean. I put it in my pocket and went home safely.
Exploding Olympic Pool an April Fool’s Story
“Reported” by Sunnie, 5th Grade
Sally Green’s Olympic Pool exploded in the Chateau neighborhood on April 1st, 2010 at 3:00 AM, flooding the entire neighborhood with 660,000 gallons of water.
“I was walking towards the bathroom when I felt a puddle of water up to my knees,” Sally told the reporters. Sally rushed to get her bathing suit so she could swim out of her house and warn the neighborhood. One of the 13 houses in the neighborhood was three stories high, so Sally told everyone to meet there. The water was rising.
There were hills around the neighborhood which stopped the water from flowing out. Sally told one of her neighbors, who had boats, to pick up the people who couldn’t swim. When everyone got to the house they called the police, ambulance, fire department, water department and their insurance companies. People were angry and worried because their houses were ruined. The whole neighborhood was drenched in gallons of water.
First the fire department drove up a hill beside the neighborhood. They grabbed boats from their trucks. Then they slid down the hill to make sure the people were okay. The fire department got rid of the water by sucking it through their hoses. Once all the water was sucked out of the neighborhood they had to rebuild it, but they never found out how the pool exploded.
My Family Loves Pasta
–by Giovanna, 8th Grade —
Pasta has always been an important meal in my family. Growing up, I have tasted many different types, for example– my mom’s special tomato pasta, plain buttered noodles, Alfredo and pesto. Everyone my in family has their favorite. I have noticed that the pasta that each of my family members enjoy eating match their personalities.
Pesto pasta is strong, garlicky and spicy just like my dad who is strong and loves to spice up parties. My dad is a very athletic man who enjoys coaching and playing soccer. Usually when there is a fight or a problem during a soccer game he is one of the people who breaks it up. Standing between the players, he holds both arms out on each side to separate them. My dad is also strong emotionally. For instance, if someone says something rude to him, he won’t show he is mad but will talk to that person in a nice, friendly way to let them know that what they did was wrong. The spicy part of the pesto relates to my dad with his spicy, hot partying skills. Because my dad is a great dancer, he loves to go to parties and dance for almost the whole night. He is an exciting person to be with just like the lively flavors of pesto on my pasta.
There is no other pasta better than my mom’s homemade red sauce penne, with the taste of Italian sausage, canned tomatoes, oregano and the touch of spicy black peppers. All of the different colored ingredients used in this pasta look like a beautiful painted picture that started from scratch, just like the pictures my brother draws, hanging on our walls. The same way that my mom makes a delicious dish out of scratch, my brother starts his artwork with a piece of paper and a pencil and slowly begins to add more detail and color. During the process of making the pasta sauce, my mom dips a spoon into the pot to see how the flavors are blending, similar to the way my brother tests colors to see how they will look blended together on a separate sheet of paper. In the end, the taste of the soupy, spicy sauce over the plain penne noodles amazes me, like a picture that my brother has just finished with its many colors.
My little brother likes plain buttered pasta because he is picky about what’s on his food, and like this pasta, he is easygoing and gets along with everyone. Rafa is 11-years-old and is very amiable. He can be quiet, but once you add a friend he becomes more loud and talkative, the same way plain bow noodles are mild until you add peppers to spice them up. When Rafa is with his friends, he likes to play soccer and ride around the neighborhood on his bike, instead of watching TV and calmly petting the dog when there is no one to interact with. Rafa used to dislike any food that had a bright color which is why he began to like plain, buttered pasta the most. When he was around the age of 9 years old, he would ask my mom to put some noodles in a separate pot so that he wouldn’t have to eat the noodles with sauce. Luckily, Rafa is beginning to expand his variety of foods and allow his pasta to be topped with different sauces instead of just butter.
When I am living in my own house and making pasta for myself, I will think of my family and their favorite types of pastas. Hopefully I will learn how to make delicious red sauce like my mom and while eating it will remember my big brother and his artwork. While eating the bright green pesto, I will remember my dad playing soccer on the bright green soccer fields. Last but not least, plain buttered noodles will bring me memories of my little brother, and his easygoing personality. And maybe when I have my own family, I will prepare lots of different pastas for them and find out which types match their personalities.