Wednesday, October 29, 2014

write

My first-graders and I have noticed (after I mentioned it) that most children's Halloween stories are based on one of two premises-
1. Something seems scary at first but turns out to be harmless
2. A little pumpkin realizes it's okay to be different

We were excited to participate in The Halloweensie Contest this week!
 
On Monday, their two journal sentences had to include the requisite three words- pumpkin, broomstick and creak. While they wrote, I started our story about a little witch named Sweetsie.

the roughest draft
 
On Tuesday, I started my rewrite and read what we had so far. They loved it! I mentioned the 100-word limit and panic set in. "Do we have to write 100 words??"
a little less rough draft
 
Today, I added/took away/edited our little story to 99 word perfection!
Without further adieu...
 
Sweetsie's Jack-o'Lantern
     Sweetsie's party was almost perfect- a cauldron of punch, bat-wing cupcakes- but no jack-o'lantern. She hopped on her broomstick for a trip to the garden. What? The patch of ground was bare!
     As Sweetsie turned around she heard a tiny sniffle. She peeked under a leaf and saw a sad, lonely pumpkin.
     "I'm having a Halloween party. Would you like to come?" Sweetsie asked.
     "Yes, thank you! I was afraid to spend Halloween by myself." the pumpkin answered.
     They opened the creaky gate and flew home. Sweetsie sat the pumpkin in the window for all her visitors to enjoy.
 
Characters, setting, problem, solution- it's all there. With lots of hyphens.



16 comments:

Susanna Leonard Hill said...

Hi! I'm sorry I don't know your name - I can't see it on your blog! - but I just absolutely LOVE that you took the Halloweensie Contest to your first grade classroom and wrote this wonderful story together! This really might be the best thing ever! Your class did a wonderful job creating a sweet story with a character, a problem, and a resolution, with a halloween theme and the 3 requisite words, and a nice message about friendship to top it all off :) Thank you so much for bringing Halloweensie to your classroom and sharing the results here. Tell the kids they did a great job! And I hope they'll enjoy reading some of the other entries :)

Kathy Halsey said...

This is fabulous. Congrats to you guys. have read a lot of Hallowsensies this eek and this is GOOD. YOU ARE ALL WRITERS.

Anonymous said...

So wonderful that this was a class effort. Keep up the good work!

Sydney O'Neill said...

What a wonderful story! Now Sweetsie has a pumpkin and the pumpkin won't be afraid--a perfectly satisfying ending. Congratulations to you and your classroom of budding authors.

Joanna said...

What a terrific story. This class rocks. Don't stop writing, you guys!

Janie said...

Dear 1st Grade Class,
You rock! Great writing. ��

Carrie Finison said...

Sweetsie is a sweet little witch and lives up to her name. This is a great story, first grade! Keep writing. Maybe you can write a sequel!

Cheryl Secomb said...

What an adorable story! Terrific job, First Grade Class! Happy Halloweensie! :)

Lauri Meyers said...

Great work first graders with fine editing by your teacher! I just played the "Making a witches brew, and I'm adding [insert here]" with my first grade girl scout troop yesterday. 6 year olds have a great sense of gross!

Sylvia Liu said...

I'm impressed - what a talented bunch of writers!

Kelly Vavala said...

What a great bunch of authors you have there!! Very descriptive and yes you covered all the right factors that make a great story! Nice job everyone!!

Anonymous said...

I love this!!! It's just awesome that your first graders participated in Halloweensie! The story is so much fun! Great job!!

clarbojahn said...

TERRIFIC! Concept, Problem, Solution, all there! More than I did. I wondered what was wrong with mine. I learned so much from this. thanks so much!

Put me in your class. I'd love to be there. :)

Thanks so much for sharing! Great job! :)

Christie Allred said...

I wish I had a teacher who had done this with me! Great idea. :)

Cathy C. Hall said...

LOVE. (On so many levels!)

Kate said...

What a great class effort.