Writing Workshop Pieces2004-2005
A Horse Painting on a Stoneby Lindsey HallKayla has a stone painting of a horse, which she got in Mexico. She likes horses, so she bought it with her momıs money. "I like horses because they're graceful and beautiful, and they're really fun to play with," Kayla says. She only visits Mexico to see her friends who visit Mexico also. Kayla likes it in Mexico because she likes being in the sun, shopping, and swimming in the water. When she goes to Mexico, she buys clothes, jewelry and artworks like this stone painting of a horse. "When I go to Mexico," Kayla says, "I shop a whole bunch and I play on all different kinds of beaches. This stone painting reminds me of visiting Mexico and being with other friends." Alex's Bookby Margaret PopeAlex Crogh lived in Russia in an orphanage. He likes to draw stuff like trucks and cars. When he was adopted, he brought a paperback book that has some words about some drawings in it. So he drew some drawings on the blank pages in the book. His favorite picture is the bears in the wood. In the picture there is only one tree, and the bears are standing by it. Itıs his favorite because he likes the bears. Alex loves to draw. This book was something that the adults in Russia did so his parents could see what arts and crafts he did in the orphanage. "It wasnıt fun at the orphanage," Alex says. "You didn't get to own anything, and you didn't celebrate birthdays or anything." The orphanage was big and tall. There were different areas for different ages of children, and a big eating table for everyone. There was a big room for sleeping, with bunk beds. Alex was adopted and came to America. Margaret's Mexicoby Alex CroghMargaret went to Manzeno, Mexico. She brought back a clay cat that has two flower designs on each side. It is painted bright blue, yellow-green, and red. Their family slept in a big house, which had a big pool in the back. Margaret loved to swim in the pool. Margaret said, "It was near the ocean and had palm trees." There were lots of rooms in the house. Margaret said, "My favorite room is the kitchen because we were in the kitchen most of the time." She likes to make food like nachos. Special Boxby Jacqueline BatchelorMary has a very special everything box. As she looks at the royal blue sides and unicorn painting, the first thing that pops into Maryıs head is, "MOM!" Mary's mother, Sarah, lives far away in Hawaii. "I received the everything box when I was five from my Mom. The box made me feel special, older, and powerful," Mary says. Mary's mother felt she was old enough to receive this family heirloom, which was passed down through Mary's mother's family. "I will pass the everything box down to my children when I get older," says Mary. The everything box has blue stained-glass sides, a unicorn painting on the top and a mirror on the inside bottom. This mirror makes the box look bigger. Mary puts jewelry, acorns and quartz she finds on the playground into the box. Unicorns are big in Mary's life. "The heirloom is important, so, unicorns are important to me," says Mary. This box started the unicorn theme for her. "I know I can love and cherish this box for my whole life," says Mary. beautiful, breakable shining, shimmering, dazzling lamp, flashlight, night, underbed spooking, snooping, lurking gloomy, scary Dark --Kiana Chapman & Lindsey Hall cold, white snowing, numbing, chilling icicles, cocoa, flowers, beach blooming, playing, swimming hot, sunny Summer --Mary Parker, McKenzie Kennel, Margaret Pope graceful, athletic jumping, spinning, stroking toepicks, dresses, pads, sticks fighting, ramming, shoving rough, scraggy Hockey Player --Jacqueline Batchelor & Rachael Miller Getting My Sister in Troubleby McKenzie KennellMy sister is so annoying; sometimes I can't help but to get her in trouble. She has blond hair up to her mouth when she smiles. That makes my sister look as innocent as a puppy. She tries to trick me because she thinks it's funny. She then does a fake laugh, which sounds like a hyena. That's enough to make me madder than a disturbed bee. So I have to get her back. I say, "Bryn step on my foot as hard as an elephant." Then I tell my mom or dad that Bryn is hurting me! She replies, "McKenzie told me to." "That's a lie," I'll always say. That gets her in trouble! Another way to pay her back is to take little neat toys, and her allowance. If Bryn is in the room, and I want to steal something, I tell her to get a toy from another room so we can play. While she's gone, I quickly snatch the object. To trick my sister is as fun as jumping on the clouds. True Blueby Mary ParkerWhen I saw McKenzie in first grade,
Flippingby Lindsey HallWhen I was two or three years old, I wanted to do gymnastics. I was about six when I made it to team. I like it in team because whenever we go to state, it's on my birthday! I like it also because our whole team really does act like a team. We cheer for each other on really hard tricks and especially on a teammate's favorite event. Melissa is in the highest level. She's in level 7. I'm just about to be going to level 6, though I'm still in level 5. I am working on a very long routine with two flips in a row! I love flipping on the floor. Sometimes when I flip, it feels like I can fly in a whole new different way. My favorite events are vault and beam. I like vault because I get to run a long way and jump over a special type of soft-materialed table. I like beam because I love to balance on a bunch of skinny things.
On a haunted
Spooky moonlight brightens
Tourists can't believe I have been skating only since 2004. People say to all the skaters that our waltz jumps, spirals, three turns and spins are fantastic! Their comments make us feel like we just won a gold medal in skating.
I try my hardest but it's still fun. I think spirals and one foot spins are hard, so I practice them. I have three lessons and skate at least four hours a week.
My dream is to be in the Olympics and to do freestyle and pairs with Alex. This year, my goal is to have a beautiful waltz jump and spiral. I love skating! My favorite ride at the fair
A photojournalist goes around the planet taking pictures of unique sculptures, art, and buildings. After she takes pictures, she writes about that topic.
I am going to be a photojournalist. I will see the world as if I am an eagle soaring over the ocean. I'll feel like a yo-yo going up and down, from one place to the next. From the Eiffel Tower to the Statue of Liberty, from Paris to New York, I will solve the worldıs problems without even trying. The unicorn's horn is made of a magical stone called alicorn. Alicorn is very rare, so in medieval times, people slaughtered the unicorn for its alicorn because they believed that when water was drunk from an alicorn cup, any poisons were banished from the body. It was also said that a staff made of alicorn would make the owner great and powerful!
Contrary to popular belief, the true magic of the unicorn is held at the base of the horn in a magic gem. The gem could be anything from black diamond to pink crystal, depending on the magic it holds. Yet people ignored the gems and took only the alicorn.
After years of hunt parties, the unicorn almost died out. Luckily, a very powerful unicorn opened up a passage into another dimension or world. She used her magic until her gem didn't have enough magic to keep the unicorn a unicorn.
As she watched the last of the unicorns walk into the swirlingly bright and colorful vortex, she whinnied softly as the wind. As the vortex closed, her horn shattered into a million pieces. The gem fell to the ground, giving the earth eternal magic. This special unicorn became the first horse.
Today, people can still find pieces of unicorn horn every day at the beach. These little shells spiral upwards like a unicorn's horn, and sparkle like the stars so they can catch your eye. "My teddy bear's name is Licker," Jacqueline says. Licker is a sandy-tan teddy bear with a red and green plaid full-body outfit, all of which is old and weathered. "When I was little, I used to put his ear up to my mouth like I was licking him," Jacqueline says. "I think I got him as a Christmas present from my South African Dadıs South African goddaughter." To Jacqueline, the colors of Licker's plaid outfit mean Christmas.
Her teddy bear is important to her because when she was little, it comforted her by making her feel better when she was mad or sad. "Once it didn't comfort me because I brought it with me to London where I was staying with my godfather. I was embarrassed about Licker, so I didn't sleep with him and I felt scared."
Licker is as old as Jacqueline, who is 11 years old. Licker no longer gets the privilege of sleeping with Jacqueline (though it's probably O.K. with him since they're both preteens). Licker doesn't get washed because he could get beat-up in the washer and drier, and Licker is liked the way he is. "Licker doesn't get to go with me to skating competitions, but sometimes he gets to go with me to the hotel." Lindsey has a bookmark that looks like a monkey. The bookmark is made out of plastic and is light brown like a monkey. She got it from her grandparents for her 7th birthday on March 4th. "I had my birthday at the gymnastics place and I invited the gymnastics team," says Lindsey. Her grandparents got her the bookmark because they knew that she wanted to mark the biggest words in the dictionary. She would mark one big word at a time, write it down on paper, then mark a new word.
Lindsey says, "I really like monkeys because they represent gymnastics. They represent gymnastics because they look like gymnasts swinging from tree to tree. I also like tigers because they are fast." She likes gymnastics because she likes doing flips. She says, "I also like gymnastics because itıs an excuse away from homework." Lindsey was once walking in a jungle in Trinidad Tobago and thought she saw a monkey that was in the same position as her bookmark. Lindsey says, "I would want to be a monkey because I would be free from being locked up and cleaning my room." Kiana has a Courtship Dance stick that she made by hand. Originally, the Nez Pierce Indians created Dance sticks by hanging deerskin fringes off a stick. "I consider myself more of an Indian girl than a typical girl," says Kiana. "I made this because I find my hobbies are more related to outdoors and Indians than to other things."
Tribes use Courtship Dance sticks in a ceremony where young men gather in a large circle. The women then form a smaller circle so the men are surrounding them. The men dance around the women until all of the menıs sticks are resting on the womenıs shoulders. The women have to make a choice. If they like the man, they stand still; if they don't, they push the stick off their shoulder and the men have to find someone else. Kiana got the idea of making her own Courtship Dance stick in her Indian encyclopedia one summer. She made her stick out of a stick and, instead of deerskin, she used fabric for the fringes. "If I had to get chosen this way by a man, I wouldn't want to," she said. Kiana likes Indians because she admires the way they live and likes to try to experience their customs. --Carley Charles & Kayla Ivey --Alex Crogh & Brooke Wolfe At Roaring Springs
I have five cats. We only intended to have two, but then it began. Sally and Blacky were the first kittens we received. We chose them in California. I remember walking through the Farmer's Market and then we came to the kittens. My sister picked out a completely black cat with a little white on his chin. You can guess what she named him: Blacky. He is a longhaired cat.
I still could not pick, but then I saw a kitten that was all striped and different colors with short hair. I wanted that kitten. I named her Sally. When we arrived back at my gramma's house, we put leashes on the kittens and led them around like dogs.
My dad was not in California, so we called him and told him we were bringing home two cats. He was not too happy about that. It was a long ride back for them. When we arrived home, we were so excited.
Five or six years later, my mom's friend said that her friend was giving away some kittens, so we decided to go and look. We came home with another cute kitten. We named her Falafel. A couple of years later, Falafel had a litter of kittens. They were so cute. They didn't look like Falafel at all. Falafel was all striped and different colors like Sally, but the kittens were orange and white. We had to give them away.
A few years later Falafel had another litter -- they were all black and white. There was one kitten completely white and another kitten completely black, and two twins striped black and white. My sister and I wanted to keep the white and black kittens but my mom said we could not keep them. After a while, the white and black kittens ran away. We tried to give the twins away but no once would take them, so we kept them and now we have five cats: Sally, Blacky, Ginger, Mocha, and Falafel. They are very special to me. The Family Fun ride is scary.
When I was four years old, I learned to draw in Russia. I drew for fun. When I was six and a half, I was adopted and went to America. My brother was a baby when he was adopted.
I learned to speak in English when I was nine years old. One day, I watched my Dad draw a building. The next day, I drew a house. It was not very good. I practiced drawing houses. I got better each time. I still like to draw houses. Tonight, wear clothes as black
Blazing rays of sun beat down on me as my family and I ended our tiresome car trip to Mexico. Our legs felt as wobbly as Jell-O from sitting for so long. Our stomachs were grumbly, so we stopped at a nearby restaurant to eat. The guy at the front of the restaurant spoke no English, so he just guided us to our seats.
It was a buffet restaurant, so we had to walk through a line to pick out our food. There were sizzling tortillas, eggs cooked into omelets, and lots of other unusual foods I had never seen before. All of the people handing out the food spoke in Spanish, so my parents had to help me choose my dinner. I decided on a cheesy omelet and a delicious, creamy tasting cheesecake.
By the time we walked back to our table, I was really confused, since I couldn't understand anyone. As we ate, a Mexican band played foreign music in front of us. The Spanish chatter buzzed about the restaurant like angry bees.
After eating, I strolled outside for fresh air. As cool ocean mist blew softly in my face, I realized that even though I couldn't talk to anyone, Mexico was still an incredible place to be. "Lindsey!"
I start out slow then I move faster and faster. I can barely stop. I have the sensation of flying up through the ice rink, through McCall and through the world, like a top! I start to slow down. I rotate slower and slower, then I stop. I look around. I'm as dizzy as can be.
In skating, I know many spins. I'm ecstatic about the scratch spin, it's my favorite spin, yet! I also like the sit spin. I put one leg out in front of me and then I sit on the other leg, while spinning. After I perform this twirly spin well, I would like to learn a camel spin. I have to put one leg up high and straight behind me, while I spin. It's like I'm doing a spiral while spinning. I even sometimes spin on my knee at the end of one of my programs.
When I spin I sometimes fall. The hard surface of the skating palace usually hurts, burns and bruises my legs and arms. Occasionally, when I fall during my spin, I feel like it is sometimes ruined. Spinning is hard, very exciting and contributes to my big amusement. When I first walked into the 6th grade, seeing all of the lockers perfectly lined up in two rows on each side of the hall, I knew it would be a great but confusing day. I was so excited to receive my own locker. Mostly, I was looking forward to decorating my locker with stickers, magnets, posters, and pictures of family and friends.
I chose locker number 379. The teachers assigned our lockers by passing out post-it notes after we picked our lockers. By the time the day was over, we had memorized our locker numbers and the combinations from practicing opening them so much.
The next few days we all scrambled into the hall between classes, flooding to our lockers. As I slammed my locker door shut, I turned around quickly to find others panicking because, either their lockers were jammed, or their combinations were not cooperating with them. The teachers just give stuck students a pair of pliers to lift up a tab that triggers the lock so that it will open. Lockers are fun and handy, but sometimes they can be quite frustrating. |
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Copyright İ 2004 Marie M. Furnary All rights reserved.