 |
| Listening 5th graders |
It's been a while since I've done one of these school recap posts -- not because I don't love each and every visit because I DO!!! -- just because they're a lot of work between gathering the info and photos from the teachers and putting it all together.
(if you want to see prior TPOG Goes to School(s) Posts, the links are down below.)
But, I had to make an exception because I went back to the fifth grade in Monticello, IL, last week and, boy, was it fun!
Granted, 10 - 11 year olds are just on the young side cusp of being the target reading audience for The Pull of Gravity (ages 12+), and so these kids hadn't read it yet, but their amazing teacher, and Nerdy Book Club member, Katherine Sokolowski had just started a fiction writing unit with them, and asked me if I would "come in via Skype" and talk to them about my writing process. Her recap of our visit is HERE.
 |
| wonder how they choose who gets that comfy chair? |
- We talked about how crappy first drafts are (can you say, VOMIT?!) even for published authors.
- We talked about plotting versus flying by the seat of your pants.
- And we talked lots and lots about where ideas come from.
- Most importantly, we talked about rejection, and how, whether you experience it in your writing, or art, or dancing or sports, rejection should motivate you to work harder BUT it shouldn't stop you from doing what you love. That part of succeeding with one's art, is finding the person who is looking for the way YOU do what you do.
For the past two years, I've done most my Skype and in-person visits with high schoolers and some middle schools, and I love them all! But, especially having two teenagers of my own, I'd forgotten the wonderful, fresh-faced enthusiasm 5th graders. Hands were popping up everywhere.
 |
| working on their story soup |
When we were done, I left them with a five-minute writing exercise to make a story soup from these few common elements, to be decided on by the class: two characters in common, two objects in common, and a setting in common. Here's what they picked:
Characters: girl about their age, dog that’s a runt
Objects: old chair, dust broom
Setting: Abandoned hotel
They shared their awesome story soups with me when they were done!
Libby was 14 years old, she was homeschooled. She had a dog
that she had found on the street – it was the runt of the pack. Her best friend
was in fifth grade. Her name was Clara. The dog’s name was Ruffles. They lived
in an abandoned hotel. All they had was a dust broom, an old chair, and
berries.
- Ellie
Once there was an 11-year-old girl named Emma. She lived in
an old house with her parents. All she had was old chairs and a dust broom. Her
parents had more. In fact, they were rich but didn’t give anything to her,
except a little runt of a puppy. Its name was Jojo. Their house was really old and was connected to an old abandoned hotel.
-Rye
An 11-year-old girl and her runt dog were homeless; they
came upon a hotel that was no charge. They walked in and an old flying chair
with a broom as his wife were hovering at the entrance. They said, “Didn’t you
see the sign out front? It said ABANDONDED.”
“Well, so are we,” said the girl and she left. When it became night they snuck around the back and went in. The broom and chair heard their footsteps and went looking for people, the girl and dog dragged a board over and picked it up.
-Riley
A girl named Suzy (11 years old) adopted a runt dog without
her parents knowing. But she doesn’t have a home for it, so she’ll have to use
the abandoned hotel by her house. First, she dusted the dog off with a duster.
- Kyle
Maggie was an 11-year-old girl who lived in a small
apartment. One day she walked by an abandoned hotel when she heard a scream.
Maggie hid behind a dumpster… she peeked her head out and
saw a man covered in blood. Maggie covered her mouth. When the man got in his
car and drove away, Maggie ran into the hotel to find a woman on the ground
covered in blood right next to an old chair with a broom and a runt of a dog.
Mackenzie
Claire was an eleven-year-old girl and she was carrying a
runt dog – his name was monster and they where walking a saw an abandoned
hotel. She wondered, Could I make money
by selling dogs?
Danielle
I walked through the dirt road, my feet covered in mud. By
the time I got inside, my brother had already covered the floor in mud, and my
dad’s ancient chair as well.
“Mark!” Abby said.
“Mark!” Abby said.
“Yes,” Mark said.
“Go get that broom and clean up the mud!” Abby said.
“Fine.”
- Kalyn
As a boy was walking down the street he passed an eleven-year-old
girl on a skateboard. Then he got to the hotel. To most, it looked like a
regular abandoned hotel.
Jack
Gabriella called for Boo-Boo, her dog. They were playing
hide and seek. Yes, dogs can play hide and seek. Gabriella couldn’t find
Boo-Boo, so she called for him.
“Boo-Boo,” Gabriella called, “Come out! I can’t find you
anywhere.” Then she heard the barks of Boo-Boo. He sounded as if he were in
trouble. She ran into what looked to be a creepy abandoned hotel. She kept
calling for Boo-Boo. She pulled out her flashlight, but as soon as she did, she
wished she hadn’t. She saw this chair that had arms. They were holding a dust
broom. Every time the chair moved, it creaked. So it must have been old. She
started to see the walls move forward.
-Maddie
“Come here,” said Madison to her runt of a dog. Madison was
sitting on an old chair. Her dog gave her a dust broom to clean up the abandoned
hotel. The dog was very smart – he could sweep a floor just like Madison. But
Madison was not so good at sweeping – she would drop the broom every five
seconds. People think that she’s a good sweeper, but really it is her dog.
People ask her to sweep stuff but she always brings her dog so she can look
like she swept up.
-Landyn
An 11-year-old girl walked past an abandoned hotel with her
runt dog named Duds. They looked in a window of the hotel. She saw a floating
old chair. She was so freaked out. She walked closer to the hotel. She wondered
if someone was in there, but it’s an abandoned hotel, no one would want to go
in.
-Lauren
Today was show and tell, so Mindy decided to bring her dog
to school. Her school was in an abandoned hotel. She got to school and everybody
started sneezing. She was wondering what was going on. For show and tell you
sit in an old chair. At the end of class, she has to clean up all of the dog
hair with a dust broom.
-Nick
I was there in a hotel. My name is Ella. When I was five,
the hotel burned down. Everything inside was demolished but the building still
stands. Only a few things were left: a bed, food to last forever, a chair, and
a dust broom. The hotel is “mine” and me and my pet dog get the warmest room.
(As well as all the others.) My whole family and then some died in that fire.
-Maya
I’m an eleven-year-old girl. I was walking my runt of a dog
when I passed an abandoned hotel. I went inside. There was an old chair and a
dust broom. That’s what I saw first. I walked around for a while and found a
pool. It got creepy, so I started towards the door.
-Macy
-Macy
Claire was walking her dog named Maggie outside, and then while she was walking, she saw an abandoned hotel.
“We should check it out!”
said Claire.
The place was dark and spooky, with broken glass, ripped up
furniture, and dirty floors. She was walking around when she heard a small
moan. She turned around to see what it was, but didn’t see anything.
-Henry
Once there was a girl named Gemma and the coolest runt dog
ever named Josh. They lived in an old hotel. The girl slept on an old chair and
the dog slept on dust broom bristles. They lived the life – a pool, an arcade
-Josh
An eleven-year-old girl named Sam had on shorts, a tattered
t-shirt, and a dog leash was in her hand. At the end of the leash is a dog. His
name is Sparkle. He has dirty fur and smells. They walked in an abandoned
hotel. “This place is creepy, Sparkle,” Sam said. “Woof,” said Sparkle. She saw
an old chair
-Mason
As Julie went into the abandoned hotel with the runt dog,
she found a dust broom that flew past her and impaled it’s self into the wall.
It came from up the stairs. ON top of the stairs was a chair with a body in it.
The body looked as if it were there for a while.
-Aiden
Once there was a girl named Clarisse and her dog named
Bowser. They were walking along the street when they found an abandoned hotel.
They decided to go take a look at it so they went through a broken window. When
they got there they checked all of the rooms, but one was open.
-Spencer
An eleven-year-old girl named Misao sits in an old chair
named Mr. Chair in an abandoned hotel. Misao looks out the window and sees a dog-named
Maggie that rides a dust broom. So she gets on top of Mr. Chair and stairs at a
duck. Misao said, “I am going to name you Mr. Duck.” Mr. Duck was an ordinary
duck, but had two feathers.
-Adam
Susie and Luis both loved pretending. Susie and Luis got
dressed up to pretend they were detectives. They went to an abandoned hotel and
went in.
They pretended there was a murderer. The suspects were an old chair named Mr. Chair and a dust broom named Phil. They searched and searched and finally saw what happened. Mr. Chair used the dust broom to hit the man. They put them behind bars (in the elevator) and went home.
They pretended there was a murderer. The suspects were an old chair named Mr. Chair and a dust broom named Phil. They searched and searched and finally saw what happened. Mr. Chair used the dust broom to hit the man. They put them behind bars (in the elevator) and went home.
-Jacob
Today I was watching my sister; she was playing with our
runt dog, Bob. Then we saw the abandoned hotel. That place gives me the creeps.
Susan came over, she’s my five year old sister, and said, “Can we make a club
at that place?” Sally said yes. I said all right. We went home but right before
Bob was gone, we saw his footprints going to the hotel. We were scared. Just
then Mike, my little brother, said, “Mom wants us home.” We said ok but first
we have to find Bob in the abandoned hotel. Mike said he’d find our other
brother
-Amanda
And, last but not least, this kiddo who decided to use his own “soup ingredients." Okay by me. J
It all started when Daniel was walking to the train museum
with his best friend, Stephen. They saw a bluebird. So they just stopped,
looked, and kept going. But what did they know about that Bluebird? It was
evil! The bluebird followed. When Daniel and Stephen got there, they saw Ed who
is the Library owner. Ed ran away as soon as he saw Daniel, Stephen, and the
Bluebird!
-Tyler
 |
| working on their story soup! |
Thanks Mrs. Sokolowski's class for sharing an awesome morning with me!!!
- gae
http://ghpolisner.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-pull-of-gravity-goes-to-schools-6.html
http://ghpolisner.blogspot.com/2012/06/the-pull-of-gravity-goes-to-schools.html
http://ghpolisner.blogspot.com/2012/05/pull-of-gravity-goes-to-schools-4.html
http://ghpolisner.blogspot.com/2012/04/pull-of-gravity-goes-to-schools-2.html
.jpg)
