Student Writing of the Week 2-27

In this week's feature, we have more interesting and unique characters.  Samantha writes her story from the first person point of view of her pet ferret detailing a true story that happened to him.  I love her descriptive language ("I felt like a rag doll") that shows and doesn't tell.  Enjoy!

A narrative
by Samantha P.

My name's Rascal.  I am Samantha's ferret.  One day Samantha accidentally left my cage door open.  I wanted to explore so I jumped out of the cage.  As soon as I jumped out, I realized that it was too high.  However, I noticed while I was falling that she left her bedroom door open!  What if one of Samantha's dogs found me?   When I hit the ground, I hit my head on one fo the metal bars on my cage.  I screeched as loud as a ferret could screech.  I was so scared, I crawled under the cage.  The dogs came rushing in to her room and barked at me!  This was like a ferret nightmare!

I went into shock from the fall.  I couldn't move even a whisker.  Samantha came to my rescue and got the dogs out of her room.  When she held me, I felt like a rag doll.  I could tell she was so upset herself.  Her eyes were wet and she was shaking as she held me in her arms.  Samantha and her mom put me in my carrier and took me to the vet right away.  Samantha was crying and I wanted to cry too.

The vet was very nice and gave me some medicine.  I started to feel better and went home.

When I was back in my cage I couldn't reach my food bowl because it was too high for me to climb.  Samantha noticed that I wasn't eating.  She made a solution to my problem.  She put my food bowl right next to my water.  I was able to eat and drink at the same time without breaking a sweat.  Samantha's a genius!

So if you are a ferret, think twice before jumping out of your cage!  I learned the hard way.  It's a long way down and trust me, the floor is really hard!  If your human is nice like mine, she'll let you explore inside and outside every day.

Student Writing of the Week 2-21

Well here it is, the highly anticipated sequel to Michael's first story about Little Terror.  Congratulations for being the Student Writer of the Week for two weeks in a row!

As always, see if you can find any mistakes and turn them in for extra credit!

A Viruses Life

Chapter 2

by Michael

The unknown virus started to spark, and shoot faster than anything Little Terror had seen before. 

“Not again.” One of the three viruses said.  “He’s sabotaging the files again.”

“What type of virus IS he?” Little Terror asked in fear.

“It’s said he’s the strongest, most overmutated, super Trojan horse.  His name?  ‘Great Destroyer.”  He replies.

“Wow!” Little Terror exclaims.  “That reminds me, what are your guys’ names?”  Great Destroyer still continues to, apparently destroy files.

“Me? I’m The Breaker, but you can call me Breaker.  I do most of the talking.” He replies.  He scooches over to the second virus and says. “This, is Quiet Stomper.  So named for not talking, and he stomps to make a computer screen shake and empty files.”  Breaker pauses to check on Great Destroyer, now he stopped and just sits there.  “I bet you’re wondering what I do.  I just break up files into small pieces and block them from being accessed, what do you do?”  Breaker asks Little Terror.

“Not much, just a regular Trojan horse, I access files and change things around.”  He replies.

“That’s IT?!” Breaker yells, then laughs.  “Wow, that’s just so little you do!” He laughs more, until Little Terror can’t stand it.

“THAT IS ENOUGH!” He screams.  “YOU NEED TO LEAVE, NOW!!!”

He walks away, laughing of course.  So, it turns out that this will be like an annoying nightmare…  what next?  To be continued…

Student Writing of the Week 2-13-12

My student writer this week really thinks outside of the box!  Michael shows how you can make your main character truly unique.  His main character is a computer virus!  Enjoy Michael's creative and one of a kind story!

A Viruses Life
by Michael

Ever wonder what those litte microchips hold?  They may contain a virus in it!  This shows what those little bugs may do...

"I can sense a new computer nearbay", this is Little Terror.  He's a nasty little trojan horse, strong enough to melt two computers at once.  What will he do?  "This flash drive just might make it to the computer.  Then I can waltz in and mess it up!"  He announced to himself as the flash drive slowly goes into the USB drive.  That's when he stops imagining things.  Yes he does live in a flash drive, but not a much used one.  *Sigh*, the little bug is always bored.  He has no company.  But that may just change... Right, NOW!

This is rare.  The flash drive Little Terror lives in is plugged in a computer!  Heres the bad thing, little terror doesn't notice!  The one thing is that there are viruses in the computer!  They get moved to the flash drive, and unplugged.  The viruses are now with Little Terror.  How will Little Terror deal with this?  Will he have fun or will this be a total disaster?..

"Oh hey, how did you three guys get here?"  Little Terror asks the three new arrivals.  "Well we were just downloaded to this here folder and was wondering who you were."  One said to Little Terror.  "I am Little Terror, who are you? Wait hold on, what... are... you... DOING!?!"

To be continued...

Wax Museum Favorite Novel Paper

4^th Grade English Language Arts

Wax Museum Favorite Novel Paper

Don’t forget to use complete sentences!  Make sure you answer each question for the sections below.  Each section should be at least one paragraph, but you will probably need more to answer each question, and each paragraph should be 5-7 sentences.  Review your writing for spelling and grammar mistakes before turning it in.  This paper may be typed or handwritten neatly and will be counted as a test grade.  Due on Mon, February 27, 2012. 

Plot Summary

A summary of a fictional text should introduce the title and the author.  It focuses on important events from the beginning, middle, and end of the story leaving out unimportant details.  Organize your summary according to stages of a story’s plot as we discussed in class. 

·         Introduction: The main character(s), setting, and conflict/problem of the story are introduced.

·         Rising Action: Interesting events begin to happen and more information about the conflict is given.

·         Climax: The character comes face to face with their problem.

·         Falling Action: The conflict is resolved.

·         Resolution: The story comes to a reasonable close.  The theme of the book should be clear.  The theme is what the character(s) learned that you can apply to your own life.  Write what you think the theme of the story is.

Scene Selection

What is the most climactic scene involving your character?  Why? Describe, in detail, this scene and what role the character played in what happened in the scene.  What other characters were involved in this scene? (This is the scene you will draw on the background for your wax museum display.)

Character Analysis

Introduce the character you have chosen to feature.  Describe your character in the following ways:

My character….

·         Looks...

o   What does the character look like? How do the character’s physical attributes play a role in the story?

·         Thinks...

o   How would you describe this character’s intelligence? What does this character know? What does this character learn as the story develops?

·         Feels...

o   How does this character feel most of the time? When faced with challenges in the story, what emotions come up for this character?

·         Relates...

o   How does this character get along with other characters in the story? Who does this character choose for friends and why does this character choose them? Does this character have enemies?  How did they come to be enemies?

·         Believes...

o   What does this character believe about the way life is? What are these beliefs based on? How do these beliefs affect the choices this character makes?

Connections

Students who make connections while reading are better able to understand the text they are reading. It is important for students to draw on their prior knowledge and experiences to connect with the text. Students are thinking when they are connecting, which makes them more engaged in the reading experience.  Write about connections you made while reading…

·         Text to self: This reminds me of... (something that happened in your life)

·         Text to text: This reminds me of…(another book or article that you read)

·         Text to world: This reminds me of… (something going on your school, community, or in the world)

Book Review

Write a brief review.  Did you like the book?  Why?  What were your favorite things?  Would you recommend it to anyone you know?