• STUDENT WRITING!!!

    This page will highlight some of the best writing in our class.  It will change frequently, so check our page regularly for cool craft!
    Updated: 12-07-05
     
    Focus on:  SUPERSIZING SIMILES
     
    CLICK THE LINK BELOW FOR A READY-MADE WORKSHEET FOR KIDS:
     

    Orange looks like a patch of pumpkins.

    Orange smells like a bucket of candy.

    Orange feels like being scared on a Halloween night.

    Orange sounds like bats flying around

    Orange tastes like a pumpkin pie: delicious, warm, crispy.

                                by Lauren Shain, 2005

     
    "Bombs fell from the sky and scattered our lives
    like leaves in a storm: drenched, alone, and torn at the heart."
                                                                         - by Allen Say from Grandfather's Journey, recrafted by Sami
    _______________________________________________________________________________
     
    The piece below was written by Jaime on 11-30-05.  It is incomplete.  She has included some sophisticated craft in this piece.  There is something we call a "Supersized Simile Reversed".  Her beginning was also inspired by the picturebook Celia Cruz, Queen of Salsa by Veronica Chambers (Dial, 2005). 
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    As Jaime continues to construct and craft this piece we will post more of it!  Enjoy.
     
    If you want your kids to craft a beginning like Jaime's and the one in the Celia Cruz book use the template link below!
     
    Below is a link to a worksheet that will help you teach "Supersized Similes Reversed". 
     
    BEFORE you teach Supersized Similes Reversed, you may want to think about teaching "Supersized Similes" first!
    Below is a link to a piece written by Sami.  She effectively crafts a Supersized Simile in her Holland Memoir writing. 
    See below:
     
    An explanation of "Supersized Similes" follows:
     
    Another Supersized Simile Activity!
    While starting a separate writing activity focusing on memoir writing we noticed a powerful simile in Allen Say's picturebook
    Grandfather's Journey.  In the book's text the following line appears:
     
    "Bombs fell from the sky and scattered our lives like leaves in a storm."
     
    We decided it was a great simile to recraft into a supersized simile.  Each kid did the following things, among others: 
    *They gathered fallen leaves from outside. 
    *They personally listed 8-12 adjectives or verbs to further describe leaves (or lives!).
    *They recrafted it using three of the best words they listed.
    *They wrote an explanation about why they wrote what they wrote.
     
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    Below are some samples:
    Bombs fell from the sky and scattered our lives like leaves in a storm: blackened, faded and tattered.
                                                                                      - recrafted by Steven
    Steven's explanantion follows:
    "I really liked blackened because two of my leaves had black spots on them and I thought it would be a good word.  My favorite word is tattered. I love the word.  I also chose that word because one of my leaves is totally beat up and has rips and tears and holes in it.  I chose faded because one leaf is yellow and it looks a little faded."
     
     Bombs fell from the sky and scattered our lives like leaves in a storm: melancholy, screaming with the wind, and tumultuous.
                                                                              - recrafted by Ryan
     
    Ryan's explanation follows:
    "I chose melancholy because it was an S.A.T. word and I was trying to describe how the people would feel.  I chose screaming with the wind because it sounds cool.  I picked tumultuous because it means wild."