WC4

WRITING ABOUT MY SUMMER VACATION
By Mary Emma Allen

Do you remember that essay most every school child had to write the first week of school? So often it was titled, "What Did I Do On My Summer Vacation?"

Since I grew up on a farm, my summers consisted of working in the garden, cutting and baling hay, caring for farm animals and swimming in the brook. Sometimes we took a family trip. At our 4-H Club we prepared exhibits for the county fair.

To me that wasn't exciting. Even though I liked to write, I found it difficult to write about the same thing summer after summer.

Our teachers usually didn't come up with various ways to make the lesson interesting, suggesting different types of articles we could write, or urging us to draw pictures to accompany our essays. So I often dreaded this first writing assignment.

Various Ways to Write About Summer Vacations

However, there are a number of variations on the summer vacation theme, ways to give young writers choices and to make this writing lesson more interesting and challenging.

*Take One Segment - Instead of writing about the whole summer, young writers can recall one segment or event. Focus on that. To get them thinking about which segment, ask a few questions.

What one thing comes to their mind first about summer vacation?

Did they go to camp?

Did they make a new friend?

Did they have an interesting or challenging job?

Did something funny happen?

Did they go on a trip?

*Create a How-To Article - Think of something they learned to do or make during the summer. Then describe the succession of steps necessary to show someone else how to do the same thing.

*Compose a Poem or a Song - Write a poem describing an event or feeling about their summer vacation. Help your young writers make a list of various topics they could write about. Select one of them to use in a rhyming or non-rhyming poem.

*Draw Pictures or Cartoons - Some writers work better if they sketch their ideas or adventures first. Then they write a story to accompany these illustrations. If the young writer wants to be experimental, he/she can draw a series of pictures, similar to a cartoon strip, to tell the story.

*Write a Play - Think about an exciting event or experience from summer and turn it into a one-act play. Use about three characters (so it's not an overwhelming project), write dialogue and give stage directions. They also could plan this as a group activity.

*Tell a Story Based On An Adventure or Mystery - Ask them to think of something they did this summer that was exciting or unusual, something that stands out in their mind. Make this into an adventure or mystery story. Let the imagination take over and expand upon the incident that happened to them. The story could be about the writer or an imaginary character.

*Conduct an Interview - Suggest they think of someone they met this summer (young person or adult) who made an impression upon them. That person could be a family member or friend. They can write a series of questions they'd like to ask that person.

Then you might help them send an e-mail query to the person and explain they'd like to ask some questions for a school project. In all likelihood, the person will agree to be interviewed, either in person, by e-mail, or by phone, depending on the logistics.

*Develop a Travel Article - If the young writer traveled this summer, perhaps he/she will select one place they visited and write an article about it so others would find it exciting and want to stop there, too. They might research that place on the Internet for more information. Then describe it, telling what they saw and did, and mentioning why others would like it, too. (Studying how other travel articles are written would help.)

*Research a Travel Guide of One’s Hometown - So often we think we've done nothing if we've only stayed at home during the summer. However, other people like to visit our home town. Why not write about some interesting places and events?

Then make a tri-fold brochure about their hometown, with descriptions and perhaps sketches of various places to visit and things to do.

Spin-Offs of the Project

Once your students have begun to brainstorm various ideas, they'll find many interesting ways to describe their summer vacation. They may want to do more than one of these summer vacation projects and tie it in with other subjects, such as:

*Reading - researching their topic on the Internet or in books.

*Drama - acting out their play.

*Art - making drawings to accompany their work and possibly a stage setting for their play.

*Geography - checking out places they've visited and making maps.

*History - studying the background of their hometown or a place they visited.

"My Summer Vacation" can become a fascinating project with endless spin-off possibilities.

(c) 2003 Mary Emma Allen

Mary Emma Allen writes for children and teaches workshops for young authors, encouraging them to write and illustrate. "Tales of Adventure & Discovery" contains many of her stories and illustrations. She also has published a companion coloring book . Visit her web site at: http://homepage.fcgnetworks.net/jetent/mea; E-mail: me.allen@juno.com

FUN WITH FORMULA POETRY
By Lynne Remick

Writing poems can be easy as A-B-Cs or just naming parts of speech (i.e., nouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions or verbs). Just take a look at these fast forms, then try a hand at your own!

ABC Poem - A three-lined poem. First line starts with A, second line with B, and third line starts with C.

ABCs of Poetry
© 2003 Lynne Remick

A poem can
B written in many forms
C what I mean?

Note: If you find this poem easy, keep going through the alphabet and see how far you get. For a variation start with Z and work backwards.

Conjunction Poem - Start each line of the poem, except for the last, with a conjunction.

The Undiscoverer of America
(c)2003 Lynne Remick

But if the world were flat,
And if I were Columbus
Or Magellan,
I think I'd rather stay at home.

Note: Keep going with the conjunctions as long as you can before using the last line to sum up your point.

Noun Poem- All words must be nouns (Person, place, thing, feeling or idea). Start with specific nouns
and end on a general noun that sums up the others.

Snapshots
© 2003 Lynne Remick

Camera
Lens
Film
Flash
Memories

Note: If you think this poem is easy, try it out with all verbs, all adjectives or all adverbs and see what you can come up with.

Parts of Speech Poem - A seven-lined poem written in the shape of a diamond. First line is one Noun. Second line is two adjectives. Third line is three verbs. Fourth line is four nouns that provide a transition from the first part of the poem to the second part of the poem. Fifth line is three verbs. Sixth line is two adjectives. Seventh line is one noun (opposite of line one).

Animal Magnetism
© 2003 Lynne Remick

Cat
Independent, lazy
Eating, purring, sleeping
Pet, Hunter, Sentry, Friend
Barking, Chasing, Fetching,
Energetic, dependent
Dog

Poem-Generator Poem: Using one line for each word, choose: Adjective 1, Adjective 2, Adjective 3, Adjective 4, Adjective 5, Noun 1, Noun 2, Noun 3, Noun 4, Noun 5, Person 1, Person 2, Verb 1, Verb 2, Verb 3, Verb 4, Verb 5, Verb 6, Verb 7, Your Name.

My Unusual Pets
(c) 2003 Lynne Remick

Silly,
Quilly,
Tickly,
Prickly,
Roly-poly.
Pig
Hog
Porcupine
Pog
Hedgehog
Squeaks,
Sticks,
Rolls,
Sniffs,
Licks,
Lynne.

Preposition Poem - A preposition is any word that fits into the following sentence: The bear went ___ the mountains. List 15 prepositions that fit into the above sentence. In a preposition poem, each line starts with a preposition except for the last line.

Way Up High
© 2003 Lynne Remick

Over my head
Outside the roof
In the sky
Beyond the birds
Above the clouds
Beneath the Milky Way
The sun shines!

If you've mastered any two or more poems, make your own poetry form by combining any one ore more of the formulas. Try it---I bet you're a poet, even if you didn't know it!

Lynne Remick resides in New York with her beloved son Kevin, a darling Schipperke named Dante and Sahara-a feral cat, along with a spoiled Hedgehog named Willow and her three babies, Winken, Blinken and Nod. In the midst of this zoo, Lynne studies children's literature, reviews children's books and writes stories and poems for children.

WRITE FOR THE HOLIDAYS, By Mary Emma Allen

The holiday seasons of November and December, however one celebrates them, provide a wealth of opportunities for young writers. Many different types of writing can evolve - stories, plays, non-fiction, poetry, and thank you notes.

Much writing abounds to give writers inspiration and ideas for work of their own. This also provides an opportunity to delve into the holiday customs of one’s country and culture, or the season of the year.

STORIES - Brainstorm story ideas with your young writers. To get started, try some of these suggestions:

* Write a story pretending you're celebrating a holiday in a different country.

* Place yourself as a character in a holiday story you've read and create an adventure for yourself in that setting.

* Write a holiday story with two or three different endings.

* Write a holiday mystery story.

* Then write a story with a partner.

* Write a story with each person in the group adding a paragraph until you've finished it.

NON-FICTION - This type of writing can be a research report, review of a holiday play or book, interviews, or travel tale.

* Check out the customs of holidays in other countries

* Find out about the foods served this time of year and compile a recipe booklet.

* Learn what other children do to celebrate

* Find out about celebrations that aren't your own.

* Interview older people and learn how they celebrated when they were children

* Compile a booklet of your family’s customs, past and present.

PLAYS - This is a type of writing youngsters often don't consider. When my sister and I were young (in the days before television and video), we often wrote puppet skits and performed them for our family. We tied strings to the arms and legs of our dolls and stuffed animals to convert them into puppets. These skits have remained in my memory as some of my first writing.

* Have the youngsters write plays to perform for class or family. This can be the culmination of research they've done into a holiday topic or based on a story they've read.

* Write a puppet play. Part of this project could involve making puppets of various materials and designs. These could include cloth puppets, papier mache puppets, finger puppets, shadow puppets, etc.

POETRY - Youngsters usually enjoy writing poetry on many topics. Brainstorm about holiday ideas that lend themselves to poetry. You can experiment with different types of poetry....haiku, line poems, rhyming poems, descriptive poems, and shape poems, along with others.

This can be a poetry lesson with a study of the various types, trying to write a poem of each kind based on holiday topics they've researched. They also can illustrate the poems and create a booklet or collages.

THANK YOU NOTES - Perhaps you don't think of this as a holiday writing topic, but thank you notes come to mind when I recall holidays of my childhood. The day after Christmas, Mother had us children sit at the dining table and compose thank you notes for relatives and friends who gave us gifts.

I guess, because I always enjoyed writing of almost any type, I never minded doing these notes. We could:

* Sketch pictures

* Practice calligraphy

* Write them simply and quickly.

So that youngsters don't dread this type of writing, encourage their creativity.

* Use papers of different colors and textures

* Decorating the notes with collage and scrapbooking techniques

* Perhaps even write a story about their holiday activities for a distant relative.

Holiday writing can take many forms. Brainstorm with your students and family to have writing fun as the season approaches, whether you're celebrating November or December holidays.

(c)2003 Mary Emma Allen

Mary Emma Allen is the author of Tales of Adventure & Discovery. She’s compiling a book of her writing activities for young writers. Send her an e-mail if you'd like to be on her mailing list of updates on this project. Visit her web site: http://homepage.fcgnetworks.net/jetent/mea ; E-mail: me.allen@juno.com

TRY A TURKEY LIMERICK
By Lynne Marie Pisano

Of course, I know that the Limerick is a poetry form that comes from Ireland and was created by a man named Edward Lear. I know, also, that Ireland doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving (it is strictly an American holiday--Pilgrims, the Mayflower, Plymouth Rock, New England, Indians and all that). Still, turkeys are silly looking birds and what better way to pay tribute to this kooky creature than with a laughable limerick!

So, now you know your subject--turkeys. You know your form-Limerick. Keep in mind that Limericks for kids are not always flattering upon the subject, but should always be fun. Next, you should consider that a Limerick must tell a complete short story in (1) one scene.

Your turkey scene can be played out within the structure of (5) five lines.

When setting up your five lines, remember that the first, second and fifth lines should (usually) follow a rhythm of 3 anapestic feet (uu/, 2 unstressed followed by 1 stressed) each. The third and fourth lines are usually 2 anapestic feet. Lines 1, 2 and 5 will rhyme (rhyme pattern a), and lines 3 and 4 will rhyme (rhyme pattern b).

Here's what a Limerick would look like in stressed beats:
ta da DUM ta da DUM ta da DUM (A)
ta da DUM ta da DUM ta da DUM (A)
ta da DUM ta da DUM (B)
ta da DUM ta da DUM (B)
ta da DUM ta da DUM ta da DUM (A)

If you read these beats out loud, you will see that it is a familiar rhythm and you will need only to replace that rhythm with words that make sense. You can then play around with the end words to make certain that lines 1 and 2 rhyme with each other and line 5, and that line 3 rhymes with line 4.

Here's an example of a poem I came up with that matches this rhythm.

A Perky Turkey
© 2003 Lynne Marie Pisano

There once was a thanks-giv ing tur-key (A)
TA DA DUM TA DA DUM TA DA DUM
Whose fu----ture seemed so ver y mur-ky (A)
ta da DUM ta da DUM ta da DUM
Then one day he got wise (B)
ta da DUM ta da DUM
And put on a dis-guise (B)
ta da DUM ta da DUM
And said, some one pass the beef jer----ky. (A)
ta da DUM ta da DUM ta da DUM

Final Version (Without Rhymes/Stresses):

There once was a thanksgiving turkey
Whose future seemed so very murky
Til one day he got wise
And put on a disguise
And said, someone pass the beef jerky!

Now, it's your turn. Challenge your muse and write your own turkey limerick. You can put turkey anywhere in the limerick (that way you won't have to rhyme that word if you don't want to-they're aren't many rhyming possibilities), but it must be contained within the poem and not just the title.

Lynne Pisano resides in New York with her beloved son Kevin, a darling Schipperke named Dante and Sahara-a feral cat, along with a spoiled Hedgehog named Willow and her three babies, Winken, Blinken and Nod. In the midst of this zoo, Lynne studies children's literature, reviews children's books and writes stories and poems for children.