Rm 116's Stories of the Day

Someone (me) forgot that Ms. Veyera's class was ahead of the other 3rd grades and didn't prep the Fibbonaci poetry lesson that was supposed to be today. (It's a fun lesson! Look for a post in a couple of weeks.) The kids asked if we could write another "Fortunately / Unfortunately" story. So we did. You may notice some themes with this class...

image credit: basementrejects.com

One day, a man was going to a party.

Unfortunately, he was the only person at the party.

Fortunately, it was actually a surprise party.

Unfortunately, it started raining sharks.

Fortunately, they had a machine to turn the sharks into kittens.

Unfortunately, the kittens scratched everyone and ruined their clothes.

Fortunately, they had a bunch of rooms and clothes and went into the new clothes.

Unfortunately, the man also turned into a cat.

Fortunately, he was able to speak human.

Unfortunately, there was no way to turn him back.

Fortunately, there were so many kittens on the roof that it broke (which was unfortunate), but then everyone was able to get a free kitten.

Unfortunately, a meteor came down and destroyed all the kittens. 

Fortunately, the kittens came back to life as angels.

Unfortunately, it started raining acid.

Fortunately, it was only in one spot, and they had a pool that was made to have acid in it.

Unfortunately, it wouldn't stop raining and the ground got super full and couldn't absorb any more water.

Fortunately, Maleficent comes and fixes everything, and everyone is back to human again. 

image credit: thedissolve.com

One day, there was an avalanche.

Unfortunately, there was also a bunch of lava and the snow and the lava turned into acid.

Fortunately, there was a way to stop it.

Unfortunately, Godzilla destroyed everything. 

Fortunately, people could pick up the acid into buckets.

Unfortunately, they thought that it was juice and drank it.

Fortunately, Godzilla doesn't destroy anything else because the people were all dead.

photo credit: Pinterest

One day, it was raining and a man went to the store to get valentines.

Unfortunately, on the way, the guy's car broke down. 

Fortunately, a famous star in a limo came along and picked him up. 

Unfortunately, when he got the store, he picked out all the cards for the people he was going to give them to, and the cards tried to eat him. 

Fortunately, he ran away from the cards and told the cashier to lock the shop up.

Unfortunately, none of them were wearing masks, including the cards, and they got sick.

Fortunately, he made his own cards at home. 

Unfortunately, the paper cards turned into origami monsters and tried to eat him.

Fortunately, the limo star came to visit and the limo ran over all the cards. 

Unfortunately, there was a flood that washed everything away.

Fortunately, the flood stopped because everyone kept picking up the water in buckets and throwing it off a cliff. They ended up making a lake.

Unfortunately, it started raining lava. 

Fortunately, his wife turned into a giant monster and defeated the lava. He also turned into a monster, and they had a nice Valentine's Day. 

And from A.C. at the very end: 

One day a man was on his way home.

Unfortunately, it started snowing.

Fortunately, the snow stopped.

Unfortunately, when he got home, there was a bunch of snow that was blocking the door. 

Fortunately, he found something that could heat it up. 

Unfortunately, when he got inside, snow had broken through some windows, and there was broken glass and water all over the floor. 

Fortunately, he had a heater in his house to make everything go away.

Unfortunately, all the warmth got cold from the snow.

Fortunately, he found some more things that were still hot, and he had a microwave to heat everything up. 

Unfortunately, the roof was piling up so much, that the roof started to break. 

Fortunately, a superhero stopped the house from breaking. 

Unfortunately, it was too much, and the roof broke, and everything was hard for them again. 

In Other Words ... with Grade 4

Fourth graders are practicing their paraphrasing skills. First we worked together to come up with synonyms and ways to recast a sentence.

source: https://thesaurus.plus/synonyms/in_other_words

ORIGINAL: The automobile that went by very quickly was maroon. It went through a big puddle and splashed us.

NEW: A car went zooming by a puddle and soaked us

NEW: Swish! The car slammed through the puddle and soaked us with water.

 

ORIGINAL: The educator removed the unruly student from the learning environment because of the sounds he was making

NEW: The student got pulled out of class because he was making noises.

NEW: The rude student was making noises, and the teacher kicked them out.

 

ORIGINAL: I remained awake until the wee hours, absorbing broadcast entertainment. At the present time, I am lacking energy.

NEW: I stayed up late watching TV, and now I'm tired.

NEW: He stayed up all night bingeing movies, so in the morning he was exhausted.

Then they worked on an individual assignment, putting the following sentences into their own words:

During my earlier years, I experienced much conflict with my male and female siblings who were born before me. Now that we are more mature, we have overcome some of our differences and have the ability to interact pleasantly.

Here are some of the new sentences the students came up with:

When I was a kid, my siblings and me would fight a lot. Now that we're older we don't fight as much as we used to. - A.D.

 

When I was younger, I didn't get along with my siblings, but now that we are older I get along with them. - A.L. 

I've learned to love my brother and sister. When we were kids, we didn't get along, but now we do. - D.H.

When I was small, I used to argue with my older brother. Now that were both older we get along a lot better. - K.J.

When I was younger, I had a lot of problems with my older sisters and brothers. Now that we've grown up, we understand our differences and we get along better. - L.O.

When I was young, I fought a lot with my older brother and sister. As we got older, we started to get along a lot better. - L.J.

My older brother and sister and I fought a lot when I was younger. Now that we are older, we get along much better. - X.G. 

Fortunately, Unfortunately with Grades 2 and 3

Thanks to https://ideafm.org/ for the idea and the image.

We read Fortunately by Remy Charlip, a story that follows Ned through a series of problems and resolutions, and talked about plot structure.

Then we wrote our own version as a class ... the kids much preferred coming up with the "unfortunately" parts!

Mrs. Breton's Class

One time, a boy was on an airplane.

Unfortunately, the airplane crashed in the water, and he got eaten by a shark.

Fortunately, there was another swimmer who killed the shark, and he got free.

Unfortunately, he ran into a vampire squid.

Fortunately, he swam up to the surface and the squid couldn't reach him.

Unfortunately, the squid had a harpoon.

Fortunately, the squid missed.

Unfortunately, there was another squid that was much bigger and ate him.

Fortunately, he got out and ran to an island.

Unfortunately, there was a lion.

Fortunately, he climbed a tree and the lion couldn't reach him.

Unfortunately, the lion also had a harpoon.

Fortunately, he dug to an aquarium.

Unfortunately, he ran into a tiger shark and got eaten.

Fortunately, the other guy cut him out. 

Ms. Parenteau's Class

There was a big beach party in New York.

Unfortunately, he lived in Rhode Island and had to babysit his sister.

Fortunately, he had a pool.

Unfortunately, he couldn't swim.

Fortunately, his mom said he could bring his sister to a local beach.

Unfortunately, he didn't have a float.

Fortunately, his friends were there, and they had a float.

Unfortunately, a shark was going to eat him.

Fortunately, the shark hit a rock.

Unfortunately, the shark smashed the rock.

Fortunately, he ran away.

Unfortunately, there was a mountain lion trying to eat him.

Fortunately, his sister threw a life jacket and knocked out the mountain lion.

Unfortunately, the mountain lion bit through the life jacket and broke it.

Fortunately, his sister went to the store and got a new one.

Unfortunately, she didn't have any money.

Fortunately, her mom could pay, and they all had fun on the beach.

Mrs. Riccitelli's Class

You are going to school. 

Unfortunately, you are not prepared for a test.

Fortunately, it was a math test and you had a calculator.

Unfortunately, you aren't allowed to use it.

Fortunately, you have a brain.

Unfortunately, you don't know how to answer the questions.

Fortunately, you take a bunch of guesses and get an A.

Unfortunately, you fall in the pond at recess.

Fortunately, someone helps you up.

Unfortunately, you start bleeding.

Fortunately, there is a doctor's office at your school.

Unfortunately, noone is there.

Fortunately, someone comes.

Unfortunately, it is a zombie.

Fortunately, it is a zombie that does not eat human brains ... it is a vegetarian!

Unfortunately, he doesn't know how to put a band-aid on.

Fortunately, someone else comes in and puts it on.

Unfortunately, the cops come and arrest that kid for stealing a band-aid.

Fortunately, he escapes.

Unfortunately, the cops are faster than him and arrest him.

Fortunately, the kid is Hulk, so he smashes the wall and gets out.

Unfortunately, he falls down.

Fortunately, he finds a donut.

Unfortunately, the donut has bugs on it.

Fortunately, there is an exterminator there.

Unfortunately, the donut tases everyone and they get thrown in prison, and the bars are tased as well.

Fortunately, Hulk's friend Iron Man comes to save him.

Unfortunately, Iron Man gets stuck in the bars as well.

Fortunately, Hulk and Iron Man work together: Hulk smashes the ceiling and holds on to Iron Man and they fly out.

Unfortunately, Wolverine's brother comes. 

Fortunately, Wolverine's brother starts to be nice and calls Santa to bring his reindeer. They use their antlers to smash the bars and help the prisoners escape. (The elves help.)

Unfortunately, the SWAT team is outside.

Fortunately, it is Halloween and they are dressed up.

Unfortunately, they thought they were too old to go trick or treating.

Fortunately, the just defeated a vampire.

Unfortunately, another vampire came.

Fortunately, they all make it back to school in time for the bell.

Ms. Veyera's Class

Once there was a guy in a car.

Unfortunately, there was a swarm of butterflies behind him that picked him up and flew him to space.

Fortunately, there were aliens on the moon who had oxygen tanks to help him breathe.

Unfortunately, they were vicious aliens who ripped off his underwear.

Fortunately, the aliens didn't like his underwear.

Unfortunately, they stole his lollipop.

Fortunately, it started raining cats.

Unfortunately, the cats were vicious and attacked him, and he turned into a cat.

Fortunately, he was a very good cat.

Unfortunately, he lost all his fur.

Fortunately, the cats gave him some spare clothes.

Unfortunately, he did not have any cat food.

Fortunately, he was a blue cat.

Unfortunately, dead birds were falling out of the sky.

Fortunately, the cat was able to heal the birds because if you are a blue cat, you can heal things.

Unfortunately, there was a nuclear bomb coming!

Fortunately, he turned into a bird and they all flew to Neptune.

Unfortunately, they transformed into cats midway and fell from space.

Fortunately, Captain Underpants appeared.

Unfortunately, Captain Underpants got scooped away by a bunch of space butterflies.

Fortunately, the cats landed safely and had a party.

Unfortunately, an alien lumberjack cut off their legs.

Fortunately, the alien lumberjack was just pranking them, and they let him party with him, and he gave them astronaut suits.

Unfortunately, the alien lumberjack got stung by a stingray. 

Fortunately, the cats took over the universe.

Unfortunately, Captain Underpants went to jail, where he turned into a black hole and sucked up the universe. 

Fortunately, the cats knew they could fix the black hole by singing. They were off-key, but it didn't matter. Captain Underpants joined them as a cat. 

Unfortunately, the black hole followed them as a person, and unicorns started riding him. 

Fortunately, the cats turned back into humans and ran faster, and the black hole gave up and disappeared. 

Creepy Underwear!

During Halloween week, we read some "scary" books in Library. One was Creepy Pair of Underwear by Aaron Reynolds, illustrated by Peter Brown. Here is a video of Aaron reading it: 

 

This activity kit from the publisher, Simon and Schuster, includes a blank pair of underwear that you can make look creepy! Or sweet or friendly or funny if you prefer. If you don't have a printer at home, just draw an outline on a piece of paper and then decorate! 

Here are some student designs: 

The Z Was Zapped!

In second grade, we read The Z Was Zapped by Chris Van Allsburg, which features the letters of the alphabet meeting sad fates. The students had to guess the action happening to them, which started with the same letter; for example, the F was flattened by a foot and the Q was quartered. Then the kids submitted their own ideas (see below). One student had TEN ideas!

The A was crushed by an apple

The B got burned

The B was a bear's friend

The C was captured

The E saw an elephant 

The F was fun

The F was frightened

The F was freezing

The F was flying

The F was frustrated

The F was on fire

The L was in the library

The L was long

The M was a monster

The M was mushed

The O was in the ocean

The S was small

The T was tossed

The T was trampled

The T was twisted

The U was a unique unicorn

The Z zig-zagged away