Categories
Kiley's Stories

The Volcano

Boom! The volcano exploded with fire. I heard a bloodcurdling scream, and I was shaken awake by my father. He told me to get dressed. I tore off my pajamas and yanked on my red shirt. I threw on some jeans and stuffed my sneakers onto my feet. I zipped up my black jacket and hurtled out the door.

Mt. Saint Helens had exploded at last. My father and I were not the only ones running away. People were fleeing everywhere. I expected us to take a plane, but my father lead me right past the airport to the train station. This place had less people. We rushed aboard just as the train pulled away. I slumped into a seat next to a window and looked out as the wonderful state of Washington faded, under deep seas of lava, before my very eyes.

Categories
Book of the Week

Week 5: The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a very cute book by Eric Carle. This book is about a little baby caterpillar that gets very, very, very hungry! It is an adorable tale that tells kids a bit about the life cycle of a caterpillar.

Ask

  • Why is the caterpillar so hungry in this story?
  • What did you learn about a caterpillar from this story?

Write 

  • Write a story about you being hungry. Describe all the food that you eat and have a surprise ending for your readers.

Draw

  • Draw a picture of your very own caterpillar. Add some detail. On the back of your paper draw a pretty butterfly to show the change of a caterpillar.
Categories
Kiley's Stories

The Four Little Girls

This is a story that I wrote in kindergarten. I want to put this story up because it’s a little bit cute to have something from when I was 6. I hope you enjoy this story. (My mom says it’s a bit strange, but I like it.)

Once there was a little girl who had no faith in herself.  She waits and waits for something to happen to her, but it never happens.

Then, she says, “I don’t like living in this place.  I live in Oceanland.  It’s just so lonely.  There are farms outside of it.  There’s a duck pond.  Everything looks so fun.  But . . . but, I’m lonely.”

Then one day, a girl named Chloe says to her friends, “Come on, guys, look at this little girl.  She needs a friend.”  (Chloe says that because she’s a very good friend.)

Chloe goes over to the little girl and says, “What’s your name?  I’m Chloe!”  (And, she pointed her thumb at herself.)

And, the little girl says shyly, “Martha.”

Chloe says, “These are my friends, Jane and Emily.”

“Hi,” says Jane.

“Guys, I think she is a little shy,” says Emily.

Then, Chloe whispers to her friends, “Well, I guess we could ask her if she knows how to read and write.”

“That’s a good idea,” says Jane.  She has a bag and a little purse.  Inside of the bag is school books (a coloring book, a math book, and a book that they can read).  In her little purse, she has a pencil case, three boxes of crayons, five sticks of glue, two things of tape, and 15 pieces of paper.  (Jane has all this stuff because she is rich.)

Categories
Book of the Week

Week 4: Ten Little Ladybugs by Melanie Gerth

Ten Little Ladybugs is an adorable book for young children learning how to count. In this delightful story, ten little ladybugs are sitting on a leaf. One by one they get taken away! How did these insects disappear? Find out in Ten Little Ladybugs!

Ask

  • What can you learn from this story?
  • What happens to the ladybugs in this book?

Write

  • Write about a bug that has bad things happen to it. How does it get in trouble? What type of bug is it?

Draw

  • Draw a ladybug. Add detail to the background.
Categories
Reviews

Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining by Anne Mazer

The Amazing Days of Abby Hayes is a great series of books by Anne Mazer.  The first book in this fantastic collection is Every Cloud has a Silver Lining. In this story a young girl named Abby Hayes wants to be a soccer star. She works hard to stay fit, eat healthy, and practice, practice, practice! Abby uses all of her effort to make her school soccer team. Find out if Abby makes the team in Every Cloud has a Silver Lining.

Categories
Kiley's Stories

The Titanic

On Saturday 100 years ago the Titanic hit an iceberg that made the grand ship’s first journey her last.

Fourteen years before the Titanic, an author named Morgan Robertson wrote a book called the Titan. The Titanic was almost an exact replica of the Titan. In this author’s book, the Titan crashed in to an iceberg and sunk. It was a creepy prophecy for what would happen to the Titanic 14 years later. The Titan gave builders and engineers an idea to build the Titanic… and that’s where it all started.

The Titanic was the biggest ship known to man. Her three anchors weighed 31 tons! Each of the huge funnels on Titanic was big enough to drive two trains through. The Titanic had nine decks making it 11 stories tall. The Titanic was an enormous ship!

The Titanic hit the iceberg at around 11:40 pm, April 14, 1912. The great ship sank at about 2:20 am. Only six people out of 1,500 were saved from the icy waters of the North Atlantic. Seven hundred people were saved in boats. One of the survivors was Rosa Abbot. Rosa had two sons and both of them died in the crash. The three Abbots had jumped into the water, but only Rosa came up.

The Titanic was not the only historical event on April 14, 1912.  The same night that the Titanic sank, a young woman named Harriet Quimby was the first female pilot to fly across the English Channel. Harriet Quimby used to be a reporter but she left her normal city job to follow her dreams of becoming a pilot.

The Titanic was a horrible loss but a very intriguing topic that I hope more people take an interest to.

Categories
Books

Happy Birthday, Mommy

Haikus for Mommy

I love my mommy!
She takes care of and loves me.
Happy birthday, Mom!

A kindred spirit;
She will always care for me.
Have a great birthday!

I love my mom with all my heart and I hope that she had a fantastic birthday!

Categories
Book of the Week

Week 3: The Scrambled States of America by Laurie Keller

This week’s book of the week is The Scrambled States of America. This is a fun and silly book by Laurie Keller. In this exciting story, the states decide that they are tired of being stuck in the same places every day, and they want to have a party. A few states think that it would be fun to trade spots with each other, and before you know it the states are packing their bags and swapping places. This turns out to be a disaster along with some very scrambled states of America! Find out what happens by reading The Scrambled States of America.

Ask

  • Why did the states want to trade places with each other?
  • How did the states fix their problem?

Write

  • Write about what it would be like if you were a state. Who did you trade with? What problems came your way? Use details to describe your life as a state.

Draw

  • Draw your own state. Include color and detail. Draw your state capital and a few cities.
Categories
Books

Ankylosaurus

By Austin C. G. (first grade)

Hello! My name is Austin. I am a paleontologist. My favorite dinosaur is . . . Ankylosaurus! You thought I was going to say T-rex!  Because everybody loves a T-rex but ankylosaurus can beat a T-rex if it had to!

They have a club on the end of the tail for fighting. Paleontologists used to think they had a second brain there but they don’t. The ankylosaurus eats plants. They are herbivores! It was 25–35 feet long. It weighed 3–4 tons. It had bony plates on its eyes and all over it. But its belly was not guarded by anything.

Categories
Kiley's Stories

The Eggs’ Point of View

Yesterday I went to a really fun party called Eggstravaganza! I decided to write some Good News/Bad News stories about this super fun party. I hope you like them!

The Dyed Egg

  • Fortunately, the super-awesome Mrs. R. bought me at the store with my 11 brothers and sisters.
  • Unfortunately, a little boy with blue eyes and blonde hair dyed me.
  • Fortunately, he dyed me lots of pretty colors, like red, blue, and orange.
  • Unfortunately, he chucked me into a hard cup.
  • Fortunately, I got to sit back and watch the plastic eggs do the egg hunt.
    But that’s another story . . .

 

The Plastic Egg

  • Fortunately, I was chosen to be in a cool, backyard egg hunt.
  • Unfortunately, I got thrown into a white bucket covered in butterflies.
  • Fortunately, I had yummy candy inside me.
  • Unfortunately, the short, little girl with brown hair took the candy.
  • Fortunately, she put me into a large pile with all my friends.
  • Unfortunately, then I was put away.
  • Fortunately, I can come back out next year!

 

The Tossed Egg

  • Fortunately, I got picked to be in an egg toss.
  • Unfortunately, I was super scared that I would break.
  • Fortunately, the ladies tossing me won the egg toss!
  • Unfortunately, they wanted to see how much longer they could go without dropping me.
  • Fortunately, they caught me twice in a row without dropping me.
  • Unfortunately, Mrs. M threw me way too high, and I hit a power line. Then, I broke on the street
  • Fortunately, Kiley took a picture of me, and I think I look fabulous!
         Don’t I look eggcellent?

Thank you so much, Mr. and Mrs. R. The party was great!