November 13, 2016

Dry Island Disaster - Silly Story #2

Below is the next Silly Story, inspired by my class. To help practice story elements, they provide the characters, setting, problem, and solution, and I combine them all together before they add the illustrations. Please enjoy!

Dry Island Disaster

SpongeBob was taking his dog Pepper out for a walk. They had a great time trotting around the ocean floor, playing fetch with some clam shells, and playing hide and go seek around the coral reef.

As they were walking back to their pineapple home, Pepper started barking loudly.

“Rawf! Rawf Rawf!”

“What’s wrong Pep?” asked SpongeBob. The barking just got louder and louder.

Rawf! Rawf! Rawf!”

SpongeBob heard a faint cry in the distance. “Help!”

As the pair followed the sound, it was clear someone needed help.

The sound was coming from a nearby island called Pickleton.

There was only one house on Pickleton Island:  Marina’s mansion.

As SpongeBob and Pepper approached, they could tell the cries for help were coming from their good friend Olaf the snowman. He was struggling to stay afloat in the water.

“I’ll help!” declared SpongeBob.

Before he could, Pepper was already doggy-paddling towards Olaf. He finally reached him and grabbed him by his carrot nose, but Olaf was way too heavy for Pepper. Now both of them needed help.

SpongeBob sprung to action. He jumped into the water and using his spongy body to soak up water.
And more water. And more water.

SpongeBob was no longer himself. He was gigantic, much bigger than Pickleton Island. He had soaked up all the water. Olaf and Pepper were able to walk to the front door of Marina’s mansion.

Just as they got there, Marina snapped open the door. “What’s going on here?”

Olaf answered, “I fell in the water  so Pepper came to save me and then SpongeBob came to save him and now. . ..now.  . . .he’s huge and the island is dry!”

“I think I can fix this.” Marina invited Olaf and Pepper to the roof of her mansion and had SpongeBob lay down on the ground.

“On the count of 3, we jump on Bob. Ready. 1! 2! 3!” The trio jumped onto the supersized sponge. When they landed, the water burst out the side and re-filled the island. SpongeBob was a little dazed but happy to be back to himself again.

SpongeBob joked, “Anybody wanna go for a swim?”


November 4, 2016

Back on the Saddle - Silly Story #1

It has been a crazy 2016. A good crazy but crazy nonetheless. Blogging here hasn't really been a priority. In fact, any time for any type of writing has been harder and harder to come by. To get the creative juices and motivate myself to try and get some more time for writing into my life, I decided to combine writing with my classroom and came up with what my class and I call Silly Stories.  Essentially, to review story elements, I ask the class to provide characters, a setting, a problem, and a solution and I scramble to write a silly story with the information they provided. The stories may not be award winners but they certainly get the creative juices flowing and I absolutely love watching my kids react to the story they helped create.  

Below is our first story.  I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Elroy And Elsa

Elroy the Elephant was walking to the candyland village to pick up the Gary the gingerbread man. They had a slumber party planned at Ricky’s house.

When Elroy and Gary got to Ricky’s they played games, made popcorn, and watched a movie.  After the movie was finished, they decided they wanted to go on an adventure.

Ricky’s little sister, Elsa, asked, “Can I come along?”

“No way! You’re just a little girl,” the boys replied. Elsa walked away slowly.

“Let’s all go the volcano!” Elroy, Gary, and Ricky sprinted towards the volcano. They ran up the side of the mountain and when they tried to stop, they ended up smashing into each other and Elroy fell right in. He was a huge elephant so he got stuck in the crater and couldn’t get out.

“Help! Help! Help!” Elroy screamed.  Ricky and Gary tried to pull with all their might but Elroy wouldn’t budge. 

Suddenly the volcano started shaking and quaking.

“Oh no,” the boys said. “It’s going to erupt!  We need to get Elroy out! NOW!”

They pulled again with all the strength they had. Still stuck.

Just when they were about to give up, they felt a chill behind them. They looked and saw Elsa, snow and ice forming around her.

“What are you doing here?” yelled Ricky.

“Even though you said I couldn’t come, I did anyways. I wanted to play with you. And now, I might even be able to help”

“How?” asked Gary.

“Stand back!”

Elsa lifted her hands and with a flick of her wrist, turned the volcano and all of the lava into an icy glacier.

Elroy was able to slip right out, though he was a bit chilly.

“Th th th th th thanks! Elsa!” he said.

“You’re welcome!” she said.


And from then on, Elsa was always allowed to play with the boys whenever she wanted.