Tuesday, November 23, 2010

An Extra Credit Story Assignment from Alexander Stadler

Last Friday, the 7th grade attended an exciting author talk and mini-workshop (not to mention Pizza lunch!) with local Philadelphia author and illustrator, Alexander Stadler.  Alex shared a little about himself and his experiences as a writer and illustrator, and then led each group in creating characters, settings, and the beginnings of stories rich in detail and excitement.

This week as an extra credit assignment, you are invited to finish the stories we began with Alex on Friday.  In order for you to receive full credit, write your story in a Microsoft word document first, re-read for any errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling, and then copy and paste your story in a comment below. 


5th Period Lunch prompt:
Bobbie is a goat and life guard on the Jersey shore who somehow manages to do his job well (even though he is terrified of the water.)  He and his friend Genifer the hamster, are on their way to Philadelphia when Chuckie the Gorilla tries to stop them in an angry rampage!  What will happen to Bobbie and Genifer?  What is Chuckie's problem, anyway?  Will our heroes prevail in the end?  Finish the story below.



6th Period Lunch prompt:
Johnny is an odd fellow who enjoys eating vegetables and lives in a dumpster (by choice) with his sister Lolita (Lita for short).  One day, Johnny, Lita, and Pito their dog find a winning lottery ticket.  In order to claim their prize (one million dollars!), Johnny, Lita and Pito must make it downtown to present their ticket by 12:30.  They hop on the bus at 11:45 and start chatting happily about all of the amazing things that they will do with their new fortune.  It's only a 35 minute bus ride away, but the trio is suddenly, and cruelly, stopped by a crazed, flying donkey.  What will happen to Johnny, Lita, and Pito?  Will they make it downtown in time to claim their winnings?  Finish the story below.

12 comments:

  1. DONTAE SAID
    when the flying donkey breath is fire pito found a superpower pill and ate then he spit out water a the flying donkey but it did not hurt because he was on the bus the lita found a magic pill and she could make weapons come to her so she did and she got a boomerang and went outside to attack the dragon IT work the dragon fell and hit is head then pito did a waterbeam in the dragons mouth then he hit is head then forgot what he had to do so then he told them that more dragons were going to attack in 3 days but pito found a food pill and he could command and fuse animals to make 1 so he made a birdog fishcat snakehorse (etc)and his special weapon was the minatarthen they won and some dragon joined to defend the world they called them team pito because pito made the animals fuse and help lita and her brother win

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  2. They just made it on the bus there an angry bear named Chucky. Bobbie and Genifer were so frightened that they cried. Chucky the bear stopped being angry and calmed them down turns out that is how Chucky greets people on the bus. Bobbie and Genifer made friends with Chucky the bear. Chucky the bear even agreed to help them go to Philadelphia. Chucky drove Bobbie and Genifer to Philadelphia. Chucky the bear didn’t have any more fuel to get him back to Jersey Shore. So they all had jobs and got the money for fuel gave it to Chucky and Chucky drove back to Jersey Shore knowing that he made new friends.

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  3. they just made it on the and that flying dounky and his fire breathing breath.Set the bus on fire but they got off just in time before it did.And they were looking for something to stop him and they did A fire extingwesher and they stoped him. And they found some bikes to ride there and win the ticket and they were almost one block away.Until the dounky found some hot chaetos and made his fire breathing breath even more firey.And found them and was chasing them and they were almost there just 5 seconds and he was on there tail.so this little sister still had some trash left from the dumpster and threw it at the dounky and he fell into A puddle of water.And lost his fire breathing breath foreever and they got to the ticket cashing plase on time.and they got the money and they both lived happly ever after.

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  4. After a long life of keeping people safe at the beach, Bobbie decided it was time to set out and enjoy his live with his best friend, Genifer. Although Genifer was a miniscule hamster, she had a humongous personality.
    On a bright, Tuesday morning, Bobbie quit his job and went to Genifer's house, packed and ready with a suitcase full of necessities. He knocked on the weighted door with his horns, and saw Genifer open it with a creak. Bobbie told her about his never-revealed plans to go to Philadelphia and invited Genifer to come with him. After a few short moments of pondering, Genifer agreed, and they set off on an adventure to the city of brotherly love.
    As they sauntered along the sandy path to the bus station, they chatted about their ambitions and ideas about what they wanted to do once they arrived in Philly. After the sandy road turned to a sweltering asphalt pathway, they glanced at their map for a slight moment before walking again.
    After about an hour, they arrived at the bus station. They waited in a line to buy tokens, and when it was finally their turn to ask the person selling them for two, they paused to look behind them when Bobbie and Genifer heard a crash that rang throughout the station, and reverberated along the walls. They gasped when they saw an incredibly large ferocious beast that roared, causing the whole bus station to shake. A wave of terror surrounded Bobbie, but he felt a courageous feeling when he saw how much smaller Genifer was then him. Bobbie leaped up into the sky, and headbutted the large creature with his horns. The beast snarled, but Bobbie slashed him in the arm with his left horn, leaving a small cut. The beast halted, and he gazed at his arm for an extended amount of time. A single tear bulged out of the corner of his eye, and he began to cry when he saw a drop of his blood hit the ground.
    Bobbie felt a weird sensation wash over him, as he took a step forward. The beast backed away, almost tripping over a lamppost. Bobbie felt a little depressed for the creature. He remembered how scary the beast had looked when he first started growling. [Best to forget about it,] Bobbie thought to himself.
    Bobbie and Genifer ventured on and bought the tokens to go to Philadelphia, and stepped onto the bus that awaited them. After a long trip, they arrived in Philly three hours later.
    Bobbie and Genifer lived a more exciting happily ever after, and they never forgot about the beast at the bus station.

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  5. So, while the big donkey was breathing fire in the air everywhere, Johnny had a couple pancakes from the dumpster when he was digging for food to eat. He started pegging the donkey with pancakes. Just when the donkey was going to fire breathe over his little sister, Johnny threw a pancake into the donkey’s mouth and it got stuck in his throat. The donkey started to suffocate and died. People were cheering for Johnny. He had 2 minutes left to get the million dollars. Johnny, Lita, and Pito rushed as fast as they could to get the million dollars but they were too late. They left the building sad. Then the president came down in a helicopter. The president was happy that Johnny saved the town. The president said he would give Johnny anything for what he did to save the town. Johnny asked for 1 million dollars. Then with that money they lived happily ever after.

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  6. Then the flying donkeys interrupted their happiness to win a million so then they got off the bus and ran but then the flying donkeys got in their way so they picked up this big rock that was making traffic and then they threw it on the ground to make evenly pieces to throw at the flying donkeys and those small pieces that they broke up were heavy so hey threw at them and they moved out the way so then they got in and then they went to the main desk and said I'm here to pick up a million dollars and then the person said where's the ticket he said right here then he got it then all the news reporters said here is the boy that one a million dollars and everyone screamed and was like yeah so then they asked what are you going to do with that a million dollars Johnny was like I'm going to buy me and my sister some clothes from american eagle hollister a&f and all the candy in the world except for nasty candy and they were happy they caught a bus to cherry hill mall and got all their clothes and came back to philadelphia and went back to wherever they came from and they lived happily ever after.THE END

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  7. Johnny and Lolita watched in horror at the gigantic flying donkey which was about to burn down city hall until suddenly…it saw something! Something so small, so eensy teensy, so itty bitty that nobody had an idea what exactly it was looking at. The gigantic flying donkey stopped gathering up all of its energy to burn down the city’s most important building and…smiled? Since it could see whatever-it-was very well (flying donkeys have very good eyesight, you know), it happily flew over to that eensy teensy, itty bitty thing and ate it.
    You could only understand why such a thing would eat a poor eensy teensy itty bitty snail if you knew the history of flying donkeys, which I won’t tell you now, and has nothing to do with this story, other than the fact that they both have to do with snails. To make a long story short, flying donkeys adore snails.
    Back to the original story, the flying donkey stuck out its tongue and slurped up the poor snail with a loud SLURP! After 30 seconds of chewing and savoring, the flying donkey spit out the shell, sending it flying blocks, and blocks away, hitting Betsy Ross’ window and shattering it into little pieces (which made Betsy cross her arms and her face turn and odd shade of purple and shake so hard that something fell off her neck in heaven).
    The people who were watching the scene were too busy trying to figure out what exactly the creature ate and what the heck it spit out to notice the flying donkey once again start gathering its energy to burn down city hall. But the bus sure did. When everyone exited the bus to get a closer look at the window (even though it was blocks and blocks away), the bus started to twist and turn until it eventually looked somewhat like a dome, completely covering city hall like a shield and from harm’s way.
    The flying donkey huffed and puffed but just couldn’t blow past the bus. This gave Johnny and Lolita the chance to get into city hall, run up the steps, and get to the top where the mayor’s office was. They busted in through the doors, wheezing and panting from the steps to find no one in the large office. The large clock above the mayor’s desk read 12:29. Just in time for their 2 million dollars. Then a shadowy, shaking figure immerged from behind the desk and said “Who are you?”
    “I’m Johnny, and this is my sister Lita. We’re here to claim the 2 million dollars from the numbers on the lottery ticket that were announced today. ”
    “And how old are you two?”
    “Well I’m twelve and my sister’s ten.”
    “Aww shucks. Don’t you kids know that you have to be eighteen or older to claim a ticket?”
    The two children’s faces dropped. They both shook their heads. They have never been so disappointed in their lives. The solemnly left the room, walked slowly down the steps, and walked home, to their dumpster. Johnny crawled in the dumpster and lay down in the heap of trash. “I’m sorry I got your hopes up,” he said to Lita, but she wasn’t listening. She was staring at a pure gold, diamond studded necklace on the ground, with no one paying attention to it.
    Soon after, they sold it on eBay for a jillion dollars and finally bought the house that Lita wanted for so long. Everyone else? The bus eventually kicked the flying donkey’s butt right into the stars, onto Snail World, where the flying donkey could eat an unlimited amount of snails. The bus won a golden plaque for its good deeds and for saving the entire city from its doom. Everyone was happy that day days except for poor Betsy Ross, who ended up with a broken window and a lost gold necklace, studded with diamonds which unknowingly fell onto Earth never to be seen again.

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  8. @Seventh Grade Creative Writers:

    One thing that I am thankful for this weekend is the opportunity to read such fantastically creative stories.

    Keep them coming! Don't forget to compose in a Word Document so that you can better proofread your work.

    Great job!

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  9. The trio find themselves in grave danger between them and the donkey dragon. So they walk straight up to the donkey dragon and say, “yo, you stupid fire breathing weirdo donkey dragon, what’s your problem making the town hall erupt into flames like that, a bunch of people could get killed, hurt, dismembered, severed, messed up, or even get burned or gotten lit on fire?” The donkey dragon was so surprised that it took a few minutes for him to realize that he was still standing there so then he picked up Jhonny and ate him, then his sister too but Pito hid where the donkey dragon couldn’t get him. Then the donkey dragon cried out “my name is King Hee- Haaw-Haw, I am a Norweigan Ridgeback, you shall all serve me now, I am now your ruler, no type of weaponry has ever even left a scratch on me so don’t even try to do so.” The people were flabergasted, then they all started running around in circles and screaming. After that encounter everybody hid inside buildings but the donkey dragon just picked up buildings and chucked them into his mouth along with the people in it. That is the story for now but just to reassure you, Jhonny and Lolita are still alive… unfortunately. THE END… for now.

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  10. there trap. time was waisting. the donky was about to beat the kids un pieces.jonny "i have a plan u destract the donky or i do it and some one goese and cash that lotery."ok said lolita. so lolita rans to cityhall and cash it.while jonny is going to risck his live."ok donky lets rumble"it was terrible.jonny got his hinny wup. jonny could't do much .he was a bout to sorender.in his heart it said never give up.while lolita was cashing the money he saw his brother laying down. like an died animal that just died.but lolita saw jonny got up and ran towers lolita and run. lolita got the cash and raned. jonny got lolitas hand and told her'ltes run until we drop becuase the donky is going to see us, lets run and buy somthing use ful of that money".so they ran it was still these mericle day. a bus was going to pass and the donky was caching up. they ran as fast to the bus stashion . they tooked out $2 each and got in .the donky was no more a situation they'r freee.the first thing in there minds is to buy a house ,food ,tools, some equipment,and save some money and another thing is to find there parent to be continue

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  11. These are great! Great job seventh graders.
    -Emilie from the Rosenbach

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  12. Chuckie calms down for a little while and lets them on the bus as they continue their journey. They were on the bus for a long time and then suddenly, Chuckies mother walks right in front of the bus. Chuckie is surprised and scared. Bobbie and Genifer walk up to Chuckie and ask "what’s wrong, it’s just your mother.” He answers “I know, I ran away from her to live my dream, and drive a bus.” Chuckies mother storms on the bus. She admittedly screamed at Chuckie, and then grabbed him by the ear, and they left. “How are going to get to Philadelphia now Genifer.” They both stepped off the bus and gazed at the landscape upon them. Until suddenly Neil Armstrong comes from out of no where, and says “I will be happy to help you.” Bobbie and Genifer jump up and down in glee. “Thank you.” Says Genifer. “Hop on.” Says Neil. They both hop on his space ship and lifted off. In only thirty seconds, they arrive at Philadelphia.
    They hopped off and said to each other “thanks for the help.” And they both went their separate ways.

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