We wrote diamante poems about clouds. A diamante poem is called this because it is in the shape of a diamond. We used adjectives to describe clouds and verbs to illustrate what clouds do. Have a look!

We wrote acrostic poems about respect. In our class, we agree to be 'Fresh.' That means we are Fair, Respectful, Engaging, Safe and Honest. 

We wrote disgusting recipes for a witch's potion for Halloween! 

 Ingredients:
A frog's tail
Human blood mixed with a bat's blood
A human's legs
Slime
A computer
A vampire's teeth
   
Method:
Put the vampire's blood in the cauldron.
After a year, mix it with the human's legs.
Then take all of the ingredients and put them in a bowl.

WARNING!
       This may turn you into a snake!

-Dival

We used Michael Rosen's poem On the Train to inspire our own poetry!

 In the Car by Sebastian

When you go in the car
And the road goes past the back of houses in a town
You can see there's thousands and thousands
Of things going on:
Cars are parked
A building is on fire 
A dog is playing
A dog is fighting 
People are in the field
People are riding horses 
A dog is chasing a cat
A party is in the tow
A football game is happening
And then it's all gone. 


On the Luas by Robyn

When you go on the Luas
And the line goes past the backs of houses in a town
You can see there's thousands and thousands 
Of things going on 
People are playing on a field
A man is shaving
And then it's all gone.

We are using pictures to help us write creatively. When we read stories, we are able to create a picture in our minds. We are learning how to paint a picture with our words. 

In order to describe a setting, we imagined what it would be like to be in this place. We described what we could see in the picture. Then we thought about what we might hear, smell and feel if we were there. We described these sights, sounds, smells and feelings in our piece of writing. We ended up with what could become the start of a very interesting story! Here are some examples:

" I see stars twinkling. I see a grave. I see a broken building. I see darkness falling. I see dying grass. I hear birds cawing. I hear trees moaning. I smell flowers- burning flowers. I feel a ghost near me. I feel mountains crawling. I feel leaves cracking. I hear mushrooms calling my name. I feel sharks are coming near. I feel a monster. I feel air grabbing onto me."
-Eric

"I see a broken building. I see trees. I see a cut tree with mushrooms growing on the cut tree. I see one grey stone on the stinky ground. I see some leaves on trees. I see some purple mushrooms. I smell grass. I smell flowers. I smell stinky soil. I feel like I am scared. I feel like there is a monster. I feel like I am going to run."
-Elian

"I can see an old school. I can see an American flag. I can see windows. I can see stairs by the doors. I can feel the air. I can feel someone touching me. I can hear the door slamming at me. I can hear pencils writing. I can smell some colourful paint. I can hear books closing and opening. I can smell lunch. I can hear a teacher explaining work. I can hear someone writing."
-Loni

"I see a school. I see an American flag. I see lots of windows. I see two doors. I smell hot dogs. I smell dog food. I hear girls screaming. I hear the wind blowing. I hear people saying 'Help me!!!' I feel scared. I feel cold."
- Maheen

"I see a USA flag. I see so many houses. I see spiders where I am stepping and they are coming to my legs and up my legs. I hear children screaming and laughing. I hear doors opening and closing. I smell horses being ridden by a person and jumping and running. I smell fire in the school. I hear footsteps and a horse step and a dog step. I hear seven people working and talking and a machine sweeping."
- Ensar

"I see a space crater. I see footprints. I see dust. I see rocks. I see my shadow. I see a space car. I hear strange noises. I hear a comet. I hear talking aliens. I hear rocks falling. I small a Mars bar from Mars. I smell a moon monster. I smell the moon. I smell burnt wood. I smell fire. I smell coffee, I feel dusty. I feel cold. I feel someone's behind me. I feel moony."
- Wasi

"I see a space car. I see rocks. I see footprints. I see craters. I hear noises coming from the moon. I hear aliens talking. I hear comets crashing into the moon. I hear astronauts talking. I hear aliens playing. I smell chocolate from Mars. I feel happy."
- Sebastian

We love writing and animating our own stories on http://www.carnegielibrary.org/kids/storymaker/embed.cfm. 

Don't forget- you can share your code so that we can all read your story! Just go to the  Literacy category on the Recently page to find the post about Storymaker and leave a comment.

We also like playing Roll a Story during stations. We use dice to decide who the main character in our story will be, where the story will be set and what problem needs to be overcome. We might end up with a two-headed monster in a hot desert who gets chased by a tornado....or a grumpy bear at a magical castle who finds an unlucky penny...the list goes on!!

We were so good at creating pictures with our words that Niamh decided we were ready to write a whole book! We are using the illustrations available on storybird.com to inspire our stories. At the moment, we are writing the stories with our pencils, but hopefully we'll be able to save them on the site when we are finished! We are making sure to include all of the important elements of a good story. First, we set the scene. 

Using one of these pictures to give us ideas, we set the scene by writing about what we might see, hear, smell and feel if we were in this place. 

Next we used one of these pictures to help us create a character. We used the following questions to help us: What is your name? What age are you? Do you have a family? Do you have any friends? What do you like to do? Why are you in this place? You have a secret- what is it? 

Next, we are going to use these pictures to help us decide what the problem in our story might be. 

Then there will be a complication- the problem will get even worse!!!

After that, these pictures will help us to decide how the problem is solved.  

Finally, these pictures will help us to conclude our stories- to decide what happens in the end and how the characters feel. Here is what Loni has written so far. Can you guess which set of pictures she is using?

'I see a squirrel. I see a chipmunk. I see some tree trunks. I see some snow. I hear wolves howling. I hear screaming noises. I hear trees whooshing everywhere. I hear someone walking on the snow. I smell fire. I smell hot chocolate. I smell carrots. I smell smoke. I feel someone's at my back. I feel something touching me. I feel something hard. 


My name is Milly. I am lost. My parents got eaten by a dragon. I am eight years old. I make wooden cottages. My friends are the animals of the wood. Mu secret is....I can talk to animals! I like to explore. I am very brave in the dark woods. The animals help me if there's an emergency and if they have an emergency, I help them! There are hungry wolves around. One of the wolves ate my brother Billy.'