Shopping Trip Stories

by Jacqueline Jules

While many students are reluctant to return to school after a too short summer break, most still love back-to-school shopping. Kids have fun choosing new backpacks, pencils, and notebooks.  In Shopping Trip Trouble,  seven-year-old Sofia Martinez goes school shopping with her two older sisters, Mamá, Tía Carmen, and her four cousins—Hector, Alonzo, Manuel, and baby Mariela. Everyone is excited to pick school supplies in their favorite colors. But when Sofia notices that four-year-old Manuel is missing, chaos ensues as the family races around the store searching to find him.

Read Shopping Trip Trouble out loud to your students and have fun discussing their own shopping trip adventures.

Suggested questions:

Were there too many choices of colors and sizes? Not enough? 

Did you have trouble choosing?

What are your favorite back-to-school items? Are there any you do not like?

Did you accidentally knock something over like Hector and Alonzo?

Did the family stay together? Or did a child wander off?

Have you ever heard an announcement over the loudspeaker calling for a lost child?

Is it more fun to go shopping in a large group? 

Or would you rather shop with one person?

What other elements of Shopping Trip Trouble mirrored your own shopping experience?

Use the discussion to help young writers remember and record details for their own writing. Afterwards, ask your students to do one or more of the following:

1.     Write a personal narrative of a family shopping trip.

2.     Create a fictional story in which a child was lost and found in a store.

3.     Write a poem about a specific school supply. (ie: pencil, notebook, backpack, ruler)

4.     Write a diary entry from the viewpoint of a school supply (ie: crayons, markers, notebook) waiting to be chosen by a shopping student. 

  www.jacquelinejules.com

Write your own WOW story

Guest Post by Mary Amato

In my latest book, Our Teacher is a Vampire and Other (Not) True Stories, the kids in Mrs. Penrose’s classroom get advice from their favorite author about how to write a great story. The author teaches them a simple process that she calls writing a WOW story. 

I developed the idea of the WOW story after reading Aristotle in graduate school. WOW is my easy way of remembering what the wise philosopher had to say about what makes stories work. WOW stories have three parts: a main character who wants something, an obstacle that gets in the way, and a win by the main character at the end. Here’s an example.

Want: A cat wants a saucer of milk.

Obstacle: A dog gets in the way.

Win: The cat sings the dog a lullabye; the dog falls asleep; and the cat wins by getting the milk.

Want to write a WOW story of your own? To write this story, think about what kind of personality traits your cat and dog might have. Is your cat shy or sassy? Is your dog grumpy or mean? Do your characters talk? What do their voices sound like? Think about where the story takes place. Inside a cozy house? In a scary, dark alley? Close your eyes and imagine the story like a little movie in your mind. Then open your eyes and try to write it.

You can also come up with your own ideas for WOW stories.

Make a Wow Book

In Our Teacher is a Vampire and Other (Not) True Stories, students write WOW stories and make them into books over their spring break. You can make a book, too. You will need sheets of blank paper of any size and a stapler.

Fold a few pages of paper in half so that it looks like a book and staple it twice on the outside along the fold line. (If your paper is wider than 3 inches, you’ll need a long-arm stapler to reach the fold line.)

To make your WOW book have a special look and feel, use one sheet of thicker, colored paper on top for the cover. After you fold it, put black masking tape on the fold to make a decorative reinforcement. Then you can staple it on the outside of your book along the fold line.

 Write your title on the front and your WOW story inside.

BIO: Mary Amato is an award-winning children’s and YA book author, poet, playwright, and songwriter. Her books have been translated into foreign languages, optioned for television, produced onstage, and have won the children’s choice awards in Ohio, Minnesota, Utah, and Arizona. She teaches popular workshops on writing and the creative process around the country. Visit her online at www.maryamato.com

CHARACTER DOODLES

by Joan Waites

School is out again for the summer. It’s time for lazy days, long car rides, and  perhaps some time relaxing by the water- whether it’s at the community pool, the sprinkler in the backyard, or a trip to the beach.

I was recently reminded of a drawing exercise I used to do as a child that would be perfect to pass the time on those long trips or rainy days.  It also works as a fundamental drawing exercise for art students of any age, illustrating how all objects can be broken down into simple geometric and organic shapes.

Draw 6-8 squares on a piece of plain white paper. Without thinking too much, quickly draw a random shape in each square.  Have children create funny, scary or realistic characters using each shape in the squares.

Next, use each character doodle as a starting point for a story. What is the character’s name and where do they live? What are they doing? Do they have a special friend or an enemy?  Have two or more of the characters go on an adventure together and see what happens! Stories can be told orally or written down and shared.

Enjoy the summer and happy doodling!

http://www.joanwaites.com/