The Rodeo (student writing)

The Rodeo

by David

Bibl showed up for an inside radio because he felt like it. He finds out it is a bull that is insane and killed a person by bucking him into a fence. He felt scared. It was forever waiting for his turn. No one was on longer than 6 seconds. His turn finally came. The gate opened and immediately he started bucking…. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 seconds. He won. They pulled the bull back into the gate. He got his trophy and went home satisfied.

David plays video games.

Fun Hiking Day (student writing)

Fun Hiking Day

by Joy

Once there were four people. They went hiking up the biggest mountain. Their names are Amy, John, Selena and baby Maria.  It was snowy on the mountain but sunny.

My name is Selena, and my baby is Maria. As I am hiking, I am really cold, but I am having fun. My family and I have been hiking for about two days so far. We are hiking because we needed a vacation from work. This is our second time hiking on this mountain. We are staying overnight. I hope it goes well.

I am in a tent sleeping in a sleeping bag, and it’s really cold. Also, I am hungry.  I’m going to make some s’mores.

While we were going to make s’mores, we heard a lot of wild animals like skunks, owls, snakes and tons of more animals. We started a fire, and then we sat down and started to melt our marshmallows. Next, while we were sitting, we started to sing a campfire song. Then we all got tired and decided to go to bed. While we slept, a skunk came into my tent and sprayed my baby and me.  I woke up screaming because I smelt so horrible. It was 4:30 in the morning, and I had to go and wash up.

Joy is in 7th grade and loves to play soccer and dance.

The Episode (student writing)

The Episode

by Max

Bill was having an episode. It is normal for Bill because he is mentally unstable. Soon he got over it when a magical rock spoke to him.

It’s not very often that a boy having an episode comes across a magical rock. The rock was magical because it was part narwhal.

Max likes to read, play computer games and play video games.

Christmas (student writing)

Christmas

by  John

Kevin, Bob, Boby and Billy Bob Jinking were playing Lincoln Logs when a monster broke their wall. Billy Bob Jinking shot him with a shot gun, and they started playing Lincoln Logs again.  It was Christmas, and Kevin was ostracized because he ran so fast he knocked down the Christmas tree. He didn’t get presents, and then the world blew up.

Revenge of Kevin (part 2)

Because Kevin did not get presents, he went to find Santa. When he found him, Santa threw coal at him because no one is allowed to see Santa.  He didn’t get revenge after all.

John is in 7th grade and from Joplin, Missouri.  He likes to play video games.

Lost in the Park (student writing)

Lost in the Park

by Aimee

“Chris, where are we?” Crystal asked her younger brother Christopher.

Crystal, a sweet, responsible 9-year-old, had no idea where she and her brother were!  She and 6-year-old Chris had finished eating their picnic lunch. They then had gone on a walk while their parents cleaned up.  They weren’t going to go very far, but they got lost! Crystal knew she shouldn’t panic for Chris’ sake, so she tried hard to stay calm.

“Wait. Where’s Chris?” Crystal suddenly thought and started looking around.

Over by the very big stream, she saw the tiny figure of Chris.

“Chris, back up so you don’t fall in!”

“What Crystal? AHHHH”

Crystal started running to the stream, her blond hair flying behind her.

“Chris, I’m coming.”

She quickly pulled him out of the stream, which he had fallen into.  Chris then broke into sobs.

“Chris, what’s the matter?”

“I’m wet and freezing, Crystal. I want to go home. Where are Mom and Dad!  I want them!”

“I don’t know Chris, but we’ll find them soon.”

“Crystal! Chris!  Where are you?” The sound of their mom’s worried voice rang through the trees.

“We’re over here!”  Crystal cried out.

“There you are,” Dad called. “We’ve been so worried.”

“Chris, you’re all wet.” Their mom commented after surveying his dripping blond hair and clothes.

“Mom. Dad. There’s one more thing I want to do before we leave.”

“What is it?” Crystal heard the love in Mom’s voice as she answered Chris.

“I want to feed the geese,” Chris shouted happily.

Aimee is in 7th grade and lives in Pennsylvania.  She likes to write and is pretty serious about ballet.

Scared of Sledding (student writing)

Scared of Sledding

by Blind Henry

Four-year old Sarah walked up from the base of the sledding hill with her older sister. She had been sledding ever since it started snowing last week. Little did she know that this everyday experience would change her.  The two sisters loaded into the toboggan and shoved off down the hill. The stump was just a little thing covered in snow. They didn’t see it, but when they hit it, it sent them sprawling through the air.  To Sarah, it seemed as if the whole world was dead silent for about three seconds. Then they hit the icy ground. As Sarah came down her arm twisted, and there was a sickening SNAP as she blacked out.

Now a much older Sarah stood at the top of the sledding hill. Her breath was visible in the cold woods. She had been paranoid of the sledding hill ever since she crashed and broke her arm when she was little. Accompanied by her husband and child, she carefully laid out on the tube. Then she pushed herself down the hill. As she glided down the hill and skidded at the bottom, she laughed. Why was she so scared?

Blind Henry is in the 7th grade and lives in The Alaskan Yukon. He likes to hunt, fish, and mountain climb.

The Adventure (student writing)

The Adventure

by Fransis Dickson

Carter and I sat in the summer kitchen as we waited for Hudson to arrive for our special meeting. When they arrived, we all sat down at the white table with the colored legs.  Our special meeting was about the money we all got for Christmas. It had been five months since we had our last meeting because of the continuous snow.  Once we got down to business, we started to talk about how we would use the money.

First, we decided that we would buy colored lights for the ceiling, and that Carter and Hudson would bring the staple gun and staples.  Then, we decided that I would bring paint because my mom had some left over from Christmas.  We had twenty dollars left and decided we would save it.  At the next meeting, I brought the paint, and Carter brought the staples and staple gun.  First, we sanded the walls and then painted the walls blue. It was hot out, so we opened the doors and windows.

Once the paint was dry, Carter and Hudson stapled the metallic silver lights onto the ceiling.  Once we finished, we went down to the creek. We were surprised to find a lady and her daughter playing.  When they saw us they screamed, “Ah.”  We scared them drastically. Then they ran away , so we were left in astonishment. After about ten minutes, we started to play.  Then a big current came and knocked us down. As we slowly walked drenched to the summer kitchen, we decided we would get changed and all eat our pizza in the summer kitchen.

My name is Fransis Dickson. I enjoy playing with American Girl dolls. I am from Texas.

The Roller Coaster of Doom or Not! (student writing)

The Roller Coaster of Doom or Not!

by Derek

One day, Jake and Frank went on a roller coaster. They got the front seats on the ride. The roller coaster started to move and began to go faster. Everyone started to scream and shout. They had to wait a long time for the front seats, but it was worth it.

Now the roller coaster was at its highest point and was starting to dip down.  Jake had a fear of heights, but Frank dared him to go on the ride. Frank had been on many roller coasters because his father owns the park. The name of the park is Six Flags.

After the ride was over, Jake realized that the roller coaster was not as bad as he had thought it out to be.

My name is Derek. I like to play the piano. I also like to fix lawnmowers or just about everything.

My Latest Client…

This fall I scaled back my freelance work to focus on a new client – a group of 18 homeschool kids in a homeschool co-op of which we are a part.

These 6th to 8th graders amazed me.    The ones who could sit and write  page after page after page. The ones who struggled with each sentence.  I truly enjoyed watching them learn and grow over the eight weeks of our one-hour class (and I’m thankful for wonderful assistants who helped in the class!). And I hope they remember some of what they learned for future writing. 🙂

I’ve worked with a lot of different types of clients. While each one has left an impact on me, my latest client, in these kids, truly touched my heart in special ways. And I’m so thankful for that!

One of the projects these kids worked on was to pick a random photograph and create a story.  A wonderful college friend of mine supplied me with just the right amount of photos for the class.  Only she knows the true story behind each photo!  Over the next few weeks, however, this blog will show the creativity of the writing class and what they thought happened in the photos (along with some creative pen names and bios).

I hope you enjoy their stories. Some will make you laugh. Some will make you shake your heads. Some will touch your hearts.

And for me. I know what went on behind-the-writing scenes to bring these stories from their imaginations to this website as their published piece of work for the class.

So for the next few weeks, I turn my blog over to these students…..

Enjoy and check back often for their stories (or watch my facebook or twitter feeds).