Badgerblog » Hillcrest ES

Written as One

admin — Mon, 10 May 2010 16:40:51 +0000

Writing is so often a lonely pursuit. Just you and the pen, a piece of paper, the work of putting your thoughts into phrases, the hope that what appears on the page is a true reflection of what you mean to say. But this week’s Badgerblog feature is a celebration of collaboration. In this piece from Hillcrest Elementary, four young writers begin with the first sentence from David Lodge’s Changing Places. They then passed the page, each taking a turn, crafting a sentence, and sending the piece on to another writer. The result is a story of unlikely travel, of bitter cold, outrageous speed, and shared determination.

Two Travelers

High, high above the North Pole, on the first day of 1969, two professors of English Literature approached each other at a combined velocity of 1200 miles per hour. They were very cold up there, and they had only ten big, warm coats, which didn’t help at all, because the men were too far above the North Pole, where it was freezing.

There were mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, there with the two professors. They, too, were very cold, and the speed at which they were traveling made them colder. It was so cold that if they spit, their saliva would turn to ice faster than you can say, “Hi.” Yet they kept going. As they kept going, it kept getting colder and colder, but they never stopped. Never.

Vanessa, Ciara, Jose, and Ivan, fifth grade, Hillcrest Elementary School

The Great Unknown

admin — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 16:50:19 +0000

We’ve all stumbled upon traces of those who’ve come before us—in photographs, letters, artifacts. Such things leave us with proof that someone else has passed this way, but they rarely explain who and why and what those moments were made of. This week’s featured poem, “Footprints,” beautifully embraces those ruminations and the reality that we can only find the answers sometimes.

Footprints

I am curious about the footprints
They make me think—
Whose are those?
Who was riding the bike?
Was it a woman?
A man? A child?
The little pond reflects the Earth’s
Living things and living creatures,
Its trees and plants.
I wonder what kind
Of car it was? A truck?
A minivan?
I guess I will never know.

Brenda, fourth grade, Hillcrest Elementary

Click here to see the M. C. Escher image that inspired Brenda’s poem.

Photo courtesy of Lanie Anderson.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/herlanieship/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Life

admin — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 13:00:08 +0000

Life is fun.
Sometimes life can be
a little tough.
Be happy
and nothing will go wrong.
Be happy, have fun
and be strong
Sometimes, you fall in love.
It is very romantic.
Always believe in the future.
The good things you dream
will come true if
you dream them again.
Step into a new world
with nature and everything you like.
Go somewhere you like
and have fun.

Laura, fourth grade, Hillcrest Elementary School

Halloween

admin — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:00:51 +0000

TVs are eating children!
Cars are transforming.
Robots are coming out of kitties’ heads.
Giant ants are eating chocolate!
Babies are trick-or-treating.
We ran into a haunted house
full of skeletons, ghosts, and bats.
They turned us into ghosts!
We scared the trick-or-treating babies
and stole their candy.
Man, Halloween is crazy!

Chuy, fourth grade, Hillcrest Elementary School

* * *

Every fall and spring, Badgerdog solicits and publishes occasional poems from its students. This poem by Chuy was one of our Halloween favorites. Congratulations, Chuy!

Stay tuned for more Halloween Contest Honorable Mentions throughout the week and the winning poem on Friday.