An Enchanting Tale

As part of our morning routine, I have given Hannah pages from a workbook that thoroughly covers grammar and writing skills at a first and second grade level. She has completed all of the grammar lessons and now must apply those concepts to her writing. Today's assignment required her to write a story or a report about a frog or toad. It suggested topics and word choices, but of course, my little author already had plenty of her own creative ideas. After several hours of writing and brainstorming and talking through her ideas, Hannah finished her enchanting tale: "Rainbow Diamond's Wonderful Treehouse."

Here is her story:

Once upon a time there lived a frog who lived in an enchanted forest. She was an enchanted frog. Her name was Rainbow Diamond. Rainbow Diamond is an enchanted name, as you can see. But this was no ordinary forest. The hills were pink, the trees were purple, the flowers were green, and she was all the colors of the rainbow! Unlike other frogs, the only problem in her life was that she couldn't find a home.

Then one day, she lay down in the mud just relaxing and wondering what she should do to have a home. Then, all of a sudden, she saw a rainbow lily pad come floating toward her. She gasped! There on the lily pad was the most wonderful seed! It was all the colors of the rainbow! "Is that seed magic?" she wondered. She did not know that the seed was very magical indeed.

It was so very magical that as soon as she planted it, up grew a house. She was so excited about her house that she didn't see Hannah the fairy come flying toward her. Finally, she noticed Hannah. "Hi, Hannah," croaked Rainbow Diamond.

"Hi, Rainbow Diamond," said Hannah.

Then, Hannah spied the high, enormous treehouse. "What a big treehouse!" said Hannah. "How did you make it?"

"I planted it," answered Rainbow Diamond.

"Let's go for a swim," said Hannah.

"Sure, we can go for a swim," said Rainbow Diamond.

"All right! Yay! Hip hip hurray!" they yelled together.

"Wow! Look at that strange glow," said Rainbow Diamond.

"And I know what it is," said Hannah.

"What?" asked Rainbow Diamond.

"A lamp," said the fairy.

"How did you know?" asked Rainbow Diamond.

"I gave you the seed, and I gave you the lamp. I wanted you to have a rainbow house and a rainbow lamp, just like you. I know that today is your seventh birthday. Happy birthday, Rainbow Diamond!" said Hannah.

"Wow! Thank you, Hannah," said Rainbow Diamond. "What a wonderful friend you are! Would you want to live here with me?"

"Sure, Rainbow Diamond!" said Hannah.

They both lived together in the treehouse for the rest of their lives.

The end.

Crazy Creativity

Hannah is a writer and an illustrator. She cannot seem to help herself. Each day she comes home from school with her arms full of pictures and books she has created, and many afternoons and weekends, she continues creating even while she is at home.

She makes her own coloring books to doodle in after school. In her room, she has a lovely journal, containing the details of many days' activities and experiences, complete with drawings to illustrate the writing, and stickers as souvenirs from doctor appointments or other adventures. Earlier this week, she wrote and illustrated a how-to book about making a butterfly kite that really "flys."

"Fun Craft
By: Hannah"

"What you need
Roll of String
Sicciors (scissors)
Markers
Hole Punch
Stickers
Sheet of Paper
Decorate"

"Fun Butterfly
Roll of Tape
Pencill
Crayons
it Flys"

"What you do
take
the paper
cut this shape ->
cut this shape too ->
use tape to tape
them together
Draw smile with Pecill use
stickers and
crayons to Decorate"

"then Hole punch
the botom
tie string to
Hole.
now you
Got one"

"on windy
Days it flys"

"yay"

She even incorporates her writing and designing into her play. Recently, she celebrated the birthday of one of her stuffed animals. She wrote songs for the party, decorated presents, and even made a countdown until the big day. Another time, she decided to put on a show, based on the movie Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. She created tickets for each family member with our names and the name of the show on them. She also designed a sign/advertisement for the show:

"Hannahs
open
theater
Free evry night
cloudy
with a
chanch of meatballs"

She never performed the show, but she seems to enjoy preparing for such events at least as much as actually performing. At times, I marvel to myself over the projects she undertakes. Some of them, such as her show, remind me of my school assignments from late elementary school. Yet, she plans and completes them because she delights in the process.

I love Hannah's crazy creativity, the passion that drives her to fill each day with writing and drawing and designing. I hope, as we homeschool next year, that I can provide an environment in which her creativity will flourish, growing deeper with each new idea she learns. I also hope that her love of writing continues to grow even as she begins to grasp grammar and spelling and rules of good writing. Honestly, I suspect that the written word entices her heart as it does my own, and I smile as I remember another little girl who used to scribble imaginative stories in a spiral notebook many years ago. In fact, I think I still have that notebook somewhere...

The Shamrock: A Tragedy

Hannah brought home a story she wrote in school for St. Patrick's Day. She was supposed to write about a four-leaf clover. Here is her tale (with punctuation added for clarity):

"once opon a time ther was a Shamrock. one time the shamrock went out to go For a walk. then She met a Four leaf clover. they Became Friends. then they met a leprechaun. they Ran and screamed. the leprechaun got them. the end."

Apparently, Hannah is learning that not every story has a happy ending...

More Word Creation...

Hannah made some more words today with the post-it cards that I have. She just had to add a letter or two at the beginning to create a word. Again, I'll put her letters in bold, then a dash, and then the letters she was given.

b-ug
n-ot
qu-ail
n-est
r-ip
y-ay
p-ink
w-ell
s-ick
f-in
sp-ill
c-at
s-ap
p-ack
r-ing
c-an
s-ock
k-it
f-ake

When we were done, I had her tell me a story, using each of the words in sentences. It was all about a bug stuck in a spider web that got out when the web ripped, and then the spider made a new pink web. I think a cat had sap spilled on him at one point, and a quail built a nest... it was pretty wild. But, she got the point, and she seemed to enjoy creating a story, no matter how fanciful and crazy it might have been.