Maeve with Heather, Pam, and Kat

The Witch

Once upon the time there was a witch. She was extremely mad because she couldn't make her potion work. She went out in the woods to find the spell that would make her potion work. It took five thousand hours to find the spell. She was so happy when she found it. She took the spell and she used it to make a broom so she could fly all over the place on Halloween and get candy.

Writing Buddies

Since September, the students of 2A and 2B have been working with their writing buddies, college students from Emily Bliss's class at George Washington University, on creative writing.We have written jokes, riddles and zombie stories. We have invented superheroes and fantastic settings. We have written letters from the point of view of villains and stories from the point of view of our Halloween costumes.

It has been a fantastic experience. I have seen my students make big gains in their excitement about writing and their ability to write. It has been amazing to see young adults and young children working together with such joy and sense of purpose.

Thank you to 826DC for all they do to promote a love of writing in children. I especially want to thank Joe Callahan for connecting my class with Professor Bliss's and Jimmy and Izzy for leading the workshops. Thank you to Professor Bliss for dreaming up this idea and taking the risk to make it happen. And thank you to the wonderful GW students who have inspired my students and inspired me.

Mike Benson
Second Grade Teacher
Oyster-Adams Bilingual School

Gabe with Lauren

Dear Han Solo,

I am sorry, Han Solo, for freezing you.  I put the air conditioning on too high.  I wish I could unfreeze you, but I can't because the ice is too cold. I tried sawing the ice off, too, but it was too hard.  I also tried putting you in fire, but that still didn't work.  Finally, I tried putting you in a giant oven with flames shooting out for a whole hour, but it STILL didn't work. So I gave up.

To show how sorry I am, I'm going to stop attacking your recruits.  I'll also pay your recruits money for attacking them.  I'll pay you an extra amount of money because you got attacked the most.  I hope you are able to get unfrozen.

Sincerely,
Darth Vader

Regina with Sarah

Creepy Zombie

Once upon a time, there was a land called Zombie Land. In Zombie Land there was a school called Zombie School. There were 29 zombies and one normal kid. The normal kid was scared of zombies. One day, the normal kid said to the zombie, "Could you be my friend?" and the zombie said, "Of course not! You are such a dummy." The normal kid cried and he had no friends. The next day, a new kid came so the new kid and he and the other normal kid made friends. The same day, the zombie said, "Could we all be friends?" The kid said, "Yes, but you have to give us bubblegum." The zombie said, "What is bubblegum?" The kid said, "Whatever. We can all be friends!"

THE END

Luisa with Sarah

The Zombies

The zombies are creatures that are bad, stupid, and ugly. There are kids that are scared of the zombies. There are dogs that are zombies, cats that are zombies, and ugly babies.

Davis with Casey

The Angry Birds in Outer Space

Once upon a time an angry bird lived in outer space. One day the angry bird got mad and wanted to kill the pig because he stole all his eggs! The pigs built a moon rover and stole angry bird's eggs to eat. The angry bird threw himself at the pig's house to get his eggs back. Angry bird smashed into the pig's house and destroyed it. Angry Bird couldn't find his eggs because the pig had built another house with the eggs! Then the angry birds killed the pig and the rock fell down and the angry birds found the eggs!

Alex with Casey

The Invaders

     Once upon a time there was a place called Gangnam. Gangnam was a place where kids go to party!!! All of the sudden, zombies started to invade! A bunch of kids started to throw disco balls at the zombies to kill them. Then, the DJs at Gangnam started to throw records at the zombies. The record discs were so sharp, they cut off the zombies heads! The adults started to throw boom-boxes at the zombies and crushed them. Everyone else joined in and threw burgers, french fries, hot dogs and ketchup at the zombies. Finally, the zombies died and the party started up again! 

Eimear with Henry

The Halloween

One day on Halloween, Malicity, the vampires bride, was sucking on a blood stick for lunch and a cup of blood coffee. She had very little time to eat because she wanted to get ready for trick-or-treating to get peoples blooooooood which was relaxing to her. So that night she went out trick-or-treating for blood but there were no people in the neighborhood. She took so much time getting her scary costume ready that all the people who were trick-or-treating went home and the people giving out candy turned out their lights. She got so mad that she shot her fangs out of her mouth. They took a couple of years to grow back. During those years she couldn’t go trick or treating for blooooooood because she would look weird while her fangs were growing. She felt really bad for those couple of years because she could only suck on blood sticks and blood coffee. She was growing really bored of it.

Nico with Pam

The 123 Story

Once upon a time Barack Obama (also known as Nico) was President. Maeve, his enemy, was an evil vampire witch, but then it was the end of Maeve because he killed her. Lourdes was sad because she lost her vampire witch friend. She was a vampire too, and she and Sebastian, who she loved, bit me (Nico/Barack Obama) to avenge Maeve's death. Barack Obama (Nico) went running for his life for a lot of hours and Lourdes and Sebastian lived happily ever after 1000 miles away from the castle. The castle was invaded by skunks and the Knight Tomas went with them to their rainbow soccer post.

Lourdes with Heather

The Land of Cat

Once upon a time, there was a land named Cat and in Cat there were only cats. In Cat, it's always raining cats and dogs. In Cat, there is a vender that gives food for free. In Cat when the cats have to use the bathroom they use a machine that has a litter box and the cats go to the bathroom. In Cat, the president is named Greg. There is an evil witch in Cat named Alexandra. Alexandra wanted to take over the world. Alexandra was married to Nico. Alexandra turned Nico into a cat, and now he lives with all the other cats in Cat Land. In Cat, Nico blended in with all the other cats as they tortured mice together until the end of time.

Tomas Ar. with Eric

Dear Angry Birds,

I'm sorry for stealing your eggs. We were hungry and we wanted to eat your eggs. We wanted to eat the eggs because there was nothing else to eat. We wanted the eggs because they're healthy and filled with protein. Forgive us, we will give you your eggs tomorrow, but you have to give us some eggs from the market.

From,
The Pigs

Dear Pigs,

We don't want to because our gang is mad.

From,
Angry Birds

Mani with Alex

Cloud City

Once upon a time there was a land called Cloud City, and you bounced on clouds. Then you get transported to another cloud. If you didn't want to go too far, you had to get in tubes. On the clouds and tubes you say where you want to go and you go there. It's a little like Mario in one of the levels in World 5. Everyone was: Goombas, Bowsers, and Bowser Jr.s. Except everyone who was bad in Super Mario Bros 1 & 2 is good here. There's also: Princess Peaches, Toads, Yoshis, and Shell Dudes. There are even dry bones with a lot of copies and they're all dead! Everybody was happy. Until one day Dry Bowser came from the dead with his other grandson. (The grandson's name was Dry Bones). They came to take over the land but Luigi and Mario were ready for this. 

There was an invisible man who was the newspaper man, and he sent the newspaper out to another galaxy (where there was another happy land even though it was backwards from Cloud City). That was the galaxy where Sonic lived. His helper was Tails. When he read the newspaper he asked Tails for a spaceship. They went to Cloud City. Once they got there they found out that Mario and Luigi were fighting Dry Bones and Dry Bowser. Sonic asked for all of his people from his galaxy and they came in sixteen different warships. Once the other people got there they had total advantage. Except it was hard to make Dry Bowser and Dry Bones leave because...

Old Man Dan with Madison

Riddles and Jokes

Riddle: What has legs but can't walk?

Answer: A bed!

Riddle: How do you scramble the letters from New Door to make one word?

Answer: One word.

Question: How did the hot dog hide from the starving kid?

Answer: With ketchup!

Question: What is two plus two?

Answer: Tutu!

Question: What is a football shaped like?

Answer: A foot!

Question: What did the kid tomato say to his daddy tomato when his daddy tomato got smushed by a truck?

Answer: Ketchup, Ketchup!

Question: Why did the squirrel stop eating nuts?

Answer: Because he went nuts every time he ate a nut!

Question: Why did the blueberry go to the doctor?

Answer: Because he was feeling blue!

Question: Why do baseball players not play baseball at night?

Answer: Because there are too many bats!

Question: Why can't Bigfoot walk well?

Answer: Because his feet are too big!

Question: Why should you visit the leaning tower of Pisa?

Answer: Because you can get free pizza!

Vivianna with Eric

Dear Sleeping Beauty,

I'm sorry for doing bad stuff to the handsome prince that you were in love with. I was very cuckoo. I thought the prince was a bad handsome prince that you were in love with because I thought he was going to write me a note that said, "I don't like you." I'm sorry. Can you forgive me and be my friend?

From,
The Witch

Dear Witch,

No, I don't want to be your friend because you did too much bad stuff to the handsome prince, that I have a crush on.

From,
Sleeping Beauty

Oscar S with Nichole and Eleanor

PAPER BAG MAN GOES CAMPING

One day paper bag man was going camping. When he got there he pitched the tent and put the camp stove together. Then he decided to go boating, so he drove down to the boat ramp. He lowered the boat into the water and climbed into the boat. Then he drove away in his motor boat, but he was going so fast that he tried to stop it. It worked, but then he flew off his boat and had to swim back. When he got to his boat he grabbed the boat and climbed into it. He was so soggy that he had to go back. When he got back, he tied his boat to the dock. Then he went to his campsite and lit a fire to warm himself up, but one spark lit his arm on fire. He went to a bucket of water and put his arm in it. The fire was out but his arm was soggy again, so he went back to the fire to warm up his arm. It was plain old paper again. THE END :)

Giovani with Nichole and Eleanor

Block World by Giovanni

Once upon a time there was a world where everything was made out of blocks.  There were two friends named Giovanni and Alex. They went underground and saw lava, water, and diamonds and they took the diamonds home.  

Skylar with Madison

Monster High

Once upon a time, there was a werewolf called Claudeen Wolf. She went to a school called Monster High. She had friends called Frankie, daughter of Frankenstein, Draculaura, daughter of a vampire, and Cleo, daughter of a mummy. They did everything together. Until one night, Claudeen woke up and BAM!!! Someone punched Claudeen in the head. Back at Monster High, Claudeen's friends were wondering where Claudeen was. After a few minutes, all of Claudeen's friends went to go find Claudeen because they knew their friend would never miss meat chowder. They looked everywhere. Then, finally, they found her. She was laying on the floor. They took her to the Monster Hospital. The doctor said she was OK!

The End.

Tomas Ab. with Kat

Monsters vs Queen Lourdes

Once upon a time there was a zombie pilot driver named Tomas. He was a traitor to Queen Lourdes and King Sebastian. He met a vampire companion named Gio. Tomas and Gio were making a plan when they saw a skeleton and asked him, "Who are you and whose side are you on?" He said, "I am against Queen Lourdes and King Sebastian."

He met a companion in the forest. They headed to King Sebastian and Queen Lourdes' castle. They walked for days. Tomas said to the skeleton, "By the way, what is your name?" and the skeleton replied, "My name is Nico". But before they went, they needed two more people, so they went to the woods because they needed their werewolf friend, Gabriel.

Gabriel was a blacksmith who makes very good weapons. They went on their way and saw guards for the King and Queen, so they fought them. They kept on walking until they found the shack that Gabriel lived in, and told him that they need him to help them fight the King and Queen. They told him that they need another friend to help, too. That friend is Milo the Minotaur. They looked for days and saw three dragons, fifteen elves and a Frankenstein family.

They finally found Milo in a cave. Milo agrees to help them and they all went to King Sebastian and Queen Lourdes' castle. In the castle, Queen Lourdes and King Sebastian got mad because they were having a bad relationship. They broke up and a criminal was released from jail right at that second. The criminal proposed to Queen Lourdes and she says yes. During that time, Tomas and his friends were camping out for the night right outside the castle. The Queen and the criminal got married. Then it was morning and there was a battle: monsters versus guards. The monsters won and put Queen Lourdes and the new King Gilderson back in jail. Tomas and his friends lived happily ever after in the castle.

Charlie with Laura

Monster Tree

Dear Bowser,

        I'm sorry that I hit you a lot of times. When I throw my fat fire ball, you bunt and Boswer take's the bat away. Also I say it's a ball and the umpire calls it a ball. I get walked and sometimes Mario dances when he strikes someone out. He's crazy.
   
From:Charlie

Jair with Emily

Bowser, Mario, and Luigi Are Friends

Dear Mario and Luigi,

        I'm sorry for trying to burn you and my whole family in different levels.  I'm sorry for trying to defeat you, I just didn't want you to defeat my whole family.  If you did, you would get a gold key to unlock new levels and seasons. When you get to summer there is a black castle and when you get in, you run to the green door.  If you beat that, you will have to defeat me again but I will run really fast and I will be invisible.  I'm sorry and can we be friends?
       
From: Bowser
       

Kavita with Emily

Venice

Once upon a time there was a girl who lived in Venice and her name was Lily. One day she had gone on a gondola ride. The boat was swaying side to side. All of the sudden the water started rising and Lily was screaming for help! Someone came running to a bridge nearby and took some water out. Everyone used it and everyone lived happily ever after. The end. 

Leah with Emily

Leah's Jokes! 

Why did the butterfly swim the butterfly stroke? 

-Because she is a butterfly! 

Why did the dog share his tail? 

-Because he wanted to share his story tale! 

Why did the gym teacher share his gym? 

-Because he is Jim! 

Why did the chicken want to take a bath? 

-Because he has to be clean!

Why did the cow say “moo?”

-Moooo! 

Emily H. with Anu and Jamie

The Little Red Riding Hood

I am Little Red Riding Hood. I feel scared and someone is chasing me. A Big Bad Wolf is trying to eat me and cook my grandma so I have to call the police to take the Big Bad Wolf. And his Bad Friend made me sleep. My mom covered me with my blanket and sewed my dress. She bought me a basket and sewed a me a hood. She made some strawberry cookies for fat Grandma. She also bought juice and pancakes and milk. The End.

Ava with Anu and Jamie

Wonder Girl

She wears red shoes, a purple cape, and a pink super woman dress. She can fly and she has laser eyes. She is a hero. She is kind and giving person. She is not cool. She will be the next president of the United States. She can lift 265 bricks. She can eat 365 marshmallows. The End.

Jessica with Sophia

Jessie's Purple Pizza Planet

Once upon a time there was a purple planet. It was called Jessie's Purple Pizza Planet. Everyone ate the pizza. Then an evil scientist came from the dark side that was very, very far from the purple planet. It rained purple pizza so everyone that lived there got a pizza umbrellas. When they got to their house, they ate their clothes because they were made out of pizza. So the purple planet pulled the yellow planet next to it and they switched places. Then the purple planet became cheese and the cheese people became pizza. The sky is made out of pizza and the sun is made out of cheese!

Benjamin with Henry

Freddy Hills

Freddy is the president of the United States of America. He doesn’t do what he’s supposed to do. He goes to the movies, and he goes to an amusement park, too, and he eats brains for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Diana with Carly

The Wicked Witch vs. Dorothy 

I am wearing a hat. It is a black hat with a buckle. I have a broom. I have a dress. I have long nails. I have monkey guards. I live in a castle and travel using my broomstick and magic. I am in Oz. The road is made of yellow bricks. I said, "I will get you my pretty, because you killed my sister." The ruby slippers are red. They have high heels. Dorothy likes apples. Dorothy met the the Wizard of Oz. She killed me, the Wicked Witch of the West in my castle by melting me.

Milo with Kate

Two Planets

Once upon a time there was Sea of Vomit and tons of active volcanoes that shot out blood. At the bottom of the Sea of Vomit there was a portal to White Wafers. The Sea of Vomit had only one creature that was half wizard and half submarine. In White Wafers there were tons of waffle colored cacti. Whenever you walk past a flower in White Wafers, it turns into a diamond. In the Sea of Vomit there were tons of blue lasers.

Raquel with Sophia

Raquel's Yellow Cheese Planet

Once upon a time there was a yellow Raquel planet. It was a yellow world. It had cheese people and they had pickle houses. They were made by a cheese God. Everything was made out of yellow food. When you took a shower, yellow pasta came out. When you walked, you jumped. When you were hungry, you could eat yourself. Their pets were made out of graham crackers. The trees were bananas. The bushes were made out of salad. And everything said Raquel.

Oscar with Katie

Dear Luke Skywalker,

I am sorry I fought with you. I didn't want to turn into a bad guy. When you were little, somebody wanted to kill you. That scared you. That's why I turned into a bad guy. I drank something bad, that's why I turned into a bad guy. I do not want to fight with you anymore. I want to turn into a good guy again and to be your real father, your father of Star Wars, but I know you hate me. But as a father, I love you as my son.

Sincerely,
Darth Vader

Gilderson with George

Tissue Box!!!

Once upon a time there was a man named Jimmy. He was somebody who could hide himself very well and he could see very far. Jimmy tried to spy on us. And then there was Gilderson, and I was normal, but George was a Zombie! He said that he was going to eat Gilderson's brain (not true). He said "Buahahaha". George had a brain that was fake, but then Gilderson put on a fake tissue box costume! George didn't like cardboard, but George liked brains. 

Kate T. with Katie

The Zombie Teacher

There was a teacher zombie named Lilly. She was in class. She could not teach the children because she kept falling apart. She kept falling apart because every time she grabbed something she fell apart. She quit being a teacher and tried another thing. She tried to be a bus driver, but she fell apart. She tried to be a swimming teacher, but she couldn't control her hands. Then, she knew what to do. She would glue her hands back on her arms. So she put the glue on herself and went back to the classroom.

Charlotte with Jesslyn

Crawl Land

 
Once upon a time there was land named Crawl Land. It was named Crawl Land because everyone crawled and no one walked. It was a very dry land. There was a palace in Crawl Land. A princess, queen, and king lived in the palace. The princess had a servant, a dog, and a cat. The dog and cat wore royal clothes and they wore crowns. The girls in the land wore short sleeved dresses and the boys wore short sleeved shirts and shorts because it was always hot. Finally the princess went to the desert and learned how to walk and then came back and taught her people how to walk.

Mina with Katie

The Purple Planet

Once upon a time there was a world called Purple Planet. Everything on Purple Planet was purple except for the aliens who live there. All of the aliens there were crazy, especially the President! They were crazy because everyday there were earthquakes, so whenever the land shook, they made baby noises. That was what made them crazy. One day when the aliens woke up, everybody went crazy all day long because all day the ground was shaking. The astronauts who went there wondered why the aliens were going crazy. Just then they knew they were going crazy because they felt the ground was shaking. They went back to planet Earth. It had all the same holidays as planet Earth, so whenever it was Halloween, they would go crazy when they were trick-or-treating. When it was New Year, they would go crazy when they were opening presents. On Valentine's Day, they would go crazy when they were writing cards. On Christmas, they would go crazy when they were decorating trees. If you visit Purple Planet, you will know why they go crazy. Imagine if Purple Planet were called Crazy Planet!

Andre with George

                                Letter from Megatron to Optimus Prime

Dear Optimus Prime,

I am very sorry for betraying the Autobots, but I will still be fighting the Auotbots. Optimus Prime, I won't go hard on you until I have a chance to kill Star Screen, the leader of the Decepticons. I am still under the control of Star Screen and I will try to stop being under the control of Star Screen but the star ship will still be mine. We still have the help of Bumblebee, Iron Hide, and Jazz.

Sincerely,
Megatron

Emely C. with Jesslyn

 Riddles

Why did the banana sing?
Because it was Selena Gomez.
Why did the children fly in the sky?
Because they were angels.
Why didn´t the bathroom work?
Because he said ¨Sorry I didn´t know that you wanted water to take a bath¨

Sabine with Emily

Sunset Girl 

My character’s name is Sunset Girl. She is a hero. Her costume is all sunset-blue with a sunset symbol, no sleeves, a cape, boots, and a frayed skirt. Her powers are invisibility, super speed, strength, and the ability to breath under water. Her personality is nice and friendly and she likes science. I think she’s cool. I don’t want her to be president, however. She could lift 1,000 bricks. She could eat two marshmallows in a row. 

Jack with Allison

Jokes

Why did the player quit?
Because he was afraid of the bat.

Why did the deer say "dear"?
Because he wanted to write a note.

Why did the player say "What ball?"
Because he thought he had to dance.

Why was the almond crazy?
Because he was a nut.

Why did the person say "hola"?
Because he was Hispanic.

Why did the person say "What corn?"
Because he didn't know if it was popcorn or corn.

Jack and Annie and Cowboy notes

Dear Jack and Annie,
We are sorry that we chased you. Next time, don't unleash the horses! We were just trying to keep the horses leashed. Can we be your friend?
From,
Cowboys

Dear Cowboys,
You didn't think we would say no. Sorry. Don't dare to arrest any horses.
From,
Jack and Annie

Joel with Caroline

The Adventures of Thor

One time a person called Thor went to the woods and met Big Fat Red Hulk. Thor turned into a strong person and started beating him up with his hammer. After Red Hulk went to New York City. They both landed on the night of Halloween. They started fighting again. Then Mr. Red Skull came out. He was in Big Fat Hulk's way, so he wanted to be on Thor's team. And Mr. Red Skull had a gun that Joker and Nick Fury had. Red Skull had a lot more bad guys.

Paulina with Sarah

A Letter to Rocky and Cece

Dear Rocky and Cece,

We're sorry that we locked you two wackedoodles in Cece's dressing room. So, we decided to unlock you next year when you're both fourteen.

From your enemies,
Guter and Tinka.

Jan with Caroline and Sarah

The Zombie Princess

Once upon a time there was a zombie princess. Her name was Fifi. She was zombie pretty. Little boy fell in love with the the princess because his DNA was a little zombie-ish. And the princess wanted to eat the boy's brain. But the boy was scared. Then the boy ran away to outer space.

Sarah with Sarah

My First Day of Cheer-leading

It was my first day of cheer-leading class. I was happy because I always wanted to be a cheerleader. The team was called Saint Roberts. I was the best girl in Ms. Suckas class because I always followed directions. My mom was happy because I was following directions. My mom took me to Target and she asked me if I wanted to be a cheerleader for Halloween, and I said yes. It was an exquisite day. The next day it was Halloween. I was so happy! When I got home I got to drink hot chocolate.

Kalea with Carly

Fun Land

Once there was a place called fun land. It had a ship that swings back and forth and almost goes upside down. It was really big. It was brown. This story took place last summer. It was burn-your-head-off hot. The girls there were wearing bikinis. There was also a thing that went up and down. Most people went there at day time. There was a forest of doom. It was called "Forest of Doom." People visit there for the beach too. The boardwalk is really hot. Justin Bieber went on the boat and vomited. 

Sebastian with Lauren

Letter from a Villain

Dear Autobots,

I wasn't acting so evil lately. I'm sorry I sleepwalk. I am sorry that I can't fix you. Muahahahahahahah!
Don't you hang up!!!!!

From,
     MEGATRON

Diego with Jess

Riddles:
1. What can move but can't think?
2. What can move trees but you can't see?
3. What is as thick as a thread but can unlock doors?
4. How much wood could a wood chuck chuck, if a wood chuck could chuck wood?
5. What can move but not alone?
6. What is black and white and read all over?

Answers:
1. A shadow
2. Wind
3. A paperclip
4. He would chuck enough wood, as a wood chuck could, if a wood chuck could chuck wood.
5. A thing that is not alive
6. A newspaper

Minerva with Jenn

The Red Planet

Once there was a red planet and there were some people-aliens and there was some pink grass. The aliens had yellow eyes. They wore red clothes. They liked to play in the park and they liked to go on the swings. The sky was pink. Everyone lived in a big, pink house. The only food on the planet was cupcakes and they drank strawberry milk. They had purple and red and pink stores and they sold only cupcakes and strawberry milk. The sun was red. It rained white rocks.