Letter to John Green

Dear John Green,

            In your writing, I came to understand that there is so much more happening in every person’s life than I may ever know. We all have a history, and some of us are blessed with a future, but none of us last forever.  Your writing also inspired me to be more curious about the world and question more about the things that I see and hear, especially when I don’t understand.

            I have a lovable cat that always puts a smile on my face.  Just like anyone else that has a pet, I love my cat and never want to see him die.  Reading about Gus’s life and untimely death helped me really understand that no matter how much I love my pet, he is going to die one day.  I do not want my cat to ever die, but your words helped me to understand that death is a part of living.  I will one day have to face the pain of the loss.  You also taught me to make the most of the time I have with those I love, so I plan to spend as much time as I can with him before that day comes.

                                                                                                Sincerely,

                                                                                                Jaden

Letter to Jeff Kinney

Dear Mr. Jeff Kinney,

            “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” changed my feeling about reading.  While I thought reading was a waste of time and a big bore – I learned that reading can be a wonderful, fun, fulfilling experience.  Additionally, your story helped me think about and understand more about who I am and who I want to be. Some would say that is a big claim, especially considering the catapult in my change was inspired by a book with such a whimsical title.

            Laughter is a wonderful and powerful thing.  I enjoyed not only the chuckle and snicker laughs, but also the slap your knee, “bahaha” out loud with tears rolling down my face kind of laughs.  Beyond these laughs, I think that you sent messages in your book about morals and values.  I know you made me reflect about my own.  I have grown socially from reading your work.  I know this because at one point in my life, all I wanted to do was sit at home and play video games. Your words helped me to understand two important messages.  The first is that playing video games all the time is not living a good life, it is wasting one. The second is that building relationships with my friends takes time, commitment, and trust. 

            Your book also impacted me politically.  At school, we are asked to make many posters in support of this and that, to be hung up in the halls.  Your book taught me not to hang just any posters at school without truly learning about and believing in the cause.  After all, true integrity starts with building a clear understanding about what I believe in and why.

                                                                                                Sincerely,

                                                                                                Michael

Letter to Robert Munsch

Dear Robert Munsch,

            At a time in my life when I felt lonely and depressed, as if everyone I knew just blatantly ignored me, I turned to my bookshelf.  There, I came across your book, “Love You Forever.,” and I sat in my room alone and read your words.  Your story both broke my heart and made me cry tears of joy.  You inspired me to write this letter to let you know how your story impacted me socially, politically and spiritually.

            When I was merely six, my mother would read your book to me.  Hearing the story made me feel safe and loved by my mother.  As I got older, my mother started working nights shift and did not have the time for me that she once did.  My father‘s work required him to get up early, so most days he went to bed early.  The only other family member remaining was my brother, and he was “going through” his teen years and didn’t have time for me either.  Most times, I was on my own.

 As I got older, I started reading chapter books.  I viewed picture books with only 20 pages or less as baby books that were pointless.  I was wrong.  Your story has the strength to change lives.  It sure changed mine.  Even though I have had your story read to me a hundred times, reading your story that day for the first time by myself helped me to better understand life, living, coping, and making the most of the time we have.  I came to understand that my family is the most important thing in my world.  I also know that I am not alone.  Although things get busy, my family always has time for me.  You helped me to understand that time with the people we love has an end.  You encouraged me to spend all the time I can with my family because I won’t know when it is our last goodbye. 

When I think of kids that are six or eight years old, I know they usually spend time with their families.  I also think that is probably not the case with most teenagers.  Usually all they want to do is hang out with their friends.  This is why when I read your book I thought about my brother.  He spends little time with our family and prefers time alone in his room.  This both saddens me and motivates me to not become an average teenager. 

Time moves on, people come and go.  Your story taught me the importance of holding on to the people I love as long as I can.  I take this empathetic stance on not only my family, but for people of all walks of life.  This allows me to try and understand all people, even if they have different opinions and beliefs.  Thus, the love shown in this book has taught me tolerance and to accept all. 

                                                                                    Sincerely,

                                                                                                Audrey

Raindrop Story

By: Alyssa O.

Ms. Carpenter's 5th Grade Science Class

            My name is Rilley.  I am a raindrop.  One day I was drifting in the air inside a cumulonimbus cloud.  AS I traveled, it got more crowded, dark, and cold.  Just then I started to see a hole appear.  As the hole got bigger, other raindrops fell through.  Then, I finally slipped and fell through the hole myself.  Then, my journey began.

            As I fell I heard loud booming sounds and streaks of light.

 I was frightened and started yelling as I fell, “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

I finally landed and stopped yelling.  I landed on something that was big, brown, fuzzy, and had four legs.  The animal was walking on sand. 

“The Atlantic Ocean,” I whispered.

Then all of a sudden the animal began to shake.  It shook back and forth until I finally let go of its fur and landed in the ocean.

“Yes,” I yelled, “I got to the ocean!”

The ocean currents were very strong because of the storm happening above the warm waters.

I was really getting pushed around.  As the storm disappeared, I started to calm down.

Then the sun started to appear.  The sun was heating the ocean waters.  I started to fell the warmth of the sun and started to feel the warmth of the sun and started to lift into the sky.  I became water vapor. 

“I love feeling the sun’s warmth,” I said as I was lifted, butas I got higher and higher I started to cool, condense, and form a cloud.  This time I formed into a cumulous cloud.

“Here I go again.”

Precipitation

By: Madison F.

Ms. Carpenter's 5th Grade Science Class

         One late afternoon there was a brief little shower.  A raindrop came falling fast in Australia.  I fell quickly into a kangaroo's pouch.  I was frightened and amazed at the same time.

          I was swishing in the pouch and fell into a water source which was a river.  The river was going fast, moving and flopping until it came to a much wider and larger ocean.  I landed in the Indian Ocean.

          I layed steady floating with other water, until the sun’s powerful, strong heat evaporated me and other raindrops, which became colder and colder.  The water soon became a giant cloud, which was a cumulous cloud.  I was very happy to be safe and still in a cloud.

My Journey

By: Kaleb A.

Ms. Carpenter's 5th Grade Science Class

Slowly, I floated back down to a frozen land.  When I got there, I landed upon the forehead of a polar bear.  It seemed to be resting, but suddenly it got up and started walking towards the shore.  When it got there, I saw many icebergs.  In the distance, I saw a family of seals floating on an iceberg.  It was just then that I realized he was going to eat them!

            As the beast neared the seals, they started to see the bear!  They were just in time to escape his hungry jaws with dozens of sharp teeth.  The seals slid off the ice and into the water.  The polar bear dove at the seals but missed, falling into the freezing water.  The impact of the water pushed me off the forehead of the bear.

            Moments later, I felt warmer and warmer.  I have become an ocean!  Then it got hotter and hotter and hotter!  Now I was flying higher into the atmosphere.  Soon I was cooler like I was in the ocean but I was still flying, then I knew I was a cloud.

Raindrop Story

By: Brooke
Mrs. Carpenter's 5th Grade Science

          One cold winter day, I had fallen asleep.  Then when I woke up, I found myself falling to Earth.  Then once I landed, I realized I had ended up turning into a snowflake in Antarctica.  But, I didn’t land on the ground.  I landed on a polar bear.

          As soon as I landed on the polar bear, it started to sprint towards a seal to eat for lunch.  When we got to the seal the polar bear realized it wasn’t hungry anymore.  So it went for a swim in the ocean.  Then the polar bear went under water and I ended up falling off of him into the ocean.

          When I was floating I went past a couple of icebergs and seals.  Then I started to go up to the sky.  I was being evaporated! Once I got all the way to the sky, I started to turn into condensation and formed a cloud.