Mason Elementary School, Duluth, GA - 5th Grade

The Strangest Story EVER. Period.

Usually, in a story, the bad guy gets put in jail, or he escapes to do evil another day.  It's not very often that the bad guy in a story gets eaten.  But that's what happens.  You are not going to believe it, but the 5th graders tell me that it's absolutely true.  I'll tell the story and let you decide.

Our story begins with Shelby a cute, little, long-haired guinea pig.  She runs in the tunnels, plays in her activity ball and eats guinea pig food, just like a normal pet.  But Shelby has a secret.  Deep inside the tunnels of her home, she keeps a priceless fried chicken who can shoot laser beams out of its eyes.  But wait!  It gets stranger!

One day when Shelby is running around the living room floor in her activity ball, Bob, a chicken with painted blue stripes down either side of his body, walks into Shelby's house to visit.  Since Shelby is not home, he wanders around and finds the fried chicken with the laser beam eyes.  It's love at first sight! (I told you it got weirder!)  Bob and the fried chicken decide to elope, which means that they decide to run off and get married. 

When Shelby returned, she saw her fried chicken was missing and called her big friend Lisa.  Lisa followed the clues, including a note that Bob left, and tracked down the missing poultry.  She returned Shelby's chicken, but Bob suffered a different fate.  Lisa's favorite food was baked chicken and rice, and she decided to have Bob over for dinner, if you know what I mean.

What a strange and fun story.  But a lot of questions remain.  How did Shelby get the chicken?  Why did it shoot laser beams from its eyes?  Did the fried chicken really love Bob or was she just trying to get away from Shelby?  And was Bob delicious?  You can write some more and find out!

Mason Elementary School, Duluth, GA - 4th Grade

The Missing Microphone

Every night, at the end of his concert, Steve threw his microphone into the audience.  And every night whoever caught it, gave it back.  Until tonight.

Steve was a rock star who had lots of hit songs and the greatest fans in the world.  He was not your typical rock star.  He was short and bald headed and had buck teeth.  Most rock stars are good looking with long hair and seemed perfect in every way.  Maybe it was because he just looked ordinary that all his fans loved him so much.

He loved his guitar, and he loved his fans, but most of all Steve LOVED his custom made microphone.  A fan in Wisconsin sent it to him.  It looked like and ordinary microphone, but on the top of it, the fan had engraved a perfect replica of Steve's buck teeth.  Steve used it at every concert.

Like he did every night, tonight at the end of the concert, Steve threw the microphone into the audience, expecting an audience member to sing or shout "We live you Steve!" and give it back to him like they always did.  But tonight when tossed it out, he pulled back the cord and the microphone was gone.

BooBoo, a big fan of Steve's, is an old tall guy who smells like a rat.  He attended the concert and when Steve tossed the microphone to the crowd.  BooBoo caught it and took off with it.  The fans booed BooBoo, but he did not stop running until he was home. 

Steve called the police, but they said since Steve gave the microphone to someone in the crowd, that no crime had been committed and they could not get involved.  So Steve called his friend TooTah, a fat ninja private eye.  TooTah interviewed witnesses, followed the clues and went to see BooBoo.  When he found BooBoo and the microphone, he offered the tall, smelly guy a deal.  TooTah was willing to trade some bacon for the microphone.  BooBoo agreed and TooTah took the microphone back to Steve.

Steve was so excited to get his microphone back that he wrote a song about the adventure.  It's destined to become a HUGE hit!

What were the words to Steve's new big hit?  Why don't YOU write the words to it?  What about Steve's other fans?  You could write about the guy from Wisconsin, or even another story about BooBoo or TooTah.  Have fun!

Mason Elementary School, Duluth, GA - 2nd Grade

The Case of the Missing Cheese

It was a big box of cheese and it was full of mice.  That's why Layla loved it so much.  Layla was a fat grumpy cat who loved to eat cheese, especially when it was full of mice.  What made this cheese so special is that the cheese was also stuffed with cat food!

Not too far away from Layla's house lived Bonnie, a big evil tiger, who loved to read books about bad guys (and girls) who stole stuff.  Bonnie always cheered when they stole the treasure, but she was always upset when they got caught.  And in the books she read, the bad guys ALWAYS got caught.  Bonnie knew that SHE was too smart to get caught.  So she planned the biggest heist ever.  She was going to steal some mice filled, cat food stuffed cheese from a neighborhood cat named Layla. 

While Layla was sleeping, dreaming about cheese and mice, Bonnie crept into Layla's house and stole the cheese.  When Bonnie woke up, hungry for a snack, she discovered that the cheese was GONE!  Oh no!  She called her friend Richard and told him what had happened.  Richard, a dog who loved to help people, came right over.  He sniffed and looked and took notes and said, "I don't know who took the cheese, but I think I know which way the thief went!

Richard followed the clues and the scent and went right to Bonnie's house.  Richard and Layla called the police and they arrested Bonnie and got the cheese back.  Bonnie went to jail, promising that she would get out and would get away with her crime next time!  Layla offered Richard a reward.  She said, "You can have a big piece of cheese!"  Richard looked at the cheese, filled with mice and oozing cat food, and said, "No thank you.  I just started my diet!"

Does Bonnie escape and plot the perfect crime?  Is Richard REALLY on a diet?  How long does it take Bonnie to eat the cheese?  You can write the next chapter and see what happens!

Mason Elementary School, Duluth, GA - 3rd Grade

Lizards and Aliens

When he woke up that morning, Johnny did not know that before the day was out he would meet an evil lizard, watch a kidnapping and meet a dancing dog.  What a day this would be!

Johnny was a space alien who did not like books.  He didn't like to see them.  He did not like to read them.  He did not like to hear people talking about them.  He did NOT like books at all!  His best friend also did not like books, but they both LOVED hamburgers!

On this day, while the two friends were talking about hamburgers and carefully avoiding getting near any books, Billy Bob, a giant evil lizard jumped out from behind a tree and kidnapped Johnny's friend!  Billy Bob took the friend to his hideout and locked him in the basement.

Johnny called the police and told them that his friend had been kidnapped.  He did not tell the 911 operator that the kidnapper was a lizard.  The police car drove up in minutes, lights and siren going like crazy.  When the door to the car opened, Johnny was shocked to see that the police officer was Rufus, the famous dancing dog!  Johnny had seen Rufus on the TV Dancing Show and thought he was GREAT!  But instead of asking for an autograph, Johnny told Rufus about his friend.

Rufus asked Johnny to describe the bad guy.  As soon as Johnny told Rufus that the kidnapper was a lizard, Rufus said, "This case is already solved!  But we have to hurry.  Billy Bob, the only kidnapping lizard in the state is very evil.  There's no telling what he might do if we don't get to your friend soon."

Off they went to rescue Johnny's friend and to catch an evildoer.  When they got to Billy Bob's hideout, they found Johnny's friend safe, but scared.  There was no sign of Billy Bob.  Billy Bob had changed colors and was blending into the background.  He was camouflaged!  When they walked past him, Billy Bob pushed them down and ran away, saying, "This is not over Rufus.  I'll kidnap another kid soon.  You'll see!"  And then he escaped, leaving Johnny, Rufus and Johnny's friend to wonder what would happen next.

What DOES happen next.  Why don't you write the next adventure?  If you were the illustrator for this story, how would Johnny look?  What about Rufus?

Mason Elementary School, Duluth, GA - 1st Grade

The Story of the Missing Story

You don't often hear an adventure about a missing adventure, but that's what happened.

Gabe was a short kid who LOVED to read.  His favorite book contained a long adventure story that was very exciting.  Gabe had already read the very thick book twice and was reading it again.  He was a very smart student and he always had a book with him, but lately he only carried his favorite book.

You can imagine how upset he was when the book disappeared!  Gabe was on the playground and when he came back to the classroom, it was gone!  It was not in his desk, or on the floor or on any of his friends' desks.  It was not anywhere in the classroom.

Gabe did not know that while he was outside a bad guy came into the classroom and took the book because he thought it might be worth a lot of money.  When the bad guy got to his car, he looked up the book on the Internet and found out that it was a great story, but that the book was only worth $20.  He threw the book out the window and drove away from the school.

As he drove away, Bobby, a 5th grader that everyone knew was a good helper, found the book and picked it up.  Bobby was kind of famous for rescuing people who were in trouble, so rescuing a book was kind of fun!  Bobby did not know who had lost the book and did not know how to find the owner.

Gabe was worried about his book.  He asked Alex a nice girl from his class to help him find it.  Alex and her pet lizard made posters that said, "MISSING BOOK!  Please Call Gabe if you find it!"  the poster included a drawing of the cover of the book and Gabe's phone number and his teacher's name so anyone who found it could bring it to his class.

Bobby saw the poster, brought the book to Gabe's teacher and Gabe got his book back.  He went to find Bobby and thank him for being a good guy and Gabe and Alex and Bobby became good friends.  They even became friends with Alex's lizard.

Why don't you write a story about one of Bobby's adventures rescuing someone?  The story would be very exciting, and it could have danger, a mystery and a big adventure!

Mason Elementary School, Duluth, GA - Kindergarten

Cute Little Cubs and a Big Daddy Lion 

Tony had seen a lot of things, but he had never seen anything so cute!  There were four little lion cubs playing in the clearing in the middle of the jungle.  They were just adorable.  One of them was sleeping in the sunshine, one was stalking a butterfly and the other two were wrestling near the edge of the trees.  Tony did not think about where they came from or that they might be part of a family. 

The cubs were the children of James a big happy lion who lived nearby in the jungle.  James loved his cubs more than anything and would do whatever he had to do to protect them and keep them safe.  He had no idea that his precious cubs were about to be "cub-napped"!

Tony called to the cubs and offered them a treat.  When the cubs got close to him, he grabbed them and put them in his car.  He was so happy to have some cute little lion cubs for pets.

When James went looking for his cubs at lunchtime, he couldn't find them.  He roared and roared, but they did not roar back like they always did.  James was very worried and very upset.  He immediately got in touch with his friend Lizzie, a sweet lady who happened to be Tony's wife.  She had just gotten home and discovered that Tony had found the cubs and brought them home, when James called about the missing babies.

Lizzie told James that the cubs were at her house.  James wanted to know how they got there and she said, "I'll tell you when you get here."  James immediately ran all the way to Lizzie's home and found the cubs.  While he was on the way there, Lizzie told Tony that the cubs were part of a family and that he shouldn't have taken them from the jungle.  Tony was sorry he had made James afraid.

When James got to the house, the cubs ran to him and hugged him.  They told him about their adventure riding in the car with Tony and about having snacks with him.  Tony apologized to James and told him that he never thought about the cubs belonging to a family.  James told Tony that it was okay, and he told his kids to never, ever go with a stranger, even a nice one.  The cubs promised that they would not ever do that again.

Tony and Lizzie invited James and his cubs to come back and visit again, and they did.  They all became good friends.

What will Tony, Lizzie, James and the cubs do next?  Why don't you write the next adventure?

Taylor Elementary School, 2nd Grade

The Case of the Stolen Chicken

Person was not a person.  Person was the name of a little green pea.  Not only was she a little green pea, she was a space alien!

Person's favorite thing in the whole world was her pet chicken.  The chicken always wore a skirt, but that wasn't the strangest thing about the bird.  The REALLY strange thing was that this chicken had no head!  It was still alive, but it had no head!

One night, while Person was watching his favorite television show, a wolf named Wolf used his laser beam eyes and kidnapped the chicken! 

When the commercial came on, Person realized the chicken was gone and called her friend 2 Wolf.  2 Wolf was not a wolf.  2 Wolf was a clam.  He had antennae that were very helpful in finding missing things.  2 Wolf used those antennae to find the chicken.  It was kind of easy, because once they got close, they could hear the wolf talking.  He talked ALL the time!

Person and 2 Wolf caught Wolf in a net and rescued the chicken.  While they were celebrating, Wolf got out of the net and ran away, promising to come back and get that chicken again.

What happens next?  You could write the next story and find out!