The Death Tower

Six weeks ago, I mentioned that the library is having a spooky story contest.  Sylvia was immediately hooked.  She stapled a ton of papers together (backwards, but whatever) and began to plan, write, draw and dream up the scariest possible situations to include in her story.  She talked about it every waking second of every day.  She asked for writing time instead of iPad time on the weekends.  I've never seen her work so hard for so long on one project.  It was such a joy to watch!

Last week, I asked her to put the finishing touches on her story so we could turn it in on time.  We sat down together and she showed me this little personal collection of words she's found to help her with her spelling!  She took a "Family" magazine from the doctor's office, found a picture in a book with the word "dragon" on it, and she pulled out a spelling list from weeks ago that had a few useful words on it.  I was beyond impressed!  When we looked at her story, it occurred to me that she had improved so much from the first page to the last page!  Six weeks of first grade is shining brightly throughout her little story.

So, without futher ado....I give you Sylvia's epic tale (transcribed in the captions)..............

THE DEATH TOWER

The Death Tower

Once upon a time there was a tower.

The tower was a death tower with six dragons.

The death tower had six dragons and one giant dog.

The death tower had six dragons and one giant dog and two red eyed cats.

The death tower had six dragons and one giant dog and two red eyed cats and a poisonous mouse.

One day, a family went into the death tower.

The family went into the basement.  There were witches and there were giant spiders and ghosts.

The family was in the basement.  The mom was scared of the spiders.

The mom gets bitten by a spider and the mom dies.  Then the ghosts yell BOO!

The family raced up the stairs.

The family was scared and they were at the top of the tower.

The family jumped into a boat.  There were dragons, giant dogs, red eyed cats and poisonous mice.

The family jumped on a sea dragon and flew away.
THE END.

Are you scared?!  I'm scared.  That poor mom!  I told her I love her story EVEN THOUGH the mom dies, so you know it must be good.   All of that terror and excitement and FEAR from such a sweet little girl....

Sylvia, first grade

I will never forget the night she decided to send the family into the basement.  She can running into Albert's room while I was putting him to bed and she shouted, "Mommy, LOOK!  They're in the basement and we all know that's a great place to get yourself KILLED!"  I laughed until I cried.  

Can she write a story or what?