Sam Stories
pamelamyers | May 19, 2017
Sam has been writing up a storm. She has always wanted to write her own stories, but in the past, I have had to actually do the physical writing for her, while she dictated what she wanted to say. And boy, her stories were…interesting. Like any typical 4 or 5 year old, she used to write stories that made, well…no sense. They just rambled on from one page to the next with no meaningful flow at all. The pages didn’t connect, things that happened and characters you saw on the first few pages are never heard from again. Oh boy. Sam and I read these stories now and she just completely cracks up laughing.
Now that she is older, her stories have an actual beginning, middle and end. She tells tales that are funny and smart, and utterly readable. We were lucky enough to be privy to some of her stories at a conference with her teacher (who told us she utterly enjoys Sam’s stories for their creativity) and also by seeing the first half of the year’s Writing Workshop papers. We so enjoy seeing her writing now.
A few months ago, she started a story that she never finished. I was so proud of how it started because she wrote very neatly and illustrated it. I was hoping she would finish it, but she never did. The other day, she spied the pages on my bureau and decided to finish the story. This is how it turned out. Her spelling leaves a little to be desired, but I could read the whole thing. It is the cutest story. It’s really cute. She labels each page as a new chapter (although she did tell me if it was a real book, the whole thing would probably be chapter 1). She even made a cover and a back page since “that is what real books have.” When she was adding the illustrations to the front, she drew the crown, the key and the fire, and then she didn’t know what else to add. I suggested a knight, and she said, “No! I don’t want to give too much of the story away!” Geez, sorry….
***************************
***************************
When she was completely done, she read the story to Mark and I. She then told me that she wanted to write a whole series of books like this. The next one is going to be about the dragon and what happens to him after. She added the little crooked crown with the number one on the front cover at the the end because when there is a series of books, they always have that sort of thing. Yes, Sam, they do!
Sam really wanted to show her teacher her work so me printed out a copy for her to take to school. She told me she was going to give it to Mrs. Hall as a present. After school, she told me that Mrs. Hall wanted her to use her story on her next “share day.” Every day, the kids rotate which table shares something with the class. Sam’s will be some day next week. I know she was very proud that Mrs. Hall thought her story was worth a share. I can’t wait to see what story she comes up with next. Stay tuned!