Design Your Own City!

If I could design my own city, it would be fun. I would call it Jordin’s Happy City. It will have a lot of buildings. I will have a four-wheeler in Jordin’s Happy City. My dad will be there. I will be a football player. I will be on the Patriots. We will have a game against the Bears. We are good players. We can beat the Bears. We will win the game. In my city, we will build a stadium. There will be houses with windows. The sun will be shining on Jordin’s Happy City.


If I can design my own city, I would call it Famousland. All the famous people would live there, like Keke Palmer, Corbin Blue, Miley Cyrus, Raven Semone, and Dylan and Cole Sprouts. I would be in the movies and shows, and there would be rides. I would bring my family and Kayti. I would ride in the limo with the famous people. Then, we would go shopping. After shopping, we would go to the studio and make a new movie and a new show and a new song. Then, we would see a movie, and drive off to Candyland (Abby’s city).

My city’s name is The Cameron Ellis Floating City. There are monkeys in my city. There are not people there, only monkeys. The monkeys and I will jump from cloud to cloud, because we are monkeys. Then we will go home. We will see bananas and eat them. We would get a stomachache. I would live there forever!

In my city, I’ve been the engineer. The city’s name is The Secret City. Every building has a code. One code is 499-72-6-08. That opens the Batman Building. I work there. There are reporters for the Batman movies. It is secret, because action comes to the city every night. Batman and Robin always watch. The city is in a far off place in Canada. The golden rock stars will be there and karate people and spies. There is an island near the city, 1,000,057 feet away. One day Batman, Robin, and I saw Superman. I asked Superman if he could be in the Batman movies. “Who’s the villan?” asked Superman. “You have to watch and find out. Here’s another code: 1,000,047.” That opens the whole city. In the morning, the city turns into a submarine.

If I could have my own city, I would call it Dinosaur City. There would be lots of dinosaur stuff in Dinosaur City. We would have dinosaurs for pets. Dinosaurs would not be mean. Taradactials would be planes. Normal dinosaurs would be cars. Boaconstrictors would be trains. I would keep them in a enormous cage. I would feed them meat.

My city would be called Jake York City. My house would be next to the Jakepire State Building. My house would be called The World. It is in the air. There is a ground to hold the city. There is a hole. Under the hole there is another ground. It has flying animals. The country would be Germany. My friends and family and all the people in Germany would be there.

My city is called Jordan’s Favorite City. If I could design my own city, there would be water fountain in the middle of our city. I would live on the beach. There would be a coconut tree on the beach. I would live on an island, which we haven’t talked about yet. There is a coconut tree on the island. There is treasure with a little key. Inside the treasure there is some money and gold and candy. There will be some food, like shrimp and lobster and fish. My dad is there. My mom will be there and my brother will, too. We will have a boat at the island. The boat will take us to Jordan’s Favorite City a few times a day. The island is called Secret Island. It is a secret because it is in the middle of the ocean. The waves push in. When there is a storm, I will run into our tree house. We live in a secret tree house with fireworks at night.

If I could design my own city, I would call it Snowville. It would have dogs and cats and Miley Cirus and Corbin Blue. They would be near the beach. They would get around in taxis and limos. We would all go to the beach and go swimming and get a tan. There would be an arcade. We would go to the arcade. There would be go carts. You would need a token to get into each go cart. There would be a code. The number would be 14-65. Then we would go on together. There would be mice, horses and pigs. There would be a fair in my city. We would go to the fair. We would go to lunch at Our Place Family Restaurant. We would go on the teacups.


If I could make a city, I would call it Candyland. Everything, except people, would be candy. There are horses trotting everywhere. There are gardens everywhere. Where I live the roof is chocolate. The staircase is M+M’s. The chairs are non-sticky bubble gum. Outside, around the house, there are candy canes. Animals are normal. All the people only eat candy. This is fiction, so I’m pretending that the candy is healthy!

If I could make a city, I would call it Dylanville. Everyday we would eat food and listen to my favorite rock and roll band. It would be close to the Atlantic Ocean. We get to have fun. We will have lots of holidays, and I will be the president. I will send a taxi for the poor people. This is a holiday: We all go to Candyland. We will eat dessert after breakfast, lunch and supper. There will be lots of sun. When the sun is still out and it’s Monday, everyone camps and watches the sunset. It would be a great place. We will have fun.

If I could design my own city, the name of the city would be The Secret City. If you type in the secret code, the code is 19172001. The code is for the city. There is a secret door. There is a secret hideout. There are good things in the hideout. There are parachutes and superboots. You can use these for emergencies. There are secret tools for fixing things. There would be mysteries and I’m the secret president.

My city is called, Michael’s Secret City. If I could design my own city , I will have lots of foods. I will have big clocks in my city. There is a secret code. It is 510-11-12-8-1-0. I would have baseball stadiums. I like the Cardinals, because I love them. Cam and I are playing baseball and I’m signing up for baseball. Sign ups are this season, and I’ve been bugging Mom to sign up. I have a Superman in my city. I have dirt bike tracks. There are some solids and liquids. There are fireworks. There’s a snowstorm in the morning and then a rainstorm.

I will call my city Kaleb’s Mathland. Elvis will be there. It is cool! You should go there sometime! It is 100% good. There is a password. It goes to the school. I love school. It is my favorite. It is fun. There is kickball. In Mathland, there are cars that you can never break.

My city will be in a different country. My city is in Japan. It would be in the mountains. In my city, there would be fireworks. There would be polar bears in my city. My city would be named The Secret Towers of Polar Bears.

If I could design my own city, it would be called Mason City. It will have a police stations and a dirt bike track. It will be a private track. It will have famous people like James Stewart and Ricky Carmichael and Travis Bustrana. There will be taxis and limos and private jets. I will be the president of my city. I will have a zoo in my city. It will have parrots, tigers, rabbits, and some flamingos. My city will have a toy store in the middle of the town. There will be spaghetti and meatballs. My city will be near an ocean. You could stay at the Whiteman V.I.P. Hotel.

There’s nothing more fascinating than the imagination of a child. First graders stretched their minds today with this writing prompt!

If you could be an orca whale or a dragonfly for one day, which would you choose? Why? How would you spend your day?

If I could be a dragonfly for one day, I would fly across the ocean and listen to the sounds of nature. I would see different animals in the ocean, like sharks, stingrays, octopus, and scorpions. Then, I would fly around the Earth! I would see different states. I would be looking for ponds where mosquitoes live. I would have lunch!

If I could be a dragonfly for one day, I would fly. I would meet animals. I would be frightened if I saw a bear. I would fly away. I will meet some friends. They would be birds. We will play with my friends until supper. Then I will go to bed.

If I could be an orca whale for one day, I would go far away to see an island. I would jump out of the water 100 times. I would be frightened if a bigger animal came. At the end of the day, I would go back home.

If I could be a dragonfly for one day, I would go to a lake and see my shadow. Then I would go get some food. I would be in the mood to fly to the city and meet more dragonflies. We will meet lightening bugs and fly around together. Then we will go home. We will have so much fun. Then we will fly over to the park. We will take a rest.

If I could be an orca whale for one day, I could swim. I would play, too. When I play I will play with my friends. We will play tag. After that, I will go home. The next day, we will have fun again. Then I saw an octopus. I swam past it. He felt bewildered because he didn’t know who I was. Then it will be good. I will feel good. I would have a good day. But, being a kid is good, too!

If I could be a dragonfly for one day, I would explore the world. I would fly over the mountains, seas, states, and trees. I would see a dolphin in the sea. I would stop at places. While I’m at those places I will do stuff, like figure out what language they speak and what their culture is. I like being a kid, too.

If I could be a dragonfly for one day, I would fly around the Earth to see outer space. I would go to the hottest planet in the Milky Way. Then I would visit the monkeys and we will play hide and go seek. I would be “it.” We went to sleep in a tree. The tree would be in China. The end.

If I could be an orca whale for one day, I would swim around the deep sea. Then I would go deeper in the ocean. I will see my friends, like Tico the octopus. Then we will find Ricky the clown fish. We will play at the water park. Then we will go up and we will surprise Momo the parrot. He is a very funny parrot. Then we all will find Tinkerbell and ask her if she could make the parrot swim. We had so much fun today.

If I could be an orca for one day, I would chase fish and spin around in the ocean. Then I would play with my friend the beaver. I would go home and eat supper, and it would be fish. Then I would go to bed.


If I could be an orca whale for one day, I would swim in the ocean. I would eat fish and make new friends. Being a kid is better, but I like being an orca, too.

If I could be an orca for one day, I would find friends underwater. I would have lots of friends, like lobsters and crabs and fish and jellyfish and squids and shrimp. I might see a boat and a scuba diver and sharks with babies. We live in the ocean, and when it’s night we will find ocean things to make a house. I’ll do it with my friends.

If I could be a dragonfly for one day I would spend my day with my friends, even Mr. Rubin! I would go to the park! I would have a pizza party at my house! We will all hole the pizza together. We will break it with our hands!

If I could be an orca whale for one day, I would go under the ocean. It will feel good playing with the other fish. I would play tag with an octopus.

If I could be a dragonfly for one day, I would fly all day long. I would fly with the birds. One bird would be my friend. All the birds would be my friends. We would fly together. We would fly together to New York City.

Thank you to the Lewis Family! Jacob and his family took our classroom project of secret island design to the next level! They build a three dimentional "Lewis Family Island" at home. Luckily, they let the rest of the class in on the fun, and brought it into school. Here are some of our responses.

I like the treehouse the best. I like how you put details on the picnic table. I was entranced when I first saw it.

I love the details and if we didn't have Jacob in our class we wouldn't have this wonderful map in our classroom. It's a great creation. Thank you for bringing in the map!

I like the treehouse. Did you make it?

I like the boat. I like the treehouse. I love the Lewis Family Island, because islands are fun to make.

I like the waterslide because it slides on the island! I love the pop up. Everything on the map is stupendous. It is immense. It made me entranced.

I like the hideout because I like watching out for ships!

I like the waterslide and the boat and the treehouse. If I went to the island, I would want to see a bald eagle!

I like to swim in the water. I would go the the Lewis Family Island.

I love it! I like the pop up boat and watersilde. If I can visit it, I would be delighted.

I like your treehouse and your extraordinary waterslide on the edge of the island. What is the thing with red on the seat? Oh, it's a firepit!

On the Lewis map of their island there is a waterslide. The garden is beautiful. It would be a long journey to get there.

I like the waterslide because it looks like the best waterslide ever. It's a pop up waterslide. The water comes into the island for the waterslide.

I love your map because it's a good map. I like the tree.

It is so extraordinary, because it is a place where you can have lots of fun.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

First graders spent time thinking about freedom, equality, and the beauty of nature this morning. Coincidentally, we were able to make connections between the teachings of the great Dr. King and children’s author Leo Lionni.

Martin Luther King Jr. told the people that you don’t have to be alone if you are different. It doesn’t matter. Leo Lionni made two books that we read today. The books said it doesn’t matter about your color.

Martin Luther King Jr. and Leo Lionni taught us it doesn’t matter what color you are. Tico learned a lesson about sharing.

Martin Luther King Jr. said to the government that it doesn’t matter what color you are. The chameleon wanted to be a certain color. Tico learned about sharing and being a nice friend.

Dr. Martin Luther King taught us to change the world, and Tico taught us that we are all different.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. helped change the laws. He helped the world and people.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. did a nice thing. It doesn’t matter what color you are. It matters that you can move and play.

Leo Lionni and Martin Luther King Jr. both taught people that it doesn’t matter if you skin is black or white. It just matters that you are yourself.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. says everybody is different from other people, even the people that are the same color. Tico learned sharing is nice. Chameleon learned that not every animal has a color.

Martin Luther King taught us it doesn’t matter if you’re black or white. Tico taught us sharing is fun. It doesn’t matter if you’re different. It doesn’t matter who you are, just what you do. Chameleon taught us it doesn’t matter what color you are.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Leo Lionni are kind of the same because they both like others. What really matters is what you do.

Martin Luther King believed in freedom. It doesn’t matter what color you are. Leo Lionni is a great bookmaker. The chameleon changes color and meets a friend.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. taught people it doesn’t matter what color your skin is. Leo Lionni wrote A Color of His Own. The book is like Martin Luther King because they taught us the same thing.

Martin Luther King showed us that colors can be different, but we are all people.

Martin Luther King helped change the law and give us freedom. He told us everybody could be great people. We have to be nice to everyone and help each other and care about each other.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. taught us about people and freedom. He said that it doesn’t matter what color you are and everybody should be able to do the same things. Family, food, and friendship are really important in life.

Your Own Secret Island!

First graders had a blast this week, desiging their own tropical island. They created maps of these private tropical locations and wrote stories to go with them. We hope you enjoy them.

My map looks nice. It has lots of islands. I would find treasure there. I would stay five days. I would bring coconuts back home. I would swim there. I would play on the beach. I would come back on a Thursday. I have three islands on my map. I had a good time there. I came back at night. I had fun. Now it’s time for sleep.

It is daytime on my map. We have a submarine under water to see fish and the island. I would see a sea urchin, sharks, octopus and a sea turtle. If I went to the island, I would find coconuts to drink. The coconut would give me some energy in my body and keep me alive. I would get bananas for breakfast, lunch and supper. I would bring some of my friends. We would go under water in the submarine and find whale bones.

I would go to this island. It has five things to do. First, I would go swimming. Then I would go find the treasure. Then I would go climb the tree and get some coconuts. I would catch some fish with my hands. Then I would go surfing.

If I was stranded on this island I would drink coconut milk. I would make weapons to catch sea creatures for snack. Then I would make more weapons to catch animals. When they are dead, I would make clothes out of their fur for when it got cold. I would use bones from animals to make the weapons.

Hi my name is Jaxon. I want to tell you about my island. My island has treasure. If I went there, I would build a boat. Then I will go to the big island. I will go to find the hidden treasure. I am the first one to find it.

Hi. Do you want to come to my island? Do you want to get in a boat to get there? It is cool there. But, you better watch out for sharks. There is tuna fish there. It is cool.

I saw a volcano. I would play with my brothers and bring some of my friends and I would go to the volcano. I would look in the volcano. It will be hot. I would go on a hike. I would build a boat and go to the other island and walk around the island and see the cave. I am the first person to find the hidden treasure.

If I went to the island I would find treasure. I would find shelter and a volcano. On another island I would go in the woods. Then I sail to the last island and play on the beach. I would swim in the lake and hide in the bushes and get a tan. I’d play spies. I’d ride on my boat. Then I would go home.

Hi friends! If I went to my island I would stay ‘til 2:30 in the night. Would you? I would have a cell phone. I would order pizza and I would color calendars.

The name of this story is called “The Shark and the Big Island and the Little Island”. I would go to the next island. I would build a boat and I would see a shark and a volcano. If the volcano erupts I would run away and go home.

I will go on a hike. I would climb a tree. It will be sunny. Then I will go home to take a nap at my house. I am going to the island on the weekend. It will be a vacation. I will run around in circles. Then I will take a break to get faster. I will swim with my brothers in the water to play. Then we will dry off to get clean and go back in the water.

If I went to my island, I would find treasure. I would sail a boat. I would go to a beach and sit down. I would watch the boats.

When I go to my island, I will look for a hidden treasure.. When I find wood, I will make shelter. I will stay for 10 days, because it is so fun. I really love my island. When I find the treasure, will look for the key. After my expedition, I will go home on the boat that I made with tree bark. I really loved my island and everyone else’s.

If I could go to an island, I would see a volcano. I would take pictures with an underwater camera. I would take pictures of a sea lion and a tropical fish. Maybe I would see a dolphin or salamanders and seaweed and lots more!

If I went to an island, I would find treasure! I would go to the beach! After that, I would try a coconut. I’ve never tried one before. Then, I would go look for starfish. After that, I would make a boat and go out to sea. I would stay for two weeks. I would bring a compass rose and Kayti.

Is it too soon to be thinking about snow? First graders worked hard on their writing this week, thinking about the perfect snow day. Hopefully, the fluffy white will be falling soon!

- I like to snowboard, because you get to go off snow jumps. I would go off a jump. You can, because we go off snow hills.

-I will eat candy and drink hot chocolate. I will snowboard. I will bring Mom, Jacob, Kat, Chris and Dad. We could go sledding.


-I would make snow sculptures. Then, I would go ice-skating and snow-sliding on a hill. Then, I would go inside and have some hot chocolate and cookies.

-I would go sledding, snowboarding, and skiing. When I go outside, I will run to get energy.

-One day I woke up and then I saw it was a snow day. I got outside. I got my mittens and jacket on to go outside. After we have fun, we will go inside. We will have hot chocolate and cookies. We will have the best snow day ever.

-I would be excited because I would get to go sledding with my mom, dad, Sadie, and Jocelyn. I would go inside and have cookies and hot chocolate with my mom, dad, and Sadie would have dog food. Then we will go outside and make and igloo!

-One day, I woke up at 2:00 and saw a snowy day. I would play with Nick. I would eat strawberries. I would drink hot chocolate. I would make a snowman. I love snow. Do you? I’ll live happily ever after.

-I would go get my dad and mom. I will ask my mom to make hot chocolate and cookies. Then, I will ask my dad if we can go outside for a minute.

-One morning, I woke up and saw a blizzard. Then, I went outside my door. Then, I woke my brother up, and we went outside and had a snowball fight. I played on my trampoline, went sledding, and played on my structure and my swings.

-One morning I got up and went outside after my breakfast. I made a big snow fort. It was a huge, huge snow fort!

-I will wake up and I will get my snowsuit on. I will go sledding and I will go make snowmen. I will go snowmobiling with my dad, Connor, my dogs and cats, my mom, and my sister.

-When it’s a snow day, I would ask my sister if she would want to come outside and play. Then, I would call Kayti and see if she wants to play with us. Then, I would go inside and eat cookies and drink hot chocolate. We would go back outside and make an igloo. We would go sledding. After that, we would go ski. Then we would go play inside.

-One morning, it was snowing. I went outside and played outside. Then, I would go back inside and eat warm food. Then I would go back outside.

-If I woke up and it was a snow day, I would go outside and play. I would sled. It would be fun. I would like that. I would be fun, super duper fun. I would like it very much.

-One morning I woke up and looked out my window. It was pouring snow. I was so happy. Then, I got dressed in my snowsuit and went outside. I went sledding with Cam. Then we went inside and had hot chocolate and marshmallows and more chocolate.

First Graders Are Giving Thanks!

In these days leading up to Thanksgiving, first graders are taking time to appreciate all the wonderful things we are so lucky to have. Here is each students' writing on the topic.

- I am thankful for the turkey on Thanksgiving. I am also thankful for my friends. They are nice.

- I am thankful for having good friends because they help when you get hurt. I like my friends. You can trust them.

- I am thankful for my dad. He is so nice to me and my brother. He helps rescue my cat. He also helps people when there are fires. He cares about others.

- I am thankful for everything, because everything is my life. I like my friends and family, nature and water, and lots of other stuff. But, I really like people. I care about all these things, because they are my life.

- I am thankful for the people that serve our country. If we didn't have people that help us, we wouldn't be here right now. I am also thankful for my family. My mom makes good apple bread. My dogs are big and small.

- I am thankful for being healthy. I take care of myself, so I don't get rotten teeth.

- I am thankful for living animals. We can have pets. We would be lonely if we didn't have animals. Why am I thankful for animals? Because, I love them!

- I am thankful for my brother. I like "J." We watch TV together. We play stuffed animals together. He takes good care of me when I'm sick.

- I am thankful for having good friends. I like my friends. I help my friends. I play with my friends all the time.

- I am thankful for the turkey. I also love my brother and my mom. They read my books at night.

- I am thankful for having good parents and all the wonderful food my mom makes. They help me with my homework.

- I am thankful for my family because I love them. I am thankful for the people that serve our country, because I like the army.

- I am thankful for my pet. Sadie is a good dog. I like it when she goes outside and plays ball with me and my mom. Sadie is my special pet, because I love her.