McKinley Thatcher Reporters Fall, 2009

1. McKinley Thatcher ReportersFall, 2009 Twenty-one students wrote articles this fall for a newspaper project. Here are their articles.

2. Second Graders • Some second graders wrote about composting. • Some second graders wrote about Halloween.

3. Composting with wormsby Willa Broderick • Last Tuesday, our class composted with worms! We had to shred newspaper and then Jungle Judy made a worm sandwich. The box of compost goes under the water fountain.

4. Spooky Halloweenby Kobie Martinez • Five days before Halloween, I went to a costume party. I dressed as Joker. Some of the other costumes were a mummy and a scarecrow. My favorite candy was the Sponge Bob brain and crabby patty. I scared this guy at the party.

5. Composting Dayby Amy Nguyen • I love composting. Jungle Judy gave us some worms. We did get a sandwich with lettuce. We put the sandwiches in the composting bin so the worms can eat them. We did something that was so much fun!

6. Best Halloweenby Madison Dobbins • One Saturday night, I went trick-or-treating at school. I was dressed as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. I wore sparkling red shoes. I wore a French braid and a big blue bow. We ate lots of candy. I really liked the Sponge Bob crabby candy.

7. Composting Dayby Aidan Patrick • Last Tuesday, our class did composting with worms. I was not there. I was sick that day.

8. Third Graders Third graders wrote famous fairy tales turned into news articles, about being embarrassed, and about what was learned at a SPREE field trip.

9. Reporting: Sofia Bottinelli Mr. Axe Man Tries to Hurt Young Wolf Small girl wearing a red hood is seen helping a wolf. Mr. Axe Man (named because he always carries an axe) was sent by “Save the Wolves” to get the wolf so it can be helped. What they don’t know is that Mr. Axe Man is an animal hater. He still goes to get the wolf, but not to help it, but to kill it. He comes to the red hooded youngster’s house on September 23, 1914. The girl won’t give it up. Well, Mr. Axe Man is talking to the young girl’s mom. Little Red Riding Hood sneaks the wolf on her stuffed animal shelf and took her stuffed animal wolf out the back door. Mr. Axe Man sees her put the stuffed animal out the back door and smacks the stuffed wolf with the axe. The wolf died in peace because of the girl’s fast thinking. Thank you, Little One. • Little White Lamb following 5 Year Old Girl • For a week now, five-year-old Mary has been followed by a snow-white lamb. Mary’s parents have tried to make it stop. Young Mary explains how she saved it from a burning barn. Her parents do not want another living soul in their already messy house. Farmers bring older sheep, but nothing has worked. Mary doesn’t mind the young lamb always trailing around behind her. Every night the lamb falls asleep at the foot of her bed. Will this ever stop? Will this young snow-white lamb grow up with Mary? Got ideas? If so, call 1-800-932-4558. Your idea may not hurt Mary or the lamb.

10. When Cinderella Became FamousBy Ava Zarou • Year: 1861. Cinderella was on her way to the market to get some tea for her stepmother and stepsisters. She was wearing raggy clothes and a scarf that was meant for her stepmother, but of course, she didn’t like it. Cinderella could see the market. She felt like running. It was a couple of blocks away. Before she knew it, she was on the ground, holding Humpty Dumpty. Everyone was cheering. She heard, “Sis-boom-ba-rah-rah-rah!” (GASP!) Did she just hear….Abraham Lincoln was coming to meet her for saving the king? The story will be continued….Right now! Wait a second. A million dollars were in her hand! Instead of tea, how about a new dress? To meet Abraham Lincoln.

11. Little Red Riding HoodBy Pearl Fetter • Little Red Riding Hood and her mother were baking cookies for Halloween. They put black and orange sprinkles on the pumpkin-shaped cooked they had made. When they had finished making the cookies, they set them out to cool. After they cooled, boys and girls came to the door. They gave the cookies to them. They also ate some themselves, and they lived scrumptiously ever after.

12. By Knox Martin • Coming in the next issue….

13. By Lily Monsour • Goldy Locks • Goldy Locks was running down a hill and tripped and hit her head on a very strange little house. She opened the door and saw three cookies. There was one really, really big one, one really big one, and one small one. She tried eating the first cookie, but it was too big for her mouth. She tried eating the smaller one, and it fit just right. Then the bears caught Goldy Locks red handed and they sent Gold Locks running all the way home. Embarrassed Everybody gets embarrassed but when you get embarrassed, does anybody make fun of you? If anybody is mean to you when you did something nerdy, then think about if they ever did something embarrassing and did anybody make fun of him. So, when you do something embarrassing, don’t be ashamed, just feel great!

14. SPREE(South Platte River Environmental Education)By Vaughn Morrison • You may think that ripping the leaves off trees and bushes is fun, but believe it or not, you’re killing stuff all the same. Plants are alive, and you should not hurt them. To stop all those people, other people started SPREE. Here are some environmental tips: • 1. Always water the plants as if they were pets. • 2. Don’t rip things off plants like the leaves, branches, etc. • 3. To stop pollution, ride your bike and don’t use the car. • 4. Always plant seeds. • 5. NEVER rip trees out of the ground. • In conclusion, if you were a plant hurter, I hope you have had a change of mind.

15. Fourth Graders andFifth Graders • Some fourth and fifth graders retold famous fairy tales as news articles. • Others chose to write book summaries or about cartoons. • Enjoy the poem and all the articles!

16. CartoonsBy Karime Peregrino-Duarte • Have you ever stopped to think about cartoons? How funny they are, or how they make cartoons? Have you tried thinking of ideas for a cartoon? Did you know that Mickey Mouse is not just for babies? He is also in the Three Musketeers and House of Mouse. Some people just say that Mickey Mouse is just for little kids because they’ve only seen the baby Mickey Mouse version.

17. Big Bad Wolf on the Loose!By Hannah Patrick • Red Riding Hood runs into Wolf while taking a gift to her grandma. Wolf hides Grandma in order to get the goodies for himself. But Red finds her grandma in the closet, except the grandma had suffered a heart attack. • Uncle to the rescue! Red’s uncle was a policeman, Uncle James. He took Wolf to jail. • Red’s grandma is in the hospital and will be released soon. All the characters will be back in the story tomorrow. • Police have evidence that Wolf has escaped from prison and is hiding in other fairy tales. • (P.S. Fairy Tale characters, watch out for wolves in your stories.)

18. The Unfortunate Events of Little Red Riding HoodBy Molly Worford • It was reported by Mr. Wolf that at 6:25 PM, Little Red Riding Hood was found in a big hole on the side of the road, and was unable to get out. “I was walking down the dirt path through the forest looking out for her when I almost fell in, too. I would have pulled her out and eaten her right then and there, but the hole was too deep. When I tried to pull her out, part of my disguise fell off to reveal my pricked ears, and she immediately recognized me,” Mr. Wolf told the reporter, Kiki Montel. • “When I first realized it was the Big Bad Wolf, I was so scared. I called for help, but there was no one else to hear me. I was sitting in the hole when the police happened to walk by and helped me out,” Little Red Riding Hood said after she was rescued. She was relieved to hear that Mr. Wolf was sentenced to five years in prison.

19. By Christopher Banchero

20. Little Red Riding HoodBy Liam Broderick • One lovely summer day, Little Red Riding Hood was walking through the forest to deliver a basket of muffins to her sick grandma. Then A. William Wolf jumped out of a bush and tried to eat Little Red Riding Hood, but she gets away in time. Right before Little Red got to her grandma’s house, she met a nice man cutting down some trees. Finally, Little Red got to her grandmother’s house, knocked on the door and went in. As soon as she saw her grandma, she said, “Why, Grandma, what big eyes you have.” “All the better to see you with, my dear,” said Grandma. “Why, Grandma, what big ears you have.” “All the better to hear you with, my dear,” said Grandma. “Why Grandma, what big teeth you have,” said Little Red. “All the better to eat you with, my dear,” said Grandma. All of a sudden, “Grandma” sprang out of bed, but Grandma wasn’t Grandma. Grandma was A. William Wolf. A. William Wolf ran around the room trying to catch Little Red. Then the man that was cutting down trees in the forest came into the house. He saw what was happening and felt sorry for Little Red. So he took his ax and chased the wolf away. A few minutes later, they looked in the closet and there was Red’s grandma tied up. They untied her and the next day, they invited the wolf back for tea and crumpets. Then they sent the wolf to Costa Rica where he learned to surf.

21. HUMPTY DUMPTYBy Audrey Homlar • It was a beautiful day in the kingdom of fairy tales, when it was oddly interrupted when all the king’s horses and all of his men were called to the great wall after Mr. Egg, a.k.a. Humpty Dumpty, had an unexpected fall. Little Red Riding Hood alerted the king while she was on her way delivering cookies to her grandma. The king and his men, along with a bottle of super glue, arrived at 10:30 PM yesterday night. But it was no use. Humpty Dumpty’s yolk fell out and he lies unconscious at Mr. Pig’s hospital on Never Ending Street.

22. By Max Ulrich • Coming in next issue...

23. White Snow N’ the 4 ElvesBy Charlotte Verrastro • White Snow was a beautiful young girl who was a slave for her ugly grandmother. White had light brown hair, crystal blue eyes, and white snow skin. • When she was walking in the forest with her best friend, Cinderella, Cinderella got lost, so White went into the forest and got lost herself. She found three bears and they kindly led her to a small cottage. • White let herself in and found 4 elves; Sleepy, Happy, Bashful and Grumpy. They let White stay with them for one week. • One day when the elves were at the computer shop (where they work and get lots of money for it, too), White was baking apple pie. An old lady that looked extremely like her grandmother in disguise, came to the window. • “Apple pie I see, but it is blueberry pie the men like wishing berries.” She held up a bucket of berries. “Try one!” • White picked up and wished her grandmother would never find her. She ate a berry and fell to the ground. The elves felt something was wrong, so they ran home on their horses. They saw the queen try to escape so they chased after her. The queen came to a cliff and had to stop. She found a big rock and tried to push it down, but in the process fell off the cliff.

24. Tale of DespereauxBook by Kate DiCamilloReport by Anna Coleman • Once in a huge castle in one of the smallest little nooks possible, a baby mouse was born. He was disgraced by his family and sent to the dungeon by a simple little crime, talking to a human. Now, Listener, imagine giving your own son to the darkness, never to be seen again. Despereaux, afraid to seek his doom, did not continue with his punishment and reached the floor to his dear princess and saved her life. Now, again, imagine a small mouse, the size of a cherry or a grape, saving the life of a beautiful princess. Now, that is the most extravagant and courageous mouse I have heard of and if you read the book, you will have read a pure piece of literature.

25. By Miriam Primus Pumpkin Eater Peter • Goldylocks • Skipping down the trail • Saw a cottage • Went inside • Tried out chairs • beds • porridge • The owners are back • They’re bears • Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh • Baby Bear • Mama Bear • Daddy Bear • are mad • All is well now • Friends Peter was a lonely boy. Partially because he made no effort to make friends and partially because he would eat “anything”. His favorite “anything” was pumpkin. Halloween was his favorite time of year because during the evening around dinner time, he would walk down blocks and up streets simply eating jack ‘o’ lanterns. Most people think it’s the squirrels but really it’s Pumpkin Eater Peter.