Alliteration

Summer is a splendid season to soak up the sun.

That's alliteration, when we use the same letter at the beginning of words. Alliteration is fun, it's rhythmic, and it's poetic. It has a nice sound. When readers see a sentence with alliteration, they enjoy saying the words out loud.

Let's try another one:

Larry was so lazy, he lounged till noon.

Not every word in a sentence needs to start with the same letter. Here's a line from The Jade Dragon by Carolyn Marsden and Virginia Shin-Mui Loh. The main character, Ginny, is thinking about the disappointing Christmas presents she received.

Socks. Underwear. A pair of pajamas. Pencils.

Say it out loud. The "p" sounds with their little puff of air show how frustrated Ginny is. Later on the page, she repeats the line, so we get to hear the "p" sounds again.

Socks. Underwear. A pair of pajamas. Pencils.

Try writing your own alliteration. It's fun, fabulous, and fantastic!

The Translation Game

Q B X M P C Y D A H U K S E Z N L T W O V F G

I J R

Here's a word game I learned from Nancy Lewars. It's a great game for summer, because you can play it outside while the weather's warm and sunny.

Three people sit in a row. The person in the middle is the Translator. The first person says something to the Translator in a made-up language (gibberish). The second person, or Translator, "translates" that to the third person in English. The third person answers the Translator in another made-up language (gibberish). The Translator then "translates" that back to the first person.

Sound complicated? It isn't. Here's an example:

First person: "Eee-ee ha la, moo hani la?"

Translator: "Why are you wearing a wool coat in June?"

Third person: "Sher trekk ponter dred trekk setin klakervin."

Translator: "Someone took my clothes."

First person: "Moo?"

Translator: "Why?"

Third person: "Sher trekk klakervin bettlever dagin."

Translator: "Because the clothes didn't belong to me."

You get the idea. Create a story using the Translation Game, and see how long you can keep it going. Have fun making up your gibberish language on the spot!

P.S. Lemonade goes great with this game.

School's Out for Summer!

SCHOOL'S OUT!

School's out for summer.

It's really a bummer.

Just kidding!

I miss all my classes

and wearing my glasses.

Just kidding!

The bus smelled so great.

I was never late.

Just kidding!

My teacher was cool.

I really loved school.

Just kidding!

I did all my work

and was never a jerk.

Just kidding!

Now summer's here

and I'm shedding a tear.

Just kidding!

I can ride my bike

and go for a hike.

I can sleep till noon

and act like a goon.

I can watch TV

and water ski

ride my skateboard all day

and play, play, play, play!

NOT kidding!

What do YOU think about school being out for summer? Write a poem about it!

Libraries

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE libraries!

What's better than a library? A story set in a library.

Think of all the story possibilities for a library:

• you get locked inside the library overnight
• you see someone stealing a book
• you're hiding from someone in the library bathroom
• you're at the library computer when a magical dragonfly whizzes past
• you find a talking tarantula with a chef's hat in the cookbook section

Try setting a story in a library. In YOUR library, no one will say, "Shhhhhh!"