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– Kids Are Authors –
The Monster in the Basement |
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| Pictured above are Brianna, Sarah, Emily, Hunter, and Lauren, who participated in the 2007-08 "Kids Are Authors" enrichment cluster with literacy coach Elizabeth Donaldson and attended a spring intersession publishing workshop with multimedia specialist Charles Williams to write and publish The Monster in the Basement, their entry in Scholastic's annual "Kids Are Authors" competition. The children used their original digital photographs of Carlson locations and the drawing program KidPix to create the illustrations. | |||||
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Written and illustrated by third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade students
in Alice Carlson's "Kids Are Authors" enrichment cluster |
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| Do you ever hear strange noises in your school, creaks in the air vents and odd screeches from down below? Maybe it’s haunted like ours is said to be. Perhaps our story will answer some of the questions you have had about your school! | |||||
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| In 1927 a school opened in Fort Worth, Texas. People warned the builders not to put a school there. It was said that there was a cemetery on the property long ago, but no one could prove it. | |||||
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| The school was built and many children enrolled. | |||||
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| A few days after school started, Michael, Tuilio, and Jake decided to skip school and go exploring. As they were walking across the playground, they saw the principal coming their way. The only way to avoid her was to duck into the open grate under the stairs. No one ever saw them again. | |||||
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| Eighty years later, Rosario, Megan, and Morgan sat on the playground waiting for the morning bell to ring. | |||||
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| “See that grate under the stairs?” Rosario asked. "My grandfather told my mom and dad that a long time ago three boys went under the school through that old grate and they were never seen again! He said that some people told him that a terrible monster lived under the school and lives there still.” | |||||
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| “I wonder if something is really down there?”Morgan asked quivering. “Maybe we should check it out,” said Megan. But how?” | |||||
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| So then Rosario started to make a plan with the other two.“The Zoo is coming with their Wild Wonder Show tomorrow.” said Rosario. “We could try to sneak out then.” | |||||
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| “But there’s a master lock on the basement door!” Megan pointed out. “How are we going to get inside?” | |||||
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| The next day they heard the lawn mower on the soccer field. Morgan had an idea. “Maybe the shed door is open and we can look for a basement key.” The three children ran to the shed and they found the door wide open. They slipped inside and searched the shed for a key ring. Just as they were about to give up, they found a small ring of keys in the depths of the shadows, covered in dust. | |||||
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