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Amy, the author of this personal narrative, effectively uses voice to convey the fear she feels as she ascends a path to an area above a 100-ft. waterfall. Her expert choice of words helps to paint a beautiful picture of her surroundings.

In this vintage essay, Abigail expresses her thoughts and feelings about the songwriter and lead singer of the band the Counting Crows, who are still making music a quarter century on. She analyzes the themes in Adam Duritz’s songs from the '90's and offers her interpretation of symbolism present in them.

Amy Tan’s book The Joy Luck Club explores the relationships between four Chinese American daughters and their often-misunderstood, more traditional Chinese mothers. By sharing quotations from the book, Fawn, the author of this literary analysis, intends to show how, as they grew up, the daughters came to understand, respect, and appreciate their mothers more.

This historical profile presents accurate information about a famous person and is written in an active, lively manner. Alita, the writer, immersed herself in the life of Rosa Parks until she could “feel” the person and events. She found ways to communicate these feelings to readers.

This report is timely, revealing, and engaging; it flows smoothly with effective transitions between paragraphs. The author has clearly gained a thorough understanding of the subject.

Sixth-grader Bryan wrote this report after visiting a wolf park in Battle Ground, Indiana.

The use of an authority’s quotation to open this editorial lends credibility to the writer’s opinion. Seventh-grader Jess backs up her position in subsequent paragraphs.

This report is clearly focused around a specific thesis. It is evident from the writer’s voice that he is interested in and knowledgeable about the topic.

Fifth-grader Ethan moves the reader smoothly through his personal narrative with transition words like first, then, also, so far, and when.

Dylan, a second-grade writer, shares his very personal feelings in an honest, direct way. His first and last sentences tell the whole story; and the middle sentences give the reader important, heartfelt details about Dylan’s experience.

Many details are included in this writing, and a personal tone emerges. The piece has a clear beginning, middle, and ending.

This writing shows the feelings of the writer and is well organized.

Adam, the first-grade writer of this model, uses his senses to describe his cat—fluffy, soft, fat. Readers can “see” and “feel” Buzz.

Ryan tells what he learned on a visit to a space center.

This writing has delightful details and a clear voice.

First-grader Traci begins and ends her report with a main idea about parrots: they are pretty, colorful birds.

This model is based on a story submitted by first-grader Ashley. Her story has a main character with a problem. The problem is solved in an interesting way.

In Bowen’s story, he imagines himself as a leaf. He gives lots of details about being blown around by the wind.

This is a fun story with lots of details.

This report was submitted by Brittany, a second grader. The ending of Brittany’s report shares exactly how she feels about her subject.

Second-grade writer Kirsten shares many interesting facts in her report. Notice how she ties everything together by mentioning the horse’s good eyesight in both the first and last paragraphs.

Second-grader Pheba wrote a small poem that tells in just a few words what her subject does and how she feels about it.

Austin, the second-grade writer of this expository paragraph, introduces his subject—how to be a good president—in an interesting way.

This book review is well organized and shares interesting details related to the book.