Theme: People

For her history class, Samantha created an entry for the diary of a character from A Tale of Two Cities. She focuses on a pivotal event in his life and imagines what it must have been like for him.

Ninth-grader Samantha’s assignment for this essay was to write a series of vignettes, loosely modeled on the novel The House on Mango Street, about her own house, neighborhood, family, and friends.

Michelle (grade 11) develops this eyewitness account by answering the “5 W’s and H” about her parents becoming American citizens. The writer also shares her sensory impressions.

Before Facebook, Snapchat, and Pinterest allowed us to gather and store images digitally, students kept their memories in photo albums and even shoeboxes. In this historic model, Alita writes about her shoebox collection of memories. Vivid details recreate the feeling of thumbing through pictures.

This personal narrative by eighth-grader Alicia presents an engaging voice. Read the essay and notice how Alicia’s personality comes through; she obviously cares about her subject. Her use of details gives the reader a clear picture of the characters and environment in this account of Alicia’s first encounter with racism.

This model is based on an essay submitted by fourth-grader Mia. She uses some vivid verbs and sensory details—“devour juicy caramel-covered apples,” “crisp fall breeze,” “soft spring trickles of rain splashing the sidewalks,” “warm summer sun”—to help the reader experience her favorite place.

Cody, a fourth grader, writes about his wish that his little brother could have known their grandfather.