Note from Dianne: I visited Shannon Elementary in April and students in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades participated in a writing contest creating stories inspired by my book, The Cajun Cornbread Boy. This is the 3rd grade winner. Congratulations, Detrick! Do a happy dance! By the way, did you know that beagles (the dog pictured above) are known as “hush puppies?!” ]]> https://diannedelascasas.com/2013/05/the-mississippi-hush-puppy-by-detrick-anderson-5th-grade-writing-contest-winner-shannon-elementary/feed/ 0 https://diannedelascasas.com/2013/05/the-mississippi-hushpuppy-plan-by-randy-johnson-winner-of-4th-grade-writing-contest-shannon-elementary/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-mississippi-hushpuppy-plan-by-randy-johnson-winner-of-4th-grade-writing-contest-shannon-elementary https://diannedelascasas.com/2013/05/the-mississippi-hushpuppy-plan-by-randy-johnson-winner-of-4th-grade-writing-contest-shannon-elementary/#comments Tue, 14 May 2013 04:14:11 +0000 https://diannedelascasas.com/?p=7545
 

The Mississippi Hushpuppy Plan
by Randy Johnson
4th Grade, Shannon Elementary School

It was the night before the big Fourth of July picnic. Nothing was stirring, not even a Hush-Hush Puppy. The sizzling, smelly thoughts of being eaten the next day were too much for the little Hush-Hush Puppy’s crummy little imagination. He said to himself, “Why? Oh, why must a Mississippi hushpuppy fry?”

As he looked at the fear in his parents’ faces, he knew it wouldn’t be long. Tears ran down his round cheeks as cries of sorrow rang out of his mouth. Hush-Hush Puppy’ds father looked at him with fear in his eyes, but with comfort in his voice, he said, “Hush, Hush-Hush Puppy.”

Hush-Hush Puppy looked around in the refrigerator. He was elated to see his friend, French-Fry, who said, “What’s up, Hush-Hush Puppy?”

Hush-Hush Puppy replied, “Hello, French-Fry. Have you seen Cole-Slaw?”

French-Fry answered, “Yeah, man. I saw him over at Catfish’s house.”

Since Catfish was not around, Hush Puppy and French-Fry decided to practice their French lessons. They said, “We may be Southerners, but we are educated and cultured Southerners.”

Joining in the fun, Tartar Sauce ran up to us and asked, “Do you have any Grey Poupon?”

French-Fry replied, “Bonjour, Monsieur Tartar Sauce.”
 
So, just for that moment, they forgot it was only hours away from all of them being eaten. But as the hours drew near, everyone in the fridge began to tremble with fear. They gathered together in one big, terrified circle.

Then Hush-Hush Puppy got an idea.

He explained, “In the house there are five kids and they all bought firecrackers for the Fourth of July. If we are lucky, when they run through the kitchen, they might drop a couple.”

The next day that’s just what happened. The kids dropped a few of their firecrackers right in front of the refrigerator. As the grumpy old mama living there opened the fridge, Hush-Hush Puppy saw his chance for an exit.

Sure enough, the mom didn’t see Hush-Hush Puppy escape. Hush-Hush Puppy jumped out and grabbed the firecrackers. They were the big sky rockets with the army men that parachuted into the sky right before the rocket exploded.

Grabbing a rocket parachute, Hush-Hush Puppy instructed all his friends in the fridge, “First, we all must run to the stove. Then, climb up the stove, because the window next to the stove is open.”

Hush-hush Puppy did it! He flew out of the window, with a trail of sparks following behind as he yelled, “Hush, hush. Hush yo’ mouth. I’m the fastest hushpuppy in the South.”

But just then, the grumpy mom turned around and grabbed all of Hush-Hush Puppy’s friends and family, leaving the poor hushpuppy all alone in his flight.

Hush-hush Puppy was sad. But about that time, the plastic army man parachuted out of the window beside Hush-Hush Puppy. He jumped on the plastic soldier’s shoulders, as the rocket explosion carried him safely to the ground.

It seemed like the story was over, with a sad ending. It was not! Now it was time to rescue his refrigerator friends before the big holiday fish fry.

Hush-Hush Puppy looked up at the big window in the sky and shouted, “To be continued!”

Note from Dianne: I visited Shannon Elementary in April and students in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades participated in a writing contest creating stories inspired by my book, The Cajun Cornbread Boy. This is the 3rd grade winner. Congratulations, Randy! You rock!

The Mississippi Hushpuppy
By Curt Silver
3rd Grade, Shannon Elementary

One hot day in the sultry South, there was a fish fry. Ms. Janis got an order for some hushpuppies while working at the overcrowded Brewer Community Center. She gave my grandpa the hushpuppies. He was just about to take a bite when a hushpuppy jumped off of Grandpa’s hand and yelled, “Hush, hush, hush yo’ mouth. I’m the fastest hushpuppy in the South!”

One local lad opened the door and the hushpuppy ran out! On his way down the road he met a hungry beagle that had just got done hunting. As soon as the beagle saw the hushpuppy he said, “Come here. I want to eat you!” Right then the beagle got picked up by his owner, and the hushpuppy said, “Hush, hush, hush yo’ mouth. I’m the fastest hushpuppy in the South!” The disappointed beagle could smell him all the way down the road.

Next, the hushpuppy came to a pasture where he met a calf. The calf hadn’t eaten in a while so he said to the little hushpuppy, “Come over here. I want to eat you. I’m so hungry. I could eat a hundred bales of hay.” The hushpuppy said, “Hush, hush, hush yo’ mouth. I’m the fastest hushpuppy in the South!” He ran past the calf.

Meanwhile, Ms. Janis was building a little hut out of toothpicks and napkins. Everyone had left the fish fry by now. The hushpuppy was at the creek and met a raccoon and asked, “Will you swim me across?” The rowdy raccoon swam him across but tried to eat the hushpuppy. Hushpuppy jumped off the raccoon’s nose and ran. He soon found a safe spot where no one would find him in a little hut made out of toothpicks and napkins. The End.

Note from Dianne: I visited Shannon Elementary in April and students in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades participated in a writing contest creating stories inspired by my book, The Cajun Cornbread Boy. This is the 3rd grade winner. Congratulations, Curtis! Woo hoo! By the way, Curtis, I created that house out of toothpicks just for you!

Dianne de Las Casas & Holly Stone-Barker present their book, The Little “Read” Hen

Friends:

Last night, Holly Stone-Barker (Illustrator) and I launched our new book, The Little “Read” Hen (Pelican Publishing), at Barnes & Noble in Harvey, Louisiana. We presented with story with interactive storytelling that had all the kids singing and clapping.

The Little “Read” Hen is a modern update of the classic highlighting reading and writing.

After the performance, we taught the kids how to make a 6-page book out of a single sheet of paper, gave away prizes, and passed out goodies to all the kids. The Barnes & Noble cafe even served up some “flappuccinos,” just like in our book! Then we signed books.

Holly Stone-Barker and Dianne de Las Casas sign copies of their books.

It was a fun evening the the kids and parents really enjoyed the performance.

Until next time…

Warmly, Dianne

The Little “Read” Hen at Octavia Books

Friends:

Yesterday, Holly Stone-Barker (Illustrator) and I had our book birthday party for The Little “Read” Hen (Pelican Publishing Co.) at Octavia Books in uptown New Orleans. We had a gorgeous table set up for our food. We served “coopcakes” (cupcakes) and double cocoa “flappuccinos” (frappuccinos) with whipped cream!

The yummy table serving “coopcakes” and “flappuccinos” for The Little “Read” Hen book birthday party.

Holly shared the beautiful art of the book while I told the story with interactive participation from Judith Lafitte, one of the owners of Octavia, and kids from the audience. They were so cute with their character headbands!

Performing The Little “Read” Hen with the help of Judith Lafitte and children from the audience.

This is Julianne as the cat in the story. Isn’t she adorable?!

Julianne as the cat in The Little “Read” Hen

Afterwards, I taught the kids how to make 6 page books out of a single sheet of paper, we gave away prizes (writing journals), and every child received a Little “Read” Hen bookmark, a pencil, and an “idea egg.” Holly and I signed books while Kid Chef Eliana made “flappuccinos” and served “coopcakes.”

Holly Stone-Baker and Dianne de Las Casas sign copies of The Little “Read” Hen

It was a fabulous day and we had so much fun! Thank you to Tom Lowenburg and Judith Lafitte, and the staff of Octavia for hosting our book birthday party for The Little “Read” Hen. It was tons of fun!

Until next time…

Warmly, Dianne

Friends:

Friday, January 11, 2013 was day five and the final day of my residency at Caldwell Middle School through a grant administered by Story Tapestries and the Houma Regional Arts Council.

It was such a fun day. All of the stories that the students wrote in their teams were shared in class. I gave out awards including “The Young Writers Award,” which went to every student in every class. I wanted them to know how proud I was of all of their achievements during the week.

One story from each class was published on my website. Then I chose one story from the entire fourth grade to be adapted into a story theater script. The winning story was the tale of “Roachpunzel.”

The story was a remix of “Rapunzel,” except that it was set in New York City and the princess was trapped in a skyscraper. All of the students in each class acted out the story. I made roach hats for the prince and Roachpunzel. So adorable!

It was an amazing week! The residency allowed me to reinforce what the teachers were already teaching about writing: point of view, figurative language, literary devices, punctuation, grammar, and vocabulary. I was so happy with the way the residency turned out. There was great student success and every student had ownership in the process of writing.

A special thank you and big hugs to the three fourth grade teachers I worked with: Melissa Guidry, Allison Funguy, and Shelly Bergeron. What a fantastic week!

Congratulations to the Caldwell Middle School fourth grade for being such creative, imaginative, and awesome young writers! I’ll miss you guys!

A big thank you goes to Arianna Ross of Story Tapestries, the Houma Regional Arts Council, and Principal Jessica Rosado for affording me the opportunity to work with the fourth grade at Caldwell Middle School. It was an “egg-ceptional” experience!

Warmly,
Dianne

Once upon a time there was a walrus named Snookie. There was also a piranha named Ted.

One day, they went on a trip to Egypt. They went inside the pyramid to look for treasure. It was cold and dark.

Ted proclaimed, “Snookie, get out your flashlight. It’s soooo freaky in here!”

Then they were stuck inside a mysterious booby trap. Snookie and Ted screamed for help. “Ahhhh!”

The mummies chased them. Snookie and Ted found a way out of the booby trap. The mummies chased them again and caught Snookie and Ted.

But the mummies took them to a beautiful place where there was treasure inside the pyramid.

The mummies waved goodbye and let them go with the treasure. Snookie and Ted split the treasure and lived happily ever after.

The End

It was a warm, foggy morning and Chad the Giraffe was just about to play with his red basketball. Suddenly, Chad spotted a bowl full of spicy habanero chilies. Chad slowly approached the chilies and gulped them all down. He went back outside to play ball.

A while later, Shelly the wolf walked into the kitchen to cook her famous pork chops. After she finished cooking her famous pork chops, she searched for her spicy habanero chilies. They were nowhere to be found. She searched everywhere in the kitchen.

When she couldn’t find the chilies, she went to the backyard to ask Chad if he had seen them. Chad asked nervously, “Did you check the living room?”

So Shelly went on to check in the living room and nothing was there. Shelly hurried angrily into the backyard and proclaimed, “Did you eat my chilies?!”

Chad looked into Shelly’s eyes and was paralyzed with fear. Chad told Shelly he would help her find some more chilies. They rushed to the market to find chilies. They searched and searched but couldn’t find any. They looked on the last aisle and spotted a red basket full of chilies. Shelly was so happy she screamed with joy and thanked Chad.

Shelly finished her famous pork chops topped with a habanero chili sauce. She entered them into a national pork chop contest and won first place.

Shelly exclaimed, “I can’t believe I won!”

They crowned her the “Pork Chop Princess.” From that time on, Chad never touched Shelly’s chilies again.

Once there was a chipmunk named Sabrina and an ant named George. They were the best of friends.

One cool, windy day, Sabrina was skipping in the woods and she heard an eerie sound. She looked up and spotted the evil, wicked witch, Mr. Foret. The witch grabbed Sabrina and stuffed her inside a sack. She screamed, “Help me, somebody!”

George started to wonder where Sabrina was. He walked outside and yelled, “Sabrina!”

He heard a mysterious laugh. George said, “Oh no! It is Mr. Foret the evil witch.”

George was so disgusted that the wicked witch took Sabrina. He decided to follow the wicked witch. He called all of his friends and said, “We need to catch a witch named Mr. Foret.”

George’s friends looked hopeless because the witch disappeared. The ants finally found the witch’s tower. Everyone but George went through the door.

George decided to climb and mine his way through the tower. George found Mr. Foret and climbed up his leg. George bit Mr. Foret, grabbed Sabrina, and jumped out of the window.

Luckily, George’s friends took care of Mr. Foret. No one ever saw the witch again. And they lived happily ever after.

The End