Reading and Writing Assignments for 4/14/15 6th class

Alfonso’s writing assignment

In the end of “Lon Po Po”, the children climbed up to the tree and told the wolf to get into a basket so they can pull him up with the basket. But they tried to kill the wolf by dropping the basket from the tree. But the wolf didn’t die in the first time, so they kept trying until the wolf was finally dead. On the other hand, in the story of “Little Red Riding Hood”, the girl and her grandma were eaten by a wolf but saved by a huntsman.

The original point of “Lon Po Po” is that you should stay calm when you get in trouble, and think how to get help or help yourself. If the ending is changed to something else like the wolf becomes a friend of the children and they share the gingko nuts on the tree, then, the point of the story maybe change to “animals aren’t always evil; some of them are kind”.

I think the point of “Little Red Riding Hood” is helping other people even though you don’t know them. If the ending of “Little Red Riding Hood” is changed to “the girl killed the wolf and saved her grandma”, then the point of the story will change to “be brave and protect yourself and your family when you are in danger”.

As always, this is a very, very astute (extremely smart) response, and I agree completely with your ideas about how changing the endings would change the themes.

 The writing here is clear and graceful. I have a few comments to make, which I will send via e-mail. But they are strictly related to style. Your grasp of the basics of sentence construction is amazing.  

Here is Elsa's writing assignment. She still cannot get access to the forum.

The ending of ‘Lon Po Po’ is: ‘lon po po’ sat in the basket and three clever children pulled her to the top of the gingko tree ,because she wanted to eat a lot of delicious gingko nuts and then lived forever. But three children who are smart knew that their dear ‘lon po po’ was a bad wolf. When she arrived the top of the tree , maybe she would devour them all including skins, hairs and everything . When they pulled the  wolf almost reached the top of the tree , they all let go of the rope , the wolf and the basket fell down to the ground . Finally the wolf bumped  her head and died  .

The ending of “Little Red Riding Hood” is this : the Little Red Riding Hood and her old grandmother were eaten by the wolf , a great hunter found the wolf and cut the wolf’s stomach , saved them out from it . Then they took some big stones in the wolf’s stomach ,the wolf died .

In my heart,the wonderful ending of “Lon Po Po” is this:When the eldest sister Shang who was the  most clever in the three children told the ‘Lon Po Po’  there was a gingko tree next to their house , the nuts were soft and tender ,liked the skin of a baby .One taste and she would live forever .The wolf found the plan and told Shang : “ Shang , I have to say , you are so smart to make this plan . But you are wrong because I just want to be you and your cute sister’s mother . I only want to regard you as my own clildren and protect you when your mother isn’t in.I have no clild and I am so old!” Shang pitied the wolf.Then the wolf and three kids who are lovely played together  .They were so happy that day!

For me the ending of the “Little Red Riding Hood”is that”:When the wolf was ready to eat her grandmother the hunter opened the door and shot it with his gun.The wolf laid down and died.When Little Red Riding Hood ran to her dear grandmother’s house she found her grandmother sitting on the bed,her face was whitish,next to her the hunter was talking to her.When she saw the wolf which laid on the ground she understood what had happened before this .She remembered what her mother said to her before she left. ”Grandmother,grandmother!” Little Red Riding Hoot shouted “I am so sorry!”.She pushed into her grandmother’s arms and hugged her.

Well if I could give this assignment three hearts I would. There are so many good things in it. But this is my favorite, or one of my favorite parts, where the wolf in the revised ending tells Shang what is really going on:

"But you are wrong because I just want to be you and your cute sister’s mother . I only want to regard you as my own clildren and protect you when your mother isn’t in.I have no child and I am so old."

I will write some other comments via e-mail, but this is a lovely and imaginative piece of work. I'm trying to decide how to define "imaginative" so you don't have to look it up.  The best I can do is this: "It means having a mind that can come up with things other people might not be able to think of." It's a very good thing to have at any age. 

I am posting this for Jackie. He did a separate ending for each story. Here is the one for "Lon Po Po":

LON PO PO

I want to change the endings like this:

The wolf pretended to eat some gingko nuts, he climbed up the tree, in fact wanted to eat the three children. At this moment, their mom came back. She can’t find the three children, so she looked nearby. She saw the children were on the tree, the wolf was there too.  mom took a knife immediately and climbed up the tree, and killed the wolf.

When someone is in danger, if you can help them, you should do that, so the world will de very friendly.

And here is the one for "Little Red Riding Hood":

Little Red Riding Hood

I want to change the endings like this:
Little red riding hood knocked the door, the wolf answered: “Is it little red riding hood?” “Yes, it is me, please open the door and let me in, grandmother, I picked some flowers, I also brought a piece of cake and a bottle of wine.” “Your grandmother is very old and I’ve got a cold, so I can’t open the door. The door is unlock, you can open the door yourself.” Little red riding hood came in the house, she saw a wolf lay in the bed. she knew she can’t defeat the wolf, so she find a scissors and hid it in her clothes. When the wolf swallowed little red riding hood, she used the scissors to cut the wolf’s tripe. Little red riding hood was still alive, she climbed and pulled out her grandmother. The wolf has died.

This story tells us if you are facing doom, you have to be sober, and think about how to escape the doom by yourself. If you don’t have a good idea, you have to get help, and don’t be nervous all the time. 

Wow, Jackie! You could write for the movies!! These endings are great, especially the one for "Little Red Riding Hood." It's my favorite because it suggests that "Little Red" has heroic qualities, kind of like Kate Shelley. Wonderful work! You have a great imagination (the ability to think unusual things). See you tomorrow. Laraine

Shirley's Homework:

On end of “Lon Po Po”, the childrens clamp the tree,fool wolf comes under tree. The kids in first time pull the rope, but in half they let go,wolf didn't died. But the kids try three times,wolf was died. On the other hand “Little red riding hood ” little red riding hood”trust wolf said,first wolf ate older women (little red riding hood's grandma) than ate little red riding hood,last is cutter saved them!

I really like your use of the word "resourceful" Shirley. You put your finger on why Lon Po Po is my favorite fairy tale of the three we have read that have a similar plot.

In Lon Po Po, the children save themselves because, as you so rightly put it, they are resourceful. They think of a way to save their lives. They don't wait around to be saved like Little Red does.  I think that is the most important difference about the endings. Excellent insight into what the difference in the endings means in terms of the theme!