Model Winning Entries

Storyworks story: Disaster in the Sky

Featured skill: Cause and effect

Writing prompt: Imagine your space club is honoring the Challenger crew with a school assembly. Write a speech for it that tells the story of the Challenger, including what caused the disaster and what changed as a result.

Entrant: Liam G.

What makes this entry a winner? Liam keeps his speech interesting by including only the most important ideas and details from the article—and telling about them using his own words. Notice how he added personal details that connect him and his audience to the story of the Challenger.

Storyworks story: Fly Girl

Featured skill: Main idea

Writing prompt: Write a letter to Margie, thanking her for what she did during World War II and mentioning the challenges she faced. Use details from the play. 

Entrant: Keira B.

What makes this entry a winner? This is a great example of how to write a letter. Notice how Keira introduces herself and explains her purpose for writing to Margie. We like how Keira uses a variety of phrases, like “your life is on the line,” to make the letter exciting to read.

Storyworks story: Rescue in the Rainforest

Featured skill: Key ideas and details

Writing prompt: Retell what happened to Snow White from her point of view. Use details from the article and the text features in your response. You may write it in the form of a journal entry, a short story, or a poem. 

Entrant: Marley L.

What makes this entry a winner? Marley does an amazing job writing from Snow White’s point of view. The many descriptive details take you inside the thoughts and feelings of the injured sloth. We especially love Marley’s description of Snow White watching her human caregivers cry.

Storyworks story: The Amazing Axolotl: Your New School Mascot?

Featured skill: Main ideas and details

Writing prompt: Imagine your school wants to change its mascot. Use facts from the infographic to write a speech to convince students to choose the axolotl. 

Entrant: Eleanor D.

What makes this entry a winner? Eleanor’s entry is a great example of well-organized writing. This convincing speech introduces the main ideas and then supports them with details from the infographic—and from Eleanor’s own research and thoughts.

Storyworks story: The Message

Featured skill: Genre

Writing prompt: Write a new part of the story that takes place on Rubin 23V. What is life like on the new planet? Does Astra get to talk to Oma again?

Entrant: Abhilasha S.

What makes this entry a winner? Details and ideas from “The Message” are included in this entry to smoothly connect the new part written by Abhilasha to the original story. In addition, Abhilasha uses both Astra’s thoughts and conversations with others to help readers understand what’s happening in the story.

Storyworks story: Rescue in the Rainforest

Featured skill: Key ideas and details

Writing prompt: Retell what happened to Snow White from her point of view. Use details from the article and the text features in your response. You may write it in the form of a journal entry, a short story, or a poem. 

Entrant: Aven B.

What makes this entry a winner? Aven does an amazing job taking details from the story and interpreting them from the sloth’s point of view to create a poem that beautifully captures Snow White’s thoughts and feelings. We especially love the rhyme and rhythm of Aven’s writing.

Storyworks story: The Tornado That Changed America

Featured skill: Descriptive Writing

Writing prompt: How does author Lauren Tarshis make the Tri-State Tornado seem like a living monster? Answer with details from the article.

Entrant: Schuyler S.

What makes this entry a winner? Schuyler gives us a clear and compelling explanation of how author Lauren Tarshis uses descriptive writing in her story “The Tornado That Changed America”—and uses great descriptive writing while doing so! We especially appreciate that this essay is both fun to read and well-organized—containing supporting details and a restatement of the topic at the end.