Mr. E's Birthday Stories

Some of our first few stories as a class were written in honor of our principal's birthday. We had been reading a book called That's Good, That's Bad, by Margery Cuyler, to study patterns in writing styles.

Story #1
One day, Mr. E went to school with his three children. That day was his 44 th birthday and the teachers and students wore blue to surprise him. When he saw the teachers in their Chelsea attire, he fainted to the floor with a PLOP! Oh that‛s bad! No, that‛s good! He opened his eyes to the angry, snarling faces of the players from the FC Barcelona team. He realized he was in an England Futbol Stadium. Oh, that‛s good! No, that‛s bad! Mr. E was not dressed appropriately for a game. His suit and tie made him stick out like a sore thumb. He didn‛t have time to think as the ball was coming his way. Oh, that‛s bad! No, that‛s good! As the ball flew through the air, he jumped up and headed the ball into the goal. A loud SCREAM came from the audience. Oh, that‛sgood! No, that‛s bad! He quickly saw that he had scored a goal for the opposing team. His coach was yelling like a raving Tasmanian devil and his teammates ran to tackle him. Oh, that‛s bad. No, that‛s good! As he was trampled to the ground, his head hit the side of the goalpost. His eyelids fluttered open and he was face to face with Mr. D. Oh, that‛s good! No, that‛s bad! The sight of Mr. D caused him to scream like a little girl! The students and teachers laughed and began to sing the Chelsea Anthem. His birthday celebration had just begun. Everyone had 44
items to give him on his special day! Oh, that‛s good. No, that‛s GREAT!

Story #2
On September 17 th , 2007, Mr. E came to school to celebrate his 44 th birthday. The students and teachers had planned a special day of surprises for him. Every grade level promised to bring forty-four items to give him as a gift. Oh, that‛s good! No, that‛s bad Forty-four items from seven grade levels is a lot of stuff! Luckily, over the summer, Mr. E was able to move to a bigger office. So every grade wanted to give him something huge. Oh, that‛s bad! No, that‛s good! The Pre-K kids and Mrs. G illustrated him in forty-four paintings for his walls. The Kindergartners gave him forty-four soccer balls to kick around. Oh, that‛s good! No, that‛s bad! All of the pictures covered his office door and windows and the soccer balls caused him to slip and fall forty-four times. Oh, that‛s bad! No, that‛s good. Mr. E had to visit Nurse L who worked together with the first graders to cover him in forty-four band-aids. Oh, that‛s good. No, that‛s bad! Not only was the clinic out of band-aids, but the second graders were going to give him forty-four pennies to put towards a new Chelsea shirt. Now they shared them so he could buy more bandages. Oh, that‛s bad! No, that‛s good! The third graders were able to use the extra bandages to tape together the forty-four posters that they had made into one great big banner. Oh, that‛s good! No, that‛s bad! The banner was so humongous that no one was really sure where to put it. The fourth graders quickly wrote forty-four stories to share with him. But there wasn‛t room for all of the stories to be stored in the library. Oh, that‛s bad! No, that‛s good! Mr. E convinced them to share the books with the school and the banner could be placed outside. With all of that settled, the fifth graders decided to share their gift, forty-four Chelsea songs to play all day long. Oh, that‛s good! No, that‛s bad! By the end of the day, Mr. E had gone Chelsea crazy! Blue and white was everywhere! His office was full and the gifts continued to overflow. Everyone sang “Happy Birthday” and the “Cha, Cha, Cha” song. Oh, that‛s good! No, that‛s GREAT!