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GiggleIT in USA
Christa McAuliffe Elementary
Texas, USA
Our Giggle Critters
Our School
Our school, Christa McAuliffe Elementary, is located in the southern portion of the United States. We are in Denton County, which is in northern Texas. Our town is Highland Village, which is north of Dallas.There are approximately 500 students in our school. Our principal is Mrs. Jennifer Mattingly and our assistant principal is Mrs. Whitney Parlin. Ms. Linda Thiebaud is our librarian.
We are fourth and fifth graders at McAuliffe.
Our Projects
Trickster Tales from Texas
Mason and Minnie
Once upon a time, in a land where cacti grew taller than the tallest cowboys, there lived a young elf owl named Minnie. Minnie had always enjoyed her life in the desert, but she was always bothered by her neighbour, a rattlesnake named Mason. Mason was sly and clever and the whole village knew it, so Minnie tried to ignore it. Sometimes, it got a little hard.
"Hisssssssssss," It was Mason.
"Yes, Mason?" Minnie replied in her calmest voice possible.
"May I come into your lovely home?" Mason sneered.
Minnie frantically searched her brain for a reply. She knew bad things would happen if she let him in. "I, uh, my house is, um, a mess! Yeah," Minnie blurted out quickly.
Mason frowned and slithered away. "I want her house so bad! So roomy and cosy...." Mason thought. "If only I could get her out of her house. Then I could slither in and it would be mine!" Mason smirked. "THAT'S not a bad idea......"
Mason slithered out of his house and crouched at the foot of Minnie's cactus. "Now, to lure her out." He thought and thought. "I know! If I make owl calls, maybe she'll come out, thinking it's another owl!" Mason prepared himself, then as loud as he could manage, screeched an owl call. Minnie peeked her head out. Not seeing an owl, Minnie pulled her head back in.
Mason was disappointed as he trudged back to his cactus. "What can I do now?" He though aloud. He paced the floor, thinking, "What if I trade her something for her home?"
"Minnie!" Mason hissed.
"Yes?" Minnie replied again.
"I have an offer for you. I'll trade you my lovely home for yours." Mason said slowly.
"I'm sorry; Mason, but I love my home. “I won't trade it for yours." Minnie answered.
Mason sulked away. Once again, Mason searched for something to do. Suddenly, he hears a booming "Yeehaw!" and loud galloping from outside. He ran to the door and peered outside. What he saw surprised him. It was a cowboy!
All of a sudden, an idea popped into Mason's clever brain. He scurried outside and out to the feet of the horse. He hissed loudly, sending the horse bucking in fright. The cowboy tumbled off as the horse galloped as fast its long legs could go: STRAIGHT at Minnie!
Mason cackled in delight as the horse got closer and closer to Minnie. Suddenly, the horse skidded to a stop, dust whirling everywhere around him. Mason quickly thought up another plan. "If I can't have it, no one can! Mason sneered. He loudly hissed at the horse again, sending it rocketing straight at the cactus!
Minnie watched in horror as the horse rammed into her home. Pieces of the cactus exploded onto the desert floor. A little cactus flower floated down beside Minnie. "Oh," She wept. "My home and all my things are GONE!" She sulked off, in search of a new place to live.
EPILOGUE
Minnie roamed her new home, satisfied with the new decorations she had just put up. Her new home was a large hole in an old oak tree. It had everything she could ever want: a river, a garden, many trees, and a beautiful lookout over the valley. She never forgot how Mason destroyed her old home, of course, but Minnie lived a wonderful rattlesnake-free life. She was extremely happy.
- By S.D.
The Talking Tree
A new visitor, Mockingbird, came one day to the town that rested in the hottest part of the desert. He flew to Longhorn's house and nested inside the nearest cactus. Longhorn came outside to see how his cacti were doing. He looked at the one that Mockingbird was in and said, "This one looks pure and ripe."
Mockingbird heard him and didn't want his new home to be gone. Longhorn was about to cut it down, when he heard the cactus say (It was Mockingbird, hidden), "Why are you going to cut me down when I have feelings, too?"
"Was that you, Cactus?" asked Longhorn.
"Well, sure it is, and why do you want to cut me down when you haven't even gotten to know me?” replied Mockingbird, aka the Cactus.
Longhorn was frightened and ran inside his house. He had to spread news of the talking cactus, so he went to Armadillo's house and told him everything.
"I don't believe you," said Armadillo.
"Well, why don't you come see for yourself," said Longhorn.
Armadillo decided to come. When they reached Longhorn's house, the cactus was gone.
"Where is it?" asked Armadillo.
"I don't know. It was here a minute ago." said Longhorn.
"This was a waste of time." said Armadillo.
Longhorn was shocked until he heard something. "Who is that? Asked Longhorn.
"It is me, the talking tree!"
Longhorn ran away yelling, "The tree is talking!"
"What a goof!" exclaimed Mockingbird as he wiped away his grin and flew away.
- By N.V.
The Horse and the Talking Pepper
On a strange afternoon, lizard was looking for something to eat. Lizard is a selfish, rude pest that nobody likes at all. His number one fear is leader cow. Whenever he hears Leader Cow's name, he shivers and cries that he might get squashed!
Lizard said, "Oh, I'm starving! Hey, I wonder what horse has in his garden. I hope he has red hot chili peppers! So spicy and juicy! Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!
Horse, not noticing Lizard, said, "I can't wait to water and pick my pepper garden today! Do you know I have tons of peppers?"
"Yesssssssssssss! He does have a lot of red hot chili peppers! I can't wait to sink my big fat lips into a fat, juicy pepper! Oh, no, I can't let Horse see me eating his peppers! I'll hide until he leaves. Yep, that will work!"
All that waiting made lizard hungry. So, at sun down lizard finally got inside Horses’ garden. "Ahhhh, this is so good that I will hear some more tomorrow! What! I can't get out! Awww, I guess I will have to wait until I lose some weight!"
Next day, Lizard whined, "Ohhhh, my stomach hurts so much. Awwwww! Ahhhhhh!"
"What is that noise?" asked Horse.
Lizard replied, "Uhhhhhhhhhh........Me, the grand talking pepper! I will rule out if I am not known to your people!"
"Oh, oh, oh! I have to show Leader Cow. He will know what to do!" exclaimed Horse.
Lizard said, "No, no, no, don't even think about showing me to Leader Cow! He will squish me if he gets close to me!"
"Of course I won't because you are a very rare species! And besides, why would he want to squish a rare pepper like you?" Horse asked.
"I'm not a pepper, I'm a liz............I mean, yes, take me to your leader!" said Lizard.
Horse replied, "Okay, whatever you say, amazing talking pepper!"
Along the road, Horse and Lizard ran into Armadillo, the kind and fierce one.
Horse said, "Hey, Armadillo! What's going on here?"
"Nothing........Hey, why do you have a pepper?" asked Armadillo.
"Oh, I'm giving this to Leader Cow. He will for sure give me a reward for finding this!" exclaimed Horse.
Armadillo asked, "Why, he has thousands of peppers at his ranch?"
"NOT a talking PEPPER! This one is so special that it likes me!" Horse exclaimed.
Armadillo, who was not so sure, said, "Oh, really? Talk pepper, talk! See..........nothing."
Lizard spoke out, "Have you ever heard of a smart Armadillo?"
"Who said that? Was it you, Horse? I know that that pepper didn't say anything to me!" Armadillo exclaimed.
Horse replied, "Sure it did. Like I said, it's a magic pepper."
"Okay! I want to see what Leader Cow has to say about that!" Armadillo responded.
A couple of hours later, Armadillo, Horse, and the magic Pepper, AKA Lizard, were on their way to Leader Cow's ranch. That is when they ran into Coyote.
Coyote asked, "Hi, Fellas! What do you have there? Whatever it is, is it for me?"
Horse and Armadillo said together, "No, it is for Leader Cow only! AND, it's a talking Pepper!"
Coyote replied, "Okay, okay, okay, so it's really a talking Pepper?"
Horse said, "Yes, I will make it talk. Talk, Pepper, talk."
No response.
Coyote said, "I guess it doesn't talk after all."
Pepper spoke out, "Have you ever heard of a cute Coyote?"
Coyote exclaimed, "Who said that? Was it you, Horse, or you, Armadillo?"
Horse responded, "No, it was the Pepper, like I said!"
"Okay, I'm coming with y'all." Coyote replied.
After arriving at Leader Cow's ranch in the mountains, Horse told him, "Leader Cow, look, I have a talking Pepper!"
Leader Cow, unbelieving, asked, "Really, well doesn’t keep me waiting! Make it talk!"
Horse answered, "Yes, sir! Talk, Pepper, Talk! Now!"
No response.
Horse cried, "Oh, I don't know what is happening!"
"Well, you have certainly waisted my time!" said Leader Cow.
Pepper piped up, "You call yourself King? You are a disgrace to the West!"
Leader Cow said, "No one will talk to me like that!" With that, he threw the magic pepper back to horse's house into a bunch of bananas.
Lizard said, "Wow! I am hungry again. I will eat a banana."
Horse replied, "Okay, do not talk to me!"
Banana (AKA Lizard) said, "Oh, we should have told you about those peppers......"
- By L.M.
Road Runner and the Talking Tree
One day, Road Runner was running when he saw Coyote. Road Runner was bored and wanted to have some fun; so Road Runner ran circles around Coyote. Coyote got mad and told Road Runner to stop.
Road Runner just laughed and said, "Catch me if you can!" Road Runner took off running and Coyote chased him. They ran all over the desert.
Road Runner jumped into Armadillo's hole. He said, "Can you go find Coyote for me? I need you to spray this at him when you see him." Road Runner handed Armadillo some pepper spray. "You have a hard shell and Coyote can't hurt you." Road Runner tole Armadillo to get it to Coyote fast!
When Armadillo left, Road Runner closed the door and locked it. He found some bread and birdseed in the pantry. He then put the food in his bag and ran out of Armadillo’s house.
When he got outside he saw both Coyote and Armadillo running his way. Road Runner was getting tired, so he found a huge tree and started pecking at it. The tree was hollow so Road Runner just pecked right through the wood.
He heard Coyote and Armadillo coming so he grabbed some sticks and made stairs inside the tree. Road Runner forgot to close the hole, so when coyote and Armadillo came by they got suspicious. Road Runner heard them coming, so he quickly made a little platform.
Armadillo was tired, so he asked Coyote if he could rest in the tree. Coyote was tired so he asked if he could join Armadillo. Armadillo said he could.
Road Runner was hot, thirsty, and hungry. When Coyote and Armadillo got inside the tree, Road Runner had an idea. He said in a low voice, "Puny animals bring me some water and I will spare your life."
Armadillo and Coyote got scared and said, "Who are you?"
Road Runner replied, "Why, I am King of the Trees, and I demand some water!"
Coyote and Armadillo got even more scared, so they went to get the talking tree some water. On the way, they ran into Wild Wolf. They told Wild Wolf the King of the Trees sent them to get some water. Wild Wolf didn't believe them, so he came along.
When they got back, Wild Wolf said, "See, this ain't a king! It's just a dumb ole' tree!"
Road Runner then said, "I am the King of the Trees and if you think you're so smart, why don't you bring me your king, hmmmmmmmmmmmm?"
Wild Wolf was dumbstruck. He then left to get Cobra the King. He told Cobra, "King, there is a talking tree and he wants to see you."
King Cobra agreed to come along. When he got there, he asked the tree if it could talk. No reply. He asked again, but again there was no reply.
King Cobra got mad and said, "You fools! You disturbed me for nothing! This is your first warning; next time I'll make you sit on a cactus!"
He left and the animals started screaming at the tree. Then Road Runner jumped behind a cactus and said, "We cactuses have been trying to tell you, trees need lots of water to stay alive! Their King wasn't smart enough to tell you he was drying up!"
The animals ran off!
- By C.A.S.
Mockingbird, the "innocent" Trickster
Once there was a young Mockingbird and a young White Tailed Deer fawn.
One simply DIVINE summer's morning in the woods of North East Texas, young Mockingbird was hungry for a tasty mid-morning snack. Soon, she came upon White Tailed Deer's berry patch.
She thought to herself, "I think I'll steal a tiny snack from White Tailed Deer's little berry patch. I'm sure she won't mind at all...."
So, when young little White Tailed Deer went inside to make herself a delicious berry pie, Mockingbird didn't even struggle to fly down and DIG IN! About three hours later, White Tailed Deer came back and before the Deer could see her, Mockingbird (quite quickly) flew up, up, up into the highest tree she could find so that White Tailed Deer wouldn't find her.
When White Tailed Deer saw her berry patch she said in shock, "My, my, who would've done such a thing?"
White Tailed Deer said, "I'm going to stay outside until the sneaky little criminal shows itself. Yes, yes, that's what I'll do!" So, White Tailed Deer did just that. She waited and waited, but no one ever showed up!
Mockingbird waited and waited but the Deer never left. Since then, White Tailed Deer never ever left her garden again and the young Mockingbird learned her lesson and never ever tricked anyone again!
- By. M.
2012 Limericks
There once was a cactus from Amarillo
Who loved playing in the creepy weeping willow.
The willow made him weep,
Then he had to sleep;
Had to sleep on his very tough and rough pillow!
KH
There once was a cowboy who told all “Hello!”
He went to the store and purchased some jello.
The jello was jiggly.
It made him wiggly;
Then the rough cowboy turned a very bright yellow!
BV
Once upon a time in a land far, far away,
There was a cowboy, and he decided to stay.
He thought he would ache,
When he saw that snake.
But all that snake did was ask for directions to May.
MD
All the cacti in Alpine grew years and years ago
Where a cowboy in the Big Bend just wanted to go.
He dreamed a dream
With pumpkin pie cream;
But in the end all that was left was a mango.
KK
There once was a cowboy from Amarillo,
Whose mustache was as wispy as a willow.
The cowboy traveled ‘round
And at the desert he found
His ‘stache made a good home for an armadillo!
SD
One a bright, sunny day in Dallas,
There was a small girl named Alice.
She took a ride on her horse,
And got off of course,
And ended up in east Texas’ Pales(stine)!
SD
There once was an armadillo that had a pillow.
The armadillo lived in a humungous willow.
He came out of the crowd,
And took a big bow.
When he walked to see the sea, he saw a billow!
SW
There once was a man who went to space.
He could never dream of such a place!
He flew to Mars,
And then to the stars.
He never wanted to leave such a wondrous place!
KH
Those are our rocking and home run hitting Texas Rangers.
They’re playing a game with so many, many dangers.
Nelly hit a home run;
Now they skillfully won!
Those are our rocking and home run hitting Texas Rangers.
ER | In Texas we live in peace together And the trips in Austin are an adventure! The birds fly with ease; The lakes create a breeze. If we would only keep up with the weather! LS
There once was a armadillo from Dallas. He loved to look up cities in an atlas. He fell on his head And crawled into bed; But tried to look in the atlas for Dallas. SP
There once was a man with a doll and a fat cow.
That doll and his fat cow really knew how to bow.
They went to a dance, And they did love to prance; But then the doll and the cow forgot how to bow! CH There once was a man born in the Alamo. He now lives in a place called Amarillo. Then came a twister, And he found his lost sister And got an adventurous cat called Squanto. AS There once was a man from Highland Village. He noticed his sports car had high millage; But when it broke down, He sat with a frown; So he rode is horse home named Fillage. BC I once spotted a quite large and lonely Longhorn, (While he was eating some buttery popcorn). It went to the state fair And saw a big bear. What a sight, when the bear was seen blowing his French horn! TB The Texas Rangers Baseball team was in first places Until they started tripping over their shoelaces. They can’t make a catch Unless they make a stretch! Yet they still never get a trophy in their case… CK There once was a tall man whose name was Big Tex. He was almost as tall as a ferocious Rex From his cowboy Stetson To his brown boots on. He towered over the citizens of the large state Tex. DC Texas is a great state to run wild and free! This is my absolute favorite place to be! You can stand proud For all the crowd! There are great things in Texas for y’all to see! AB Once upon a time there was a Bluebonnet flower. It sat there all day waiting for a rain shower. Once the shower came The flower exclaimed! The Texas State Flower jumped up with a lot of power! KK |
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