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Task Description
Students read a story called ‘Grandpa Chatterji’. In this story, two children dread the coming visit of their grandpa from India whom they have never met. However, the visit turns out to be a pleasant surprise. Students learnt that cultural differences can cause problems, yet kindness and respect can overcome the barriers between cultures. After reading, students were asked to write a story about a special experience they had with an alien friend coming from Mars to visit them on Earth. Students had to describe their alien friend, and the differences in culture or habits they had not expected.
5B(12) Lee Long
My Alien Friend
One day, I read an awesome book about aliens, that I borrowed from the library, and read, before I slept. After a while, I felt extremely exhausted and fell asleep. That night, I dreamt of an alien. He was green with wobbly hands and mouths on each hand. He was stretchable and wore nothing. His eyes were triangular. He was as short as my computer, and he didn’t have a nose.
Suddenly, he talked to me, “Hello Lee Long, I’m from Mars. My boss told me to come to Earth to explore the life of humans and the environment, to see if it is suitable for the people on Mars to live on.”
I was scared and I trembled with fright. “I … I … How can I help you?” I stuttered. He ordered, “Next week, I’ll come to your home, make sure you don’t let your parents see me!” Then I woke up and thought it was just a normal dream.
However, the day after that, I dreamt of him again! We chatted together.
I asked, “What is like to live on Mars? Is it hot or cold? Are the people nice there? What do you eat?”
I just had too many questions to ask him because I was so curious.
He replied, “Oh! It is very dirty there, and there are no buildings or houses for you to sleep in! Only the richest of the richest can afford a small house to sleep in. The weather there is as hot as lava! Luckily, there is a place that has a freezer for you to cool down. The people there are extremely nice!”
We became good friends.
One week passed. I was watching TV while thinking, “Is the alien real? Is he really going to come?” Suddenly, my alien friend came out from my TV. I was shocked and fell on the floor.
He whispered, “I’ll turn smaller and go into your pocket. Take me to explore the environment of the Earth with you!” We went out, and I took him to the park. He saw tall big trees and was amazed and asked, “What is that giant thing?”
I whispered, “It is called a tree, don’t you have them on Mars?” He sighed, “No, Mars is too hot and dry for anything to grow.” Then he showed me a picture of Mars. I was shocked to see how dry it was. The floors were cracked and the pollution was very horrible. I immediately felt ashamed of myself for throwing rubbish on the street and kicking the trees for fun.
He saw a lake and was extremely amazed because on Mars there was not one drop of water. I learnt that we needed to save water because water is precious and life would not exist without it. Next, I took him to the restaurant and the street. Surprisingly, he used his hands to eat. He was so shocked and surprised that the air on Earth was so fresh. We went back home, and we shared what we usually did each day. We had a lot of fun.
The next day, I was about to go to school, but he said he wanted to come along to see our everyday life and explore my school. I agreed. He hid in my pocket. When I was about to reach school, I found out that I forgot to bring my homework! I panicked and told him about it.
He said, “Don’t go back to get it, you will be late! I’ll help you!” Then his arms suddenly became very long and stretched all the way to my bedroom and took my homework! I was astounded to see that.
He said, “I can stretch as long as I want!” Luckily, I entered the school before the bell rang, so I wasn’t late.
The next day, I took him to a fun fair and let him eat some local food. He was very excited to hear that and jumped around my bedroom. We ate some cotton candy and ice cream at the fun fair. We also watched a clown perform magic. Before we left, I bought a balloon, but on the way back home I carelessly let go of it and it flew away. I cried and felt miserable. He used his bouncy legs and jumped high in the sky and got it back for me. I was very grateful and happy -tears fell from my eyes.
Suddenly, a man spotted my alien friend and he cried with horror. He also took a picture of him and posted it on social media. Everyone in town talked about him, even the cops were looking for him right away.
He said sadly, “I have to go, or we will be in danger!”
We waved each other good bye, and he said he would visit me again. Before he left, he erased everyone’s memory of him.
I miss him! I have learnt that we should protect the environment. Also, if we care for every creature in the universe, we can build wonderful friendships with them.
Student's Reflection
I enjoyed creating an alien. Before we started writing, we brainstormed the ideas. In my story, I like the part where the alien erased the pupils’ memories, because it was amazing that he could have that ability. I wish I had it too.
One thing I would like to improve in my writing is word choice. I think I should use more adjectives and speech, so that my writing would be a lot more descriptive. My goal is to have fewer tense mistakes and fewer spelling errors.
Teacher's Comment
Long did a wonderful job in this piece of writing. His story showed creativity and combined elements of showing respect, being caring, and environmental protection. He reminded his readers that our Earth is alive and beautiful, and that we have to cherish it. His words were clear and well-chosen and could recreate a vivid picture. Long’s voice could also create an interesting and sincere experience for his readers.
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