Free Words!

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I thought I'd kick things off this month by sharing a "deleted" short story. "Zuzu Goes to School" I wrote as part of my children's chapter book The Groundhogs of Linden Manor. After all was said and done it didn't fit the tone of the rest of the stories. I hope you like it!

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"Zuzu Goes to School"

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Zuzu woke up thinking about all the things she was going to do today.

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She got out of bed. She went to the bathroom and brushed her teeth. She changed out of her pajamas and put on a t-shirt.

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She went downstairs. She said “Good morning,” to Grandpa Elmer, and sat down to watch cartoons with him. Then she ate some oatmeal for breakfast.

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She grabbed her backpack off the hook by the door. Grandpa walked with her to school and dropped her off.

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In her classroom, Zuzu unpacked her backpack and sat down at her table.

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The warm-up for the day was words that are the same backwards and forwards. Mrs. Kramer called them “palindromes.” Zuzu’s favorite was “Taco cat,” and she drew a picture of one.

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During writing time, they were working on opinion essays. Mrs. Kramer taught them how to write a conclusion that repeated their introduction.

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In science, they made drawings of the life cycle of a butterfly.

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In math, they did a whole bunch of triangle fact families. 10 + 8 = 18, 8 + 10 = 18, 18 - 10 = 8, 18 - 8 = 10, etc.

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During art time, Mr. Marshall had them do mirror drawings to learn about symmetry. They drew half of something and then held up a small mirror to make the rest. Zuzu ended up with a two-headed dinosaur, but she liked it.

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In music class Ms. Taylor taught them to sing “Three Blind Mice” in a round. Zuzu loved how it sounded when everybody was singing at once.

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When it was time to go home, Zuzu packed her backpack and got up from her table. Grandpa picked her up at school and they walked home.

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She took off her backpack and hung it on the hook by the door.

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She ate a grilled cheese sandwich for dinner. She watched some shows with Grandma Marie. When the shows were over, she said “Good night.”

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She went upstairs. She changed out of her t-shirt and put on pajamas. She went into the bathroom and brushed her teeth.

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She went back to her room and got in bed. She went to sleep thinking about all the things she would do tomorrow.

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