Story Writing Group Project
2004-2005

The purpose of this collaborative project is to get students involved in an activity that allows them to experience students' writing from other parts of the world.  Not only do they get to read their work, they have to build on what has already been created by the groups that have gone before them.

Story Writing Group Home Page

        It was a sunny day when a small boat named "Delfini" opened its white canvas and took 10 young boys and girls for a trip to Turtle Island.  Everyone on the boat knew the legend about this island and the hidden treasure, but none believed it.  The boys and girls had great fun.  They didn't notice the black clouds in the sky.  When the rain fell and a strong wind began to blow, everybody asked for life jackets but there were none to be found.

            Suddenly a huge wave turned Delfini over and all the boys and girls began to swim to the Turtle Island .....

but the waves and the current were so strong they were swept away from Turtle Island.  Miraculously, the children were all tossed ashore alive on an unknown island.  Exhausted from the swimming, the children all fell asleep.  The next morning, one of the boys awoke and began to look around.  He approached some nearby bushes, but stopped when he heard a hissing sound.  He ran back to the group yelling, "Wake up, I heard something moving."  As the sleepy childre

turned to look where he was pointing, they saw what looked like a large, scaly tail swishing back and forth...

The kids all froze for a moment. One said,"Did anyone know what that was?" The kids all turned to the old man who brought them all on the trip. He said,"We better find some shelter." They went off to look for shelter.

When they found shelter and made a tent they looked back but there was no old man.  They decided to follow the scaly tail until it stopped. There in front of them was a lake of sparkling aqua water and all around it were dinosaurs. big and small.  Then the children realized they were on the only land on the earth that had dinosaurs ......

first the children were rigid with fear. The safe world they once knew no longer existed. It seemed as if they had been sucked back into some historic era. And yet the dinosaurs seemed harmless- but nothing is as it seems. So the children took shelter in a near by cave to observe and to wait. At dawn the children awoke to the sound of piercing screeches that broke the tranquility of the morning.  Peering though the opening of the cave they saw the dinosaurs under attack by an unfamiliar object silhouetted against the early morning sun.

            The boys and girls decided to go and see what was attacking the dinosaurs, but five of them wanted to go find the old man. So they split up and planned to meet at the cave when it became dark. While spying from behind a bush, the group was spotted by the dinosaur’s attackers. The silhouette looked like slimy, flying, frogs, but they could not be sure. When they got close to the so-called frogs, they saw that they had little chips on them. The five boys and girls pulled them off and the frogs hopped away.

            Meanwhile, the other five children were still searching for the old man. It was getting dark, so the children were about to turn back when one of the girls saw the old man. They rushed over and saw that he had been bitten by a snake and was barely alive. His last words were, “ Get help!” They were so sad that the old man left them. When they met at the cave they spoke of their discoveries and now their only question was how they were going to get off the island.

            The next morning they heard the sound of a helicopter. They ran out and started a fire so the helicopter could see the smoke. The helicopter landed and the ten children told the rescue team about the dinosaurs. They went to show the two men, but when they got there the dinosaurs were gone. Where and why had they gone? The children knew they saw them. So the children went back to the aqua water and saw the dinosaurs. Why did the adults make them go away? Then the children knew. It was because the dinosaurs were afraid of them. As the helicopter carried the children home, they decided to visit the island each year on the anniversary of their visit. The children will reacquaint with the dinosaurs with the hope that someday they won’t be afraid.

            "Finally, we're going home," one of the children shouted over the roar of the heliocopter's blades. Their ears were being pierced by the rumbling of the rotor when unexpectantly a silence froze them as if they were petrified. All of the chopper's power systems had completely shut down and the pilots were knocked unconscious.

        A  magnetic force was pulling the aircraft through the humid ocean air back toward the unidentified island where the dinosaurs roamed. As they headed closer to the unknown island the kids peaked out the windows and realized that the island below them was shaped like a turtle. Was this actually Turtle Island? Were the dinosaurs still there?
   With a thump the helicopter landed in the soft sand edging the sparkling aqua water. The doors opened and the kids shivered with fear as they slowly stumbled out of the vehicle.
       Dizzy from their mysterious ride the children slumped to the ground. One of the boys yelled, " Ouch!" as he sat on something sharp. He shifted to his knees and discovered that he was sitting on the spot where the children had discarded the chips they removed from the flying frogs. " Is there a connection between the chips and our helicopter being pulled back here?" he wondered aloud.
              As one of the kids struggled up to her feet she noticed that the chips formed an arrow that pointed to an enormous boulder at the tip of the shoreline. "Hey, everyone, come have a look at this!" she shouted excitedly. Together they stampeded to the strange rock and discovered a keyhole was formed in the center.
        "Maybe we could pick the lock with one of the chips," one of the boys announced.
        " Okay, let's go back and collect them," they all replied.
With lightning speed they charged back and scooped up the chips.  Each one of the kids tried thrusting their chip into the keyhole but only one succeeded.
    The lock opened and the rock shifted to one side to reveal a hidden, twisting passageway leading underground. As they trudged down the gloomy tunnel they felt as if they were in a spooky haunted house. In the distance they could see the soft glow of an oil lamp flickering in the darkness. The light illuminated an ancient treasure chest resting in the center of the cave. Was this the treasure of Turtle Island? And if it was, what was it?