Sunday, February 26, 2012

#3 Not Your Average Swimmer



This is a story about going swimming with my Grandmother, but it is no ordinary story. The story starts like any other average trip to the public swimming pool in the 1960's. My grandmother and I drive to the Marshalll pool and arrive to the pool, bags in hand. One thing you may need to know about my grandma is she is not really your typical swimmer. You see, she performs in a water ballet troupe with the 20 somethings. Every morning my Grandmother comes to the pool and priactices water ballet with 24 other young women.  Like I said all the other gals are in their twenties, but my grandmother joins them even though she is in her sixties.
     According to my Grandmother these other women put on a water ballet show for the public to view. My grandmother explained how the water ballet troupe makes formations in the water. Women even go under water and then pop up. So, my grandma and myself change into our swim suits. My grandma has a fancy suit and a special swim cap with flowers on it. My grandma says the fancy swim cap with the flowers in what the swimmers wear in the show.
     Once we get into the pool we have to swim out to" the middle. Its in the middle of the pool that granny starts doing her water ballet stuff.  Everyone watches. Grandma does the "clam" where she folds up and dissapears under water, only to later come back up feet first! Next she shows me the "bicycle" - you kind of go on your side and have one arm over your head and up peddle. What happens is you go around in a circle. Now everyone has stopped swimming and they are watching. Next grandma and I do the the "two man row".  She hooks her feet under both underarms and we together paddle our arms while I kick. This moves us across the pool fast. So, you see going swimming with my grandmother is no ordinary day!

Help needed: guess I am not sure if opening sentences are good.





Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Not Sure of My Title

Title possibilities:
1) Higher and Higher (name of text)
2) The truth behind swinging?
3) The real story of swining?
Today I read a book called higher and higher by Leslie Patricelli. I noticed that the author had the same first name as me, and the same first name as one of the students in the class. Anyway, this book is about what a little girl says when she is on the swing and her dad is pushing her. Now this is something we all said to the person pushing when we were young. Do you know what that is? Well, it's "higher" "higher!" All little kids like to say to be pushed "higher". In this fun story the little girls goes SO high! Above a tall building, above a man on a mountain, above an airplain even! Then she goes into outter space (yes she is still on her swing if your wondering). In outter space she goes higher than a rocket - and - she sees an ailien! I'm not going to tell you what she says to the ailien. You will have to read this book! Now why did I like this book? Well it was really different and there is a fun utube video. I wonder if I could write such a simple story like this and have really great pictures to go with it?