The stories in this file were written last year, school year 1990-91, by fourth graders in my class at Dee School in Ogden, Utah. The stories were written near the end of the school year.
Students were shown an illustration showing a flying saucer and some space creatures. They were given a title, "Hunting for Glucks." They were to write a story that would use the illustration and that would define the word, "Glucks."
The stories were written on Apple IIe microcomputers using Bank Street Writer III. To present them in this file, the stories were first loaded into Appleworks, copied into one large file, and then printed to disk as an ASCII file. This occasionally results in odd line lengths and margins.
Dee School is the home of "I Can Write!", a project funded by a corporate grant from Apple, Inc. All fourth graders write for half an hour every day using Apple IIe microcomputers and word-processing software. For more information on "I Can Write!", please write to:
David M. Thomas, "I Can Write!" Project Director
Dee Elementary School
550-22nd Street
Ogden, Utah 84401
Or, send E-mail on America Online to DavidT93; on GENIE to D.M.THOMAS; on the NEA BBS to Dave Thomas. However, mail inquiries containing a self-addressed business envelope with two first class stamps will receive priority for reply.
Comments addressed to individual student authors may by E-mailed any of the above addresses during 1991-92. They will be delivered to the students.
Hunting for Glucks
CHAPTER 1
THE THING IN THE SKY
Once there was a boy of Maryland. His name was Chris. On July 3, Chris's friend Brian wanted to stay the night. So Chris asked his mom that night and she said Yes. When morning came, Chris told Brian he could stay the night. When Brian came that night, Chris's mom told them they could sleep outside. Then Chris and Brian were overjoyed.
Chris and Brian hurried ond took all the stuff that they would need and ran outside. After they set up Chris's tent, they rolled out their sleeping bags. Then they set up their light and went inside to get dinner. Then they came back outside. After they ate they went to put their dishes in the sink. Then Chris's mother gave him some mosquito spray. They hurried and put it on each other.
Then they ran outside. They ran to their tent and stared at the sky until the stars came out. At first, they thought they saw a shooting star. "No. That's not a shooting star. It's an airplane." said Brian. "It don't look like an airplane to me. I think it looks like a UFO." replied Chris. "Just kidding!" Chris said laughing.
Just then, their mom came out and said, "Come on! Were going to watch the Fireworks at Andrews Air Force Base. They're going to start launching them in five minutes." "O.K.!" said Chris. After they got out of the tent, they looked up in the sky. They could still see the THING in the sky. They got in the car and watched the thing in the sky.
#After a while, they got bored. They saw the fireworks starting. When they got there, they watched the fireworks. They looked one more time at the sky, but they could not see the thing in the sky. "I wonder what happened to that thing in the sky." asked Brian. "Beat's me." replied Chris.
CHAPTER 2
THE GLUCKS
When they got home, they went in the house and out the back door. They went to their tent and what did they see? They saw Glucks! Real live Glucks sleeping in their sleeping bags! Chris and Brian looked up in the sky and did not see the thing in the sky.
"Do you think that the thing in the sky was really a UFO Brian?"
"I think it was! And it landed in your backyard!"
said Brian in a panicky voice.
Just then, the Glucks woke up. "We are Glucks. I am Captain Dull. This is Duller. And this is Dullest." said the largest one.
"We are from Neptune. Wait! I know what you are going to say. I know that Neptune is a gas planet, but we were born 50 years ago. We are made of gas. We traveled to the moon
and got some rock. When we held it in our hand, the gas froze and we turned solid." said Dullest.
"Wow!" said Chris getting into the story.
Brian then whispered to to Chris saying, "Don't believe them. They are trying to get into a trance!"
"Hey! We have feelings too!" said Duller overhearing what Brian said to Chris. "We are not going to put you in a trance.
All we need is a place to settle down." said Capt. Dull. "We can transform to be any size." said Duller. "We think that your neighbors backyard is fine." said Capt. Dull.
"Well, as long as they don't find you, you can live there." said Chris.
"O.K.!" said Dullest in an excited voice. "I am sure we will have lots of fun there." said Capt. Dull.
CHAPTER 3
THE PHONE CALL
So Chris and Brian got in the tent with the Glucks. When morning came, the Glucks were gone. Where could they be? That day, Brian went home. When night came, Brian called Chris.
"Hello?"
"Ya. This is Brian. Have you found them yet?"
"Nope."
"That's too bad."
"I wish I knew where they are. Have you looked in your neighbors backyard?"
"I looked everywhere."
"Well, tell me when you find them."
"O.K. I'll do that. Bye."
"Bye."
Then Chris hung up. Chris went out of his bedroom. "Mom? Could I sleep outside again?" Then his mom said, "For what?" "Uhhh, I-I th-think its just nice out there. Y-aa." said Chris in a shaky voice. "I guess." replied his mom.
Then, he got out his sleeping bag, and his tent, a midnight snack, a flashlight, and an extra blanket. That night, he could not go to sleep. At midnight, he went in the house and called Brian. Brian was still up thinking of the Glucks. He told Brian to come over and help him find the Glucks. Just then, his mom got up.
CHAPTER 4
THE SAUCER
After Chris went to sleep, he was awakened by a funny noise. He looked out of the tent and to his surprise, He saw another saucer. "Capt. Dull? Are you there?" Just then, he saw a girl and a baby Gluck step out of a saucer!
"Have you seen my husband?"
"Well whats your husband's name?
"His name is Dull. George Dull. And my name is Georgina Dull. And our baby's name is Georgalina Dull."
"Well, I know a Capt. Dull, Duller and Dullest."
"Capt. Dull is my husband. Now where is he?"
"I would like to know the same thing."
Then Chris told Georgina his story. At first she didn't believe him. But then she was convinced.
"Do you have any idea where he could be?" asked Chris.
"He likes to drink beer. He might be at a bar."
Chris had brought out his portable phone and now it was ringing.
"Hello?"
"Hi Chris. Do you know who this is? You will never guess."
"Is this Capt. Dull?"
"How did you know?"
"Where are you?"
"Somewhere."
"You b-" Then Georgina grabbed the phone away from Chris.
"Why you dirty rat! You said you would go and get some formula for Georgalina!"
"Well, I just wanted to have some fun."
"Where are the other two?"
"I don't know."
"Great! Just great!"
Then Capt. Dull hung up. Georgina was so mad she pulled out her antennas! About five minutes later, Duller and dullest came and saw their mom in the tent. "Mommy!" said Dullest.
"Where have you been?" asked Georgina in a worried tone of voice.
"We've been looking for daddy." said Duller.
"Well, let's go find your daddy right now." said Georgina. And they did. He said that he thought that Georgina was very mad at him. But she was not that mad. Only a little bit.
After they got to Chris's house, they said farewell to each other, and disappeared into the sky.
CHAPTER 5
AFTER THEY'RE GONE
When it was morning, Chris remembered that he didn't call Brian when he found Capt. Dull and the others.
"OOOPPSSSS!" thought Chris. "I hope he isn't mad at me." he said out loud.
Then his mom came outside. "Who are you talking too?" she asked. "Mom? I need to tell you something. Do you have anything to do right now?" asked Chris.
"I need to make breakfast. But you could talk to me while I'm making it." said his mom.
"Okay." said Chris.
Then they walked into the Kitchen. His mom got out some pancake batter, eggs, bacon, bread, and pizza sauce. While Chris was talking, his mom was flipping pancakes.
Then he told her that there was aliens in the backyard. At first she did not believe him, and she told him to prove it. So he went outside and found Georgina's antenna. He brought it back in the house.
His mom was in the middle of flipping a pancake, and Chris showed it to his mom.
She looked at the antenna and the pancake landed on Chris's head. She freaked!
Then she started to run all over the house. "Are they here?" she asked in a panicky voice.
"No. They are not." said Chris. "Well, where did they go?" she said.
"They didn't tell me." he said sort of sad.
Then she started to fix the orange juice. And she did. Then she made the eggs. Then the bacon. Then she told Chris to sit down and talk to her. They talked for a long time. They talked for such a long time, Chris's dad woke up and asked if breakfast was ready.
Then when breakfast came, the aliens Chris had seen was all that his family talked about. Then after breakfast he called Brian. He was amazed.
Then his mom called a space station and told them to send a satellite out and find the Glucks. They tried and succeeded. "We found them at Mars. We are going to put them in a space museum that is in Florida. The museum had pieces of the Challenger, models of many things you might find in space and other neat things."
"Would you like to meet and say Goodbye to them first?" asked the guy who owned the museum.
"Sure." said Chris' mom. So Brian and Chris' family went to say good-bye to them. Brian was even crying. At last they said good-bye. And their friends were gone.
By Nisa Rodriguez
4/19/91
The Little Martian
At the year 2,000,000 at midnight, there was a Martian named Dunwean. He was the king. He had mean red eyes, and he liked his planet Sundown.
The Master Mr. 1099, the fire breathing monster, stole a magic key from the Princess Toadstool. The princess called up Micaelangelo, Leonardo, and Master Splinter on the turtle com.
The turtles came right away to see what was the matter. Then the turtles said to Princess Toadstool, "What happened?" She said, "The magic key got stolen by Mr. 1099 and his ogres."
Then Leonardo said, "Master Splinter will look over you and we will go to get the key back from Mr. 1099."
So the turtles went to the palace and there were huge ogres. The ogre was carrying the key to the king of the palace. So if the king got transformed into a toad, then they would have something to bring himself back.
So Leonardo said, "I have a plan. Go buy some costumes and bring them to me."
So Michaelangelo gave the costumes to Leonardo. They put them on and went inside. Then they found the king and said, "Give us the key!"
The ogres said,"We will not surrender!"
So Michaelangelo said to Leonardo, "Let's get the key. When I say, 'Now!'"
They got the key and jumped into their turtlemobile. They returned the key to the Princess, and the turtles got to eat their anchovie pizza.
THE END
JASON WARDEN
Hunting for Glucks
It was the year 2091 on Planet Gee. Buckie and Becky were lost Glucks and they were searching for the corner where the Glucks lived. They walked and swam for two years, until one fine day they found the Glucks.
When they found the lost Glucks, the oldest Gluck told them what had happened. There had been a great explosion, so great that it blew all the Glucks to Planet Gee. And it just so happened that Buckie and Becky were blown to the other side of the planet. They had lost their memories. On Planet Dee, a week before the explosion, they had been engaged to be married. They had forgotten about that, because they had lost their memories.
That very day at the celebration they got married. Two years later, they had eleven little glucklings and lived happily ever after.
THE END
By
Megan Crivello
The SpaceShip
It all happened last friday me and my dad were walking, and boom we heard something crash. I went to go look and suddenly I saw it. It looked greenish and light were covering the whole thing .Then just after that I saw a troop of little men come marching out of it they were blue and red and were singing, "Ice ice baby." Me and my dad started to laugh. We tried to get their attention but all they would do is say to us was, "Ice ice baby." So thats the story of the little story and if you dont believe me, ask my dad. He is singing right along with them.
Manuel Martinez
Hunting For Glucks
In the year 52,000, on the planet Venus, there lived five friends named Gluck, Glinck, Grygo, Grinck, and Gluck Jr. They were all aliens and green and had some wings and had a trunk but Glinck had the longest trunk. One day, the five friends were bored. Then, Grygo had an idea to go to a walk to the volcano and jump in the lava. The others thought it was a great idea, so they went to the volcano and jumped in the lava. Then Grinck noticed that Gluck and Gluck Jr. were gone. Glinck, Grygo, and Grinck were looking for the Glucks. And the three aliens was thinking where he could have gone. Meanwhile, the Glucks were in the very thick red fog. So, the three aliens was still looking for the Glucks, and they even looked in the fire forest, all 2,000,000 of the fire forest trees. Meanwhile, the Glucks were trying to get out of the fog, and they did, but they fell in the blue fire. It was poison to them "HELP, HELP!" the Glucks shouted. But the only person that could hear them was Grinck. First, they had to fly out of the fire forest. They could see the fire it was a mile away. So they went to the fire, and found them in the fire. Glinck, Grygo, and Grinck was happy to see the Glucks. They used Glinck's trunk to get the Glucks out. So they helped them out and they never left their house to go to the volcano.
The End
Shaun Miller
March 12, 1991
HUNTING FOR A GLUCK
Mechelle Reeves
Once upon a time there were two aliens named Monkey Breath and Coconut Brain. They had one thing wrong. Coconut Brain lost the gluck for their space ship so they could fly back to Mars. They never heard of a place named Pig Latin Country. After a couple of days of looking, they stopped to rest for two days. Then they looked some more. "Hey, Monkey Breath, I think we should turn around and go the other way. ""Do you think we should do that? ""Well, yeah. ""I think you're getting more coconuts in your brain, Coconut Brain. "So they started off the other way. The next day they thought they found something that the gluck might be under. They looked under two logs, one pickle, three spiders, somebody's underwear, and there under all those things, they found the gluck. "Golly, we went through all this trouble to just look for one dinky little gluck!"
"Hey you over there come here! Monkey Breath why won't he come over here?"" Because you've got to talk Pig Latin."" Ok, I could do that. eyHay ouyay overway erethay omecay erehay orfay away inatemay." Coconut brain asked."
"Okway, Iway ouldcay oday atthay." said the person.
When they were all finished fixing the space ship it looked like it was barely new. So Coconut Brain said thanks to that one person.
After a few minutes they started the space ship so they could go back home. So they started to go home to rest for a while and then eat. And they never wanted to lose the Gluck again.
THE END
HUNTING FOR THE GLUCKS
BY BRIAN PERKINS
Three years ago in the city of Zoltar on the planet X, there lived three kids named: Sarah, Henry, and Jerry. That's their names in English. They went to the Martian playground with Sarah's glucks. Suddenly the glucks went out of control. They went all over the place. Sarah followed them. She lost them all in the store. When she got back, the boys were gone. She thought they went home so she went home. When she got there she told them she had lost them. Then she was told they came home.
THE END
Hunting For Glucks
By Simon Salayandia
On the planet ZOOCN there was alien named ALF. ALF came to the planet EARTH to hunt for Glucks. Glucks are cats. ALF was hunting for Glucks, and he caught a lot of cats. ALF took the cats to ZOOCN and had dinner.
4-8-91
The Martian From Mars
There was a Martian and his name was Pepito. Pepito had his dog Glucks since he was a little pup. When he landed on Earth, his dog ran out of the spaceship. Pepito was calling him, but he wouldn't come, so he went into his spaceship and looked around. He couldn't find him ,so he kept on looking. He went to the desert. He wasn't there, either, so he looked on his computer. It said Glucks was too far away and the computer couldn't find him. Pepito kept on typing to see if Glucks was near by. Pepito got out of the ship and stood on the edge of the ship. Pepito only saw sand and rocks Pepito went into his ship and went into the sky. He went to his house and he looked on his computer. It said that Glucks was by a forest in California, so Pepito went into his spaceship and rushed to California. He saw Glucks was barking. Pepito landed and Glucks went into the spaceship. They went home. He and Pepito kept on hugging each other and they had happy lives.
The End
ADAM RUBIO
4-15-91
HUNTING FOR A GLUCK
58,000,000 years ago, on the planet Night Moon there were two aliens named Zacatoo and Maratoo. Their skin was dark blue, their eyes were big round balls, their bodies were short and plump, and they only had three fingers, three toes. They had just got married and got settled down at their new home. After 6 years of being married, Maratoo got sick and Zacatoo did not know what to do so he called the doctor. The doctor said that he would be right there. "Doc. will she be O.K?" asked Zacatoo. "In order for her to live, you will have to go to the planet Gluck and get a gluck flower and rub the flower on her arm." answered the doctor. "But it will be a long a difficult journey. The plant is covered with goop so it will be hard to find the flower. And if you are not back in two days, Maratoo will die." So Zacatoo packed all he thought he would need on his journey. Then he hopped in his space ship. "Here, take this. You mite need it." said the doctor, hading Zacatoo some sleeping powder. Zacatoo thanked him and then went to the planet Gluck. When he got there he said, "Doc, was right. This planet is covered with goop." He looked and he looked. Then a hour went by and all of a sudden he found a little flower and said, "Here is the flower". Then he jummped in his space ship happly and went home. But little did he know that if he got the wrong flower and rubbed it on Maratoo's arm, Maratoo would get sicker. Zacatoo got home and yelled to Maratoo, "I got the flower!" and rubbed it on her arm. After about one munite, Maratoo looked sicker. Zacatoo thought at first that was supposed to happen, but after awall he thought he better call the doctor. When he called the doctor, the doctor said "I forgot to tell you that if you pick the wrong flower and rub it on Maratoo's arm, she will get sicker." Zacatoo said, "What should I do now?" "You should go back to the planet Gluck and try to find the Gluck flower. I'll come over and take care of Maratoo while you are gone", said the doctor. So Zacatoo went back to the planet Gluck and looked for the flower. Meanwhile, back with Maratoo and the doctor, Maratoo was geting sicker every munite. But the doctor could not do any thing until Zacatoo came back. Zacatoo looked and looked but could not find the flower. The ground began to move, and then out of nowhere there was a monster 20 feet tall. It had five eyes, a hariy cest, and four arms. The monster yelled, almost blowing Zacatoo away, "Noone passes my home alive!" Then Zacatoo rembered the sleeping powder that the doctor gave him. He got out the powder and put some in a cloth, folded it up, and threw it at the monster. After a few sconds, the monster was sleeping like a baby. It was geting dark, so Zacatoo made a bed in his space ship and went to sleep. As soon as dawn's light broke the night's darkness, Zacatoo was up and looking for the Gluck flower. Zacatoo looked high and low. He looked over moutains and in holes, but could not find the flower. Time went by and by. All of a sudden, he came to a clearing and there was a cave. There
was a mail box and on it said "Jack Ogre". Zacatoo said "I rember hearing about Jack Ogre"."My grandfather told me that Jack Ogre eats everything sees that he thinks looks good". There was a window in the cave and Zacatoo looked in and their was a flower in a pot. Zacatoo said"Hey maybe that is the Gluck flower". So he went back home to ask the doctor. When he walked in the door the doctor said "Do you have the flower". Zacatoo answered "No but I think I know where it is". Zacatoo told him what the flower looked like, what color it was, and where he found it. The doctor said " That is the flower but if Jack Ogre sees you then he will eat you." "If I die then I will be with my wife and if I don't die then I can live here with my wife so I am going to go." said Zacatoo. Soon Zacatoo was back at the Jack's cave. He was scared at first but he managed to get in the cave. When he got in he heard a noise and said "What is that noise? Maybe Jack is sleeping." Zacatoo started to walk to get the flower. Then there was a noise and Zacatoo said "Oh no I stepped on a noisy board." Jack said "Who dares to wake me," in a loud voice. Zacatoo said nothing. He started to run towards the flower but Jack jumped in front of Zacatoo and said, "You look good to me", and said "Lunch Time!" Jack put down his hand but missed Zacatoo. Zacatoo grabbed a curtain by the window and climbed it up. Zacatoo quickly grabbed the flower and jumpped out the window. He hopped in his space and went home. Zacatoo showed the doctor the flower and the doctor said, "That is the flower." Zacatoo rubbed the flower on Maratoo's arm and she was better in a few seconds. And they lived happily ever after.
