A Writing Exercise Recently, I visited an elementary school in Brevig Mission, Alaska, a small community of 200 Iņuit Eskimo about 75 miles west of Nome. I told the students most of my stories begin with a single, simple idea. For Go Home, River, the idea was "Where the river begins..." The final story was much more, but that idea inspired the book. A good idea gets a story rolling. A really good idea will almost write the story by itself. To give the students in Brevig Mission a sense of the power of ideas, I posed the question, "If a raindrop falls on your nose, where do you think it goes?" Every student can imagine an answer to that question. For young children, like those in Brevig Mission, answers usually involve simple observations close at hand. For older children, answers might involve more complex ideas like watersheds or changes in form. The Brevig Mission students and I worked together to write a multitude of answers to the raindrop question. Their teacher, Annie Olanna Conger, compiled their answers in a book, and sent the book to me. Below, I share their answers with you. Clarence Olanna The raindrop fell on my nose and fell on my house. They fell together on the ground. It made a mud. Florence Olanna A raindrop fell on my nose. Then it fell on my feet and slid into the floor." Lucy Olanna A raindrop fell on my nose. Then it fell on my toe and my feet got wet and then I took a bath and I have lots of raindrops on my body. Bobby Tocktoo A raindrop fell on my nose. Then it fell on the floor and into the tub. It goes on the head. Harry Tocktoo A raindrop fell on my nose. Then it went on my floor. A raindrop fell on my house. A raindrop fell on my lips. A raindrop fell on the ground. A raindrop fell on my pants. Everything get wet! Andrea Olanna When it's raining, I went and played out. The raindrop fell on my nose. It went to the ground. It went to the puddle. When it stopped raining, the puddle was big. Eleanor Olanna A raindrop fell on my toe, and it rolled on to the floor and my mom wiped it up. It went in the air and it never came back, but I was not too sure, but you know it came back. Lots of raindrops all over, got me wet. Sheila Olanna A raindrop fell on my nose, then it fell on my pants and I went home and changed my pants. I told my mom and my mom said, "A raindrop fell on your pants." Frieda Tocktoo A raindrop fell on my nose. Then it would fall on my toe. My toe was wet. Then I go get a towel to wipe it up. It evaporated. It formed to be a cloud. It fell on my nose again. Then it fell on my tummy. My tummy got wet. Then I wiped it with paper towel. Herbert Barr The raindrop fell on my nose, then I get my hose and I take it off with my hose. It drop on my toe. then I let my toe get wet. Alberta J. Olanna A raindrop fell on my nose. Then it fell on my toe and my toe got wet. It dried up. It went on my hand and I let it dried again. Thomas Olanna A raindrop fell on my nose. Then it fell on my toes. My toes got wet. I went home and told my mom. She said a raindrop made your toes wet. I wiped my toes and I went back to play out and lots of raindrops fell on my head. I went home and told my mom. She said lots of raindrops made your head wet. I said, "yes." Sara Seetot A raindrop fell on my nose. Then it fell into a puddle. Then the puddle got bigger and bigger. Then the water dried up. Then it went into the mud. The mud was getting wishy washy. Then the vapor formed into a cloud. Charles Vann A raindrop fell on my nose. Then it dropped in a crack. Then it went into a puddle of raindrops. Then it evaporated. A raindrop fell on my hair. © 1997 James Magdanz, Illustrations © 1996 Dianne Widom From Alaska Northwest Books For information contact Jim Magdanz

The Inuit The Story Reviews For Teachers Raindrop The Author Author Visits Guest Book Alaska Books Site Awards Site Map

index.html