September 23

Slice of Life #3

20140923_124248Slice of Life #3 (Rough Draft aka “Sloppy Copy”)

Today we are writing from meaningful objects…here’s the Slice of Life I wrote with Block 5:

Gracie Lou’s Paw Prints

When we first got Gracie Lou, her paws were so big she reminded me of a lion cub. They were golden fluff balls and so soft. I used to hold her in my arms and even kiss the bottoms of her huge paws. They didn’t always smell good…sometimes they smelled like Fritos corn chips! Haha. But I loved her so much.
I wasn’t married and I didn’t have a son when we first got Gracie Lou. She was named for the character in the movie Miss Congeniality with Sandra Bullock, Gracie Lou Freebush. That movie always made me laugh and Gracie our little golden furball always made me laugh, too.

One day I was at a store and saw a little kit that parents could use to create a keepsake of their kids’ hand or footprints. I decided I wanted a keepsake of Gracie’s “handprints” so I bought the kit and rolled out the kit’s dough and got my puppy into the kitchen. I remember sitting on the hardwood floor and smooshing her chubby paws into the dough. It was hilarious. She had no idea what was going on but she licked my face and seemed excited I was paying her so much attention. It took a few tries from what I remember because she was squirmy.

After we were done, I took wet paper towels and cleaned off her paws and let her out back to go potty.

Then I set the dough out to dry. After a few days it did and then I added a picture of her. This took place in 2004 and now it’s 10 years later and I’m glad I captured that moment in time…framed for my students to see in my classes.


Posted September 23, 2014 by Mrs. O'Brien in category Uncategorized

About the Author

Greetings! I'm Mrs. O'Brien! I teach sixth grade language arts for Loudoun County Public Schools in Northern Virginia. This is the classroom blog I created to share all of the fabulous things the students do in class with their parents, teachers, other students, and the entire blogosphere!

43 thoughts on “Slice of Life #3”

  1. emmaleehk

    Hey! That story is so cute. I just have a cat, and four birds. We, my family, got her when she was five months old. She was in hurricane charley. She used to be very jumpy around us, but now she loves us to no end. My birds are parakeets, and they love to sing. They are so cute when I give them a shower. They just love it! I usually take them outside and spray them lightly with our hose to give them a shower. They sometimes close their eyes and dance.

    How long have you been a teacher? What grade do you teach? Do you have fun with your students? Do your students have their own blogs? Middle schoolers are allowed to get their own blogs in the second half of the year in sixth grade at my school.
    I hope you have a good week with your students.
    Emmalee

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  2. soccer26

    I loved this story because it reminded me of the time I tried to put paint on my dogs paw, and stamp it on a piece of paper! Except when I tried to do it, I never actually got a clear paw print. She kept trying to lick the paint!:) I also loved all the descriptive words you used like, squirmy, and chubby!

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    1. Al24

      This slice of life reminded me of the time my relative accidentally let my dog outside when we had just repaved my driveway. We had to give Duke (My dog) four showers to get the clumpy black paint off of his huge paws!

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  6. Alena

    Awwww, your puppy sounds so cute!!!! I like this story a lot because it reminds me of a dog I babysat that had the softest paws. Your rough draft is great! I can’t even write a final copy that good!

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  10. Fcp_sarah

    This is so cute! I really wish I have a dog now😁 I love how you used great description and I love your topic!👍loved it!!

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  11. sr48

    I like the way you named Gracie Lou. I named my dog Snowflake because we got her the Christmas of the big snow storm. We also named her Snowflake because she is a white Maltese. My sister also liked the name Snowflake because we rescued her from a puppy mill(where she was treated very badly) and her bones were very delicate just like a snowflake.

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  12. AveryB

    I loved your story! If this is only your first draft, The final draft would be wonderful. My dog passed away in January last year, which was very sad, but we did something similar that month. It’s very special to me now. your story was great!

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  13. DragonHope

    This is EHT from Block 4/8. I have a dog too, Simon. If I tried to put a plaster mold of his paw prints, I would probably get trampled trying. Love the Slice Of Life! Can’t wait to hear more!

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  15. stinkycheeseman 10

    Hey Mrs. O’Brien I love your story I think its so cute and amazing for a first draft! I think you should clean it up and actually make a real story

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  28. Sarah 1/5

    I loved that you named her after Gracie Lou Freebush. I love that movie. It is one of my favorites. I also loved the that you took her paw prints. That was so cute and adorable!!

    Reply ↓

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