Writing Critical Thinking Comparisons

I gave my students choices with their writing prompt yesterday.  I got the prompts years ago when I was working on planning for my high ability students, and I am not quite sure of the book they came from.  Here are a few that stood out from the prompts:

 Which is stronger...a smile or a tear?

     A tear slips down a little girl's cheek.  She has lost her mother.  Across town another little girl is smiling.  She has just become a big sister. I would not know which little girl I would hug longer!  But if I had to, I would pick the little girl who lost her mother.  Why?  Because a tear is stronger than a smile.
    I feel the urge to cry as the little girl's skinny, swollen hands wipe her big blue eyes. I give the little girl a hug.  Her dress is torn and muddy.  Over in the stream, the water looks like a bug puddle of tears. Then I do it...I let a far tear slip down my cheer in sorrow.  I lead the girl to the stream and get her a drink of water.  It's hard for her to swallow because she is crying so hard. I get a drink too.  But I realize that tears are contagious, and I cry just like the small girl all night.  That's the power of a tear.

Terrifying
Empathy
A
Respect your feelings.

By Maddie


    I think a smile would  be stronger than a tear.  I think that because a smile can warm someone's heart when they are feeling down.  A smile is a sign of happiness.  When you first see your baby born, you smile and you may even find some tears of happiness. When you blow out your candles on your birthday, you smile.  When you see something funny, you smile and sometimes giggle!  A smile is a smile and a smile is a wonderful thing!  That is why I think a smile is stronger than a tear!

By Finley

Which is bigger...a shout or a baseball?

     A shout is bigger than a baseball because when you make a sound or even a whisper, your sound will make sound waves that keep on going forever, yet get quieter and quieter as they move. Even though you can't see them, you still know they are there. How do you think we have echos?  A sound wave is longer and much fatter than a baseball will ever be. You know when you have the grill going or you're at a campfire, and you see that blur?  That's sound waves from another person either close to you or forty miles away. You can't hear anything from that blur because the sound waves have had such a long journey that they have traveled. Baseballs move quick, but sound waves travel at the speed of light.