Snapshot Memories of Special Family Moments

By Mrs. Copher’s Third Grade Class 2012-2013Completed February 28, 2013

Inspired by the book, “In My Family” by Carmen Lomas Garza

Click! Welcome to our snapshots of special memories we cherish.These original student produced artwork were created

after reading the mentor text, “In My Family”, by Carmen Lomas Garza.

The author preserved her family memories, or “snapshots”, for many years through her painting. Her work is filled with color, characters, and action. They, by themselves, tell a story.

She finally began a series of books, highlighting special memories of her life with these original paintings, and writing “captioned” or short, concise text to help the reader focus on her memory. This short text was written in English at the top, then translated to Spanish at the bottom, to appeal to both audiences.

Enjoy…These snapshots are our class version of

preserving special memories, or significant occasions that have been turning points in our lives.

Please sit back and enjoy our version of original student art stories and captioned text. This variety is guaranteed to touch your heart.

So from our hearts to yours…Happy Reading!

About the Authors and IllustratorsThese incredible Third Grade students have

traveled with me this year on an incredible writing adventure. I have been a writer, just like them, using stories from my life as “mentor” texts, or examples, from them to learn from. As I conference with the students, I record different skill areas that need a craft lesson on, then incorporate those lessons into my daily writing with them. At the end of the work time, we share with each other, but they also love to give me suggestions, ask questions, make comments about something unclear, etc. In turn, they are much better partners and friends offering suggestions with each other. We have all enjoyed writing more, realizing that we all have so much to say, and so many different ways to say it.

Dedication

We dedicate this awesome book to all our families.

We may come from many different types of families, but we all have family members who love us!

AidenIn this picture, my family and I are at the beach in Florida having a vacation.

I am the boy that is snorkeling. My mom is the lady sitting on the sand. My dad is the guy that is fishing and the dog trying to get the fish is Luke.

Our family stayed there Friday, Saturday , and Sunday. I had lots of fun until we had to leave.

David R.This is the day we were traveling to my uncle’s house. I’m in the green car. He lives close by to us. We are going to my Uncle Alfred’s birthday party.

My family, his family, and his friends were all there.

I just remember all the crooked roads we went on to get there.

GraceeMy cousins that live pretty far away, came to visit. We played outside in my front yard. It was good to see them.

Their names are Amy, Josh, Blake.

They stayed at my house an hour or two, but then they had to go.

I was sad when they left because I didn’t know when I would see them again.

AndenThis Christmas was the best day ever! I finally got a Wii game system. I also got a Skylanders Giants game, and I play it a lot.

I had to wait a long time to get a Wii. I live with my grandparents, and there is not much money. I bet they really had to save their money for a while, to buy it.

I have to be good at school and home to keep the chance to play it. I have to have good behavior and self-control, or I don’t get to play it.

AustinIn this picture, I drew my 7th birthday trip. I got to choose anywhere I wanted to go, I thought about it, and the told them,“Panama City Beach!”.

This was so special to me because it was the first time I had ever been to the beach.

That’s me putting up my coat . I am wearing a blue shirt.

We ate lunch, then went to the p

Brandon One Saturday, me and my family went to the Pendergrass Flea Market . We saw chickens, birds, bunnies and puppies.

We went that day to see if there was anything new to buy we needed.

Then my dad asked if we wanted to buy a puppy!

“YES!”., I yelled.

I picked a German Shepherd puppy because that puppy was the one that seemed to like me more.

So my dad bought him, we took him home, and named him Scooby.

David G.I wanted this picture to be black and white, because this is a Halloween memory when I went to my first haunted house. I wanted the things that scared me to stand out, not be hidden in color. I was seven years old, and I was wearing my black ninja costume. We were in California, and it was a dark and windy night. I was cold in my costume.When I went to the first house, I knocked and knocked. Then the door opened by itself, and the window squeaked. I walked inside, and the door automatically closed behind me. I tried to find a way out, but all I found were rooms filled with creepy stuff. Then people dressed up like zombies started chasing us, and I fell into a hole and my candy fell onto the ground. Then I saw the guy doing the whole thing! He thought it was so funny, but felt bad, so he gave us a whole bag of candy.

Ethan D.When I was five, my aunt had a baby, and it was my cousin, Ben. My whole family went to the hospital to see the new Dyal cousin. My Aunt Sam was really tired, and Uncle Buck was in the room with her when we got there. You can see her in the hospital bed, holding the baby. We are all sitting around her. It was a happy day for all of us to have a new cousin!

IsabelThis is the day we go to the funeral.

It all began a few days ago when my dad called my mom. My grandfather was dead.

My mom was so sad. We were all sad. It was hard to get the funeral stuff planned and ready for people to come.

The day came…it was a long day.

We prayed,“Lord, please protect and keep my Grandfather now in heaven.

Ethan M. When I was eight years old, I went to Six Flags for the first time. It took two hours to drive there. We got to go because we had worked so hard on our house, and at school, and our mom decided it was time to have some fun.

When I first got there, there were a lot of people there, and I thought it would be too crowded. Every thing I could see looked humungous! That why I drew everything big, and my mom, brother and I small.

This was the best day of my life! We had so much fun riding all the roller coasters. My favorite was the Mine Train. It has cool tunnels that are dark you ride through.

NathalieThis picture is about when my whole family came from Mexico to the U.S.A. to visit for 3 weeks. We hadn’t seen them in a long time! We went to the pool, which they loved to do! So, we went down to the pool, and there was a huge black gate. We opened it, and walked in. We set our things down on the table, then we jumped into the pool.“AAAhhhh!”, we all said. The water was cold, even though it was in the afternoon, and we splashed each other. After we swam around in it, it got warmer, and we didn’t ever want to get out. We knew it was cold out there, and it was a windy day. So this is a great snapshot of a day I spent with my family who was visiting us in America!

JaquanWe went to the beach in 2012 because my dad wanted to do something fun. That’s him, waving his hands in the air under the wave. This memory is so important to me because it was such a special time. My family isn’t all together anymore, but I still get to visit him. My brother, Jamarcuss, is surfing on the yellow surfboard, and my brother and I are watching him. My little sister is watching from the beach. When Jamarcuss jumped off the surfboard, he hit me and my dad on accident. I was trying to swim away, but I was too late. We rushed to the hospital. We asked, , “What happened?”My big brother said, “You got hit by a wave and it clobbered you!That was our last visit as a family to the beach!

JeremiahThis is a birthday party – MINE!

It is my 9th birthday, and we went to the lake for a picnic and a swim.

You can see my dad is swimming in the lake (up top). We watched him while we were still at the picnic place. It had a roof.

That’s me in the light blue shirt. My mom is tall and has on her favorite yellow shirt. Elijah and Harmony are there too!

This is my favorite birthday memory, because I just love my birthday.

KailaOne Christmas morning, a couple of years ago, I was the last one to wake up! I looked at the presents and I saw that one had my name on it! Then I checked the other presents, and they were all from the same person. I went into the living room and saw the other people in my family near the Christmas tree. They were waiting for me, and had heard the my door “squeek” , as I came out of it. They smiled and laughed, and we started opening presents.

I remember being the last one up that day, because I had been sick, and I didn’t want to get up! But, I am glad I did!

LenoWhen I was 7, I was jumping off the roof of my house onto the trampoline in our yard. My brother and I were playing “OREO”. That’s a game where you dare someone to do something they are scared of.

I had to do it three times!

I only got hurt once, on the metal part of the trampoline on the spring. It pinched my leg, and I got a bruise.

We don’t play that game anymore since I got hurt. It was probably not a good idea to play this game.

XiomaroThis is a wonderful day a couple of years ago, when we went to Lake Lanier. We decided to go because my dad planned a big surprise for my Grandma to go on a picnic at the lake.My mom shouted at us, “You’ve got to eat! Sandwiches are ready!” , so we went and ate together. After lunch, I found a sand pile and my little sister and I made a sand castle. I helped her a little.Then, my brother wanted to play games in the water about who could swim the farthest. It was a tie a couple of times. When it was time to leave, we were tired, but we were so happy from our day. We all fell asleep in the car on the way home. My mom was happy to have peace, when we got home and went to sleep.

ThaliaThis day was the best day of my life. It was my dog’s birthday.

I got to plan the whole thing. So , we threw a birthday party for her. On that day, we made a cake for her. I got furious , because we didn’t even get to sing her the song before she had already taken a bite out of it.

Look at her face! She’s got it all over her face!

We cut the part out that she had bit into, then sliced out the rest to the people who were there. We cleaned her up, and had a great day!

SadyThis is the day, March 31, 2012, when I went to Disney World in Florida. I am the person with the purple polka-dotted t-shirt and shorts. My big brother has black stripes, my mom has the dress with pink hearts, and finally, my nana is the one who is pulling all the supplies that we need.

We went to Disney World because it was my cousin’s birthday. My Uncle Travis, Aunt Merdy, and my cousin Hayden are on the train in the same window.

Hayden is my favorite cousin, and I would love her to death whether we were in Florida or anywhere else.

Mrs. Copher

This snapshot from my memory is unique – a once in a lifetime event. It’s true value is not seen in the picture, but what lives on in our hearts today. This is the last time my entire family was together…ever. This is my wedding day. A beautiful June morning, sunlight splashing through the triangular glass around the cross. Todd and I, bride and groom, are so happy trying to record every moment in our hearts. My brother, Jim, is singing. Our parents are sitting together on either side. Todd’s brother, Jay, is Best Man. My oldest brother Tom, is standing with his hand on my sister’s shoulder. My grandmother sits down the row. Those three have hearts somewhere near them, as they have passed away. The other two women in the row are sister in laws, each holding babies. I knew my life was changing, but how could I have realized this moment would record a family moment in time, unique in its own way to so many.

Thank YouThanks to our parents and our families for

having us.Thanks for helping me make snapshops, or

memories.

Future Author Plans…Leno – “I want to write a story about my big brother,

Rober, when he was in college. I want to interview him and find out what you have to do in college.”

Xiomaro – “ I want to learn and write about more famous people from my heritage, like Cesar Chavez.”

Brandon – “I want to write a novel about a kid named Jess, his dog, and their adventures.”

Gracee-”I want to write about famous women who did incredible things!”

Isabel – “I want to write a story about my favorite birthday,”

Future Author Plans cont…Anden – “I want to write a biography about

my grandfather.”Ethan – “I want to write about special family

times, happy and sad, in my life. I’d like to make a chapter book with these.”

Jeremiah – “I like writing stories about having fun!”

Kaila – “ I want to write a non-fiction book for children about archeologists.”

David Guzman Perez – “I want to write an autobiography about my life.”

Sady – “ I would write a biography about my best friend, Xiomara.

David R. – “I want to write a big book about all kinds of birds.”

Jaquan – “I would love to write a book about my grandmother and grandfather who died before I was born. I hear that they were really special.”

Ethan M. – “I think it would be great to write a non-fiction book about George Washington and some of his friends.”

Future Author Plans cont…

Aiden – “I want to write a fiction story about a great white shark that attacks people in a small ocean village.”

Thalia – “I want to write about when I went to Panama City.”

Nathalie – “ I really want to learn to write poems.”Austin – “I want to write a biography about

Michael Jackson, the famous singer.”Mrs. Copher – “I am going to continue collecting

family stories and memories written down for my family.”

Future Author Plans cont…