"There's A Cow And A Horse Missin'"

We are discussing a story's tone, mood and setting this week.

The setting is the easy part.

The tone makes the story more interesting by adding another dimension- how the words are said.

Sarcastic, joyful, embarrased, frustrated, compassionate, to name a few. When I researched lessons, I noticed that there was an emphasis on the fact that mood and tone are not the same thing.

Therefore we added mood to the mix.

I liked this website.

It was for eleventh graders, which is above us, but I thought we could simplify this just so we can at least understand and appreciate the dimension of tone.

So we read the Cat In The Hat.
The setting was told on the first page.

The sun did not shine.

It was too wet to play.

So we sat in the house

All that cold, cold, wet day.

After that, we took turns reading. I emphasized that they need to read the tone- and they did!

Their noses scrunched up and their sharp, firm syllables indicated how upset the fish was, and their happy, giggly dialogue from the cat expressed a worry-free spirit.

We agreed that the mood was a little funny yet they felt worried about the mess.

Their assignment afterward was to write their own story that describes a setting and uses tone. I'd like to share Summer's (with a little help from Mama).

Cow And Horse

Once there was a horse and a cow. They were friends. They lived on a farm where chickens and bunnies and roosters and more horses and cows lived.

One day, Horse told Cow, "I am tired of just walking around in this pen."

"Yeah, I am too! Let's jump over the fence and escape from the farm." replied Cow.

So they did just that.

The next day, the farmer said, "There's a cow and a horse missin'".

So the farmer jumped on another horse and rode all around, but he could not find Cow and Horse.

He stomped on the ground and stubbed his toe and screamed, "Ow! Ow! My tooooeeee!

He said, "I have had it! I can keep my other horses and cows! So he went back home.

When he came home, he had another idea.

"I will steal another cow and horse."

So he did just that.

The next day, the other farmer said, " There's a cow and a horse missin'".

Meanwhile, Cow and Horse spent the rest of their lives walking all over and were very happy.

The End

Not the most moral of stories, but it made me laugh!