Ono! Zany Anteaters Zap Ants

                                                   
 for Elementary writers

     Onomatopoeia, who created this word?!  The Greeks actually; it means “made up name!”  I actually love this word and mysteriously can spell it, no problem. If you sing it over and over, the students can sing it with you, and they won’t forget it. Besides, onos are words that sound like the sound they are representing, like whoosh, buzz, hiss, and click.
     I often use the following as the first fall lesson of the year.  Boys especially love it, incorporating loads of exploding onos.
     For the ice breaker I ask the students to write two words, an adjective and a noun: one has to start with a Z and one with an A. My examples are Zany Anteater or Artsy Zingers. If they can’t think of Z words, we start writing as many as we can think of on the board.
     After the ice breaker, I write the alphabet on the board from A to Z.   Then I ask them to write the alphabet backwards down their paper, Z to A, with one line for each alphabet. We start with Z (if we didn’t already) and write 2-3 of our favorite words that start with that letter, zero, zipper, zinger, zigzag. Then we move on to Y, yessiree, yoga, yellow, yard.  I always do X with them because it’s difficult. I allow them to use words that start with EX, like excellent and extra. I have the kids continue on the letters, working on this for about 10 minutes, then we share some on the board. There’s not enough time to cover all the letters, but everyone has fun offering their selected words.
     Next I give out a little handout with sneezes from around the world. The students think these are hilarious and sometimes will try to formulate their own. This is my introduction to onomatopoeia. Finally I give them a handout called "Whiz Bang Onomatopoeia." I believe I snitched this from Word Hero by Jay Heinrichs.  It explains rappers’ origin of the word “bling” from cartoons, and also points out onos from comic books.
    We write as many onos on the board as we can think of,  buzz, bonk, stomp, smack, click, splash, tap, hiss, clank, scratch click, thump, chomp, whir, whiz, zip, ding, dong, crack, crackle, snap, pop, peep, chuckle, giggle, gurgle, ka-ching, zoom, boom, kaboom, whisper, whoosh, poof, swoop, screech, squeak, slap, clap, clang, bubble, rustle, rumble,  . . . 
    Finally we can begin to write a paragraph. I explain what a paragraph is and make sure the students indent using their thumb or two fingers from the margin to start.  The challenge is this:
    Write a paragraph using 5 onos and 5 words from their Z to A list.
   I model it on the board, using their ideas. Start with a character or topic.  Here are a few examples my students came up with. The first example uses only onomatopoeia; the chosen words are underlined in the second example with rad and queen from their Z to A list that was left on the board. 

         Randy whizzes down the street on his bike. He screams as he loses his balance, screaching, and squishing onto a neighbor's wet lawn. He hoots as he recovers. For a break, Randy opens his backpack, gobbles his lunch and slurps his water.

         The rad skateboarding queen of England whispers to the king of Scotland.  He scratches his bald head and asks for a pink wig. She explodes in anger and stomps on the king's big toe. The king wailed until she brought him a chocolate cupcake to apologize. 

      The students write their own wild paragraph next and share it before class is over.  I give them the assignment to write another at home using 5 onos and 5 words from their Z to A list.