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Rainstick Stories


Did you know that "rainsticks" are used in many different countries, for the most part as musical instruments?

You can make your own rainstick by sticking wooden toothpicks through an empty paper towel tube. Tape one end shut. Fill the tube with a few handfuls of little pebbles, shells, beans or grains of rice. Tape the other end shut. Decorate the outside of the tube. When you turn your rainstick over, it really sounds like it's raining!!

Students in different grades read "The Rainstick," a fable by Sandra Chisholm Robinson. Some made their own rainsticks. Then we all worked together to create the following "round-robin" stories about rainsticks (each person adds a sentence of their own to the story, in turn). Try writing a round-robin story with your friends; it's really fun!

 

The Rainstick
by Connor, Heba, Jennifer, and Mrs. C. (Kindergarten)

It was very hot and dry in the village. It was in Mexico. A little girl named Princess was playing with her brother, Sean. A moose passed by. The moose went to the river to drink, but there was almost no water in the river. Princess and Sean gave the moose a drink.

Then an alligator almost bit the moose. The girl and boy quickly pulled the moose out of the river.

The moose found a stick and gave it to the boy and girl. And they were so happy. They started to shake it, then they heard rain. They thought it was raining because the rainstick sounded like rain.

Princess turned the stick in her hand, and suddenly it really started to rain. Then the sun came back, and a mean girl took their rainstick. The moose saw the girl and got the rainstick back. The mean girl was mad at the moose. All the bees went on her and stung her.

And from then on whenever the village wanted rain, all they had to do was turn the magic rainstick over. And they lived happily ever after.

 

 

The Magic Stick
by Mandy, Mendeep, Peter, Razan, and Mrs. C. (Grade 1)

Once there was a stick that looked like a bone. The stick was in the middle of a lake. Birds sat on it like a bridge.

In that lake was a huge, hungry caterpillar. She stood on the stick so she wouldn’t fall in the water. Then the caterpillar ate so much, she turned into a butterfly.

The butterfly was flying away until she was up in the sky. Then she went to a tree.

As she sat down to rest, she heard the sound of rain. Then lightning hit her and she got hurt and felt sad. A dog helped her, because he was a doctor.

Then she went to the place where she heard the rain. She found the sound came from that special stick, and she sat down on it. She went to sleep, and when she woke up she was not a butterfly, but a caterpillar again because the stick was magical! Then she turned into a bird and started singing like a bird. Then she fell asleep on the stick.

When she woke up, it was just a dream!

 

 

The Story of the Rainstick
by Mrs. Hickmott and Mrs. Cohen’s 3rd grade class

It had been a long, dry summer and Leo's village didn't have much water left. He went into the woods and found a stick that made a very weird noise. He took it to his village. The villagers didn't think that it was very useful, but Leo thought it was cool, because it sounded like rain. He called it a "rainstick." Then Leo took it back into the woods and started to play with it. He brought his friends with him.

His friends thought it was weird, so they began to make fun of him. His friends didn’t want to play with him, so he went back to the village and cried. Leo saw his Mom and Dad. He told them what he had found in the rainforest. Leo thought that if he hadn’t found the rainstick, it might never rain in the rainforest. That was another reason why he called it a rainstick.

He shook the rainstick and suddenly it started to rain. Leo’s friends liked the rain and came running back to see Leo. Leo was happy to see his friends. His friends wanted to see the rainstick. Leo let his friends use the rainstick to make it rain. His friends thought it was cool. All the villagers cheered and celebrated!

That is the story of the rainstick.

 

 

Rain Stick Story
by The Nature Club - 1 (Grade 5)

One day in the tropical Rain Forest a man named Tikki Takki was traveling through the forest. When he walked, he would say, "tikki-takki, tik-tak." Tikki Takki was a person who believed in the gods.

One day while he was walking through the forest, he found a stick. When he picked it up, it sounded like rain. Whenever he shook the stick, the forest spirit came out. He was the head leader of the gods. Tikki Takki wanted to know why the stick sounded like rain, so he asked the god. The leader of the gods said that it was a secret so he wasn’t allowed to say. Tikki Takki couldn’t believe this, so he asked again. The spirit god said that this was a secret for the gods, not mortals.

Suddenly a big rabbit came. Her name was Lada Purr. Lada Purr was an animal goddess. She said that there is rain inside and that’s what makes the stick’s sound. Tikki Takki was satisfied with this answer and never questioned the gods again.

 

 

The Rainstick
by the Nature Club - 2 (Grade 5)

Once upon a time there lived an old woman in the forest. She was walking one night and she heard something. She decided to find out what the noise was. It was something in the shadow that she couldn’t quite see. She had a flashlight and shone a light at it.

BOOM! A big huge beetle jumped on her back.

"Oooooh!" she screamed, "I'm gonna getcha!" She picked up a stick, but it was not an old normal stick, it was a magic stick! She was walking closer and closer, and the sound got louder. She raised the stick and swung it, and smoke came around it. The beetle blew up!

Then the old lady realized that everything she swung her stick at, disappeared. She waved it at herself by mistake and POOF! - she disappeared.
She found herself in a world where no one had ever been. She saw all sorts of animals and then a big, huge snake came and bit her stick. The stick shook and everything she had made disappear, came spilling out and got bigger and bigger. Then the last thing to come out was a jungle man.

The jungle man yelled, "Hoooooooo!" like a tiger, and then he got right next to the woman. Then he said he was magic, and the old lady said, "Can you please help me get home?"

He said yes. He walked with her for 26 miles, and right there in front of them was the missing piece of the stick. They glued it together, and then she said, "I want to go back home!"

She heard a wild stampede and saw zebras running. Then she said, "Thank you!" and the zebras took her back home.

 

 

The Rainstick
by Taras and Mrs. C. (Grade 6)

It was very hot in the village. Billy Bob and Gary were in Africa. The sun was shining brightly and it had not rained for many months.

They saw a store right on the dry riverbank. When they went in and asked to buy water, the storekeeper said, "No water here!" They were very thirsty and wanted something to drink. "Do you have anything else to drink?" Gary asked.

"No, I don't, but there is a store five miles away from here that still has water," said the storekeeper.

"Five miles! We'll never make it in this heat!" said Billy Bob.

The storekeeper said, "I can loan you two bicycles for $50."

"That's a lot of money," said Gary, "but I guess we don't have a choice."

Billy Bob said, "We'll rent the bikes."

Soon they were on their way to the next village. Suddenly Gary's tire popped. "Oh no, what do we do now?!" said Billy Bob.

Gary said, "I'll ride with you on your bike." They went on their way again, Billy Bob huffing and puffing with the extra weight.

All of a sudden Billy Bob stopped and Gary flew off the bike. "What are you doing that for?!" he yelled.

Billy Bob said, "You have to walk from here on. It's only a half a mile from here."

"Why? Can't we just keep riding?"

"We can't just keep riding because you're too heavy."

"Well, then you walk with me, because I don’t want us to split up."

"OK."

They walked and walked, but no village came in sight. "We’re going to die!" screamed Gary.

"Are we lost, you think?" Billy Bob asked.

"Yeah, we're lost!' said Gary.

"Hey, what's that?" Billy Bob asked, and he pointed to an object lying by the side of the dusty road.

Gary said, "It’s lunch!"

He picked it up and was about to bite it, when it started raining. "Hurray, we're saved!" shouted Billy Bob.

Gary said, "This must be a magic instrument." As soon as he turned it over, the rain changed to hail.

If you want to know how this story ends, you have to come to Rochester, New York, and ask Taras and Mrs. Cohen.

 

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