September 26, 2013
Thank you to everyone from Cider Mill Elementary School who entered the Einstein Anderson Contest. We asked students to read a passage from Seymour Simon’s book LIGHTNING NEVER LIES and tell us about the characters of Einstein and Paloma. Specifically, we asked you to tell us what their characters are like (using examples from the text) and then tell us how you are the same as or different than these characters.
We are very impressed by the quality of the writing that was submitted. Those of you who entered obviously gave some real thought to this assignment.
As promised, we have selected a random winner from each grade, and each author will receive an autographed copy of Seymour Simon’s LIGHTNING NEVER LIES.
Are you ready? Here are the winners of Seymour Simon’s EINSTEIN ANDERSON contest!
Fifth grade winner: Michael C. from Mrs. Stallfort’s class. Michael wrote:
Einstein is a really nice boy who has light brown hair and wears glasses. He really likes computers and bird watching. He does not have a lot of friends. Einstein is a deep thinker and really smart. He has one close friend, a girl, who likes a lot of the same things that he likes. Her name is Paloma.
Paloma has long dark hair which she keeps in a pony tail. Both Einstein and Paloma both like wearing blue jeans. They both like bird watching and computers. Paloma does not have any other friends. Einstein and Paloma both like sports but would rather spend quiet time bird watching.
Einstein and I share a lot in common. We are both athletic, but quiet at the same time. We like to use computers and have a close friend that shares a lot of the same interests. I don’t like bird watching but I do have special interests just like Einstein. We both worry about our friend and think about a lot of things that many people may not understand. That special friend in our lives makes us feel really good and makes us feel special. 
Fourth grade winner: Zach, 9 years old, from Mrs. Layne’s class. Zach wrote:
Einstein likes thinking, soccer, science, birding and research. He wears glasses, does not wear fancy clothes, uses technology and is a good friend. Einstein Anderson got his nickname “Einstein” because he likes to think often. He probably doesn’t like his real name since he always uses Einstein!
Paloma likes soccer, birding and research. She has long black hair, uses technology, is a good friend and always dresses in high top sneakers and jeans and keeps her hair in a ponytail. She does not sound like a girl who likes dresses!
Einstein is interested is science and animals. I like to read about animals too, especially reptiles. Recently, I saved a baby snapping turtle and put it in the pond near my house. I found the turtle on the road in front of my house and brought him to the pond so he was safe. This seems like something Einstein would have wanted to do too.
Third grade winner: Lukas from Mr. DiCrescenzo’s Class, Nod Hill House. Here is the extraordinarily good piece of writing submitted by Lukas:
Adam “Einstein” Anderson, one of the main characters from Lightning Never Lies, is a great thinker who loves science. He uses science to solve puzzles and mysteries, he likes soccer, and he is a smart kid. Einstein is 12 years-old, is average sized, has brown eyes, and is nearsighted. He wears glasses that are too big for his face. He has a friend named Paloma Fuentes, who loves bird watching. Einstein is quiet when he thinks. He got his nickname, Einstein, after Albert Einstein, the most famous scientist of the 20th Century. “Einstein”, a great writer, even inspired me to retell Mr. Simon’s story my way. Here is how it goes:
Thursday, July 8, was a warm sunny day. Two teams were playing soccer in a town called Sparta. The team names were the Spartan Blue Jays and the Astorian Red Jays. The score was tied 1-1. A boy and a girl were trying to score a goal. The girl’s name was Paloma Fuentes, a tall, black-haired girl with a pony tail and red sneakers. The boy’s name was Adam (Einstein) Anderson, a middle-sized seventh grader who had brown eyes, was nearsighted, and wore big glasses. Paloma passed the ball to Einstein, and he kicked it and scored the last goal. Soccer practice was over. Einstein and Paloma hopped on their bikes and pedaled to the other side of the park.
They leaned their bicycles on a tree and sat down on the wet grass. Paloma took out her bird-watching equipment and watched a heron in the lake. Einstein took out his binoculars because it was also time for the launch of a NASA’s space shuttle Space Transportation System, or STS-65. As he saw the rocket launch, he thought of what he had read in the newspaper. Morris Janus, a town resident, had said that he was kidnapped by aliens. Paloma was watching Einstein think.
“What are you thinking of?’’ Paloma asked. Einstein explained the news of Morris Janus.
“Why would he said that?” Paloma said. “There’s no such thing as aliens.”
“Well, the universe is huge. There should be life on other planets, but we’re not 100% sure that aliens would visit earth,” Einstein replied.
Just then, Einstein’s phone rang with music from Star Wars. The music scared away the heron that had then been walking in puddle.
“Great,” Paloma said, frustrated.
“Sorry,” Einstein said. He pressed the answer button on his phone.
“Hello, Mom,” he said. “Uh huh, uh huh, okay, be right there, bye,” and he hung up.
“What’s up?” Paloma asked.
“We are going downtown to Morris Janus’ house with my mom,” Einstein explained. Einstein’s mom was a news reporter.
“Let’s prove what a fake he is!” Paloma said furiously. She sent a quick text to her mom and hopped on her bike. They biked to Einstein’s house.
Einstein’s mom drove them to Morris Janus’ house. They all sat at a big, round table.
“So tell me what happened?” Einstein’s mom asked Janus.
“Last night, a space craft landed in my backyard,” Janus said.
“Yeah right!” Paloma whispered.
Einstein nudged her under the table.
“And then, aliens came out of the space craft,” Janus continued. “They had two arms and two legs, they were green, and they had no pupils.”
I cannot tell you the end of the story because it is really Mr. Simon’s story and I have not read the book yet. But I can tell you that I am similar to Einstein because I like science. My favorite subject in science is space exploration. I also like astronomy and I like to read. I guess that Einstein likes to read and astronomy, too, because it is part of science. We both like jokes and have brown eyes. That is how I am similar to Einstein Anderson. In fact, the only difference that I see between him and me is that he is 12 and I am only 8!
Congratulations to everyone who entered! I loved meeting you all at the Cider Mill School this week!
Seymour
Posted by: Seymour Simon
