The Ice Cream Ball
Do you have a tradition? Well my family did. Here is my story of how my tradition works.
My grandma would host a Superbowl party every year. Sadly this tradition stopped. I was six at the time. Towards the end of dinner my grandma would leave the table, and she would bring out this blue circular bowl that had a screw on the lid on it. Then she would take off the lid. There was another bowl inside the sphere that was much more shallow. Where the more shallow bowl would meet there was air, somewhere to put ice.
In the outer shell of the bowl she would put ice in so the inner bowl would be as cold as winter snow. The inner bowl that's now cold has no direct contact with the ice. In this inner bowl she would put cream, white sugar, vanilla flavoring and whatever else it takes to make ice cream. She would take the lid, screw it on really tight like a rubber band and then it was time to make ice cream.
It was time for the fun to roll in. The family would get in a circle and toss it around, and I threw it at the circle-patterned carpet. Once the ice cream ball was thrown around and tossed the ice cream was ready to be split up. Each family member would have a little vanilla ice cream. But me, I would have a huge amount of tasty vanilla ice cream, and I loved the ice cream a ton.
Would you do this for fun? Or would you do this for the ice cream? I would do this for both. Now my life is more boring. I just go to the freezer in the kitchen and pull out my favorite sticky caramel cores ice cream for dessert. But this year my mom said she is going to ask Santa to buy a new ice cream ball maker. We will be able to start the tradition all over again.
Do you have a tradition like this, or do you have a tradition that is different? Family traditions help you have good memories and replace the bad ones.
-Ben
The central idea of family traditions really warms my heart.I like how you included the aftermath of your tradition, and how you plan to get that custom started again. It shows the reality of the world, and how sometimes happy things can dwindle out of reach. The important thing is to reach for those traditions again, and you clearly showed that. This line is a great example, " But this year my mom said she is going to ask Santa to buy a new ice cream ball maker. We will be able to start the tradition all over again.". I like how you worded this essay to make it seem like you are talking to us. Some lines are a bit funny too! Awesome job.
ReplyDelete"Would you do this for fun? Or would you do this for the ice cream? I would do this for both." I like how you asked some questions to let the reader think about it. It shows how much you love the tradition.
ReplyDeleteI like how you said "Do you have a tradition? Well my family did. Here is my story of how my tradition works." This lets me relate to some of my family traditions and how they work. I liked the amount of detail you used and the strong vocabulary portrayed. My family also has traditions and I liked the way you explained how you had one and how you are hopefully going to keep the tradition going. I like how you showed a tradition with a beginning and how it ended. It showed the good has to come to an end or does it.
ReplyDeletei like your intro and the sensory language and all the details and the beginning of your story how you talk about your family traditions and it pulled em in when you said ice cream and all the details of your tradition
ReplyDeleteI think the central idea is that traditions can bring joy to your life even if it's just a small tradition. For example, when you said, "Now my life is more boring. I just go to the freezer in the kitchen and pull out my favorite sticky caramel cores ice cream for dessert." and, "But me, I would have a huge amount of tasty vanilla ice cream, and I loved the ice cream a ton." this showed that with the tradition you had a lot more fun than just grabbing some pre-made ice cream from the freezer. One thing I like about your writing is the engaging voice that you manage to keep throughout the story.
ReplyDeleteI think that the message is family traditions can help replace the bad memories, it could be like you and your friends got into an argument but you remember all the fun times you guys had to together and then you guys make up and move on. I really like your conclusion "Do you have a tradition like this, or do you have a tradition that is different? Family traditions help you have good memories and replace the bad ones." When you left us with a question which would leave the readers thinking at the end.
ReplyDeleteI think that the central idea of the story is that family traditions can be really exciting and fun but can also help replace the bad memories with good ones. For example, in the story you wrote "It was time for the fun to roll in." In the story I also like how you asked questions to the readers like in the beginning you started the story with a question. Later in the story you asked another question "Would you do this for fun? Or would you do this for the ice cream?" then near the end of the story you started the conclusion with another question.
ReplyDeleteI think that the main idea of this story is that family traditions can fill the room with joy and excitement yet also help reduce the bad ones and replace them with good! I liked how you constantly ask the reader questions like how you wrote, "Would you do this for fun? Or would you do this for the ice cream? I would do this for both. ".
ReplyDeleteI think the main idea is family traditions can really light up your day. I like how you add many questions to the readers to let us think about it, and make some connections to our life. I also like how you added near the end, "But this year my mom said she is going to ask Santa to buy a new ice cream ball maker." It shows that even if something did end, you can make it happen again, and it could even be better.
ReplyDeleteOne of the main ideas is traditions are important. I liked that the story is easily relatable. "Family traditions help you have good memories and replace the bad ones."
ReplyDelete"Do you have a tradition like this, or do you have a tradition that is different?" I like when you asked this question because it shows that you are trying to connect to your reader other than just telling your story. I liked how you described the experience instead of just saying we threw the bowl around.
ReplyDelete"Sadly this tradition stopped." I think this story is about remembering things from the past, and not being sad that its over, but being happy that it happened. I also really like how you tied the ending back to the opening line, it gives it a feeling that you went full-circle.
ReplyDeleteI think the story was about bringing it back And why you think you should get it back. Good story
ReplyDeleteThis piece reminds me of my family traditions. I really enjoyed the use of language. my favorite line from your piece was "Would you do this for fun? Or would you do this for the ice cream? I would do this for both." overall a really great piece
ReplyDeletei sorry that your tradition stopped. I loved how you added Stuff from your life like at the end. You said that your mom asked for a cream ball maker from. That really cool. I think that the central idea is that you still remembering things in the past. You said that the good memories replace the the bad ones,and warm my heart.
ReplyDeleteI have a tradition on Christmas morning my family has cinnamon buns for breakfeast. I like how you listed the ingredients ¨In this inner bowl she would put cream, white sugar, vanilla flavoring and whatever else it takes to make ice cream¨ the ice cream in the essay to explain to the reader how much work go out into it.
ReplyDeleteThe central idea is that family traditions are fun and a good way to have some good memories. I like how you say "Each family member would have a little vanilla ice cream. But me, I would have a huge amount of tasty vanilla ice cream, and I loved the ice cream a ton." my family has a tradition and we gather on april fools day and we each try to prank each other.
ReplyDeleteI love how it was about family and how you described everything and i have a family tradition where we do a challenge for christmas to make something and i thought of that when i was reading this i loved all the detail and how you described how your life is more boring and descried your ice sticky caramel desert. great job ben i love it.
ReplyDeleteMy family use to have a tradition were we would have Thanksgiving with my dad's friends from the navy yearly. It was very fun with interacting new people, and doing new activities. This also did help me forget the bad memories everytime we did this tradition. "Family traditions help you have good memories and replace the bad ones." You have done very well from your writing and are relatable to a lot of people.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, I think that traditions are a great way to make new memories and continue old ones. My family has lots of traditions too. For example, Every year we always make eggnog french toast for christmas morning. I like how you described your tradition. “It was time for the fun to roll in.” and “ But me, I would have a huge amount of tasty vanilla ice cream,...” It gave me a sense that I was actually there, making Ice cream.
ReplyDeleteWow the ice cream ball tradition sounded awesome. I can relate to the central idea of how traditions help bond a family, like you I also used to have super bowl parties with lots of delicious food. I really liked your in depth explanation of how the ice cream ball worked:"In the outer shell of the bowl she would put ice in so the inner bowl would be as cold as winter snow. The inner bowl that's now cold has no direct contact with the ice. In this inner bowl she would put cream, white sugar, vanilla flavoring and whatever else it takes to make ice cream".
ReplyDeleteBen, I loved your creativeness in starting the tradation again. Sounds yummy! A central idea like family tradations was a great topic. I loved when you said "But this year my mom said she is going to ask Santa to buy a new ice cream ball maker." shows how much the traditon means to you.
ReplyDeleteI really liked this piece and your fun family traditions! In my opinion the central idea of this was family traditions. I liked when you said ¨my mom said she is going to ask Santa to buy a new ice cream ball maker¨ because that means you can bring back those traditions that everyone loved.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your writing because it made me think of all the traditions me and my family had done over the years and when you put ¨But this year my mom said she is going to ask Santa to buy a new ice cream ball maker.¨ I really like how you get to bring back the fun tradition.
ReplyDelete"Now my life is more boring. I just go to the freezer in the kitchen and pull out my favorite sticky caramel cores ice cream for dessert." I can relate to this quote a lot. Ever since I was 5 everyone in my family would meet up and my great aunt would host a christmas party. I never get to see much of my other family members beside my grandparents and an aunt, so I always loved being with them again. Even If it was just for that night. We stopped that tradition when I was 8 and whenever christmas rolls around I always find it less fun without them. I also like a lot how both in the conclusion and introduction you start with a question. It worked well to engage me both times and connect with the reader.
ReplyDelete"Do you have a tradition like this, or do you have a tradition that is different?" Me, my brother, my sister and my mom every summer we would go camping."My grandma would host a Superbowl party every year. Sadly this tradition stopped." I can relate to this in many ways, me and my grandparents used to do a tradition every week and that had to stop. Me, my sister and my brother would visit about every month and that had to stop as well because of the virus. Overall this was very good and brought back a lot of memories to me.
ReplyDeleteI think the main idea of your story is Family traditions. "Do you have a tradition?" This really makes me think about my family traditions. I really liked your intro it made me think and want to read on.
ReplyDeleteI like how you started with a question "Do you have a tradition?" because it gets the reader thinking. Also I liked the way you described the steps to making the ice cream
ReplyDeleteI really like your hook, "Do you have a tradition?" Spending time is something wonderful that I'd love to do (sadly, there is a pandemic) and this hook reminded me of them. Relating to readers in your opening paragraph captures attention. You executed this skill perfectly. Keep it up!
ReplyDeleteMy family does not watch the Superbowl that often, hence we have no tradition for it. However, every year when somebodies birthday comes, we have the tradition of going to a restaurant of the choice of the birthday person, and as of one year ago, we now decorate the entire house for whoever's birthday it was. I understand what you mean when you say, "Family traditions help you have good memories and replace the bad ones." When we decorate the house, my attention goes to hanging a streamer from here to there, or how many balloons I should blow up. I never think of what assignment I have to turn in, or past memories I want to forget. I only think about what's happening here and now. I also like how you used many details to describe the traditions you used to have every year. Like when you said, "It was time for the fun to roll in. The family would get in a circle and toss it around, and I threw it at the circle-patterned carpet," the detail made me feel like I was once there, and can remember it like it was my own memory.
ReplyDeleteMy family has a tradition of going to a restaurant or having a party for someones birthday. I like how you had stated "Family traditions help you have good memories and replace the bad one," because this is very true. When I have a birthday party or something else I don't think about the negatives in my life.
ReplyDeleteI liked how you used really specific detail in your story. "It was time for the fun to roll in. The family would get in a circle and toss it around" I can relate to this story because my family tried to do this once. It didn't turn out so well but it was fun to make.
ReplyDeleteWow ben amazing job! I can definitely relate to this every year my grandma would make these really good desserts called angel wings! "The family would get in a circle and toss it around, and I threw it at the circle-patterned carpet." I loved this sentence because it truly was just so descriptive. Amazing job!
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