Otherwise

We watched a short film about a chameleon called Otherwise, by Anders Artig. The chameleons exclude and bully Otherwise because he looks and behaves differently. This makes Otherwise feel very sad and lonely.



We are learning to start our stories with a hook so the reader wants to keep reading and find out what happens.

We are also learning about ending our story with a question or wondering to leave the reader with something to think about.

Check out some of the great stories we wrote about Otherwise.

Author Charlie wrote:

ZZZZZZZZZ as Otherwise chainsawed the triangle egg with his sharp horn. Otherwise is a red, leaf eating chameleon so he is a herbivore. He is different than the others because he has a short tongue. He also has a triangle head and his toes and back are spiky like a chainsaw chain. Splish splash splish splash, "This is fun," said Otherwise as he swam around. "Grrrrrrrrrr," grunted the other chameleons. "Haha haha, you're gonna get eaten, haha haha." But, the eagle dived to one of the bullies and flew away with him. The other chameleons started chasing Otherwise and he started climbing a rocky mountain until he reached the eagles nest. Then, the birds fell out of the nest because it was rocking. Otherwise made a new friend with another chameleon. I wonder if the other chameleons will be mean to Otherwise again?

Author Janice wrote:

Pop went the chameleons triangle egg. Otherwise likes to eat leaves and he brushes his teeth with a reed. He can’t change colours. He is brown. He likes to swim in the blue lake. Otherwise has a pointy head and his back is pointy too. The green chameleons growled at him and they made him cry. When he got to the top of the nest he found a blue chameleon in the top of the nest and he saved him. Otherwise gave him a handshake then they became friends. I wonder if they will play hide and seek with the other chameleons.

Author Payton wrote:

Pop goes the egg as he cracks his triangle egg with his sharp pointy mohawk. He wobbled to his family and he said, “Do you want to handshake?” But, guess what? The other chameleons just crawled away. Poor Otherwise was sad because he can’t change colour like his family. He brushes his teeth with a reed after he eats shiny green crunchy leaves. The other chameleons suck up insects with their long stretchy tongues but Otherwise has a short tongue. When they climbed up the tree, Otherwise climbed too high and his plant fell down. The other chameleons were always running away from Otherwise and they were always mean to him. Otherwise likes swimming in the shiny, relaxing, blue lake. Suddenly, an eagle swooped down from behind the clouds. “You don’t know that if you go into the lake the eagle can see you,” said the other chameleons. The chameleons chased Otherwise up the steep rocky mountain to the eagles nest. Otherwise saved the little chameleon so they became friends. I wonder if the other chameleons will be nice to Otherwise now.

Author Zack wrote:

Pop goes the chameleon. Otherwise popped out of his triangle egg and crawled over to this family. He wanted to handshake but they left him hanging and walked away so Otherwise followed them. He couldn't change colour like his brothers so he hid under a flower, he was really good at that ! He had a curly tail that always stays up but the other chameleon tails stay down. The other chameleons walked away again. This time, they went to catch bugs and one caught a caterpillar, one caught a ladybug and one caught a butterfly but Otherwise ate a leaf because his tongue wasn’t long enough. The other chameleons bullied Otherwise by snickering at him and glaring at him. Then, Otherwise took a swim in the calm, refreshing lake. Suddenly, an eagle swooped down from the clouds and took one of the chameleons. The other chameleons chased Otherwise up a rocky peak and into the eagles nest and Otherwise scared the eagle away. Otherwise was a hero ! Have you ever been a hero?

Author Cloe wrote:

Pop went the chameleon’s triangle egg. Otherwise is a brown chameleon. He likes to eat leaves and he brushes his teeth with a reed. Otherwise likes going swimming but the other chameleons don’t like swimming. Otherwise has a pointy head and he can’t change colour like the other ones. One day, he got chased by the other chameleons and he got blamed because the eagle took one of the friends. Otherwise climbed up a steep hill and found the blue chameleon. Otherwise saved the chameleon. I wonder if they stay best friends with each other.

Author Payton wrote:

Crack ! went the triangle egg. He was brown and spiky. The other chameleons were mean because when he popped out he tried to shake the other’s hands but they said, “No !” Otherwise likes to brush his teeth with a reed and he likes to swim in the blue calm lake. He can’t climb well and he eats leaves. He can’t change colour. One day when he was swimming an eagle popped out of the clouds. Then, the other chameleons smiled because they thought the eagle was going to get Otherwise but he took one of the blue chameleons up to the nest on the top of the rocks. The chameleons were angry and started to chase Otherwise and that’s when he started to climb the rocks. When he got to the top he helped one of the chameleons get away from the eagle. The other chameleons pulled him down and they went back home and the friendly one came back. I wonder if they will be friends for ever.