Illustration of town covered with blobs & sign, "Welcome to Oakville"
Juliette Toma
Write Like a Pro,

Blob Attack!

The day gross gobs of goo poured from the sky  

By Mary Kate Frank
From the September 2024 Issue

Learning Objective: to understand how writers can strengthen their writing through the use of strong verbs

Featured Skills: Grammar, Usage, and Mechanics,
Common Core Standards
  • Anchor Standards
    L.2
  • Grade 6
    L.6.2a
  • Grade 7
    L.7.2a
  • Grade 8
    L.8.2a
TEKS Standards
  • Grades 6, 7, 8
    2a, 2b, 2c

Presentation View
See Student View

Directions

  1. Read the article.
  2. Click on the words and phrases in blue to learn about one of the writer’s pro moves: using strong verbs.
  3. Take the Write Like a Pro Challenge below.

Rain is not unusual in Oakville, Washington. On average, the tiny city experiences wet weather more than 150 days a year. So when the skies opened up in the wee hours of August 7, 1994, police officer David Lacey turned on his car’s windshield wipers without a second thought.

A strange, clear substance smeared across the glass. 

Lacey pulled over to clean off the gunk. It squished between his fingers like Jell-O. 

This was no ordinary rain. Mysterious blobs of goo were splattering down on Oakville.

Jellyfish Rain?

The blobs were no bigger than a grain of rice, though some clumped together to form bigger blobs. After the storm passed, the goo remained. 

Then the sickness started. 

Within hours of handling the blobs, Lacey fell ill. He—and dozens of others who had touched the sticky goop—suffered breathing difficulties, dizziness, and nausea. 

Over the next few weeks,  five more blob showers fell over Oakville. More people got sick.  

But what were the blobs? Some thought they were tiny bits of jellyfish. Perhaps a waterspout (a tornado over water) had swept up jellies from the ocean before moving inland, and later pieces of the jellyfish “rained” down.

Such events are not unheard of. Throughout history, people have reported bizarre showers of fish, frogs, and even turtles, all likely caused by waterspouts. 

But dead jellyfish stink. These blobs had no odor. 

An even grosser theory emerged: Maybe the goop was poop. What if a plane had accidentally dumped human waste over Oakville? 

Aviation officials said that wasn’t possible. On planes, human waste gets treated with a blue chemical. The Oakville blobs were colorless. 

The Mystery Continues 

When health officials tested the blobs, they found two types of bacteria that can make people sick. They also found cells. That meant that whatever the blobs were, they had come from a living thing. 

Unfortunately, before further tests could be run, the samples disappeared—likely misplaced.

The blobs never fell again. Officer Lacey made a full recovery. Oakville’s residents moved on with their lives. 

But mystery lovers still question what splashed down from the sky 30 years ago. 

Physicist Matthew Szydagis is one of those people. A professor at University at Albany in New York, he has studied the case and says that with today’s technology, the blobs could likely be identified—if the samples still existed. 

“Right now,” he says, “all we know is that something weird happened.” 

Write Like a Pro Challenge

Now take what you’ve learned about using strong verbs and apply it to your own writing. Imagine a new superhero. Write a paragraph describing one of their adventures. Use at least three strong verbs and circle them.

This article was originally published in the September 2024 issue.

Activities (2)
Skill-Building Activities
Answer Key (1)
Activities (2)
Skill-Building Activities
Answer Key (1)
Step-by-Step Lesson Plan

Close Reading, Critical Thinking, Skill Building

Download the Printable Version
Table of Contents

1. Prepare to Read

(1 minute)

Draw students’ attention to the directions in the upper left-hand corner of page 30 or at the top of the digital story page. Read the directions aloud.

2. Read and Discuss

(25 minutes)

Have students read the article and the explanations in the blue circles with a partner. 

Optionally, before students complete the Write Like a Pro Challenge, work together to replace the weak verbs in this sentence with strong ones:

1. Tim had a ton of papers in his locker. Sample: Papers exploded out of Tim’s locker.

2. I ate dinner quickly. Sample: I gulped down my dinner.

3. There were kites overhead, and they had long tails. Sample: Kites soared overhead, their long tails dancing in the wind.

Optionally, provide students with the Anchor Chart: Using Strong Verbs to use and keep as a handy reference in their notebooks.

3. Write

(25 minutes)

Have students work in pairs or independently to take the Write Like a Pro Challenge on page 31 of the printed magazine or at the bottom of the digital story page:

Now take what you’ve learned about using strong verbs and apply it to your own writing. Imagine a new superhero. Write a paragraph describing one of their adventures. Use at least three strong verbs and circle them.

Project students’ paragraphs on your whiteboard and discuss their strong verbs. Alternatively, have students exchange and discuss their paragraphs with a partner.

Text-to-Speech