Well, I am in the midst of a very exciting writing project with all 80 of my 5th graders. There will definitely be more to come, but in preparation for the project we have done some really fun activities!
We were trying to make our writing more exciting so I decided to come up with an acronym to help the students when revising and editing their writing. While Jurassic Park is not one of MY favorite movies...it kinda scares me a little bit...who doesn't like dinosaurs? I mean come on...they're pretty cool!
After lots of practice with the acronym of F.E.A.R., we are slowly but surely developing some pretty awesome writing pieces that are nearing the publishing process!
Below are the slides from the PowerPoint that I created to help the students with making their writing more exciting...
In going forward with this project all of the students had to write a personal narrative about something that happened to them, using the theme of disparity or equity. After writing a first draft of their narrative, the students had to use F.E.A.R. in order to make their stories more interesting. It is my belief that if I am going to require the students to put so much effort into a project, it is only fair that I expect myself to do the same.
While in the midst of creating my own narrative, I was reminded of just how much I love writing stories. It's something I've always loved, but it's become increasingly more difficult in each passing year to use my imagination the way I used to. My writing lately has been more therapeutic than anything, but it was so much fun to use my imagination to write my personal narrative.
Here's my story, based on something that actually happened to me in high school...hope you enjoy!
The Big Trip by: Ms. Christian
It was a day just like any other…or so I thought. I got on the bus and went to school
just like I did every other day. I
traveled to and from my typical high school classes and waited anxiously in my
last period class for that final bell to ring.
It certainly seemed to me that it was becoming a pattern
that year for me to spend the last five minutes of my final class,
strategically planning just how I would meander my way through the chaotic
afternoon hallways known as Donegal High School. And since this happening was most definitely a reoccurrence,
of course I spent those final, and crucial moments of class this day contemplating
my fate as it pertained to my ability to make it successfully out of the
school.
While my high school was by no means a gigantic school,
actually it was quite the contrary; the hallways in the afternoon were
oftentimes a sight to behold. I
guess they could also be considered a sight to fear and dread…it all depended
on the afternoon. In my opinion, venturing into the DHS hallways at the
conclusion of everyday was more like being cast in a horrific scene of Steven
Spielberg’s epic movie, “Jurassic Park”.
It was a jungle, a dark, scary jungle full of hungry dinosaurs traveling
every which way. This certainly always
made it very difficult to reach the bus that would unknowingly leave without
all of it’s precious cargo if it had not all made it into the vehicle within 5
minutes of the final school bell.
So, to say that the end of the day was a stressful time for
me, well, that would be an understatement. It did not help one ounce that my bus, bus D2 to be precise,
was the first bus in line, therefore…the first to leave. Did it help at all that my 4th
period class was all the way at the other end of the school from where the
buses waited for us?
No…it certainly did not help in the least!
Well, on this specific day…the day that was supposed to be
like any other…
it was DIFFERENT!
It took everything in me this day, just to make it to the
front of the school. There seemed
to be more “dinosaurs” than usual.
While I have, and always will have more timid, herbivore-like
tendencies, if I was going to make the bus that day, my inner carnivore would
have to come out!
And so it did…
All of a sudden I started pushing and shoving my way through
the mess. My heavy book bag was no
longer hanging from both my shoulders, but rather it was swinging from one arm,
acting as a barrier between the vicious beasts and myself. It was when I finally made it to the
front door of the school that I saw my bus’s lights turn on and I knew that Ms.
Kitty must be starting the ignition preparing to pull away. If I missed the bus…I would be stuck in
the land of the lost, and I was not going to let that happen.
My dinosaur instincts decided to kick in that moment, and I
do believe that it was then that I was able to channel my inner
velociraptor. My legs started
moving faster and my gate ended up resembling that of a predator stalking it’s
prey. I was going to catch that
bus if it was the last thing I did!
As I saw Ms. Kitty open the bus door for me, the trajectory
of my quick moving feet continued as I ascended the steps into the belly of the
big yellow “dinosaur”. I decided
to save Ms. Kitty and the rest of the kids the frustration of waiting on me any
longer, so if anything, I picked up the pace as I ran up those steps!
BAD CHOICE!
With my book bag still dangling from just one shoulder, a
complete loss of equilibrium caused me to lose balance, and it was then, that
the unthinkable happened to me…
I tripped over my foot, and it seemed that everything from
that moment happened in slow motion.
My book bag, that was full of about twenty-five pounds worth of books,
decided to take flight. Like a
terrifying pterodactyl, it soared over my head and I knew right then and there
that, I was in trouble. I mean, I
wouldn’t expect anything less from a frightening pterodactyl than to land in
the lap of an unsuspecting spectator.
I just wish that it would not have been sweet, little, harmless, Ms.
Kitty. What did she ever do to
deserve such a stunning surprise at the end of her workday?
Keeping this in mind, I guess I felt it my duty to save her
from the alarming, flying, dinosaur known as my book bag. As I reached to snatch the attacker,
however, it was to my humiliation that I lost my footing yet again. Instead of restraining the culprit, I
became the culprit of a very serious matter that would not become evident until
much later. As if still in slow
motion, I then collapsed on top of my book bag which was yes…on top of Ms.
Kitty.
Of course I wanted to spare her the pain of me, and now the
squished dinosaur, laying on top of her; but at the same time I had no desire
to go take my seat on the bus. I
knew that all of the students, including my brother and his friends would be
laughing at me after the ridiculous sight that they just witnessed, but even
though it was bound to be a moment of despair, I grabbed my book bag and with
my head down, found my way to the closest empty seat. While I only had to endure the humiliation for a five-minute
bus ride, it was probably the longest five-minute bus ride I have ever
taken. Little did I know that at
the end of the day, my humiliation would not be complete.
Remember how I said that I was definitely a culprit of a
much bigger crime than the one that everyone witnessed on the bus that
day? Well, I guess it’s safe to
say that older people bruise easier than those who are younger, for the next
morning when I gingerly stepped into the bus, Ms. Kitty was sporting a fairly
large shiner on her eye. Whether
her black eye was a result of her Jurassic attack or not, I’ll never know, but
it was safe to say that everyone had assumed it was a battle wound from the
frightening battle the day before…
All I know, is that battle is one from which I have never
fully recovered, and I will never forget the day the dinosaurs came to DHS!
