Week 30 Choice Week!

Some of you have been eagerly waiting for another "choice week" to continue the stories you began weeks ago. Well, here is your chance. Whether you choose to write a completely new story or finish an older one, is up to you. Either way, be sure to write your story in a way that includes your five senses, paints a picture for the reader, and focuses on the important events. (Don’t tell us about getting up, eating breakfast, and riding to the park in the car, if the story is really about the winning goal you scored in the soccer game!) At least 100 words, please. Don't be intimidated. You can do it!

Challenge: Try including dialogue in your story. Look carefully at my example to see how to use punctuation correctly when your characters are speaking.

I’ve Always Wondered What Happened to the Fur We Pull From Her Brush…

“Mom, come look at this,” Britta called.

My eyes dropped to the ground where my daughter squatted. Cupped in her hand was a delicate whirlwind of sticks and grass. A bird’s nest. Its mission hopefully completed, it had most likely been blown out of the tree during last night’s thunderstorm. This particular nest was more wispy than most I’d seen. I stooped to get a closer look. Silky strands of red, grey and white wound in swirls amidst the twigs and dried grasses.

“Interesting,” I began, “these colors remind me of something…” I glanced up and noted Britta’s widening eyes.

“Elsa!” we exclaimed in unison.

Hearing her name, our favorite fur donor streaked across the grass, squeezing her wriggling mass between us and toppling us both onto our backsides. As we laughed, she swished her fringed tail in one face while licking the other, then pivoted to make sure neither of us missed out on her generosity.

Week 29 Senator Michel asks for your ideas!

Have any of you ever visited the Minnesota State Capitol in Saint Paul? If you do, you might see Lexie’s father, State Senator Geoff Michel who represents Edina and West Bloomington. This week we have asked him to blog with us about an issue at the state capitol that affects schools and kids:

Hello Normandale! I hope you can help me. An issue that will be getting a lot of attention at the Capitol over the next few years is whether we should require more days in school - a longer school year - for Minnesota children. Currently, schools in Minnesota average 170 days per school year. The average in other states across the country is 180 days a year in class (that is two weeks more). Other countries, like China, have school years that are more than 200 days long! If you were a Minnesota State Senator how would you vote?

I appreciate your thoughts about this important topic. I will take them into consideration as I make my own choice. Your opinion counts!

Here are some pros and cons to consider before you cast your vote and state your reasons for your vote:

PROS (in favor of more days in school): If we want Minnesota kids to be the smartest in the world we need more time in the classroom. We are falling behind other states and countries and could learn more with more time in the classroom. Minnesota teachers are great and we could accomplish more and learn more if we spend more time with them. We could add more days without shortening summer vacation if we had fewer days off in the middle of the year.

CONS (against more days in school): The school year is already long enough.Vacations and time off from school is important for kids and families too.Minnesota schools are more productive than other states and countries and we do not need as much time in the classroom. More days in school would cost more money - we have a deficit right now because the economy is in recession and should spend our money on other priorities.

How would you vote and why?

Write a topic sentence stating your opinion. Then write a "tabletop" sentence explaining one reason for your vote. Add two specific examples or details ("legs") to support your reason.

As always, be sure to 1) write and save your comment in a word processing program first, 2) revise your work to be specific and clear, 3) correct any errors in spelling, punctuation, and capitalization, 4) cut and paste your writing into the comment box on the blog, 5) add your first name and code before publishing your comment.

Special assignment - Novels

(Note: If you are looking for the “true story” blog assignment, which is due Monday, April 28, read the NEXT entry - Week 27.)

Students,

This assignment is a substitution for those students who did not have their questions for our book discussions today (Friday, April 18):

Please write a paragraph (at least 5 sentences) explaining why you would or would not recommend this book to someone else.

This assignment is due on Monday, April 21. If you complete it by then, it will take the place of your missing discussion questions.

I'll look forward to reading your opinions!

Note: I am the only one who will be reading this assignment. Your comment will not be published.

Week 27 "There I was..."

Hey, kids! We're back to blogging. This week you get to write a story - a true story about something you have experienced. Choose a topic. It should be interesting, but keep it small enough to write about it well. No novels needed! Now pick a point in time right before the main thing happens and start there. Use strong verbs, vivid details, and sensory words to bring your reader right into the action with you. "There I was..."

Here's my example:

There I sat, cross-legged on the hard wooden gym floor on a Friday afternoon. The older students were seated in the bleachers, but the seventh-graders were on the floor as usual for assemblies. Today’s event was actually a “pep-fest”. We were there to cheer on the boys basketball team. They had won their conference and were going to compete for regional champs that same evening.

For me and my friends, the more exciting part of the festivities was the raffle drawing. The ninth grade class was going on a spring trip. They had sold raffle tickets as a fundraiser. For weeks, the grand prize had been gleaming at us all from the locked showcase in the entryway of the school. It was a beautiful, brand-new stereo system. I mean, it had EVERYTHING - turntable, AM/FM receiver, speakers, and a cabinet to hold it. But, best of all, it had the latest in stereo technology…an eight-track player.

None of my friends had even held an eight-track cartridge, but we all wanted to. An eight-track never needed to be turned over. It would just keep playing as long as you liked. And it didn’t get scratched like records. Some people were even lucky enough to have one in their car! Not my family. My dad had recently lost his job. We were likely to be sticking with the old cars we had for some time. Tomorrow was my birthday, and I was pretty sure my gifts would all fall into the category of “things I need” such as pajamas and socks.

I would have liked to have claimed at least one hundred of the raffle tickets that filled the gigantic clear plastic bag that the PTO chairwoman was dragging to the podium. Since that wasn’t possible, I had helped sell tickets for the fundraiser. Each pack of twenty I sold had earned me one of my own. I had also managed to convince myself it was okay to buy just one with a quarter from my piggy bank. So, all together, four tiny tickets in that bag had my name on them - "Kristen Johnson."

Wait. What? I looked at my friends sitting beside me. They were screaming and pointing. “Get up there! You won!”

Dazed, I managed to get to my feet and stumble over lanky seventh grade legs to get to the front. Time seemed to be passing in slow motion. I couldn’t think. What had just happened? Was it possible? Was I the winner of the grand prize?

Ten minutes later I was on the phone in the office calling home. “Mom,” I said. “I’m going to need a ride home from school today.” I paused. “I don’t think they’ll let me take my new stereo home on the bus!”

My twelfth birthday still ranks among the best ever.

Remember...
- Be sure to save your writing in a word processing program.
- Read it over to yourself aloud, to make sure it makes sense. Check for good descriptive details.
- Make any editing changes needed (correct spelling, capitalization and end punctuation).
- Then copy and paste it into the comment section.
- Don't forget to include your first name and code, so that you get credit for your effort!

Week 24 Yeow!

Imagine you have gotten a tiny splinter while climbing over your neighbor’s fence. Write a very exaggerated story to explain to how you became “injured”. Remember to use strong verbs, as well as hyperbole.

As always,

• Write your story in a word program first.
• Reread aloud to make sure it makes sense.
• Revise it to include descriptive words that paint a picture for the reader.
• Check it over for spelling, punctuation and capitalization errors.
• Then copy it and paste it in the comments section.
• Be sure to include your first name and code to receive credit for your work.

Watch this space for a sample story coming soon...

Week 23 Comparing and contrasting

Recently, we have been comparing and contrasting stories like Cendrillon and Cinderella. Good readers are always on the lookout for similarities and differences. Good writers try to include details that will "show" those similarities and differences.

This week, compare and contrast two similar, yet different, places (such as your room and your sister's). Write three sentences that show (not tell) the important similarities between them. Then write three more sentences that explain (more showing) ways they are different. Use good descriptive adjectives and details that make a picture in our minds. Help us "see" the similarities and differences.

Below is a sample (Note: This example uses shoes instead of places. Don't write about shoes! :-)

Tennis shoes and dressy sandals are found in my closet. They both wrap themselves around my feet and protect my tender soles. I can coordinate them with various other items in my wardrobe - a green hoody and peach scarf with my tennies and a sparkly dress and earrings with my sandals. Occasionally, either set might wander away on some younger feet. (My daughters like to borrow my shoes!)

I think the similarites end there, however. There are many more ways my footcoverings are different.

Tennis shoes become old friends who know all my favorite haunts. They love to run, jump and play. They don't mind a muddy puddle now and then. In fact, a bit of dust and a few smudges merely add to their charm. On the other hand, dress sandals are like prim and proper acquaintances who carry me to fancy dinners or the opera. Their high heels lift me above my everyday self. They step gingerly over grimy patches of slush and are careful to always stay on the sidewalk. They truly distain blemishes on their polished exterior.

Yes, tennis shoes and dress sandals are part of the same family tree. But I think they must be very distant cousins!

Remember...

• Be sure to save your writing in a word processing program.
• Read it over to yourself aloud, to make sure it makes sense. Check for good descriptive details.
• Make any editing changes needed (correct spelling, capitalization and end punctuation).
• Then copy and paste it into the comment section.
• Don't forget to include your first name and code, so that you get credit for your effort!

Week 23 Not yet...

Dear students,
Tonight is Edina Unplugged. Enjoy a fun relaxing evening with your family! They are more important than homework. Look here tomorrow for the Week 23 blog assignment.

Mme Powell :-)