A Brave Writer's Life in Brief

Morning Julie,

I wanted to send praise your way. 🙂

We’ve been working through The Arrow this school year. As Rebagrace has gained comfort and trust in the writing lessons, she’s produced great work, and I’ve been connecting our free write time to the “How to teach the passage.”

As we’ve moved through Poppy by Avi, we’ve both been thrilled with the results of connecting the two writing “lessons!” I wanted to share the results with you because I thought they’d make you smile.

Week 1: Adjectives – Rebagrace wrote a short story that I scribed for her with the goal of using all the words listed on page 4 of The Arrow, Poppy. Then, we went back together to find places to add adjectives. We set a timer for 25 minutes for the whole event so that she didn’t feel trapped. Her results were this passage:

There was a thin, crescent moon. It was faint and white. High in the sky, and it shed light all around. Two small, soft dogs laid under the sliced moon as it glowed. The cottonball-like clouds floated nearby the moon. As the calm dogs lay there, they knew that warm summer was near on this nice spring night. They knew that in summer there would be ripe food, and the ground would be veiled with shimmering, glistening dew. It was a cool night. It was a pretty night with the Eastern crickets chirping. The two fluffy dogs felt the damp grass under their little paws after a spring rain storm. Earlier that day the two happy and joyful dogs had gone out in the spring rainstorm. They had tasted the warm rain, and it tasted life bacon treats falling our of the sky. And now, as the two brown dogs lay there, they smelled the refreshing remains of the spring storm.”

Week 2: Consonance, Alliteration, Similes – Rebagrace wrote her own story in 11 minutes (her choice for time). On her own, without my prompting, she went back to add in adjectives as she wrote. Then, I copied her story, and we went back to add in the consonance, etc. in her chosen 14 minute time restraint. Here’s her passage:

Two little fluffy kittens were sleeping together on a matt with their mitten paws curled up. The two soft, grey kittens had been, all morning, laying with each other like skittish mice. They played with yarn as soft and thick as the furry roots of the poison ivy vine, with a bright-light, light-weight laser and with their cracky, crumbly, crunchy food. Everything was good like the happy sun. Then, the next morning their kind and generous owner went on a trip to Vermont. The two playful and lovable kittens were terrified that the caretaker wouldn’t play with them.

Hope you have a great day,
P. Renee