My students have been working very hard this quarter on the steps to completing their Alphabiography. By listening to Joe's excerpts, and some of my own, we have inspired eachother through our Writer's Workshop model to complete our own writing.
Here are some of our stories:
A is for ATV by Ben
On the day before Halloween last year I was four wheeling on my friend’s farm and I broke my ankle and foot. It all started in the morning after a night of camping. At night there were about 12 coyotes outside of our tent yelping. In the morning we had breakfast and got to ride for a while. When riding on the trail I saw a ramp and attempted to jump it. As I did, I landed wrong and my foot slid off and I snapped my ankle in a second.
Life lesson: Never jump something when you don’t know what is on the other side.
B is for Bully by Perry
In sixth grade I had a couple of bullies that tried to put me down a lot. I tried being passive and the bullying just continued. Being aggressive worked a bit but they just would learn. As the year went by I began to have more classes with my bullies and of course I had to work with them, So as my foes and I began talking a bit more, we became better friends every day.
Lesson: Your bullies can one day become your friends
C is for Colts Championship
In 2006 NFL season began as I was a big Chiefs fan and throughout that whole season the Chiefs were doing terrible. But when it came to the end othe wild card win by the Broncos put the Chiefs into playoffs. Everyone wanted the Chiefs to win, so did I, but I didn't have much belief in them from their losses before, so they kind of let their reputation down with losing so much. But when their game occured and I saw the Indianapolis Colts run onto the field I knew they would be champions. I wanted the Chiefs to win, but I had a lot of hope for the Colts. After al the Colts won the Division Championship against the Cheifs and went to the Super Bowl in Miami, Florida. This time it was the Colts vs. Bears. It was an amzing game. The Colts won 27 to 14. It was so awesome!
Lesson: Working together as a team can lead to great accomplishments.
D is for Dime by Alyssa
Like most kids, when I was younger, I had to take naps. Also like most kids, I never wanted to take them. There was one specific nap time I will never forget. It was a perfectly good Saturday afternoon in September, the kind you wish would never end. The leaves were starting to drop around me as I colored with chalk on the driveway. I could feel the warmth of the sun tingling on my back as my mom called me inside for a nap. I really didn’t want to take a nap that day, so while my mom was putting me in my bed, I stalled her by asking her about the dime my dad left on the dresser. She said to leave it alone and to go to sleep. After she left, I started messing around with the dime. Then, me being my four-year old self, I decided to give the dime a ‘bath’. I put the coin in my mouth and was careful not to swallow it. Of course, I ended up swallowing it. I remember sneaking into the bathroom to try to swallow it all the way. It was stuck in my throat but I could still breathe. After failing to swallow it, I told my mom. I was immediately rushed to the hospital and brought into the emergancy room. While I was coloring on the hospital bed, the doctors explained to my mom that they were going to have to cut my throat open to get it out. Right as they were about to give me a shot to put me to sleep, I threw up all over the nurse and out popped the dime.
Life lesson: When your mom says not to do something, it’s for your own good.
E is for Elephant
I can't remember when we went to the circus. All I have is a memory. I was either 4 or 5 years old. It had all of those circusy things: cotton candy, trapeze, lions, tigers, and bears (oh my!). It also had clowns and elephants. Towards the end of the show they allowed some rides on the elephant. My mom knew I was afraid of heights, btu I was okay, of all things, an elephant won't drop me.Life Lesson: Wonderful things can come from feared places.
F is for Fiji by Chloe
My mum and I slip beneath the water into the cool and colorful world of the reef, our snorkels poking through the surface. I’m only 8 (not old enough to fulfill my dream of scuba diving), but I catch on early to the different style of breathing. My mum gently pulls me through the water, my eyes darting every which direction to take in all the colors. I point to the lone sea cucumber at the bottom of the ocean; Mum dives down and snaps a picture with the special underwater camera. She releases me and I float by myself, being overly cautious to not touch the sharp, jagged coral. We eventually resurface, returning to the world above the waves.
Life Lesson: Sometimes the calmest experiences can be the most exciting.
G is for Guns by Mason
Guns are part of the everyday teenage boy’s life. I was so excited when it was my turn to shoot. After we had gone though the training session, which only took about 15 minutes because they were 22.s and they wouldn’t hurt you worth a crap. They finally said “gunners get into position” which means lay down on the mat “gunners pick up your guns and remove you’re E.C.i.” Which is a safety flag which you put through the barrel to keep it from going off apart from the safety switch? “Gunners…… (It felt like a lifetime) fire away.” My joy rose dramatically. I opened the barrel, put a bullet in, and slowly pulled the trigger. And…… BAM! A bird fell out of the sky……… I know right. From that point on I was no longer aloud at the shooting range.
Life lesson: don’t get too excited so you know what you’re shooting.
H is for Hospital by Camden
My memories are a little foggy, but here I go. When I was 5 or 6, I had an off-white plastic sword. It was my favorite toy, and I took it everywhere. Eventually, somehow, it snapped in half. As a toddler, this didn’t discourage me one bit, and I kept carrying it around. At one point, I was sprinting around the house with it in my mouth. Not the brightest idea, but I was young. While sprinting, I veered off course and crashed into our green couch. Rip!!! Blood was dripping from the roof of my mouth, which was flapping around. Instantly, my dad rushed me to the E.R. After that, I can’t remember a thing, and I don’t want to.
Life lesson: Do not put a sword in your mouth, and if you do, don’t dash around the house with it in your mouth.
J is for Japan Festival
I had a new and extraordinary experience this weekend. There was a Japan festival at The Carson Center, a community College. This was the first time I had ever gone to something like this, but I brought some friends who had, actually they told me about Japan festival. Salem dressed in a kimono and cat ears, I wonder if she will stand out? This place was huge, three floors of people all here for a Japan festival. No, Salem didn’t stand out; in fact there were people who went way more all out than her.
One of the first things we did there was going to this place called neco knickknacks, where we met some strangers and made them our friends. An adult would say don’t talk to strangers, but these people where ok. There was mike and Stevin, two guys, one skinny and the other rather large. They were with Maxine and Stefani. We talked and looked at some more stores, and then we decided to make our own group. Then at the food court we met Chris who was taller than all of us, but just as fun to be around so we added him to our group. I can’t wait until we meet again next
Life experience: not all strangers are bad people
K is for Kennedy
My mom named me after a president John F. Kennedy. I was born on August 10th, 1996. I have soft, black hair and dark brown eyes. I love Spiderman and spending time with my family and eating tuna. I don’t like hotdogs, but I would eat tuna once and a while if my mom would let me.
Life Lesson: Love who you are.
L is for Lucky by Christina
In about third grade we had a fundraiser and a drawing to see who’d win a contest. The reward was a bike and everyone wanted that bike, well in third grade I guess that’s what we looked forward to, but now if that was the reward we wouldn’t care. At the time, I thought that would be really cool because all I had was an old worn out bike, but I thought logically. There was six hundred people in my school, there is no way that I would even have a chance in being picked. We went outside and sat on the grass for the drawing, it was weird seeing all the different grade levels together, and all my friends were holding their breath as I was not, so I kind of spaced off figuring I’d never win the bike. Then, all of a sudden the people sitting around where I was started tapping saying “Go up there and get your bike!” and I was like “Wait, what did you say? What? Huh?” It turned out that I won the bike and I was caught totally off guard. Ever since that day my grandma has always asked me about what lottery numbers she should pick hoping that my luck would rub off on her.
Life Lesson: No matter what the odds are, you should always have hope because you never know what the outcome will be.
Ever since I can remember I loved the mall. I loved to walk into a mall and smell the aroma that came out of the candle stores. One day while finishing up some holiday shopping, I stopped to look at the fountain and throw a quarter in and make a wish. I wished to get the Barbie Ice Skater for Christmas. We had already stopped at seven stores and had a dozen bags to prove it. I was carrying five of the six to show my mom that I was a "big girl" and that I didn't have to put the bags down just to throuw a quarter in the fountain, but because of my height I had to stand on the lip of the fountain. As a sudden gust of people moved by, I got pushed in. My mom tried her best to grab me, but it was too late. Both the gifts and I were sopping wet!
Life Lesson: Never go stand on the edge of the fountain on Christmas Eve!
My sister, Erin, and I have always been really close. Whenever she had a friend over, they were also my friend too. Then Erin started having a guy named Nathan over, we all became best friends. Nathan was 17, or one year younger than Erin. They both went to the same school, they both had brown hair, but sometimes his changed a little more red or blonde. His was also curly, and Erin's was wavy. And they also both had really pretty blue eyes. We would always hang out. Sometimes we went on walks to the park near by, or we walked my two puppies, or went to the elementary school that was up the street. But most times we just hung out at my house. On rare occasions we even went to dinner together. We were obviously pretty good friends, the three of us. Those were possibly the happiest times of my life. Now my sister goes to college in Colorado, and Nathan and I are still friends.
Life Lesson: You can meet some pretty cool people through others.
M is for Mall by Amanda T
Ever since I can remember I loved the mall. I loved to walk into a mall and smell the aroma that came out of the candle stores. One day while finishing up some holiday shopping, I stopped to look at the fountain and throw a quarter in and make a wish. I wished to get the Barbie Ice Skater for Christmas. We had already stopped at seven stores and had a dozen bags to prove it. I was carrying five of the six to show my mom that I was a "big girl" and that I didn't have to put the bags down just to throuw a quarter in the fountain, but because of my height I had to stand on the lip of the fountain. As a sudden gust of people moved by, I got pushed in. My mom tried her best to grab me, but it was too late. Both the gifts and I were sopping wet!
Life Lesson: Never go stand on the edge of the fountain on Christmas Eve!
N is for Nathan by Amanda J
My sister, Erin, and I have always been really close. Whenever she had a friend over, they were also my friend too. Then Erin started having a guy named Nathan over, we all became best friends. Nathan was 17, or one year younger than Erin. They both went to the same school, they both had brown hair, but sometimes his changed a little more red or blonde. His was also curly, and Erin's was wavy. And they also both had really pretty blue eyes. We would always hang out. Sometimes we went on walks to the park near by, or we walked my two puppies, or went to the elementary school that was up the street. But most times we just hung out at my house. On rare occasions we even went to dinner together. We were obviously pretty good friends, the three of us. Those were possibly the happiest times of my life. Now my sister goes to college in Colorado, and Nathan and I are still friends.
Life Lesson: You can meet some pretty cool people through others.
O is for Outcast by Diopilio
For the first few days of sixth grade I felt like an outcast. It was a new school with new people and I was too shy to try making friends. Of course, there were people that I knew a little from elementary school, but all my real friends were on different teams. After those first few days I finally worked up the confidence to try to make friends. I had the confidence but I didn’t know who I should talk to. During math I reluctantly approached a table where two kids sat: Lukas and Marcus. I ended up making really good friends with them and started hanging out with them and a lot of other people they introduced me to that year. Even though the year started out bad, it ended up being one of the best school years I have ever had.
Life Lesson: Don’t be too shy, introduce yourself!
P is for Pool by Josh
Last summer me and about 15 friends went to the pool in Thousand oaks’. It was 90 degrees outside and smelled like chlorine. The pool was very refreshing in this scorching desert. We hadn’t eaten lunch and we were all hungry so we ordered 2 pizzas and pop for everyone. It had a bakery smell and looked delicious. At this point we gather all the money and it was a disaster. People weren’t bringing enough money and we went a bit short on pizza. Two people only got one piece.
Life Lesson: Always plan ahead when you bring a huge crowd to something.
Q is for Quick by Stephen
Well, I have always been quick. The thing is that speed kills. At least that’s what my dad has always said. In football that is so true that speed kills. I am a wide receiver and a running back. You have to have speed for both of those positions or you won’t be successful in either of those positions in football that I play.
Life Lesson: Speed really matters in some concepts of the game.
R is for Rips by Janae
We all have heard those embarrassing stories about people who have had their pants ripped in public. Well I haven’t just heard one of those stories I am one of those stories. In fourth grade (before we started changing out for P.E.) I wore jeans to P.E. class. I usually didn’t but for some reason I did on that gloomy day. We were doing the wheel barrel with partners. I chose Gabrielle Griffith, One of my amazing friends. I was the one walking on the ground she was holding my feet, and when she put my feet down I heard this loud ripping sound. It sounded like someone ripping a giant stack of papers. I sat down, and then looked down, and there are my pants ripped all the way down my leg! It was awful; I had to wear the P.E. teacher’s jacket until my mom could come up to the school with a change of jeans for me. It was extremely embarrassing for me, but I got over it… eventually!
Life Lesson: Never wear jeans to P.E. unless you want them to rip in front of everyone. Then have to wait for your mom to bring you a change of clothes.
S is for Skiing by Jake C
Both water skiing and snow skiing are the best water and snow sports. When you go outside the wake on the water it feels like you gliding over glass and it’s so smooth you don’t even know you have ski’s on. In the snow when you go in the back bowls of a mountain the adrenaline is almost too much to bear. About three years ago when I was in Vail, Colorado with my family my dad and I went in the bowls. Close to ¼ of the way down we got in some trees and my dad got a little too close to one and it caved in. while fighting to get out of 6 foot deep snow a man came on the loud speaker telling everyone that a bear had been spotted in the area. Around 15 minutes later my dad got out drenched in sweat. When we got down to the bottom by the lift we heard people talking about how they had seen the grizzly. Once we got up to the top of the mountain, my dad and I met up with my mom and sister for supper.
Life Lesson: If you try new things, danger is sure to be there.
T is for Thousand Oaks by Monica
My friend, Victoria and I walk around Thousand Oaks almost every day. Although I don't live there, she does, and we enjoy the walk to her house. We also go to the waterfall. Thousand Oaks has both a giant waterfall and a castle water fountain in front. If we are already at her house, we walk to my house. My house is in front of Hidden Valley that is right beside Thousand Oaks. Since her house is in the very back, its about a thirty minute walk to either houses. Sometimes we pick up our two friends, Halle and Josephine, and have them hang out with us too. Now that you know the background, let me tell you about what we recently did. We've known this girl Laura since forever and she lives right next to this really hot dude. We decided to mistake his house for hers so we could talk to him.
Life Lesson: Visit old friends more often.
U is for Underwear by John
About 3 years ago my whole family was at my grandma’s house just to hang out. My cousin Michael, my sister, my step-brother, and I were all upstairs watching T.V and we got bored. All of us older kids began messing with Michael. Finally my step-brother got Michael’s underwear and gave him a huge wedgie. My sister and I joined into the fun. Michael sat there for 5 minutes straight in agonizing pain and with terror in his eyes. He went to the bathroom after the pain was over. Immediately after, he went downstairs and told his mom he needed new underwear and of course came the question, “why?” Come to find out we gave him so bad of a wedgie it ripped his underwear! She laughed when we told her the story and told him he would get some the following day.
Life lesson: If 3 people give 1 person a wedgie that 1 person might be in a little trouble…with his underwear.
V is for Vacation by Morgan
I guess you could call going to a cattle show, a vacation, I do. I went to Des Moines, Iowa for the Simmental Junior Nationals. Semimetals are black or dark red cows. I was in many compactions that I had no clue of what I was doing since it was my first year. When I showed, I got 3nd out of 10, which is awesome! I made it in to division or for you finals, and got 10 out of 10 which is the best I’ve every gotten in a big show! We were there the whole week, Dad, Sydni and I. We left for Iowa July 8th and got back the 16th, at 2 a.m.! I was tired, but I had tones of fun!
Lesson: Have fun on a vacation even if it not going well.
W is for Wyoming by Ty
Wyoming is the best state, in my opinion. There is plenty of space to do anything. You can take a dip in Freemont Lake, one of the deepest lakes in the world, or go skiing in Jackson Hole, one of Wyoming’s most well known mountains. I decided to go take a look at Jackson Hole during the summer to see what it was all about. I saw that there are very easy 15 degree slopes or super technical 80 degree slopes. It wasn’t just the mountains that were beautiful; it was also the friendly town. The town was pretty small, which surprised me because of how many tourists come to the town each winter, and surrounded by mountains on each side. It seemed to be like a big volcano, and the town was the magma chamber. Nobody actually lives inside of the town; they surround the outside of the volcano. The town is called Jackson, and the mountain is called Jackson Hole. Jackson, the town, seemed to always be prepared for winter. I visited Jackson during the summer and the shops were stocked up with ski and snowboard t-shirts, that seemed they couldn’t get rid of. This experience changed the way I looked at Wyoming. I always thought it was just a random square state that copied its neighbors. Now I know that Wyoming’s neighbors copies Wyoming.
Life Lesson: Don’t judge a state by its shape
X is for X-Ray by Collin
When I swallowed a piece of wire from my braces, I wasn’t too concerned. I told my cousin. His dad was my dentist. They told me I needed to go to the hospital right now. I started freaking out. They gave me four X-rays to see where it was. They ended up finding it. But I had to get another X-ray the next day to make sure it was moving. I never have liked X-rays. The thought of massive amounts of energy passing through me every second made me almost pass out. Next time I’ll tell my orthodontist as soon as my wire starts to shift over.
Lesson: Braces can help, and hurt. Be careful out there!
Y is for Yellow by Matthew
When I was little I pronounced yellow, I would say “yeyyow”. And I was a stubborn kid so I never said it right once my mom told me to. So one day she devised a plan to get me to say my L’s.(keep in mind that I was still in preschool so I was still learning words) One day on the ride home from preschool my mom said “can you say bus”? So I said “bus”. So then she said “can you say park” and of course I said park. So finally she said “can you say play” so I said “play”. So she said “ HA! You can say your L’s so start saying them”. After that I was pretty mad but I got over it.
Lesson: Don’t be stubborn.
Z is for Zipper Brittaney
Last year in the seventh grade during MAP testing, towards the end when we all start stretching my teacher wanted to do yoga poses… bad idea. I was wearing my favorite jeans as we all know jeans aren’t very stretchy so guess what happened when I went to do the “tree pose.” My zipper broke off its seam! I went to the teacher and she told me to go to the nurse. The nurse told me that I would have to safety pin it together. Well my jeans were too thick of material for the normal safety pin, so I had to use one of the giant ones. I went the rest of the day embarrassed, with a giant safety pin over the outside of where my zipper is supposed to be. Then I thought it was awful, but now that I think about it really is funny.
Life Lesson: Looks aren’t everything.
I think Q is the best out of all of them.!.!
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