EDITOR N' CHIEF (my daughter!)
i'm sure i did the exact same thing, but with far less savvy
i sat, as any proud mom would, on the toilet this morning reading my daughter's 4th grade writing portfolio. she wrote well about her field trip to coyote hills, "...after lunch i knew we had an advancer ahead of us. We hiked an enormous hill! Once we got up there I knew it was worth it. I could see so far, because we were very high. We were so high I could see all the way across the bay! I also got to see the Dumbarton Bridge, San Mateo Bridge, and the Santa Cruz mountains. There were a lot of land forms in the bay. The Hike to the Stars was very fun!"
she wrote brilliantly, i thought, in her piece titled: Layers of the Earth, which was typed. and then, how beautiful she writes in cursive for her sacramento essay; five handwritten pages with great detail, realistic dialogue and authentic emotion
her report on the history of softball! -excellent in every way.
it's when i read her paper titled A Special Way of Life, that i got to coughing uncontrollably.
-allergic reaction to bullshit.
now, i need to tell you, that my daughter absolutely hated this book. dreaded the turn of every page. slunk like a invertebrate at the mere sight of the cover. and from my sympathetic cheerleading post as her mom.. it seemed to me too, that this homework assignment, this one book, was lasting three years.
so didn't i just choke on my own bittersweet breath when i read, "Island of the Blue Dolphins was a book filled with adventure. Karana was very careful about the things she did, but still very brave. She called the island: Island of the Blue Dolphins.
and i think my daughter is a genius. when i re-read this paper, i see she wrote everything expected and required of her from character description, to setting, to plot and genre identification without ever leading on about how she really felt as the reader.
In the book Karana showed a lot of bravery. For example, she watches the sea elephants fight, tried to catch a devilfish, and goes through a big, black cave.
but laugh, and laugh, i do, everytime i read her closing statement:
To me, Island of the Blue Dolphins stood out from other books.
~what a diplomat.
posted by SHE @ 7:23 AM
5 Comments:
LOL! I'm going to watch for her in the upcoming elections!
A diplomat, a counselor, a judge, a parent, a friend, an intellect and an old soul! So young to be able to seperate personal opinions from factual data. I'm impressed... but I bet I know where she gets it from!
hahahah You're a great teacher, Sandra ;)
singleton: -hope for the independents ")
slb: me too... her grandma ")
hawley: thanks! trick is to teach during recess ")
Another re-release. Original of this post 05/25/2007
Post a Comment
<< Home