Some writing samples

Today, I thought I would post some samples of the kids' writing that are related to poetry and literature which I blogged about yesterday. I'm not posting them because they are so wonderfully brilliant. I'm mostly pleased with these samples because I can see that the kids have become excited about writing. I think that comes from their exposure to poetry, which we have not been good about including in our days until recently, and it comes from the excitement of us working on this together and sharing our thoughts. It's become more than just a subject to complete and move on from as soon as possible. It's truly something we're enjoying!

Earlier in the school year I posted this: Arcara Family: Maria's Spelling Assignment. It was a poem Maria wrote for a spelling assignment.

Here are two poems that Cati wrote recently:

I Don't Like Grapes

Grapes are mushy and smushy,

Grapes are yucky and mucky,

Grapes are as green

As my sister's chair is clean.

This one was written after the kids watched men cut down our neighbor's tree this week:

They Cut Down a Tree

They cut down a tree

Faster than a bee

They snipped it

And clipped it

They ground it

And bound it

Then they drove away

And came back another day.

Our literature studies also include a few written literary analysis assignments. The kids' favorite story that we read together in the first couple of months of school was Rikki-Tikki-Tavi by Rudyard Kipling. It eventually led to an interesting debate on the theme of the story. Cati argued that it was a story about good vs. evil. Matteo said that he thought it was a story about good vs. good. They both decided to write about their positions:

Rikki-Tikki Tavi: Good vs. Evil (by Cati)

The story of Rikki-Tikki-Tavi has the theme of good vs. evil. The two horrifying, murderous snakes in the story named Nag and Nagaina are evil because in the story they can think! Nag tries to kill the humans so Rikki will leave. Nagaina tries to murder the little boy because the boy's father shot Nag.

Rikki-Tikki-Tavi also can think! Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, even though all mongeese eat snakes, protects the humans. Mongeese that can't think kill snakes to eat, not to protect humans!

In case you didn't get Cati's point, she's saying that you can consider the snakes evil and the mongoose good because they consciously chose their actions instead of just acting according to their natures, which is Matteo's reasoning in his analysis:

Rikki-Tikki Tavi: Good vs. Evil (by Matteo)

Rikki-Tikki-Tavi by Rudyard Kipling is a story about a mongoose named Rikki-Tikki-Tavi defeating two cobras named Nag and Nagaina. This is not a story about good verses evil. It is a story about good vs. good. The tall snakes are alright. They are just doing what snakes do even though Nagaina tries to kill the humans after they killed Nag. Rikki-Tikki-Tavi is good, too. He's just protecting the humans. Even though they are both good, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi and the snakes get in a lot of fights, but they are just doing what they do.

Again, these aren't brilliant writing samples, but you can see a bit of how our literature studies are giving the kids an opportunity to debate with each other and support their positions and then to express that in writing. They were so passionate about their points that they rather enjoyed writing these short essays.

NaNoWriMo has been a wonderful opportunity for the kids to take what they've learned about characters, setting, plot, conflicts, and themes and apply them. Hopefully, that will in turn make them even more aware of these elements in reading. And, that leads nicely into today's word count updates:

Maria - 4112 / 6000

Cati - 1461 / 5000

Matteo - 687 / 1000

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