Ishyamba

Today we are going to talk about our pets.  It is okay with me if you use your little animal I gave you, a pet you have at home, or an imaginary pet.  That is because this is a creative writing adventure.
For our purposes, you can write the story in one of two ways.
First person- your animal does all the talking and tells the story  of her/his adventures.
Example- It was a dark and stormy night when my friend found me washed up on the bank of the creek. I was soaking  wet and nearly drowned.

Third person- you tell the story about your pet.
Example- It was a dark and stormy night when a little duck washed up on the bank. The poor thing was soaking wet and nearly drowned, when a hand reached down and gently lifted her up and seemed to roll her up in some warm fabric.  Later, the little duck called the person the hand belonged to, "Friend."

I am writing about a baby gorilla named Ishyamba, which means forest in the  kiryuwanda language of his home.

I want it to be interesting, so I want to include words that help you understand the story.
I will try to use strong verbs,  adjectives and adverbs that help you see, feel, hear, taste my pet's experience.
The great thing about creative writing, or any writing, you keep adding and changing your story to make it better and better.

I want to see if I can try this following our paragraph plan.
 An exciting opening,
the main idea,
a few details,
and a wrap up.
Let me know what you think.

     Where am I, I wondered as I stared through the thick, black bars into a pair of kind blue eyes. I knew I was no longer in my beautiful forest home with my own mama and all my extended family. I remember clinging desperately to my mother as she tried to outrun something chasing us.  Then I heard a loud and awful sound and we fell. Something ran up and grabbed me, and stuffed me in a sack.  Now I don't see anyone I know. Where am I?

You don't have to start like that at all. You can start right with an exciting adventure paragraph, but I think your audience likes to know where your pet came from.
I am excited to see some examples of your work.

Back At It

I am reading all of your replies. Kudos to you who have figured it out.  Interestingly and most frustrating as well, it won't let me reply to my own blog.
I enjoyed getting to hear from some of you and to see your great work.

This is sure weird and I am certainly proud of all of you!

What is Missing in this Picture?

Today I went to over to school to check our amazing outdoor space.  First, I travelled to the creek.
The sky was so blue and the creek was lovely. But something was missing. That is your riddle for today.

And something was there that shouldn't be.  This  was growing in many spots.  Do you remember me telling you about garlic mustard?

He is a handsome guy, beautifully full and green with an equally attractive little bloom.

The problem. This plant is invasive. It will take over.

 See this sweet little plant,

And this one?

Little native plants that will bloom while they get a little sun before the trees leaf out.

You can see here that Mr. Garlic Mustard is nearly crowding out the tiny plant behind.

So, I pulled him out.  If you find any on where you are walking, explain it to someone and see if they will let you remove it.

 By the way, thanks for building me a bridge to cross to the other side without getting my feet wet.

Virginia Bluebells are popping up everywhere.  Ask any older siblings or SMK cousins if they remember  planting these with Mrs. Engle.  

They have the such a delightful bloom.

Looks like a littlest  fairy wanted to move a chair into the sun.  It looked like the perfect spot. Do you see that plant in the bottom left corner?  It is a Mayapple and it will grow tall and when the sun is strong will be a perfect umbrella.

I found a couple of other exciting things that I will share with you later in the week.

Did you solve the riddle?

You are what is missing from the creek. It is not near as fun without you!

2020 Corona Virus Pioneers

Good morning my sweet cherubs.  We are embarking on a new way of learning that will be fun, boring, strange, fabulous and so very many other adjectives.  Do you remember what an adjective is?  It is a way to describe something.
It reminded me of our study in the fall of pioneers.  The ways they learned to live without, help each other, and find ways to enjoy life.  Go back and look at our pioneer pictures.
I've received some work back.  For your Ireland packet I included a link about the potato famine. This was a startling reminder that through the ages people have faced hard times.  Many without the benefit of warm house and food, you can forget toilet paper.

So since our changes still leave us with many blessings, let's count them everyday.

A sunny day

Grapes

SamWise

Smiling students

All year I have reminded you that hard things make your brain grow.  Well, trying to figure out how to video myself makes me want to cry, but I am going to keep trying and trying.  I still want some new brain cells growing in my head.  Hopefully, on Monday I will have figured something out. Still, you can return here for more directions.  

Get out there today and imagine all the  wonderful ways to use all of God's natural blessings to engage your brain.