Hello fellow bloggers and community!

6th Grade is starting to finish up their SIX WORD MEMOIRS!!! If you'd like to learn more about what the six word memoir is and see some other examples, check out sixwordmemoirs.com We are currently finishing up our powerpoint video that will be published sometime next week. I'm excited to see how it comes out! Below are just some of the memoirs some students have created:

fear opens doors to new opportunities

you laugh, I cry, say goodbye

They   never    asked   for    my   opinion.

Losing more family, sadness comes next.

got Sick, Taught Me to Believe

She got sick, sorrow filled me

Dad left boy nine years ago

New house, same town, all alone.

You Left, Now alone, What Now?

I was perfect till she left

I feel like no one understands

It is like I am nobody

it’s like I’m painted to walls

The divorce won’t stop my smiles.

I was perfect till she left

Now on to 7th grade!

7th Graders have been forming micro-fiction/flash fiction in which they must write a story that has less than 100 words. Sounds easy? IT ISN'T!! These students have been working really hard and have been successful! You don't need to worry so much about your plot structure. What you do have to worry about is the tone/mood you convey, as well as jumping into the action right in the beginning. Characters need to be simple and sometimes don't even need to have names. Lastly, the concept of the story must stay very simple and direct. Take a look at some of these stories!!!!

My Closet

It’s midnight, and there's school tomorrow. I've been in my closet hiding. I hear the intruder walk. He’s in the house. Where? I don't know. I crawl deeper into my closet and hide in between my clothes. “Creek.” I hear my door open, now he’s in my room. He looks around. I slightly open the door of my closet. I try to see his face. He looks familiar. I close the door and crawl in the corner of my closet  while thinking  who might it have been. Then suddenly my clothes got caught in between my hanger and it comes pouring down. It makes a huge Thump! He hears me.

He opens the closet door and says, “Gotcha” and starts shooting his Nerf Gun at me.

“Dad no fair,” I tell him.  

Into the Wild

I was in the forest when a huge hairy beast jumps out of nowhere I duck,  it rips the shirt of me with its sharp claws and then it jumps on me, before I even notice it takes a big bite out of me. My blood is pouring, a big bite on the side of me. The full moon is almost I said, its either death or transformation.I finally got out of the forest, my body feels weird. On my way back home the full moon was up, I fell on my knees my nails are growing into  claws I am getting hairier. That night there was a huge wolf sound like never before AWOOO! Everybody in that town was wondering who was that sound, there were no wolves even near that town. The next morning a wake up on my bed I look on my side: nope it was just a dream. I look into the mirror my eyes glitter in to red. NOOOOO!...

Monsters Are Real, Right?

“Please Mom, check one more time,” said Jerry.

“Jerry no, I checked four times there are no monsters, okay,” said Jerry’s mom. Jerry’s Mom walked out the room and turned off the light to Jerry’s room. Then Jerry soon fell asleep. He woke up from a loud thud, he heard it again. He tried to scream, but nothing came out. He jumped out of bed. Since it was dark he saw a big, black figure that stood six feet tall. The moonlight soon showed the beast’s pale yellow fangs and crooked front teeth.

Soon enough the beast opened its huge mouth and said, “Where’s the bathroom?” Jerry,  afraid of being mauled to death, then giggled and fainted. The beast growled, “Was it something I said?”  

The Ghost in the corner

“Hello?” as a whisper came from a corner. Hiding under a blanket I reached for my phone, maybe music will make me forget the ghost is there. While blaring pop music a shadow snuck at the end of my bed, I felt an ice cold hand grab my ankle. I flinched and kicked my leg out, “Stop touching me! You have no reason to! This is my house, my home! you hear?” The ghost growled loudly, like a dog,

”I was going to ask you if I could have some tea?”

        “Now why would a ghost need tea?”  I asked.

        “Because I'm frozen cold, and I want to be warm and feel alive.”

I looked at the grey shadowy ghost one last time. “There is some, in the kitchen, top left cabinet.”   


Last but certainly not least, 8th Grade!

8th Graders have been dedicating their time and writing to a My Name assignment. They are to research their name and Chinese Zodiac while also emulating Sandra Cisneros' "My Name". If you'd like to check out the original vignette by Cisneros, click HERE. Here are two stellar pieces written by some fantastic students:

My Name

In English, my name means hero. But to me, it means grumpy and annoying. It’s like the number thirteen, an odd and common number, dull to everyone’s ears. To me, my name has no pizazz. It’s like the color grey, dumb and drab. I’m one of five siblings, and they have cooler, unique names. People aren’t as excited when they hear my name. When they hear my sister Starla’s name, they always say how unique and creative that is. But I’m just Hailey. There’s nothing unique about that. It’s almost like they knew someone named Hailey who was their ex-best friend or something.

My cousin, Leannah, reminds me a lot of myself. Strong and independent, we have the same likes, dislikes, and personalities. She’s beautiful, with nice blonde hair and blue eyes. My year is the bunny, and so is hers. Our horoscope says that we’re supposed to be timid, attractive, and protective. This describes me a little bit, but that fits her perfectly. She’s quiet and timid, but I’m not. I’m not timid at all. However, you’d think because she’s quiet and I’m not we wouldn’t get along perfectly. But we really do.

Leannah is probably one of, if not the best friend I’ll ever have. She’s there for me when it seems like others aren’t. She’s like a cat; quiet and shy around some, yet happy and loud around others. Though she lives in England and I only see her for about a month every year, she’s the one I trust most out of everyone. Because she lives so far away, I can tell her so much more and know that she can’t tell anyone because she doesn’t know them or has no way to contact them. One thing I learned from her is to never let anyone control you, or else they’ll treat you like a door and slam you shut whenever you open up.

One time, two summers ago, Leannah and I were attending a soccer camp during the summer. We were going to eat lunch when my friend Nicole was shoved down my one of the older girls. A group of kids were laughing, and Leannah walked right up to them and told them off. Just like that. She said to always stand up for yourself or your friends, even if it includes getting yourself in trouble.

Teachers, friends, and even some family members say my name wrong. HAAAAAAYYYYley. It’s as if they stretch it out like a rubber band. HAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYley. If they stretch it out anymore it’s going to snap. I just want people to say my name correctly like it’s spelled. Hailey. Hail-lee. No one ever really messes up my siblings’ names. Ian, Payton, Amelia, and Starla. They’re easy to pronounce. I’d like to baptize myself under a new name. Something like Aria or Violet, something you can get a cute nickname out of...something different. Yes, something like Violet will do.

My Name

In English my name means Independent. It means smart, creative, and good-natured. I'm like the number 7. A number that brings me happiness and luck. My name is the freezing ice cold mornings on a beautiful september morning.

My name in american means honoured by God. My zodiac is the Tiger. Tigers, considered to be brave, cruel, forceful and terrifying, are the symbol of power and lordliness. But this isn’t me, I am nice as long as you’re nice to me. I’m Independent and like to do things by myself just like my grandma used to.

Constantly at work, my parents never had enough time to spend with me, they left that job to my grandma. But as I grew older I spent less time with her and then she was gone. It went from a few hours a day to not even noticing she was there, if she even cared. With all the memories gone and possible ones lost, whenever I visit her grave I feel a part of me dead.

If only I could go back and change the way I acted she could’ve still been living now. Brown hair and green eyes, just like me in fact, she even helped my parents name me. They figured out which name would suit me best. With her as my babysitter, she seemed so close but I made her seem far away. If only I could bring her back she could teach me how to knit the hats she always made for me, the way her hands danced as she made the beautiful hat full of exotic colors and shapes.

At school they say my name like the screeching of wheels, always Timothy or Timmy but never just Tim. Living life without brothers or sisters is a challenging one. Everyone at school thinks I’m fun and happy but as soon as I get home no one knows.

I would like for everyone to say my name correctly. Tim, its fits me perfectly, short and straight to the point. I don't like names like Mike or Alex, they seem so boring, dull and everyone has them. My name comes from the bible which means a great deal to me. If I had to choose between Mike or Tim, why would I even think? Tim it is!

More to come! 6 Word Video will be on its way!!!!

Welcome Back!

Welcome back to a brand new year! We are eager and excited to begin a new year with new upcoming creative assignments! 8th Grade will begin with reading "My Name", a vignette from Sandra Cisneros' book The House on Mango Street. Students will emulate Cisneros' writing style and create a vignette of their own.. 7th Grade will be writing their own creative FLASH fiction! And 6th grade will be starting off the year writing their own six word memoirs.

We are so excited to get started! Welcome Back!!!

Peace flags and more!

Now that the new term is off and running, we have new things to share!

First up is 6th grade with their Peace Flags. Originally from Tibet, the flags have messages on them that re meant for our futures. As the flags tatter and fade, it is said that the message will come true and become part of our world.

The assignment:

Each flag has one wish or word for the world

Each flag has a symbol to represent that word

Each flag has three quotes said by famous people involving their word

Lastly, students wrote a poem to accompany their flag. The poem was based off of Langston Hughes' Dreams and incorporated a simile, metaphor and rhyme scheme.

Dreams

Hold onto dreams

For if dreams die

Life is like a broken-winged bird

That cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams

For if dreams go

Life is s barren field

Frozen with snow.

Step one: create the flag

 Step two: color flag with sharpies or non-washable markers

Step three: dye the flags

Step four: let flags dry

Step five: hang and enjoy the beauty

These flags were a blast to make and have made Tierney Terrace even more colorful!!!

IF you haven't checked out the library for our 8th grade "Walk in My Shoes" display, please make sure you do! Shoes were awesome!!!! 

Projects are in!

About a little bit more than halfway through the term and we are finally hanging and displaying these amazing projects!

Let's Start with the sixth grade. Our sixth graders have read the book Chicken Sunday by Patricia Polacco. The book is very diverse and has a tradition of egg decorating  has has originated in the Ukraine called Pysanky eggs. Although the tradition is usually created with real eggs, we decided to make ours with paper, crayons and watercolors. Our students also accompanied these eggs with a letter dedicating the egg to someone they care about. They explain the Pysanky symbols that they chose for this person through the research they had done. Check out the process and finished product eggs:

 Students started with pencil, moved to pen, then crayon for a wax texture and then let the watercolors drain over it.

Below is our wall display:

Next, our 7th grade students have just about finished their self portraits. For a more in depth description of the assignment, visit my previous blog entry! Below you will see some in progress portrait creations: 

Students could choose collage, pastels, crayons or any other medium they wanted! Remember, they had to write about their piece as well to really bring their audience into seeing and understanding their identity. 

Great job seventh grade! These came out awesome!

Lastly, we have some finished shoes! Students in eighth grade were asked to watch and analyze the documentary, Off and Running.  What is it like to walk in your shoes? After writing a creative piece for this assignment, students brought in an old shoe and decorated it to portray what it's like walking in their shoes. Some are very cool! Check them out!

Some shoes had even more on the bottoms! Congrats eighth grade! Some amazing work here, well done!

Until next time, Miss Favs

Term 3 has arrived and we are busy diving into our new projects. Here's a little bit of what we've been working on:

7th Grade Portraits: 

The assignment for these students is to create their own self-portrait image in the way that they see themselves, or in other words, how they'd like to portray themselves. We've been trying to think of a way for students to easily draw themselves because especially for myself, it is easier said than done to illustrate oneself's face. Below you will see a demonstrative video on how we will draw our faces. Some students will still elect to freehand but they are much more daring and artistic than I.

I decided to try this method out myself by starting with a general photograph of my lovely face: 

The next thing I did was through a transparency, I traced my face the way the teacher did in the youtube video: 

Lastly, I created three different versions of my own self-portrait. One is a sketch. The other is collaged through magazines. The last one is all made out of words. 

Students will be required to have at least 8 symbols and 15 words in their self-portrait to show who they are. Pictures will be coming when portraits start flowing in!

8th Grade SHOES!!!!

We have been studying the documentary Off and Running. This documentary is about a young female in high school. Avery is African American and was adopted by two Jewish parents, along with her brother Rafi who is adopted and is bi-racial and her little brother Zay-Zay who is also adopted and Korean. As you can see, Avery does not have the typical "American Family". By stepping into her shoes, we see her coming of age story and how she tries to attempt to find out who she is. 

Our middle school students are also at a point in their lives where they are really coming into their own and learning about who they are and where their families have come from. 

THE ASSIGNMENT: You are to create your own sneaker/boot/shoe and decorate it with symbols that show the observer of the shoe what it might be like to WALK IN YOUR SHOES. 

Pick your shoe: Picking your shoe is more important than digging out an old sneaker that you no longer want. You bought the shoe in the first place... why? 

Here's mine: 

I chose this sneaker because as an adolescent, I loved converse! I had at least four pairs at one time. I no longer wear these shoes mostly because they are old and the insides are all worn out. I think it depicts me because I like to be comfortable yet fashionable at the same time.







The next step is to paint the sneaker so that I can start from scratch and will be able to decorate the sneaker myself:

As you can see, I will be able to decorate the sneaker as I please. Below you will find my blueprint for my shoe and my plan. Every student is required to draw their own sneaker first so that they know not only the materials that they will need, but also what they need to do in preparation of creating the sneaker.

Students have started their own shoes... more pictures of progress to come!