2004 Student Writing

Moon Poem
At night I saw a owl hooting.
I saw a cat on a fence meowing.
I heard a wolf howling.
I saw a lightening bug shinning as light as it could.
I heard a mouse squeaking and running around the house.
I saw a goldfish swimming around in its bowl.
I heard a white tiger growling to its arch enemy.
I saw a bat flapping around to find food.
—Brett, grade 5

Arguing: The How To

Yes! No! Yes! I’m not going to believe you until you prove it!

When I believe something that someone else doesn’t, I can’t help but to argue about it. Arguing is actually a very complex thing. To argue you have to have a quick mind, you have to be able to listen and argue at the same time, and you have to argue about something that you know.

“I think that you did it!” Has your opponent ever tried this on you? If they have, then you know that one of the most effective (and fun) things to do is to find a way to flip the blame back onto them. To do this you need to have a quick mind. You need to be able to fire off a good come back that directs the glares of the audience back onto the other person. Turning the tables onto the other person not only makes you look good, but makes the other person a little embarrassed.

When you are arguing, you need to be listening too! If you aren’t listening, then on a subject change (which happens a lot in arguing) you could continue on about an entirely different thing than your opponent. Anything could happen when you aren’t listening while you are arguing. Someone could say something about you or you could miss a golden opportunity to use your opponents own words against them. True, you argue with your mouth, but without your ears, your mouth doesn’t know where to go.

One of the worst things that can happen during an argument is that you mess up and make yourself look like a fool, and what is an easier way to do that then to argue about something that you don’t know! When you are trying to really make a point, you have to know the facts about what you are arguing about. Such as when you are arguing with your mom about getting your ears pierced, you need to know the important things about the subject. For example, it would help to know:

• When your mom got her ears pierced.
• How much it costs (and if you can pay for it yourself).
• A list of your responsible friends that have their ears pierced.

Also throwing in a little bribe here and there works too! Then if all your best arguments don’t work you can always stoop to the level of whining. But if you want to be a proud arguer, I don’t recommend that.

To be a good arguer you have to have a quick mind, you have to be able to listen and argue at the same time, and you have to argue about something that you know. If you become good enough at these things, who knows you may even become a lawyer. But don’t worry if you do lose a couple arguments, it is still a good mental exercise.
—Katie T., grade 7

Over the last month or so we have tried to complete a response log on Summer of the Monkeys. We each were assigned to an element. The element group helps each other to find examples. Then we go to our response log group and share ideas. I did the plot element, I was focused, and I was ready to help.

I learned a lot about my element, plot. I learned it doesn’t just mean an outline. It contains foreshadowing and cause/effect. I learned that plot is the hardest of the elements for two reasons. One, most students had trouble with it. Two, Mrs. Roberts said so. That is what I learned this month.

Since my element was hard, it required focus and good behavior. I was focusing a lot on plot because a lot of people were puzzled and troubled about doing it, so I had to help. I helped Cermak the most because we’re friends and he had the theme element. We focused and got a lot done. That is my behavior throughout this month.

In this amazing month, I was always helping and listening. Most of the time I gave help, but I needed help too. I always listened to ideas and I gave a few. Jessica suggested that we give each other the hint sheets that Mrs. Roberts handed out. I said that we should switch logs and look at them for ideas. I didn’t exactly give feedback, but I said “good work” to others.

In this month we were all working hard. We all go a lot done,a nd I was an expert at plot. I listened, helped, focused, and behaved. What do you think?
—Greg W.

Over the last month or so in my language class we did a response log on The Summer of the Monkeys. We all had response log groups and element groups. My element was plot. I learned about my element, my behavior, and how to respect my group members and teacher.

Sometimes a plot can be a lot more complicated than it seems, and other times less complicated. In Summer of the Monkeys I would say it is more complicated than it seems. First, Wilson Rawls, the author, leads you down a pretty straight path, but after a while it starts to get bumpy and twisty when Jay Berry, the main character, figures out that the monkeys are smarter than he thought and harder to catch than he thought. Then the plot takes a huge twist at the end when he gives all his money to Daisy to fix her leg because you thought that he would buy a pony and a gun. But in the end his conscience gets the better of him. This book is loaded with foreshadowing and cause and effect though not a lot of it becomes obvious until the end.

I think my behavior in my group could have been better, but it also could have been worse. I helped my group members to understand more about my element and gave them examples. My part in the group was pretty important, because Mrs. Roberts said that my element was one of the hardest. If I had focused a lot better than I did I might not have had to work so hard last weekend. But I don’t think I was not focused at all.

I personally think that I listened and responded a lot but at some points I “accidentally” read ahead and it was harder to join the conversation because we were talking about some things and I was thinking different things. I helped my group some and joined in with them when we discussed things. I think that I helped my group somewhat, but maybe not enough in some parts.

I found the book very good, but I did not always like doing the log. Overall, I learned a lot about my element, my behavior, and how to respect my group and teacher.

—Robin H.

Excerpts From Essays

Our response logs were fun and now I know the importance of setting, plot, theme, character, and vocabulary. Listening and helping other kids finish was so much fun.
—Sara C.

The last way I helped in my response group was contributing what I learned about my novel element. The Summer of the Monkeys not only taught me to be a better reader, but it taught me about more important things. One of the things I learned was that you should always think of other people first.
—Savannah E.

I learned that I like reading and that learning in a group is better than by yourself.
—Chris C.

At times our group go a little out of hand. What would happen is sometimes in the book the author would use humor and sometimes our group would be more laughing than working, so I tried to keep the group on task.
—Eric L.