Writing Samples, Ambassador Workshop, and More!

Here are some sweet shots from last week on Team 3/4. We've been working hard on our personal narrative writing, preparing to select an entry of interest and personal significance to develop into a polished final product. Some of the strategies that we use to create strong stories are:

Find a story idea that is focused and important to you. Do you remember it with crystal clarity? That's usually a good way to know that it mattered to you. 

Tell a focused, specific seed story, not a giant, wandering watermelon story. 

Close your eyes and watch a mental movie of the small moment. Watch all the details. Watch the step-by-step way that things happen.

Use a storyteller's voice, not a news reporter's voice.  Tell the story of what happened, don't talk about the events.

Make sure that your story has the shape of a story. Beginning...middle...end.

Use "Show, Not Tell" language to paint a word picture for the reader. 

Here are some strong examples of "show, not tell" language, straight out of the students' Writer's Notebooks:

The bubbles were still rising from my dad's jump when I 

decided to jump. I hit the water, feet first, my arms swinging 

in circles to steady me. As I crashed in, the water pushed 

my knees up. At the last moment, I took a deep breath and 

squeezed my eyes. The water engulfed me. Coldness swirled 

around me. 

I heard the crack because it was a wooden bat. The ball flew 

through the air. It jumped through the air and the ball hit the 

stands like an earthquake. Me and my grandpa were yelling 

and cheering!

When we got [to the ice cream shop] there was no line! 

I smiled and sang. My eyes were dancing with glee 

while my teeth played the melody of my sweet treat dance.

Original Language:

Last Saturday me and my brother were so bored. 

Show, Not Tell Language:

Me and my brother were in my room staring straight into the pitch black screen of the XBox. The iPads were dead, the iPhone was dead. The clock just kept ticking and ticking. 

I was standing at the top of the half pipe. I was shaking

 so much that I thought my arms would fall off. 

She was so adorable. Every time the man started to pet her

she stopped licking herself and looked at him. Her fluffy fur 

rubbed against his hand like a soft baby blanket. 

It was so delicious so I closed my eyes. I opened

my eyes. I looked at my mom. I had a smile on my

mouth. I said, "Thank you Mom!" 

This is the ambassador workshop. Students are preparing for their role as Team 3/4 Ambassador. We're working on greeting visitors to the classroom with a firm handshake, eye contact, a kind greeting, and a welcoming smile.

Our first class meeting facilitated by the ambassador!

What a Trip!

Thanks to all of you for the great honor of heading out into the world with your kids. We feel more connected that ever and it's so clear to all of us that this is going to be a year full of big growth for our very loving community. I’m excited to have the kids back in our classroom where we will continue to grow our community here on campus. We have so much inspiration to bring to writers’ workshop and experiential contexts for science and math. 

I'm very excited as I look forward. 

But first, let's look back on our rockin adventure!
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU TO KAREN AND DEAN FOR JOINING US IN THE EVENINGS. Couldn't have done it without you!





And we're off! Everyone was either really excited about the big, yellow school bus or kind of nervous about the big, yellow school bus.  Traveling with our team and our 7th and 8th grade friends turned out to be awesome experience. We played games, chatted, and sang "the wheels on the bus..." (many, MANY times :)

We all loved the incredible playground at Westminster Woods. As you can imagine, we hopped off the bus and were ready to seriously stretch our legs!

The food went over really well and the dining hall atmosphere was full of energy.

A sunscreen "shave".

Here we are with our lower grades campus community learning about how energy travels from the sun, to primary producers, to primary consumers, secondary consumers, tertiary consumers, decomposers, and scavengers.

Snack break!

Here we are circled up with our fantastic naturalist Bramble before a hike up, up, up!

Chillin on a cool cob bench.

Redwood charcoal is hard to resist.

Shouting down into the ravine to hear the echo bounce back off of our state rock, serpentine.

Post-lunch card mania! We played 21, Go Fish, Kings in the Corners, Poker, Gin Rummy, and Uno.

We felt pretty low on energy after lunch, so a rest in a redwood circle was in order. Bramble told us about some interesting redwood adaptations. We were especially interested in how redwoods resist fire and how they reproduce.

We regained our big energy during my favorite part of the trip. We spent an hour and a half by the stream. Students searched for aquatic invertebrates and rubbed rocks to make face paint.

When the day was at its hottest, we cooled down in the water. It was hilarious and a ton of fun.

 Teamwork makes the dream work. Introducing the Westminster Woods Backpack Rack!

Next it was Rec Time! Students enjoy an hour of free choice time during which they can play on the playground, run around in the field, scramble on the climbing wall, maneuver around the cargo net, relax in the shade, or SWIM!

Here's a sneak peek inside the boys cabin at its most crazy, disheveled moment.

On Thursday evening, we went on a night hike to the cargo net. It stretches over a dry creek bed. We found a spot to spread out in and listened to Bramble play some owl calls and tell us a story. Then we lined up across from a partner and crunched on some wintergreen Lifesavers. Have you done it before? They light up and spark in your mouth as the sugar crystals break apart. You should have heard the kids' ecstatic responses.

Thanks boys! Here the Team 3/4 boys are on Kitchen Prep duty, setting up the dining hall for the whole school.

CCS altogether. I love those moments.

Luca with a backpack alternative.

Another personal highlight was our Friday team-building day. Below you'll see the students leading one another through a course on the playground, carefully guiding one another with trust and giving.