In my fifth grade class this year, one of my students, Alan, is providing consistent fodder fer blogs. Everything he is doing in my 5th grade class is either humorous or outrageous.
On Friday my students turned in their first writing assignment, "My Goals in the Fifth Grade." It's a boring prompt, but also easy and gets them writing. Every kid wrote something to the effect that they wanted good grades, improved grades in such-and-such subject, more friends, perfect attendance, schoolwide recognition for some incredible cognitive feat, a Presidential Award for Physical Fitness in P.E. (the Coach must have made a dynamic speech), grades that will warrant college scholarships some day (I'm not making that one up), pleasing their parents and Mr. R. (that's me), or they could take a different tack, like Alan. This is his published assgnment after editing help from me, his teacher.
"This year I want to have fun. I don't want too much pressure on me so that I can't just enjoy myself. This is my last year in elementary school and so I want to just have fun. Next year will be hard work and agany. I won't have any friends becuase I will be at a new school, so this year I want to make lots of friends and have fun. I want to play at recess more. i want to talk to people more. I want to have less homework so I can talk to my friends on the phone. Those are my goals for the year. I want to have fun. I don't want to be miserable. I want to concentrate on enjoying life. I don't think there should be any pressure on me. I don't think that anybody should yell at me or beg me to be doing something. What is the good of that if you can't have fun? That's why i want to have fun this year. that is my goal for the fifth grade."
Well, he had an inadequate introduction, but the body of his writing was detailed and clear. There was no paragraph structure, but to tell you the truth, it was one subject: FUN! It had an adequate closing, so I gave him an A-. Why shoot him in the heart so early in the year with a low grade, right? But I want to strangle him. Trust me........Alan knows how to relax. He's already good at it, and now he wants to reach professional status.
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2 comments:
Alan and I sound like soul mates. His essay sounds like my raison d'etre during college!
Di
We all wish we could be Alan sometimes. Did some kid truely write to get good grades to get a scholarship to college or did you make that up? They are 10 years old...if this is what they are writing no wonder Alan just wants to have fun. Now all I can think of is that Cindy Lauper(sp?)song.
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