March 12/13, 2009
1. Students did a surprise activity in their composition books.
If you were absent, read through these questions, and then write nonstop for 5 minutes or more. -- You may do this in your composition book, or write on another piece of paper to tape into your composition book.
What if you were almost a hero?
What if thousands of people wanted to be your friend?
If you left, and didn't come back for while, would anyone miss you?
If you were lost, who would come looking for you?
What if everyone was so busy with something else and they didn't have the time to come find you?
What if you had no choice but to save yourself?
If you could have 6 people to help you survive, who would you bring?
Why?
What if you died?
Who would tell your story?
What if you lived?
How would you tell your story?
Write nonstop for 5 minutes or more.
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Now here's the "head game": What Mr. Christensen was really getting you to do in the "surprise" activity was to practice a technique you can use when you have "writer's block" -- when you need to get the flow going when you need to write. Just put pen or pencil to paper (or fingers to keyboard), and start writing. Don't worry about what you're writing -- just write! The part of your brain that deals with the physical movement of writing somehow connects with the part of your brain that generates ideas, and the first gets the second flowing. (Brain research verifies this.)
As a bonus, the questions he asked (silently) also got your brain thinking about ideas that could be connected to Ice Story.
2. Students finished reading Ice Story. If you were absent, check out a book to finish reading.
3. Some students read their personal narratives to the class.
