Happy Holidays from Cabrini Connections!

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Free write journaling...

Last week was Thanksgiving so we took a little break and enjoyed family and food. We hope you were able to do the same!

The previous week we had light attendance (Charles and Sean we miss you!) so we focused on free writing. Javan, Paris and Savon wrote in their journals about anything that was on their minds.

We then openly discussed our journal entries and related to each other in what we have going on; with the Holidays approaching and for the students grades are coming out so all-around stresses are running higher than usual. Next week Miss Misha will be introducing a new activity that is hands-on and lots of fun so stay tuned!

A Day In My Life...

Last week we began an activity that mirrored the activity we did two weeks ago about the Minors. Each student began with a sheet of paper and titled it "A Day in My Life."

The concept: Each narrator began his/her story with a situation that embodied a day in their life. After two minutes of writing we dropped our pens and passed our stories to the person on our left. They then continued the story and applied it to a day in their life. We were almost finished when our 6:00pm bell rang and writing club ended. We'll pick it up where we left off on Wednesday and share some of our finished products with our friends that visit our blog.

Thanks and have a nice day!

Insight from Paris Lockett

Paris Lockett is one of writing clubs new members of the 10'-11' school year. She attends the Military Academy and so far has shown great depth and soul in her writing. So much so that we wanted to highlight one of her free write activities. She would like to make it clear that this is a piece of fiction.

Untitled, by Paris Lockett.

Now here we go with this again. The thought of love invading my soul. Love. Man, it's over and done with. No motivation for me to continue on drowning in this vast ocean of uncertainty. I wish I could get out of here....

That's how I was feeling once upon a time. I begged and tried for the feeling to dismiss. No more love for me. Because my one true love, the one that said he would always have my back no matter what, left me for dead. And since, my life has spiraled down.

Dad? Daddy? Where are you? My pleas and cried go unheard to dismantled ears. Mom took me to the funeral but her significance of being present angered me. All I wanted, as any young child does, was love and a relationship with the man that birthed her into existence. But it don't matter, struggle will make me better. Now I'm soul searching. But my haunt is finna stop because no young guy can replace my heart, my foundation...my DADDY.

I hate when people say stupid things in regards to him. Every will and strength I have, you're outta here. Wow, to actually get this out is both hard and unbearable. Sure, I have people who've been there for me. But, SO?? Deep down inside, my heart only yearns for him. Now I feel like crying because unfortunately, I do really miss him.

But the pain grows and the distance has deepened. God it hurts. Let the pain dismiss. If pops was here, I wouldn't be fat. My boyfriend and I would have more in common and that awkward feeling I get around him and his parents would cease. These green military clothes I wear cover the true colors that blind my life.

And we're off!

This week we started off with a 15 minute free-write in our journals and then we went around the table sharing our thoughts. Sean Mayfield is working on a dictionary for "White Slang"-it's comical and harmless. Savon Clark is remaining focused on his goals, we appreciate and encourage his confidence and determination! Paris highlighted reasons that she is happy today, mainly siteing that the simple things in life tend to be quite beautiful if you look at them with a positive attitude, well done Paris!

After our free-write we dove into a fun interactive project called "The Mine."

The concept: Everybody wrote "The Mine" at the top of a sheet of paper. We then each began a two minute creative writing involving anything to do with a mine. The idea, of course, mirrored the heroic tale of the 33 Chilean minors that were rescued after 69 days of being trapped miles underground.

But rather than tell their story, we used our imaginations to create our own renditions. It was so much fun and we all look forward to finishing the stories next week, so stay tuned!

2010-2011 School Year

Writing Club had gotten off to a great start for the 2010-2011 school year! With two new club coordinators and several new students, we spent the first week getting to know each other and sharing things we love about writing. Last week, we took a look at The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka and discussed writing from the perspective of an animal or an inanimate object. After picking a theme, such as the zoo, the students wrote a paragraph from the perspective of something at the zoo. Once finished we all tried to guess whose perspective they were writing from!

We have such talented writers in the club who continue to amaze us with their fabulous stories!

7/2: Fire Boy, by Savon Clark!

A few week's ago, as writing club was sitting down for our weekly group, Savon Clark strolled on in and for the first time ever, placed in front of me a little something he's been working on in his spare time. (Maybe with a little creative advising from Mr. Sean Mayfield...)

When I picked up the two pages Savon presented me with, I was pleasantly surprised to find that he has began to write his own little piece of fiction...

Fire Boy, by Savon Clark.

"Alrighty class, that's the bell. I'll see you guys tomorrow and remember to check the matchups on the board for tomorrow's final on your way out!" Mr. Grange said.

Jason was the first one towards the door, and sprinted towards the board, followed by a rush of kids.

"No way, yes!!" Jason yelled.

"Jason, why so excited?" Ryan, Jason's friend, asked.

"I got that stupid cocky Conner, I've been waiting to kick his butt for the longest!" Jason exclaimed.

"Jason, are you sure you're even ready to for him, he does have a pretty stout record and he's just our age." Ryan replied.

"I don't care, tomorrow he's going down!" Jason said.

"Just then a blue-eyed, blue-haired boy walks through the crowd of kids, he looks at the board for a second, then he looks at Jason.

"Pttf, looks like another easy 'A' for me." The boy said.

"What did you say?" Jason asked.

"You heard me, don't try to act stupid now." The boy replied.

"You know what Conor, I've got the nerve to shut you up right now." Jason fired back.

"Jason, we all know you don't have the guts, nerves or even the brains to try to something as foolish as to attempt to touch me." Conor replied.

"Let's not fight now guys." Ryan reasoned

Just then a crowd started to chant, "Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!"

At that moment, Mr. Grange decided to step in, "Alright, that's enough, we'll save the fighting for tomorrow, got it?"

"Yeah, alright." Said Conor.

"Sure." Said Jason.

"Ok." Said Ryan.

After that, both Ryan and Jason left the classroom, and then Jeffrey H. Picdonald Elementary School. As they were walking Ryan said, "Jason, you can't just let Conor get you worked up like that!"

Jason said, "Easy for you to say, he's been talking trash for the longest, and-"

"Yeah, and that's all it is, trash, Jason." Ryan interrupted.

Jason thought on it for a moment and agreed, "Yeah, you're right."

"My point exactly." Said Ryan.

"Who are you supposed to be fighting tomorrow anyway, I got so worked up I didn't even look." Admitted Jason

"I'm supposed to fight Raymond tomorrow." Ryan answered.

"Ewwww...good luck with that one..." Jason said.

"Yeah, I'll need it. But what's going on with you and Stephanie?" Ryan asked.

"Nothing!! She is just another girl at school, nothing special..." Jason replied.

"Sure it is, Sure." Ryan said with some sarcasm.

That's when they came to a split in the road. They said their goodbyes and Ryan went to the right, while Jason went to the left. Shortly afterward, Jason was already on te porch of his house. He then stuck his key inside the door handle, unlocked it and opened it. When he then shut and locked it, his mother was the first to greet him.

"Hi Jason, how was school?" She asked.

"Hey mom, school was good." He mumbled as he rushed up the stairs. Once he got up there he knocked on a door twice.

"Hey, it's you. You're home a little early, I'll be there in a second." A voice said.

A few moments later, a very slim figure popped out from the door and spoke, "Hey are you ready for the last day?"

"Of course I am, I need to kick someones butt tomorrow. You know it's the last day of school right Zeke?" Jason replied.

"Yeah, I know, we better get going unless you want to take a break?" Zeke asked.

"Do you think Conor is taking a break, I don't think so..." Jason said.

"Then let's go." Zeke said.

Jason and Zeke were leaving the house when their mom told Zeke, "Zeke, don't let you brother get hurt today, ok?"

"Alrighty mom." Zeke said, and then they left.

To be continued....

..........................................................................................................................................................................

Excellent job so far, Savon (and Sean...) Keep it going so we can see what happens next!

Week 6/2: Featured Jumble Story

Following up with our ‘Jumble Story’ activity, I have to say that all of the students put a lot of creative thought into their storylines. Each story had a unique vision and path, leading to some…peculiar and hilarious resolutions. It was truly a joy to read all of them, however, we have chosen to feature just one for the blog; and the winner is…Sean Mayfield!

What he drew:

1. Character: A jazz musician
2. Setting: A concert hall
3. Time: During a concert
4. Situation/Challenge: A secret needs to be confessed

Seans’ Vision:

Headlining at the New York Concert Hall, Joey was at the top of his game, playing in front of one of the finest crowds of his jazz career. Later on, he decided to treat his crew to a celebratory dinner. After some great food, fine wine, lot’s of laughs and maybe a little insanity, everybody except for Joey and Vintinashi decided to call it a night.

Vintinashi had a little wine, so Joey decided it was best to drive him home. While en route, Vintinashi began to mumble some strange things…

“Hey, Joey?” Said Vintinashi.

“Yes?” Asked Joey.

“What I’m about to tell you will blow your mind.” Vintinashi stated with great conviction.

“Oh yeah, what is it?” Laughed Joey.

“I….am an alien.” Whispered Vintinashi.

“Oh reeeeaaallly?” Chuckled Joey.

“Ish true!” Said Vintinashi as his voice and accent changed and he began to glow in a florescent green color. His skin started to peel and replacing it was a shiny layer of blue ‘skin’- his head sprouted horns that stabbed two holes in the hood of the car.

Joey was mortified. In a weak attempt to conceal his terror, he mumbled, “W..wow…”

Vintinashi was pleased with himself, with a creepy smile, he asked, “And you know what?”

Joey could feel his heart pounding through his chest while sweat beads dripped down from his forehead into his eyes….”What?” He hesitated to ask.

Vintinashi, still smiling and ever-changing, said, “Now…you die.”

The End.

Now to be fair, Sean is a smart cookie who caught on to the process of picking his numbers, realizing if he picked all 10’s, that his 1-4 items would all coordinate. (i.e. A jazz musician, at a concert hall, during a concert…) This originally did not please me, but I was very impressed to see that, when he could have decided to go the easy and boring route, he instead went off the beaten path and truly created his own vision with great detail and imagery. And it was pretty entertaining to boot, so here’s to you Sean!

Great job to Charles Hill, Gregory Hatchett, and Savon Clark as well!

Week 5/2: Jumble Story!

This week we had the table full of writers, enthusiastic and ready to do something fun! So we decided to do an interactive writing project called ‘Jumble Story’ –here’s how it works.

It begins with this list:

Character

1. A new mother
2. A photographer
3. A recent high school graduate
4. A restaurant owner or manager
5. An alien from outer space
6. A homeless child
7. A 93 yr old woman
8. An environmentalist
9. A college student
10. A jazz musician

Setting

1. Near a National Forest
2. A wedding reception
3. A celebration party
4. An expensive restaurant
5. A shopping mall
6. A city park
7. The porch of an old farmhouse
8. A polluted stream
9. A college library
10. A concert hall

Time

1. During a forest fire
2. After a fight
3. The night of high school graduation
4. After a big meal
5. Sometime in December
6. Late at night
7. After a big thunderstorm has passed
8. In early spring
9. First week of the school year
10. During a concert

Situation/Challenge

1. An important decision needs to be made
2. A secret needs to be confessed to someone else
3. Someone’s pride has been injured
4. A death has occurred
5. Someone has found or lost something
6. Someone has accused someone of doing something else wrong
7. Reminiscing on how things have changed
8. Someone feels like giving up
9. Something embarrassing has just happened
10. Someone has just reached an important goal

I held the only copy of the above list and had each student write numbers 1-4 on a sheet in their journals,

1 = Character
2 = Setting
3 = Time
4 = Situation/Challenge

Next, we went around the table and for each of the above, the students randomly selected a number 1-10 to correspond to an item for each category. This will outline the story that they need correlate.

Here’s the luck of the draw:

Greg Hatchett

1. Character: photographer
2. Setting: celebration party
3. Time: after a big meal
4. Situation/Challenge: someone’s pride has been injured

Savon Clark

1. Character: restaurant owner/manager
2. Setting: porch of an old farmhouse
3. Time: forest fire
4. Situation/Challenge: Something embarrassing has occurred

Charles Hill

1. Character: restaurant owner/manager
2. Setting: a college library
3. Time: sometime in December
4. Situation/Challenge: a death has occurred

Sean Mayfield

1. Character: Jazz musician
2. Setting: concert hall
3. Time: during a concert
4. Situation/Challenge: a secret needs to be confessed

Shannyn Nellett

1. Character: an environmentalist
2. Setting: a celebration party
3. Time: after a big thunderstorm
4. Situation/Challenge: someone feels like giving up

Veronica Reyes

1. Character: 93 year old woman
2. Setting: a college library
3. Time: night of a high school graduation
4. Situation/Challenge: an important decision needs to be made

Sandra Lee

1. Character: a recent high school graduate
2. Setting: near a National Forest
3. Time: after a big thunderstorm
4. Situation/Challenge: Someone has lost found something

After we all picked our numbers to create our jumble stories, we discussed the proper elements needed to write each story. We discussed creating characters that would embark upon such ‘jumbled’ situations and how to glue it all together. The one element that each student is creating on their own is the ending/resolution. So please tune in next week to see what we all came up with!

2010, Writing Club resumes!

We’re back from the Holidays!

And to begin our new semester, here is an inspirational little excerpt from an album of songs written by Writing Clubs’ own Charles Hill. Enjoy!

Song: Wish List

The Holidays coming around so quickly
I can’t think of a better present
Wishing so hard
You’d come around
You can see my dreams
Wondering and wishing that you’d be here with me

It’s on my wish list
To see your smile again this holiday
I’ll be holding you so close

Together we can’t be torn apart
We’re an impenetrable heart

This holiday you won’t forget
Why I love you and hold you so dear
For this holiday you’re all that’s on my mind

You’re on my wish list
To kiss you and make you dream
We talk together (Ah da da da)
That’s why we’re a good team

You’re on my wish list
This holiday
You’re on my wish list
(You’re on my wish list)
(You’re on my wish list)

I just love it. Great job Charles.