Adventures Are Usually Scary

If we dig down deep into our hidden truths, most of us would admit we want to live an adventurous life.  Our ideas of what adventure means is individually unique, but the common thread that binds all adventure together is that of risk.  To live an adventurous life is to take these risks.  Risks often live on the same street as fear, and because of this many never venture into that neighborhood that has to be crossed to get to true adventure.  

Now, my students, I don't mean risks that are truly dangerous or break the law or even break the rules.  The risks of which I write involve befriending the outcast at lunch even though it might make you a target, writing that scholarship essay when you don't think you've got a 1 in a billion chance of winning, going out for chorus when you've only sung into a hairbrush in your closet, talking to that new transfer student even though you're scared silly to, sending in your book manuscript to a publisher and hoping they'll look at the writings of a teenager...                    

Adventure isn't easy - it's the rockier road (makes me think of ice cream =).  It's taking the path that isn't completely visible.  You don't know where it will take you exactly, but you have an idea...  You could be completely wrong, but the thing is, if you don't go you will never know.  Taking a step of faith on an unknown trail is the start to adventure.  You've got to get up out of your comfortable life of ordinary and do something that scares you - that's risky; adventure will follow.  Adventure will be the journey that you take.

So, dear students, carpe diem (seize the day) and live the adventure God has in store.


Love,
Ms. Dawn

P.S.: Even when you're the age of your "old" teacher, risks will be scary.  But the adventure is almost always worth that chance.  It's a risk worth taking.        

Happy {Really Late} Valentine's Day in March!

This is especially for you AmuletHeart!

Here's one of my favorite songs perfect for crummy Valentine's Days {& any & everyday days, too}...

Happy Oh-So-Late Valentine's Day!

Love, 
Ms. Dawn

P.S.: Happy Valentine's Day to you, too, HardCandy!  Hope your new teacher is great! =)

It's 2013!

Hello, dear students!  I know I haven't posted in a while, but I wanted to say happy (late) new year!  Just think - you are more than halfway through your first year of middle school!  How's your 2013 going so far?

Your Teacher,

Ms. Dawn  

Oh No, I Forgot...

I forgot one of the spices!  Never in a million years would I think I would forget hyperbole!  =) That was just an example of the spice I forgot!

8. Hyperbole: an extreme exaggeration

example: After finishing my school essay, my arm was hanging by a thread - so much writing!  

Love the Forgetful,

Ms. Dawn

P.S.: Tomorrow's 12-12-12.  Surely a day worth writing about.

Writing Spices Review

Okay, so it's been a long time since you sat in my classroom & were surrounded by the writing spices.  So let's review.  Remember, using the writing spices all throughout middle, high school, college...forever =) will impress your teachers, make you sound intelligent, &, most importantly, make you a better writer!  

Here they are...

1. Simile: comparing two things with the word "like" or "as"
example: He's as old as a dinosaur!  Her heart beat like a drum.  

2. Alliteration: 3 or more words with the same beginning sound in a sentence or poem
example: Silvery skates slid across the sacred ice pond. 

3. Personification: giving human qualities to nonhuman things {this is my favorite spice}  
example: The wind sighed through the lonely cave.  

4. Million Dollar Words: "fancy" words that certainly aren't dead (overused)
example: The azure skies were peppered with dark loathsome clouds that seemed to chant, "Rain is on the way."

5. Dialogue: words spoken out loud by a character (or characters) in a story, with quotation marks placed around the spoken part - this should be sprinkled on, not poured
example: Lyla proclaimed, "There's the yellow spotted magenta butterfly!  Catch it, Hans!"

6. Metaphor: comparing things without "like" or "as"
example: The lake is a shining mirror and my canoe cuts through it with ease.  

7. Onomatopoeia: words that sound like the actual sound they are describing
example: It was a summer when the bees buzzed over the flowers constantly.

Spice up your writing!

Love,

Ms. Dawn

Are You Still Writers?

Hello out there in the great big, wide world of sixth grade!  

I'm here to ask you: Are you still writers?  If for a moment words sparked your excitement last year, do they still sizzle like tiny fireworks on the page, or have they merely fizzled out?  Do you let your pencil dance upon the edge of your notebook with poems & unusual characters' names scribbled in all directions (no compass in sight)?  Have you given a happy sigh when a writing assignment has come your way, or was it a loathsome groan instead?  Do you still remember azure & zephyr?  Can you recognize a portrait of Shakespeare or do you still confuse him with George Washington?  Have you plopped down & written a play lately?  Do strong words from the narrative of your own story still move you to tears?  (I hope so.  There's healing in that - & we all need that at times.)  Has the definition of personification been lost, or is it still there sitting comfortably in your memory?  Do you know the precious power you possess when you hold a pencil in your hand?  
Never forget - no matter your answers to the questions here - that you are a writer.

Love Always,
Ms. Dawn
your writing teacher

P.S.: Can you pick out the spices?

SORRY

So sorry I haven't been on here in a while!  I've not forgotten about you, dear students!

How could I ever possibly forget!  You're in my heart forever!

Love,

Ms. Dawn