Tag Archives: Language Arts

Wisdom Tale Comics: Vihaan Edition

By

Don’t we all just love a good comic? Isn’t it even better with a moral? Well, Mrs. Donnelly’s class of 2023-24 used a book called Wisdom Tales from September 2023 till January 2024 to make comics with a moral.

 

  • Well, what was their process? First, they created a slideshow where they learned about the history of stories and how they came to be today.
  • Next, they read stories that had a moral or religious message. Some of the stories were from India, China, Africa, the Middle East, and there were also some Christian tales. 
  • Soon after that, Mrs. Donnelly told the class that they had to make a comic related to one of the wisdom tales that they read in class.
  • They got to meet a visual storyteller/artist named Brittain Peck. Mrs. Williams’ class was also there because they were doing the same things as Mrs. Donnelly’s.
  • Brittain Peck taught us about many things which we all incorporated into our drawings. Some of the things that he taught us were how to make shapes tell a story, how to make drawings pretty and simple, and how to incorporate emotion into a drawing.
  • After that, they started their comics. There are drawing apps that they used to create their art. Some of the apps were Paper 53, Adobe Draw, Sketchbook, and Sketchpad. Mrs. Donnelly also taught them about how to use an app called Comic Life 3.
  • Comic Life 3 is an app where you can choose templates and insert text and/or images to make a comic.
  • Next, they drew images on Sketchbook and pasted them into Comic Life 3. Then, they had a rubric.
  • The rubric had conditions such as name, date, class, and many more. They needed Mrs. Donnelly’s permission to get printed. 
  • Once they got printed, they would paste them on the wall and keep them under which class period the creators of the comics were in. 
  • Then, they wrote a blog post about their comic. You are reading one just now.

Well, I guess that’s it! Thank you for reading my…… Oh. I almost forgot! Write in the comments which story you “comiced”. My story was Antlers from Greece.

The Plank Challenge

By

Small things are the base for bigger ones. A daily habit causes a compound effect. First off, what is a daily habit? A daily habit is a routine that you do every day. It could be good or bad. I think James Clear put it best in his book, Atomic Habits. His quote was “A habit is a behavior that has been repeated enough times to become automatic.”-James Clear. A compound effect helps with adding something small to your normal routine until you get to your goal. Mrs. Donnelly’s class of 2023-2024 had a daily habit starting on October 24th until the week of December 11th. That is seven weeks! The daily habit for them was to plank for 30 seconds each day for one week. The next week, they added on 15 seconds until  the target of 2 minutes and 15 seconds was reached.

 

Firstly, there were a lot of challenges in doing the plank. We needed to do it every day. If we don’t, we cannot mark it as done on our tracker. Worse, we would lose that daily habit and its compound effect. Another problem that I encountered was that I had some other things to do. I had to prioritize my to-do tasks. Prioritizing is definitely not my strongest point. Some days, I had to plank 5 minutes before sleeping or in the bathroom (great time management). I was also scared that I wouldn’t plank or I would forget to write it down. The former never happened, but the latter did. But, I pulled through, stayed on track, caught up my tracker, and slept happily.

 

Next, I find emotions and mindset to be a major part of success with a daily habit. The emotions I felt were stress, anxiety, relief, and happiness. How did I feel stress? I felt stressed because it was difficult to plank for 2 minutes and 15 seconds or more. I was anxious because I did not know if I could plank every day. Sometimes, my planned schedule may go haywire. I also felt relief. I finished the plank challenge and could finally breathe. The final emotion that I felt was happiness. I finished the plank challenge with double my expectations. I was happy with my performance in the challenge.

 

Well, that was it for the plank challenge! Thank you for reading my blog and feel free to comment on your planking time, challenges that you may have had, and emotions you felt. See you next time!

Reading for Me

By

Photo courtesy of unsplash.com

I enjoy reading. Facts and nature are my jam. This is why my favorite genre of book is nonfiction. When I was little, I was obsessed with information. Now, I am more exposed to many different genres and authors. The main reason I read is for enjoyment and that it also strengthens my vocabulary. I love to find out facts and other peoples’ thoughts. An important thing for me is to try to ascertain what the author wants to convey with the book’s message. 

Even though I enjoy reading, it can be difficult sometimes. If I am in an uncomfortable spot or constantly disturbed, I find it difficult to enjoy the book. It is simple to look for books by genre and enjoy your favorite type. I look at what my friends suggest and I heed what they recommend. Sometimes, some writers write with a pseudonym which makes the title more attractive to a reader. For example, Dr. Seuss is a pseudonym for Theodore Geisel. Who doesn’t love his books? That is why I find pseudonyms to be more attractive. 

I consider myself to be a decent reader because I can find the theme and new words in a book. A new word that I found out by reading was Deoxyribonucleic acid. This is my favorite word in the English language. Oftentimes, I don’t read as much as I should. That is one thing that I will work on. I am also looking for many ways to improve my vocabulary and thoughts about the world. Vocabulary is a crucial element in reading and language arts in general. 

My favorite book is Shivaji by Ranjit Desai. I enjoy this book because it is an amazing read for fans of Indian history. The book is about Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the Maratha guerilla king who helped end Mughal rule in India. I really enjoyed this book because it taught me more about my own history. For me, it feels like each letter leaves me deeper and deeper into my own family tree. This is why Shivaji is my favorite book. What is your favorite book? What genres do you enjoy? What books do you recommend? These are all questions I want you to answer in the comments below.

Reading is an enjoyable pastime which I love and you should too! Thank you for reading my post!