WRITING FROM LEVEL 3!
Here are some more samples from our “Writing of the Week” project. This page features pieces from level 3 of our Summer Classes, which includes students in grades 5 and up.
1st feature: Elissa – Wonder Essay Project (based on the novel Wonder by R. J. Palacio)
In the novel Wonder by R.J Palacio, some characters that help guide his journey through Beecher Prep are Summer, Charlotte, and Jack Will (sometimes). Some of his other classmates like Julian, Henry, and Miles, create many obstacles for August throughout the school year.
One piece of dialogue that supports my claim is when Julian askes, “What’s the deal with your face? I mean, were you in a fire or something?” This quote shows that Julian is a coldhearted person because he doesn’t consider August’s feelings when he says that. One other quote from the story is, “I started to follow her, but Julian cut right in front of me, which actually made me stumble backward. “Oops, sorry about that!” said Julian. But I could tell from the way he looked at me that he wasn’t really sorry at all. ” This quote shows that Julian is obnoxious and likes to make fun of August just because of the way he looks, also taking advantage of him. Another quote from Wonder that shows Henry is a unkind person is, “Although I didn’t look at him directly, I could tell Henry did not want to move next to me, just by the way he dragged his backpack on the floor as he came over, like he was moving in slow motion. Then he plopped his backpack up really high on the right side of the desk so it was kind of like a wall between his desk and mine. ” Although, he doesn’t say anything mean to August, his body language shows that he’s making a big scene out of sitting next to August. When he puts his backpack up in between his desk and August’s, he’s purposefully trying to block him out of view, but also trying not to make it too obvious to August.
2nd feature: Lucy – Creative Writing Wonder Project (also based on the novel Wonder by R. J. Palacio)
Perspective: Jack
Scene: When Jack says mean things about Auggie behind his back
Sunshine peeked through my curtains and I sat up quickly. Today was Halloween! Personally, I think Christmas is better, but Halloween is a close second. I knew Auggie’s favorite holiday was Halloween, so he must be really excited. I hopped out of bed and started pulling on my mummy costume. I ate a quick breakfast and got on the bus. When we arrived at school, I put all my stuff in my locker and entered the classroom for homeroom. Julian, Henry, and Miles called me over and Julian showed me his mask.
“Wow,” said Miles. “I feel like whoever made that mask was using his face as a model.” I was confused for a second but then realized he was talking about Auggie.
“Like this part especially…” answered Julian, putting his fingers on the cheeks and eyes of his Darth Sidious mask. I didn’t want to say anything mean about Auggie, but I didn’t really want to disagree with Julian because then I would be an enemy of his “group.”
“Actually,” Miles said, “He looks like a shrunken head. Have you ever seen those? He looks exactly like that.”
I heard someone say something about an orc, a monster, the Plague…
It all got drowned out in my brain. I could almost hear the gears spinning in my brain. If I said something bad about Auggie, I would end up regretting it later and feeling guilty about it. But, if I chose to defend Auggie, Julian and his group wouldn’t like me anymore and pretty much everyone would turn against me. I thought back to when Summer read the precept out loud, When given the choice between being right and being kind, choose kind. For some reason, the bad part of my brain won the internal argument going on inside of me and I decided that I had to say something.
Read the rest of the story here!
