The Book of Us
The Book of Us was launched about a month before it was printed. Our teacher, Dr. P, began the launch of The Book of Us with a free write, he encouraged us to write at least a page and gave us sentence starters to inspire our 10 minute free write. We critiqued the book his class from North County wrote last year and although it might not have been the greatest example, it gave us an incredible idea for what we wanted our book to be. Next step was to some how figure out what exactly we desired to write about. He gave us a 1 topic = 18 topics sheet (below) and modeled it for us so we weren't lost. The structure Dr. P had with the writing pieces were "real world" writing purposes: Express & Reflect, Evaluate & Judge, Analyze & Interpret, Inform & Explain, Inquire & Explore, Take a stand/Propose a solution. We wrote 5 minute quick writes about our one topic (below), but while using all 6 "real world" writing purposes. We then read various writing pieces, mentor text (below), each one under a category of the "real world" writing purposes. We wrote a down draft, printed it, and cut it into separate pieces. Yes, I know it sounds strange, but we moved around the pieces and put the back together in new ways. Draft after draft after draft. Then format, format, format. If you have edited a book with 52 writing pieces then you understand the time put into preparing it for publishing. The end result brought a smile to my face, and not many things involving school do.
Final The Book of Us Copy
1 Topic = 18 Topics
5 minute Quick Writes
My Mentor Text
https://docs.google.com/a/hightechhigh.org/document/d/1y0VpZ6zc0zQSdZlW73f1bYruXNGCAJYbjulq_GnSPfc/edit?usp=sharing
Original Down Draft
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1E4A8Qos0-276F-hoQav0FeIDNGS_VcqNXWMDbvDJZ0g/edit?usp=sharing
Final Draft
https://docs.google.com/a/hightechhigh.org/document/d/1AAjvPFgR8Mn3ua_BMtm1mZOjq2oAE0Nsm46s40aFx10/edit?usp=sharing
"Golden Lines" Portrait
"Journey to the final draft" Reflection
When The Book of Us was finally launched I didn't have the slightest clue of what I was going to contribute. I thought, What could I write about that actually matters and means something? I was lost. The first couple of Free Writes I wrote about how much I adored Aubrey Graham, but I knew that wasn't going to be interesting to anyone who didn't know him. At first I had this unique idea of writing my whole piece about a topic, but the words were solely Drake's lyrics. Now, that would be an extremely difficult thing to do in general, but also considering I was writing a piece for a class book and his lyrics are debatable for the situation. I decided I was going to take that on outside of school later, and was left with an empty plate again. A light bulb flickered on over my head and I knew what I was going to write about. I wanted to write about my closest friend and the things she experienced in her childhood. My first drafts were trash, I was in desperate need of per critiques. I was told my fist drafts were strong they just needed more to the story. Basically my draft was a hamburger and it needed more meat. My first few drafts were just maybe two pages worth of different paragraphs and they weren't so good if I say so myself. I had an "Aha" moment and I came up with the idea of making my story sort of a timeline, starting in 2003 and ending in 2015. I was proud and I wrote a very powerful piece, but I know I could do better. I wish I had more time so I could force myself to sit down and create something beautiful. I wish I could have made the reader feel the emotion I wanted them to feel, the emotion she felt, and the emotion in my piece.