An inside glimpse of not only the in-class happenings of a high school English and Journalism classroom, but also the trials and tribulations, the successes and (unfortunately) failures, the excitement, and the processes by which these all occur.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
English 9: Flash Fiction Bell Ringer
English 9 students wrote creative stories in the style of Flash-Fiction (100 words or less) based upon the following title:
"We Were Learning to Make Fire"
Students were to pay special attention to the development of plot and characters.
Please see the comments for the students' stories.
We were learning to make fire on a cold, windy night. The wind took that match, and though you would think the flame would go out, that house and that family will never come back.
It was a cold summer night in the middle of the woods. Simon was camping with his brothers, Theodore and Alvin. Alvin had found some matches in his pocket. Theodore said to light one up to make fire. Alvin and Theodore failed to make a fire with the matches. Simon knew that he could do it better than they could. On the first try, Simon started a fire. Theodore had looked up to Simon as if he were a god for making the fire. Alvin was completely jealous of Simon and kept trying to start one. It only took Alvin the whole match box to start one.
We were at a camp when we learned how to make fire. We were told that we could only use fire to keep us warm or to cook food that we eat. The teacher told us to make fire you need a box of matches. We also need some sort of paper or wood to light the fire on. You light the paper or wood with the matches. Depending on how big you want the fire to be add a lot of would or paper. If you want the fire to last a long time you need to keep add more wood or paper to the fire every so often.
How I learned how to make Fire. I thought about it with logic and I learned to make fire by friction, the more the movement the more the molecules, the faster the molecules the more the heat. By using two flat surfaced stones, I pressed them together and started to rub so hard, sparks started to fly and the faster I rubbed the more the sparks. So eventually I got fire started with the elements I learned in science. Compressed fast molecules will eventually explode into fire. I also learned how to make fire by yelling so loud and making a kamehamaya wave towards a tree.
In the middle of summer i was sent off to a camp. I don't know exactly what it is called all I know is that I won't like it. This year i have been an okay kid. I'm 16 and haven't had the best life. I've gotten into fights, stolen things, and haven't been nice to my mom. I know she's going through a lot but it just doesn't seem right. When i got to the camp I knew i wouldn't like it. I was suppose to be there for 2 months. For 3 days straight it was miserable. I wasn't nice to the other kids at all. On the night of the 4th day we went out on to camp in the woods for a day with a couple of his bunk mates and consulars. We got into deep conversation. I told them about my life and i realized it was just as bad as the other boys. After our long hours of talking we decided that we would make a fire. The only person that knew how to make a fire was the consular. So he decided to teach us how to make a fire. He explained that a fire can be just like how our lives can be. They can spark and turn into a flames and that we need to learn how to control the fire. After that i realized that i didn't want to be like i was. I had changed just by learning how to make a fire. I have learned how to control my life and fire.
186397 years ago, there was no fire. Back then the world was very warm and never dark, there was no need for fire's light and warmth. One day the Earth was dark and became cold and Ogar, the caveman, was freezing. So Ogar to not freeze to death looked for a way to be warm. First he rubbed grass together and then he tried rubbing dirt together. Finally he rubbed two sticks together and learned to make a fire. Today people learned to use fire because and old, hairy caveman was cold. Everyone should be thankful for Ogar. The End
"We Were Learning to Make Fire" by Alyssa Hamilton
One cold winter night, standing in the basement beside my grandmother, grandfather was teaching us the quickest way to make fire. It came down to one match, one rolled piece of cardboard and lots of kindle. It was easy till one day, that was the coldest day of the winter, with air pushing through the chimney and kept blowing out the match. It took us hours to light it, until I found the small propane torch! The house was quickly heated after that!
One day my dad was watching 'man v.s. wild with Bear Grills ' and suggested we should lear make fire just in case one of us ever get lost in the wild. To me it was just dumb he grabbed a rock, a hammer, dead grass and some twigs. He gave me the hammer and the rock, and told me to hit them together. I tried and some sparks came out but the fire didn't come . so I hit harder and harder until I got smoke and then a poof of fire so that day I learned how to make fire.
Back in the days of dinosaurs, we were cavemen learning to make fire. We tried everything, hitting things to make friction, praying and dancing to our gods, and anything else we could think of. One of my friends went out to find some berries to eat, and he came across a rock called flint. We had never seen it before, so we thought we might as well try to make fire with it. We thought it would never work, but we were desperate. He struck it against another rock, and a spark was created. He is now a legend in our village.
fire, you want to make fire. "yes" said john "I need to know." "your crazy, you know what happened last time, the whole school was ablaze" "but were not in school, remember. school was canceled for the year." "but i need to know, and you know that better than anyone els" edward gave a sigh and replied "fine, but don't try it a school without me. first you put your fingers together and slowly open them" "like this?" "no, you have to do it slower and try imagining some sparks coming out of your hands." John did as was told and his hands started heating up. "maybe we should try tomorrow." THE END
One day when we were in the house of my cousin we decided that we were going to go to camp in his yard because we were bored and my cousin wanted to experiment with holding fire and putting petrol on his hands and he put his hand in the fire so that he it would light up and his hand would be on fire. The weird things was that he was saying that he was not feeling any pain from the burning and so he peer pressured us into doing the same and the funny thing his brother couldn't and he had burnt his shirt almost all off because of the heat.
One time my father was teaching me how to make fire. We were out in the middle of the woods on a camping trip. It was just dad and I. The first night out it was really cold so we went and gathered up a bunch of wood. He had a lighter and it did not work. He said some come over here. He said I had a special power and that power is that i can start my hair on fire. He said focus all your energy on your hair and think of fire. All of a sudden my hair started on fire but did not burn off. I lit the fire and we were warm for the rest of our trip.
Felipe:We were learning to make fire.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was little my dad showed me that fire came from a lighter that's how I now were fire came from.
We were learning to make fire on a cold, windy night. The wind took that match, and though you would think the flame would go out, that house and that family will never come back.
ReplyDeleteIt was a cold summer night in the middle of the woods. Simon was camping with his brothers, Theodore and Alvin. Alvin had found some matches in his pocket. Theodore said to light one up to make fire. Alvin and Theodore failed to make a fire with the matches. Simon knew that he could do it better than they could. On the first try, Simon started a fire. Theodore had looked up to Simon as if he were a god for making the fire. Alvin was completely jealous of Simon and kept trying to start one. It only took Alvin the whole match box to start one.
ReplyDeleteThe End.
Juan G.
We were at a camp when we learned how to make fire. We were told that we could only use fire to keep us warm or to cook food that we eat. The teacher told us to make fire you need a box of matches. We also need some sort of paper or wood to light the fire on. You light the paper or wood with the matches. Depending on how big you want the fire to be add a lot of would or paper. If you want the fire to last a long time you need to keep add more wood or paper to the fire every so often.
ReplyDeleteHow I learned how to make Fire. I thought about it with logic and I learned to make fire by friction, the more the movement the more the molecules, the faster the molecules the more the heat. By using two flat surfaced stones, I pressed them together and started to rub so hard, sparks started to fly and the faster I rubbed the more the sparks. So eventually I got fire started with the elements I learned in science. Compressed fast molecules will eventually explode into fire. I also learned how to make fire by yelling so loud and making a kamehamaya wave towards a tree.
ReplyDeleteIn the middle of summer i was sent off to a camp. I don't know exactly what it is called all I know is that I won't like it. This year i have been an okay kid. I'm 16 and haven't had the best life. I've gotten into fights, stolen things, and haven't been nice to my mom. I know she's going through a lot but it just doesn't seem right. When i got to the camp I knew i wouldn't like it. I was suppose to be there for 2 months. For 3 days straight it was miserable. I wasn't nice to the other kids at all. On the night of the 4th day we went out on to camp in the woods for a day with a couple of his bunk mates and consulars. We got into deep conversation. I told them about my life and i realized it was just as bad as the other boys. After our long hours of talking we decided that we would make a fire. The only person that knew how to make a fire was the consular. So he decided to teach us how to make a fire. He explained that a fire can be just like how our lives can be. They can spark and turn into a flames and that we need to learn how to control the fire. After that i realized that i didn't want to be like i was. I had changed just by learning how to make a fire. I have learned how to control my life and fire.
ReplyDelete186397 years ago, there was no fire. Back then the world was very warm and never dark, there was no need for fire's light and warmth. One day the Earth was dark and became cold and Ogar, the caveman, was freezing. So Ogar to not freeze to death looked for a way to be warm. First he rubbed grass together and then he tried rubbing dirt together. Finally he rubbed two sticks together and learned to make a fire. Today people learned to use fire because and old, hairy caveman was cold. Everyone should be thankful for Ogar. The End
ReplyDelete"We Were Learning to Make Fire" by Alyssa Hamilton
ReplyDeleteOne cold winter night, standing in the basement beside my grandmother, grandfather was teaching us the quickest way to make fire. It came down to one match, one rolled piece of cardboard and lots of kindle. It was easy till one day, that was the coldest day of the winter, with air pushing through the chimney and kept blowing out the match. It took us hours to light it, until I found the small propane torch! The house was quickly heated after that!
One day my dad was watching 'man v.s. wild with Bear Grills ' and suggested we should lear make fire just in case one of us ever get lost in the wild. To me it was just dumb he grabbed a rock, a hammer, dead grass and some twigs. He gave me the hammer and the rock, and told me to hit them together. I tried and some sparks came out but the fire didn't come . so I hit harder and harder until I got smoke and then a poof of fire so that day I learned how to make fire.
ReplyDeleteBack in the days of dinosaurs, we were cavemen learning to make fire. We tried everything, hitting things to make friction, praying and dancing to our gods, and anything else we could think of. One of my friends went out to find some berries to eat, and he came across a rock called flint. We had never seen it before, so we thought we might as well try to make fire with it. We thought it would never work, but we were desperate. He struck it against another rock, and a spark was created. He is now a legend in our village.
ReplyDeletefire, you want to make fire. "yes" said john "I need to know." "your crazy, you know what happened last time, the whole school was ablaze" "but were not in school, remember. school was canceled for the year." "but i need to know, and you know that better than anyone els" edward gave a sigh and replied "fine, but don't try it a school without me. first you put your fingers together and slowly open them" "like this?" "no, you have to do it slower and try imagining some sparks coming out of your hands." John did as was told and his hands started heating up. "maybe we should try tomorrow."
ReplyDeleteTHE END
One day when we were in the house of my cousin we decided that we were going to go to camp in his yard because we were bored and my cousin wanted to experiment with holding fire and putting petrol on his hands and he put his hand in the fire so that he it would light up and his hand would be on fire. The weird things was that he was saying that he was not feeling any pain from the burning and so he peer pressured us into doing the same and the funny thing his brother couldn't and he had burnt his shirt almost all off because of the heat.
ReplyDeleteOne time my father was teaching me how to make fire. We were out in the middle of the woods on a camping trip. It was just dad and I. The first night out it was really cold so we went and gathered up a bunch of wood. He had a lighter and it did not work. He said some come over here. He said I had a special power and that power is that i can start my hair on fire. He said focus all your energy on your hair and think of fire. All of a sudden my hair started on fire but did not burn off. I lit the fire and we were warm for the rest of our trip.
ReplyDelete