Morphed Animal Report: Planning Sheet (To Be Five Paragraphs)
First Paragraph
*Introduce that we are in the year 3000 and you are a scientist working to morph two species of animals...
Miss Q took the long way down the fourth grade hallway to get to the awkward turtles. The walk is longer, so it gave her more time to think. Plus, she always wondered which turtle would notice her first since she came from the back.
There was a tradition among some of them that meant some of them dropped everything to go run to Miss Q. The boy band made it a competition, seeing who could tag her first. It was Boo, quiet as usual, who found her first.
He hasn't been that quiet lately.
"Zefron's not here." he explained. "We don't know where he went."
Without Zefron, the Boy Band had a disjointed quality. His bright personality and good humor always was a favorite with Solomon, Co-Pilot, and Boo. Poor Co-Pilot instead had to settle for teasing Miss Beiber. I wish I could say the nicknames they came up with, but they're too close to their actual names.
Miss Q laughed. The teasing had a playful, innocent quality about it. The turtles, perhaps because they were back from spring break, all managed to get along. Even on the way to the computer lab, The Gage only tried to torture Fate halfheartedly like a little afterthought, dangling his sheet of paper in front of her face untill she glared at him.
Beancurd was his usual overtalkative 'whatchagonnado' type self, but he hadn't found something to be angry about yet. Miss Q made sure to ask him how his mouth had been over Spring Break.
More important things happened. Nancy Drew revealed her views on custodians.
"You know how they are." she said. "That's probably why they're custodians." What? Nooooo.
"I was a custodian!" I say, almost pathetically (I should probably explain. Nah) She has a deep sense of sarcasm and is a gifted writer. She reminds Miss Q of a friend.
"I know. But you're not one anymore."
Miss Q didn't have an argument prepared at that point. But then again, Nancy Drew probably liked a good debate, didn't she? Hmmm.
Other important things? Fate's baby sister could come at any moment. Miss Q should know because the third time Fate told her she made sure to remind her she could be picked up to the office any moment... any second... any moment.
Fourth Paragraph: Food
*What will this animal eat? Must be foods that are found in your chosen environment.
*Explain HOW your animal gets its food...
I sat next to The Brit, who seemed to be on frosty terms with Dexter. Miss Q was surprised to hear they didn't spend any of their break together.
"I went on a cruise." said Dexter
"Nobody cares." said The Brit, uncharacteristicly.
"Miss Q cares," reminded Dexter. Miss Q agreed.
We discuss how Miss Q can always sense which turtles weren't present without having to look around. She closes her eyes.... hmmm Zefron and Skinny Jeanz. Neat huh? Freakazoid was chatty and as usual, openly affectionate, making sure to remind Miss Q how she shared in the classes awkwardness. We got into a political discussion. Miss Q needs help recovering from it. Is Al Qaeda a group or a person? Taliban is Afghanistan? What? In Miss Q's defense, sometimes the news and 4th graders are equally reliable.
As a rule, all fourth graders must destroy their food before they eat it. We discuss this. On Miss Q's left, Idaho attacks her potato chips and offers plenty of conversation. It's kind of nice, since before we seemed to have nothing to talk about.
Second Paragraph: Adaptations
*Can it fly away? Hide in inside its shell? Stand very still and blend into surroundings?...
Solomon seems sad. He gives a short mumbled answer when questioned once. Somehow I think it has to do with more than just Skinny Jeanz not showing up.
In the computer lab, Mook and Freakazoid, of course have the required empty seat between them. Mook forbids Miss Q from sitting there. Miss Q managed to look so heart broken, he even looked a little guilty.
Of course, seeing as Mook and Freakazoid have an assignment to do, she sits over there anyway. I remember as A kid, sometimes having an adult right there would almost help you concentrate. Like the goofyness that I always had would go away long enough for me to focus. That's how Mook and Freakazoid are. Then there was The Gage.
Miss Q knew what he was doing before she looked at him. Sitting at his desk, red head flat on the desk with a comatose posture, he had already checked out. I mean, it was a writing assignment. The first time Miss Q met The Gage was in a reading group. There was certainly a lot of distraction to deal with that first time. We were adversaries. And since then, The Gage still desperately wants to escape writing.
Not all the time though.
"You forgot the sheet." He said promptly, the minute he saw Miss Q at recess. He was referring to the writing assignment she had with her mini-lesson. A miracle had happened then. "Now I know writing is easy." he said. He wanted to stay and finish what he'd started. I think he liked the steps I came up with. I don't know. If he was only trying to make me happy, it definately worked.
I guess this new determination of his that he showed was what caused Miss Q to walk over to him this time.
His little freckled face was flat on the desk, slowly drawing a dark smiley face. Helpless.
"You told me writing was easy, remember?" Miss Q prompted.
"But my hand hurts." he sighed. "Can't get this pencil to work." he mumbled, taking the the point of his pencil and jamming it until it was broken. The Gage clings desperately to distractions, accepting alternate preoccupations (even annoying ones) with open arms.
"Try anyway."
He fiddled with his pencil some more. It was a brand new pencil, he muttered.
"Don't worry about it." A pause.
"Ok."
Paragraph 1...
Hi.
"I can't use this pencil."
"Take mine." Miss Q handed him a new mechanical pencil. She told him it was a special pencil since it happened to match her shirt that day.The eraser was gone, but he had an eraser.
"Try anyway." Miss Q said again.
Hi. My name is The Gage. I come from the year 3000. I am a scientist working to morph two species of animals.
Almost everyone else was typing theirs. The words looked like a solid paragraph on his looseleaf. When Miss Q left, she knew there was a chance he might not finish the rest of the paragraph. But he'd done 100 % more than what he would usually had done.
It was like a scene out of Love and Logic. Couldn't really have done that a few weeks ago.
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