Day 64

We did a freewrite today. It's been over a month since we've done one. I decided we'd write about what we could hear since we're all very quiet when we write. It was pretty fun. As you can imagine, we all wrote about the same things since we were sitting in the same room; but we all say things so differently. After I read mine, they said it sounded like I was writing a book. "A professional freewrite," they said. I thought I'd include a little bit from the beginning of each one.

Sam: "OK I hear a lawnmower making a grinding type noise and an echoey airplane and a buzzing plane going by and everyone else writing and Dad coming in the front door and Mom and Sarah snickering and Dad interrupting and Sarah asking if we're timing this and Dad creaking around  and nothing else interesting."

I love that it's totally unpunctuated. I think that let him feel like he could write more. He's been bothered by his writing lately. He's ready to change it; I'm just not sure exactly how I need to help him.

Sarah: "Alright, I hear a little airplane noise. It's either an airplane or the buzzing motor sound of a weed eater or a lawn mower. I hear the others writing, scratching their pens on the paper or the soft, whispery noise of hands moving across paper. . . "

Rachel: "I hear Sam breathing. There is a weed eater on outside. An airplane is humming, probably going to the little airport. Mom just flipped a page in her notebook. I heard it catch on its way around the binder. Sam's binder is crinkling because he is using his knee as a hard surface. . . "

Me: "I hear a small airplane, or maybe that's just a lawn mower or weed eater. It could be the back neighbor's wood saw that he sometimes puts in his driveway to use. Now I hear an airplane for sure. It's a small one. I acn also hear the cars and trucks on the road. My hand is making sounds as it moves over the page while I write. I can hear everyone else's hands moving across their papers too. I can hear my pen but not anyone else's. There's Jeff coming in from his walk."

I love how everyone's is so different even though we all heard the same things. When I was a senior in high school, I had to go stand near the front door of the grocery and write down everything I saw and heard for 15 minutes. I had to do it with a partner and then we were supposed to see how different they were. It was amazing.

We also did science, math, and listening to a few news clips. We don't listen to much news, but it's hard not to want to hear a bit of election news, even though we already voted. It's all so ridiculous.

See you tomorrow!