Happenings

Today in class I challenged the children to try a different type of writing…something other than a personal narrative. We discussed how you can take one topic and explore it with a variety of types of writing. I wrote 2 samples of my own for the kids regarding an encounter I had this summer with 2 mischievous baby bears…and a clean load of laundry! This entry gives an example of how a writer might use persuasive writing to explore this topic.

I should begin this post with a little background knowledge for those who don’t know much about my summer vacations. Each summer, since I was a small child I have vacationed in a small mountain community in California called Mammoth Lakes. Our time there gives my family and I an opportunity to explore nature, observe wildlife (racoons, and bears, and dear…oh my!), and get in touch with our “rustic” side. One example of such “rustic” living is the laundry accommodations. While the tiny cabin is fortunate enough to have a teeny tiny washing machine in a small shed adjacent to the back door, the drying conditions consist of a wire clothes line stretched between two towering pine trees and an ample supply of wooden clothes pins. And so it is with these rustic drying conditions that my story begins…

Dear Baby Bears,

The purpose of this letter is to inform you of the negative impact your crazy antics have had on me. I want to let you know that I worked really hard to wash and hang all of the laundry today..washing each garment clean of it’s fishy odor from our days at the lake and then carefully hanging it out to dry in the fresh mountain air. And that was when you came along and tore it all down, swiping down each bleach-white sock and crisp clean t-shirt from the clothes line before wandering off quietly into the forest with a look of satisfaction on your face. Oh, I know you meant it all in fun, but I’m here to tell you the reasons why you should never do that again!

First of all, it is quite dangerous for you to be in this area where we humans are living. While the laundry might seem like fun-while you are in the area, you may also find yourself tempted by the luscious smells that drift out of our kitchen window. You may not be able to resist the urge to climb through said window and ravage through our refrigerator. As you may or may not know..the forest rangers and local authorities do not take very kindly to such acts and have been known to chase bears who engage in such behaviors right out of the woods! If you stay away from my clothes line you will not even be able to smell or be tempted by the delicious smells of frying fish coming from the nearby window.

Secondly, I noticed that as you were playing with my socks your mother was walking off into the woods. You were so distracted by your new “toys” that you didn’t even notice until she was almost gone. Don’t you know what happens to baby bears who don’t pay attention to their mothers walking away? They often get lost…which would be a very frightening and lonely encounter for you. If you had not been playing with my laundry you would have noticed that your mother was leaving you and not had to chase after her.

And finally, Baby Bears, you should not spend time playing with my clean laundry and swiping it off the clothes line with your claws because…well…it is just plain RUDE! How would you like it if I came to your den and tore all of your clean clothes that you had worked so hard on all day to the ground? I do not think you would like it very much at all!

So in conclusion Baby Bears, I would like to beg you to MYOB (mind your own business) the next time you are wandering through the forest. If you see a freshly hung line of clothes…just walk on by baby…just walk on by!

Yours Truly,

Mrs. Hulburt

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 17th, 2009 at 8:29 am and is filed under School Activities. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.