Rover_Holart in here will be known as ‘Rover NancyDrewhufflepuff will be known as ‘Cara’ in here My little sis will be known as ‘Duck’, one of her nicknames, don’t ask me why My youngest brother will be known as ‘E’ Our little sibs will be known as ‘the littles’ Everyone else will either be called by their real name, or by what I call them, for example my mom will be Mama, not Mrs. Jude or Jessica. An interesting story of when we did the Christmas play several years ago: It was just a normal Sunday afternoon, we were reading, or playing in Duck and E’s case. It was very boring, and we wanted something to do. “What if we do a play for Christmas!” Says Rover. “Ooo what play should we do?” I ask. “The Christmas play!” He answers. “Okay!” Now, this was a surprise for everyone, and no one knew that we were going to do this, except the littles. So we got to work that very afternoon. I think it was 3 years ago. We got construction paper, yellow, and cut it up for the hay. Yes I know, that was the very first thing we did. And like what else do you make? The angle is very interesting. So our water had a lot of iron in it at that point, and would, until around spring time, and mind you, this is probably the end of October, or beginning of November. So we got jugs of water from Walmart. We used one of them, (empty) two barstools stacked on top of each other, and a blanket covering them, and then glued a piece of very yellow (I mean angles are supposed to be really bright, right?) construction paper to the jug for a face. We used the doll cradle for the manager. Our parents were taking naps like they do every Sunday afternoon. And the only animal we had was a sheep, and then a bull, or we were going to have it, a stick horse with cardboard horns, and I remember the sheep very well. Because I was the sheep. We were going to use E as baby Jesus, then we decided to just use a doll. Okay, now you know what we used in the play, now comes the part when our hands practically fall off. We decided to make booklites for everyone. So we had the front of the book. At church they gave us Christmas stickers, so we put them on the front of it, creating the scene of when Jesus was born. Then since we made four booklets and we only had two sets of the stickers, we had to trace the stickers onto the two other booklets, and trust me, it was quite hard filling them in and getting it all in the right place. And that was only part of the front page, the front page, that doesn’t count all of the other pages, if I remember right there were eight pages. Yup, just checked there's eight. Pages. We. Worked. Very. Very. Hard. On. Okay then we also the words that said, THE CHRISTMAS STORY. These words were bubble letters, and we had to fill them in with a pen or pencil. Kay, the next page is uh us and the facts. So in each of these books we had very different pictures, because Rover had to draw them by hand! And then facts, such as ‘Did you know that the hay is just paper?’ XD we had run out of ideas. Then he drew some pictures of I don’t really know, a christmas tree and who knows what? lol This is something I remember very well. The story. I had to write that whole entire story four times! And it was like a page and a half. 6 pages! Okay Rover did help a little, but I had it memorized for weeks afterwards. Then there were some questions for them, they never even filled it out cause we didn’t give them time! XD then on the next page there were more quizzes and pictures from the play. Then it says Have fun! At the bottom of the page. Then on the last page there is a picture. A very odd star in the sky that looks like it has something trailing after it. Then below there is a wise man kneeling, with a gift. The manger no baby to be seen lol and Mary and Josephe praying. A shepherd with a staff and black sheep, (Not me!) a donkey laying or standing in some of the pictures, a bull with a nose ring, and an angel holding a trumpet to the sky! And then we practiced the play. I don’t remember that very well, but I know we had to sneak down the stairs so no one (just our mom) would know we were doing it, though I think she would come through the living room while we were practicing it.
When we did the play, Christmas eve eve, we were having a hard time getting the ‘curtains’ to work, until our aunt and her boy friend decided to hold it for us. We were so grateful! Okay, so you're sitting in the audience, and the play begins. But the little girl playing Mary doesn’t want to come out, (she had really bad stage freight, even though it was only her family XD) finally we get her to come out, she is in tears. Next scene. Hared was sitting in his chair, trying to look like a king, but he keeps smiling, then the Wise men enter, (only one for some reason?) he kneels, and says something, you probably can’t hear it. Then the third scene. Mary and Joseph are looking at the baby in Mary’s arms, and then comes the funniest or worst, take your pick, part of the play. The sheep enters. I come in, you know, dragging the blanket on the floor, take some straw from the manger, pretend to chew it, but actually I spit it out, (it tasted very gross) you can hear Grandma choking beside you, she is choking cause she is laughing so hard, as I exit and dress as the wise man. And a shepherd enters, with a staff and looks at the baby too. The wise man, (yes man) comes in and gives his gifts to the baby. Wow so cool a three scene play. What in the world were we thinking? We didn’t even do a the part where Mary and Joseph go to the inn on a donkey, and then the inn keeper tells them about the stable. We thought you know, it was terrible, we completely messed up, but then everyone starts cheering and you know, so yeah, that's how that went. Hope you enjoyed that! Okay grad it out of 30 points: Ideas (maximum 5 points) 5 points for exciting, engaging experience with memorable details shared 3 points for a main experience that needs additional details or if story adds details that do not pertain to the main experience 1 point if there is not a main experience being conveyed and lack of details Organization (5 points maximum) 5 points: well-organized and engaging paper with clear beginning, middle, and end 3 points: order of events may be mixed up, transitions needed to clarify beginning, middle, and end 1 point: unorganized, confusing Voice (maximum 5 points) 5 points: interesting, engaging personal voice; excellent use of dialogue 3 points: personal voice can usually be distinguished, more dialogue needed 1 point: does not engage reader; lack of dialogue Word Choice (5 points maximum) 5 points: descriptive and vivid word choice 3 points: adequate word choice, could use more descriptions 1 point: little or no consideration given to word choice, not descriptive Sentence fluency 5 points: original, interesting; sentence structure varies; easy to read 3 points: some variation in sentence structure, some unclear sentences 1 point: unclear and confusing, sentence do not flow or make sense Conventions (5 points maximum) 5 points: no errors in grammar, spelling, or punctuation 3 points: some errors in grammar, spelling, or punctuation 1 point: many errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation 1. Does the title catch your attention or interest you in learning more about the essay? 2. How well does the INTRODUCTION prepare the reader for what will follow? Does the introduction hook your attention? 3. What is the point, the significance of the essay? 4. Based on the descriptions and examples, is the reader able to picture in his or her mind the specific personal experience the writer describes? Does the writer use appropriate description? Highlight the areas in the essay where the writer simply tells and neglects to show the point. 5. Are some examples unnecessary to the thesis and therefore to the paper? Should these be cut? 6. Does the writer’s organization work? Why, or why not? 7. Also, make sure you point out any spelling, grammar, or punctuation errors. 8. How well does the paper flow? Where does it seem awkward? Are there enough transitions? 9. Does the conclusion reinforce the thesis without being repetitive? What, if any, recommendation does the writer make to his or her audience? How well does the conclusion provide closure? 10. Any general comments, just add after everything else. Okay, just say the score you would give me, and then answer each of these ten questions, this is meant for a writing academy, but anyone can fill it out! have fun doing this! :) for some it says to underline or like highlight, you don't need to do that! I think I took all of those out though.
