University Prep Science and Math | Detroit, Michigan
THE BOOK OF MANY WISDOMS ADVENTURE AND ADVICE FROM MS. ISLAM’S THIRD-GRADE CLASS
THE BOOK OF MANY WISDOMS
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THE BOOK OF MANY WISDOMS ADVENTURE AND ADVICE FROM MS. ISLAM’S THIRD-GRADE CLASS
University Prep Science and Math Detroit, Michigan
826michigan Staff Dr. Naimah Wade, Executive Director Judy Tipton, Development Director Catherine Calabro Cavin, Education Director Frances Martin, Operations Director Megan Gilson, Program Manager Ariel Kaplowitz-Hahn, Volunteer Engagement Associate Josi Ezinga, Development Associate Caitlin Koska, Spring & Summer Program Coordinator Copyright © 2021 by 826michigan and Blotch Books. All rights reserved by 826michigan, the many whims of Drs. T & G Blotch, the illustrators, and the authors. The views expressed in this book are the authors’ and do not necessarily reflect those of 826michigan. We believe in the power of youth voice and are thrilled that you picked up this book. No part of this book may be reproduced without express written permission from the publisher, except for small excerpts for the purposes of review or scholarly study. Illustrated by Daisy Book design by Ingrid Ankerson Editorial support by Amy Sumerton Copy edited by Aaron Stone, Annie Else, Naitnaphit Limlamai, Rachel Cawkwell, Lauren Rudewicz ISBN 978-1-948644-80-8 Printed in Saline, Michigan, by McNaughton & Gunn By purchasing this book, you are helping 826michigan continue to offer free student programs. For more information, please visit: 826michigan.org
Dedicated to the people in our lives who teach us the grace to give and receive wisdom.
CONTENTS x ALSO PUBLISHED BY 826MICHIGAN xii INTRODUCTION xiv MS. ISLAM'S THIRD-GRADE CLASS 2 ONCE UPON A TIME 4 OUR ADVICE TO JAX, HENRY, AND LEXI 6 KAHRON ALI-HALMON
Advice from Kahron 7
8 GAVIN BRADY
Advice from Gavin 9
10 ANDREW CHRISTMAS IV
Advice from Andrew 11
12 KARTER CONNER
Advice from Karter 13
14 BROOKLYN CUNNINGHAM Advice from Brooklyn
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16 JACE DAVIS
Advice from Jace 17
18 GODDESS DONALDSON
Advice from Goddess 19
20 LAYLA EILAND
Advice from LayLa
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22 AIDEN FERGUSON
Advice from Aiden 23
24 WHERE WE GET OUR WISDOM 25 OUR ADVICE TO LEXI 26 CAIDEN FORTUNE
Advice from Caiden 27
28 ZYIR GLENN
Advice from Zyir
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30 VIRGIL GRAYSON III
Advice from Virgil 31
32 TAUREZ HATCHETT, JR. Advice from Taurez
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34 DEMARCO HAWKINS II
Advice from Demarco 35
36 KAMERON HAYES
Advice from Kameron 37
38 JAMARI JENKINS
Advice from Jamari
40 SANIAH MADDOX
Advice from Saniah
39 41
42 RAYNE MANLEY
Advice from Rayne
44 ANIYA PORTER
Advice from Aniya
43 45
46 MILES RAWLINGS
Advice from Miles 47
48 OUR ADVICE TO HENRY 50 OUR PLAYGROUND ADVICE 52 AZ REED
Advice from Az 53
54 JORDYN ROBERTS
Advice from Jordyn
56 LANIA SHAMILY
Advice from LaNia
58 ANGEL SHIRLEE
Advice from Angel
60 ROBERT SMITH
Advice from Robert
62 SILVIA STELLA
Advice from Silvia
64 PARKER TOMLIN
Advice from Parker
55 57 59 61 63 65
66 SHERIDAN TYLER
Advice from Sheridan 67
68 PARIS WILLIAMS
Advice from Paris
70 PIERRE WILLIAMS
Advice from Pierre
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72 OUR ADVICE TO JAX 74 CONCLUSION 76 LETTERS FROM MS. CAMPBELL & MS. ISLAM TO THE CLASS 78 OUR SUGGESTIONS FOR IN-PERSON LEARNING 81 INSIDE THE PUBLICATION PROJECT CURRICULUM 94 826MICHIGAN GUIDING DOCUMENTS 98 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 100 ABOUT 826MICHIGAN 104 ADVICE TO FUTURE WRITERS 106 WRITE YOUR OWN LETTER! 111 ABOUT THE DESIGNER & ILLUSTRATOR
ALSO PUBLISHED BY 826MICHIGAN young authors book project Because No One Else Could Do It In Our Defense In the Clouds Over Ypsilanti A Moment to Remember Rare Air / Aire raro A Lantern of Fireflies Tell Me How It Was Where Is It Coming From? Enjoy! Recipes for Building Community All I Could Do Was Look Up: Anatomy of a Middle School What to Call the Place I Call Home: Voices of 26 Ypsilanti Middle School Students The Moons Were Jealous 2020: Visions of the [Near] Future Don’t Stay Up So Late How to Rise Or, I Put My Heart into the Close Tall Tales & True Stories Suddenly My Heart Stopped for Just a Small Portion of Time: Defining Moments
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OMNIBUS 826michigan OMNIBUS I 826michigan OMNIBUS II 826michigan OMNIBUS III 826michigan OMNIBUS IV 826michigan OMNIBUS V 826michigan OMNIBUS VI
826michigan OMNIBUS VII 826michigan OMNIBUS VIII 826michigan OMNIBUS IX 826michigan OMNIBUS X 826michigan OMNIBUS 11 826michigan OMNIBUS 12
an incomplete list of chapbooks 140-Character Fairy Tale Characters And I Did My Best And Suddenly, We Ran Into a Cliff of Gold Because Their Feet Will Be Wet, They Will Agree to the Monster’s Demands The Big Mess-Up and Other Stories The Big Treasure Should Be Gold Bon Temps Roulez! A Burning Forest, An Underground Castle, and a Misled Princess: The Papaya Problem Cats Came to the Dog Party Carrying Ourselves Across: The Art of Self-Translation Cinderella’s Bad Day, Prince Charming is a Monster, and Other Tragic Love Tales The Clouds Spell Detroit Colors Came Out Crazy Soup Cuando los robots atacan Don't Get Freaked Out, But I Am a Fifteen-Year-Old Vampire Deluxe: Tales from Two Tutoring Labs Detectives on the Case
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Introduction t h i s y e a r’ s you n g au t h o r s b o o k p r o j e c t — 826michigan’s annual classroom writing and publishing project partnership—began during a difficult year in which students, their teachers, and their families were working hard to adjust to learning in a virtual classroom. For students, this has meant practicing writing in their homes, with their siblings and family members and pets beside them. In this environment, it becomes even more clear that writing and learning, while shaped by the instruction that happens between student and teacher, are also dependent upon the space where pen hits paper, or finger hits keyboard, and the sounds and voices and memories that float through the rooms. We at 826michigan wanted to design a publication project that builds on the benefits of this space. At home, students have the opportunity to notice, attend to, think about, and imagine things they might not otherwise encounter in the classroom. What things are their younger siblings learning about? What do their parents or family members do during the day? What does their front yard look like at 1:15pm? For this project, we knew that we wanted to scaffold writing that would build on the skills local teachers were already working on with their students and, at the same time, offer young writers xii
a chance to think deeply about the things most pressing to them—and the things that might be more visible than ever to them in their new and diverse learning environments. So, when we asked Ms. Islam's third-grade class about the kinds of stories they most love to read, and most want to tell, we were struck and inspired by the many and unique interests and expertise students wanted to share with a wider audience. As The Book of Many Wisdoms: Adventure and Advice from Ms. Islam’s Third-Grade Class took shape, students told us about their wisdom, including all the people, experiences, and stories they have received it from, and who they wanted to help. Ms. Islam’s students were excited to think about the power and perspective young people have for solving complex problems. They show in this Book of Many Wisdoms examples of how young writers can have a say in important decisions that will impact not just their own futures, but the lives and futures of those they are writing their advice to. Through their writing, these students have demonstrated confidence and expertise to provide help to others during the most difficult of years! Rachel Cawkwell, Lauren Rudewicz, Naitnaphit Limlamai, & Catherine Calabro Cavin Young Authors Book Project Program Facilitators xiii
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MS. ISLAM'S THIRD-GRADE CLASS
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the book of many wisdoms
adventure and advice from ms. islam’s third-grade class
the book of many wisdoms
ONCE UPON A TIME,
there was a mall in Iceland. Inside the mall is a dollar store with walls that feel like marble. There is a forest half an hour away from the mall. In the forest, there is a pond, and a friendly blue and white fox named Lexi, and it smells good—like flowers! It is spring. Henry the lion cub is orange and blackish and has lots and lots of fur. Henry didn’t mean to end up in the forest. Actually, Henry lives in Detroit and belongs to a girl named Amy Bradford, who is seven. Henry likes to eat meat and vegetables and bugs, and he likes to run around a lot, but it is hard to run around in Detroit when you’re a baby lion! He wants to be able to explore the city, but he can’t do that because there is a huge gate keeping him from exploring. If he tries to jump over the gate, he might hurt himself. But one day, Henry wakes up in the forest that smells good, in Iceland, with the pond and the friendly blue and white fox, Lexi. Even though Henry wanted to explore, he didn’t want to explore so far away from home, and he misses Amy! What will he do? Jax the human is an athlete who lives in a mansion in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He is the oldest of many siblings and has lots of friends. He likes to run around Baton Rouge in his Gucci
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adventure and advice from ms. islam’s third-grade class
joggers and flashy hot pink running shoes. One day, while Jax is on a run, he runs right into the forest that smells good, in Iceland, with the pond and the friendly blue and white fox. He’s so surprised that he trips over a log, and that’s when he meets Henry the lion, just chillin’ with Lexi! Henry, Lexi, and Jax feel confused, but they decide to go deeper into the forest together to find a way to get back home. They can hear hawks and eagles hunting, and birds singing, and crickets chirping, and bees buzzing, and even disgusting flies. The sun is shining and it’s getting hot. It feels good, but everyone is getting a little sweaty. Soon, they walk up to a tree so big and tall that they can’t see behind it. Up in the tree, it looks like there’s a moving, twinkling light. They follow the light, and it stops at a pile of leaves and sticks at the bottom of the tree. It looks like there's something under there. Lexi and Henry smell something under the leaves and sticks too! Jax thinks they should start digging where the twinkling light stops, and they find a book hidden under leaves and sticks! When they open the book, a fairy flies out of it. She tells Jax, Lexi, and Henry that they have found a magical book of advice. This book is magical because it provides advice exactly for whoever is reading it! "Turn the page and see for yourself," the fairy says. Jax looks at the book, then at Henry, then at Lexi, then back at the book. Everyone takes one deep breath, and Jax turns the page . . . 3
the book of many wisdoms
OUR ADVICE TO JAX, HENRY, AND LEXI
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adventure and advice from ms. islam’s third-grade class
Dear Jax, Henry, and Lexi, You can all use your strengths to try and get home. It might be dark in the forest, and there may be a lot of paths to choose between. But if you keep going forward, hopefully you will find the ocean. Once you do, you will need a boat. Try to take the boat to get back to the U.S.A. If you keep reading, you can dig deeper and get advice on more than you could ever imagine! From, Ms. Islam's Third-Grade Class
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KAHRON ALI-HALMON AGE 8
About Kahron My name is Kahron. The best advice I ever received was from my dad, my mom, and my grandma. The advice was to never give up on what you want to be. This advice was the best because it’s something that if I keep falling and can’t do something, it touches me and helps me keep going. When I heard that, I wanted to cry, but I wanted to keep trying. I think this is important for anybody.
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adventure and advice from ms. islam’s third-grade class
Advice from Kahron Dear Reader, My name is Kahron, and I want to help you help your family. I think my advice will be helpful because I’m very good at helping my family. I help my family fix things, clean my room, clean the dishes, and wipe the walls. It started when I was playing a game. My mom had left for work, and I didn’t remember to clean up, so she told me this long story about if you don’t clean up, you’ll just be dirty and stuff, and there will be, like, rats and stuff and mice in my room. That just gave me the shivers. I would give advice to do it without your parents telling you to do it because they will be proud of you. I would just be distracted because I would want to do something in a game, and I would want to do it because I’m bored, I want something to do, I want something from my parents, or I want to make them proud. One time, I was playing a game with my friends and there was this new thing I wanted, and I thought, What would my mom want me to do? I cleaned up my room, cleaned up the shower, made my bed and stuff. She worked late, got home, and she was all tired and stuff, and I got my stuff. If you ever just clean up without anyone telling you, it will make you feel better, and it will make anyone who wants you to do it feel better, especially your mom because she works late at night. I remember one time I did it, I almost cried because my mom cried. As you can see, I have a lot of wisdom to share with you! From, Kahron 7
the book of many wisdoms
GAVIN BRADY AGE 8
About Gavin One time I got good advice was from my mom. I did not understand if pm was night to afternoon or if it was afternoon to morning. It’s crazy, but she explained everything. She said . . . 12:00AM (midnight) to 11:59AM is morning. Then she said . . . pm is 12:00pM (noon when my lunch is over) to 11:59pM. GREAT ADVICE!
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adventure and advice from ms. islam’s third-grade class
Advice from Gavin Dear Cousin Jimmy, Hi, my name is Gavin, and I want to help you with multiplication and subtraction. We are going to be learning some math. You should trust me because I have done a lot of math during school. I really like math. You learn, have fun, and do a lot of things. You do a lot of your favorite things in school. Recess is my second favorite thing to do in school. I can help you solve 6x12. I can help you read a clock. The one hand is near the 10 and the other hand is at the 30, so it is 9:30. I really love math, and these are the reasons why. We have a lot of cool problems like 9x5=45 and multiplication tests. We learn a lot of stuff, cool stuff like 11x12=132. Math is my life. Literally sometimes I do math if no one is around because I like to show my feelings with math. From, Gavin
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the book of many wisdoms
ANDREW CHRISTMAS IV AGE 8
About Andrew My name is Andrew. The best advice I ever had was from my dad, and the advice was: don’t jump around too much because you might get hurt. And that was the best advice I ever had because if you jump around, you might lose your balance and get hurt.
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adventure and advice from ms. islam’s third-grade class
Advice from Andrew Dear Dad, My name is Andrew. I want to help you with your problem. The problem is you think the computer is cheating at games when you play basketball and GTA (Grand Theft Auto). I know my advice will be helpful because I play too, but I have to restart every time because the computer is cheating. I think the people who made the game want the game to be challenging. My advice is that you can try again. Sometimes, I pause the game to give myself more time to find out what to do. If you get mad, cry in the pillow because that’s what I do. Usually, I turn the game off, watch TV, eat something, and go to bed. Then I am shy and don’t say one word. I would talk to people who feel how I feel. Like, if I play chess and talk to someone who plays chess, they know what I’m talking about. As you can see, I have a lot of wisdom to share with you! From, Andrew
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the book of many wisdoms
KARTER CONNER AGE 9
About Karter My name is Karter Conner, and the best advice I have ever received was from my friend in kindergarten. The advice was to believe in yourself. This was the best advice I’ve ever received because it helped me to believe in myself. The both of us were getting bullied. We were sitting down, just chilling on the slide, not the part where you go down the slide. Somebody had just walked up and said some mean stuff about us. I didn’t really like that. So before I was getting too nuts to the point where it was going to be a fight, my friend said, “Don’t worry about it, let’s just go somewhere else.” And we did. And then at the end of class, the guy came back up to us again, and he said mean stuff about us again, and we got mad again. And my friend said, “Don’t let him take advantage of your feelings.” The advice was to not let people take advantage of your feelings.
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adventure and advice from ms. islam’s third-grade class
Advice from Karter Dear Savannah, My name is Karter Conner, and I want to help you with your problem: learning how to do a cartwheel. I think my advice would be helpful, because I taught myself how to do parkour, like jumping over fences and pool tables. I taught myself how to backflip off of a hoverboard. I’m good at doing cartwheels because I both had a trampoline and used to go to karate class. I actually learned how to do a cartwheel in karate class before I got the trampoline, and I had forgotten how to do it, so when I stopped doing karate classes, I asked my dad for a trampoline one day. He bought it for me, and I started practicing cartwheels and other flips on the trampoline. The first step is the only thing that you’re afraid of, which is trying to lean over and have your hand catch you so you don’t fall on your head. You’re afraid of doing that because you think you might fall over and hurt your head and stuff. My advice would be to practice leaning over. You’re not supposed to do a full cartwheel, just practice leaning over with whichever side you’re going to be on. It’s like falling over and catching yourself with whatever hand you’re leaning over with. When you’re leaning over, and while you’re leaning over, you’re going to try to keep your legs straight without having them bent. That’s important because if you don’t have your legs straight, then you won’t land the right way. You’ll just end up falling down, so you always have to have your legs straight when doing a cartwheel. From, Karter 13
the book of many wisdoms
BROOKLYN CUNNINGHAM AGE 8
About Brooklyn My name is Brooklyn. The best advice I ever received was from my mom. She teaches me how to do hard work and spell words. She says to sound them out. I say the whole word. I cover up a letter, and it’s the word I know.
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adventure and advice from ms. islam’s third-grade class
Advice from Brooklyn Dear Readers, I hope you enjoy this story of my life and learn how to love each other and to never give up on your school and your work. I help a lot around the house. I clean up a lot. I love my whole entire family. I help my little brother with his math homework. My mommy helps him too. I want him to learn because he doesn’t know a lot of stuff, and he does school every day. I do a lot of schoolwork, and I work really hard on it because sometimes it’s hard for me to do math and writing. I’m working on my math. I really love my life. It’s the best life I’ve ever had. My brothers, my mom, my sisters, and dad have helped me a lot, and I’m grateful for that. We go places and play outside. I play with my brothers a lot, and we love each other. Sometimes my brothers are mean to me, but I forgive them when they say sorry. My whole entire family has shown me how to be a good big sister. My two big sisters Brittany and Breanna teach me math, how to read, and how to do workbooks. From, Brooklyn
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the book of many wisdoms
JACE DAVIS AGE 8
About Jace The best advice I ever got is: whenever you’re going somewhere very dangerous, you have to make sure you look through every dangerous part where you walk so you make sure you’re safe. The person who gave me that advice was my dad. One thing someone—Virgil, my best friend—told me: he said he’ll always be my best friend. He said that people will always be best friends forever. He said they won’t leave each other until they probably get in an argument. To get out of arguments, you got to stop arguing back with them.
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adventure and advice from ms. islam’s third-grade class
Advice from Jace Dear Virgil, My name is Jace and I’m here to support you when you need help, to tell you some advice about how to stay out of danger spots and not try to just run. So make sure you stay away from alleyways, and make sure you look some ways before you go anywhere to make sure you don’t get hurt. I got all this from my father. I’m here to support you with anything and to help you with anything you need to stay away from dangerous things. So whenever you want to go somewhere, you are good! From, Jace
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the book of many wisdoms
GODDESS DONALDSON AGE 8
About Goddess My name is Goddess, and I’m eight years old. The best advice I’ve ever received was from my mom and my dad. The advice was to never trust strangers. It was the best advice I’ve received because some people like to kidnap kids, and kids don’t do anything to deserve getting kidnapped. I’d never want to get kidnapped!
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adventure and advice from ms. islam’s third-grade class
Advice from Goddess Dear Reader, My name is Goddess, and I want to help you with your problem of jumping in the water and kicking your feet while swimming! I think my advice will be helpful because I’m very good at doing backflips underwater! I can tell I’m good at doing backflips underwater because I have done it plenty of times. In fact, I know different ways to jump into the water and kick your feet while swimming. When you kick your feet underwater, you need to relax your body. I also know a lot about diving in the water. I learned about diving when I went to swimming lessons on Saturdays and Sundays. Sometimes, I would go to the pool on days off from school. You shouldn’t go swimming in the wintertime because it would be too cold, and there would be snow outside. As you can see, I have a lot of wisdom that I want to share with you! From, Goddess
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the book of many wisdoms
LAYLA EILAND AGE 9
About LayLa My name is LayLa. The best advice I’ve ever received was from my mom. The advice was not to give up or not to be afraid. That was my advice. So whoever reads this story, never give up on your dreams and hopes. It was the best advice I ever received because I would give up sometimes, and my mom’s advice was not to give up on my dreams, so she was helping me with a lot of stuff. Then I started to do stuff on my own.
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adventure and advice from ms. islam’s third-grade class
Advice from LayLa Dear Reader, I would share advice with my cousin and my friend. I would tell them never to give up. My cousin gave up on her multiplication homework, and I told her not to give up on it. She took my advice and got her homework done. She was very happy to get my advice and to get her homework done. It felt good to be able to help my cousin. I gave my friend advice about reading books. She was having trouble reading. I told her not to give up and to keep trying to read. From, LayLa
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the book of many wisdoms
AIDEN FERGUSON AGE 9
About Aiden My name is Aiden. The best advice I’ve ever received was from my grandfather. When I fall it hurts a lot, so I use this advice that I got from my grandfather, which was to suck it up until you can let the pain out. It was the best advice I’ve received because it helped me control my own emotions.
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adventure and advice from ms. islam’s third-grade class
Advice from Aiden Dear Reader, My name is Aiden, and I would like to help you with your problem: you can’t control your emotions. I think my advice would be helpful because I am very good at controlling my emotions. I also know a lot about emotions because my mom is a very emotional person. I learned about controlling my emotions when my grandfather passed. I experience a lot of pain because I’m always outside, like when I’m riding my bike or skating. When I fall, it hurts a lot. I use this trick my grandfather used because he got hit a lot by older siblings. His advice was “consume the pain.” It means for me to keep it in when you can’t let it out. Suck up the pain until you can let it out alone. Take a cry and then hold it in. I think it will make your day way better. Try it and see if it will work out. From, Aiden
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the book of many wisdoms
WHERE WE GET OUR WISDOM . . . • From our own experience • Talking to our family members (mom, dad, brother, sister, grandparents, & caretakers) • Ms. Islam • Coaches • Reading
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adventure and advice from ms. islam’s third-grade class
Our Advice to Lexi Dear Lexi, When I meet new people, I am sometimes excited. If you are excited, maybe you and your new friends can hunt for treasure where X marks the spot. But also, sometimes I feel shy meeting new people. I was nervous the first day of school because everyone wanted to know how I was, and I thought I might make a mistake. When I feel nervous, I take deep breaths or talk to a teacher about how I feel. If you don’t have a teacher to talk to, you can talk to your parents about how you’re feeling. I know you want to help your new friends with their problems. One time, I made a new friend who was feeling sad, and I didn’t know how to help. I played with him, and that helped him feel better. Since your friends are missing their family, you could lend them a phone to call home or buy them a plane ticket. If you can’t do that, you can maybe make them feel better by going on an adventure together to look for treasure. From, Ms. Islam's Third-Grade Class
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the book of many wisdoms
CAIDEN FORTUNE AGE 9
About Caiden The best advice I ever received was from my mom. The advice was to become a basketball player. I use this advice because the first time I saw this, it seemed easy to do.
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adventure and advice from ms. islam’s third-grade class
Advice from Caiden Dear Cam, My name is Caiden, and I want to help you with your problem of teaching you how to shoot in basketball. I think my advice will be helpful because I think that some people want to make it to the NBA and be the champion. You can tell I’m good at playing basketball because my dad helped me to get my jumper. He was the first one who made me want to play basketball. I also know a lot about picking low. This is when it’s two people on you. You can send the center to send him back. So when one person is trying to get the ball, you can tell the center to come here and block him. I learned about picking low when I was still eight. That was when I was playing with my friend Dominick. As you can see, I have a lot of wisdom to share with you! From, Caiden
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the book of many wisdoms
ZYIR GLENN AGE 9
About Zyir My name is Zyir and I am nine years old. The best advice I received was from my mom. The advice was to not talk to strangers and if something’s hard, don’t give up and keep trying. I use this advice that I got from my mom when I’m doing homework or when I’m reading a book and can’t figure out that word. I don’t give up and keep trying to do homework and get the word. The only other advice I have for our readers is to not watch rated-R movies unless you like to be scared, and don’t talk to strangers.
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adventure and advice from ms. islam’s third-grade class
Advice from Zyir Dear Reader, My name is Zyir, and I want to help you with your problem of doubting yourself. My advice is that if you’re ever in a struggle, you can either ask someone for help or think of a way to get out of it. Always believe in yourself and don’t give up. I think my advice will be helpful because I can cheer someone up so they can believe in themselves again and not give up on their dream in the future. When I was over at my little cousin’s house, she was struggling with her homework. I helped her. Then she didn’t want help anymore, so I said, “Do your best and never give up so you can go places and get your future dream job.” She said, “Thank you!” and got back to doing her homework. I have a lot of wisdom to share with you! From, Zyir
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the book of many wisdoms
VIRGIL GRAYSON III AGE 9
About Virgil My name is Virgil Lee Grayson III. The best advice I ever received was from my dad. The advice was to go to school and get a good scholarship because if you get a good scholarship, you can do a lot of stuff. You can get a good scholarship by studying a lot and paying attention in all of your classes and in gym too.
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adventure and advice from ms. islam’s third-grade class
Advice from Virgil Dear Reader, My name is Virgil. The advice I can give you is for when you’re lost somewhere. I got lost in stores a lot. I would give the advice to look around for people who you think would help you, and ask if they can help you find whoever took you to the store or is at the store with you. You can look around to see who is not busy buying stuff or just ask a worker. Workers will most likely have a uniform or a badge showing the store logo on it. I think my advice will be helpful because I’ve gotten lost in stores a lot. One time I got lost at the store and I couldn’t find my mom. I found an old man and I asked him for help, and we looked around the store until we found my mom. As you can see, I have a lot of wisdom to share with you! From, Virgil
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TAUREZ HATCHETT, JR. AGE 8
About Taurez My name is Taurez Hatchett, Jr. The best advice I ever received was to go up with older kids in football. My old 8U coach told me this advice. It was good advice for me to go up so I can learn new things, and I could get stronger and play with older kids.
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Advice from Taurez Dear Reader, Today I want the students to be back at my school because you can see your teachers. I know you see your teachers in virtual reality school, but you want to see how tall your teacher is or how short your teacher is. You might only have two teachers in virtual reality schools, and you might have more. And your teachers are the reasons why you get better at your reading, spelling, and more. Other things too, like your classmates help with your work. They can help you to add on to your stuff, and they add on to your work, and you can add on to theirs. Second graders were coming to your class to ask questions about your work. You can tell them the stuff you have learned over the school year because they will be in the same grade you are in in a couple of years or so. Another reason to be back in school: recess to keep our bodies motivated. Recess is the only time to play with your classmates because when you’re not outside you can’t play. You just have to pay attention. I might be the person who says this advice, but I’m sure most of my classmates want it to happen too. People will listen to me because I have been inside the school before and you have not, and most people don’t know that. They might listen to you, and they might not listen to you. Thank you for reading my story. Sincerely, Taurez Hatchett, Jr. 33
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DEMARCO HAWKINS II AGE 9
About Demarco My name is Demarco. The best advice I’ve ever received was from my dad. The advice was how to do karate. It was the best advice because our parents will teach us. I practice how to do karate every day with my father.
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Advice from Demarco Dear Reader, You have to practice karate every day if you want to learn. Uncle Kenni is my karate teacher. I do karate on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. A lot of karate was difficult when I learned it. I need to practice it at home. If you want to learn karate, you should practice at home, too. Both boys and girls can learn karate. Adults can learn it, too. I have a lot of favorite things I like to do in karate, like using tools to twist. When I was young I didn’t know about karate, but everyone can learn about it. I always listen to my karate teacher. Even when I mess up, sometimes we just laugh. If you mess up, you can try again! From, Demarco
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KAMERON HAYES AGE 8
About Kameron My name is Kameron. I receive a lot of advice from my older siblings. I also get advice from YouTube videos about playing the drums. They help me learn what not to do when I play.
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Advice from Kameron Dear Reader, My name is Kameron, and I want to help you with your problem of poking your eyes sometimes when you’re playing the drums. I think my advice will be helpful because I’m very good at playing the drums. You can tell I’m good at playing the drums because I started playing when I was five. When you’re playing the drums, you should keep the drumsticks away from your head so you don’t poke yourself in the eye. I learned how to play drums and not poke myself in the eye by myself. I also know a lot about ELA and basketball. As you can see, I have a lot of wisdom to share with you! From, Kameron
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JAMARI JENKINS AGE 9
About Jamari The best advice I ever received was from my mom and dad. They both want me to succeed. My mom gives me advice about school, and my dad gives me advice about school and football. My dad tells me to go to school so that I can follow my dreams. In football he tells me to keep my head up. My mom wants me to succeed in school and go to college. If I want to play football, I will need to be going to school. My mom and my dad said that if I want to be on the football field, I need to be in class also. My dad asked me if I wanted to play football, because my cousins play football. I have been playing since 2016 or 2017. I have been trying to keep my grades up so I can play football. I like football because it’s like an exercise, and the more I do it the faster and stronger I get.
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Advice from Jamari Dear Reader, My name is Jamari, and I want to help you with your problem. I am a new fourth grader, and to help you with your problem I want to have hand sanitizer at the door of our school so that when we come in, we can sanitize our hands. If we go back to school, we will need stuff like that so we don’t get sick from the coronavirus. We will definitely need more masks at the door so we can keep the mask we have in our pockets. We should also have extra rags and lots of soap at the sinks so that we don’t run out. We can be more careful. From, Jamari
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SANIAH MADDOX AGE 10
About Saniah Hi, my name is Saniah. I like the sun and also the snow. I have three cousins, and I have one sister. Me and my cousin like to play outside and climb trees. When I needed help, my mom had to help me because my leg was hurt. I was climbing a tree and one of the branches fell. I fell from the back and sprained my ankle. My mom said “Are you OK?” I said “No.” She picked me up and took me to the hospital. My ankle was sprained, so I had to get a brace. I ended up getting my brace off, and I never climbed a tree again.
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Advice from Saniah Dear Reader, Hi, my name is Saniah, and I want to help you with your problems to help with learning. I’m very good at math. I also know a lot about games. I learned about this when I listened in class, as you see. I help when I want to. I have wisdom I want to share. Reading helps you learn. When you are having a hard time learning, you can ask someone to help you. I ask my family members for help. Sometimes they always have the answers, but I have to solve it before I ask them. I can do times tables and division, like 5x5=25. When I get them wrong, I have to redo them over again. To practice, you should write them five times again. I hope you enjoyed this lesson! From, Saniah
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RAYNE MANLEY AGE 8
About Rayne My name is Rayne, and I’m eight years old. The best advice I’ve ever received was from my mom, and that advice was to believe in yourself. This was the best advice I’ve ever received because it helped me to believe in myself. One time, someone was messing with me, and I had to believe in myself.
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Advice from Rayne Dear Skylar, My name is Rayne, and I want to help you with math so you can become good at math just like I was and so you can pass your grades. I think my advice will be helpful because I am very good at math. I also know a lot about math. I learned about math when I was in kindergarten. As you can see, I know a lot about math. How I know I am good at math is most times I get 100% on my exit tickets. I got good at math by practicing: by writing the equations and writing them down a bunch of times so they get stuck in your head. I like multiplication. I like to write the equations and arrays to figure out the problems. Sometimes I draw squares with dots inside for each number. From, Rayne
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ANIYA PORTER AGE 8
About Aniya The best advice I ever received is from myself for choosing what color I should get for my nails: blue.
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Advice from Aniya Dear Community, My name is Aniya, and I want to help you with your problem of littering. Littering is a problem that needs to stop. We have a chance to help our community. Let’s take a stand and help. Every day after school, we can pick up trash from the community. You’ll need some tools, gloves, and a trash bag. Every time I go out, I see trash on the floor or roads, and I know it needs to stop. There is a lot of litter in the sea, and there are endangered animals, so we shouldn’t go to the ocean every day, but we should go there every week. The world would be much safer and would look much nicer without the litter. From, Aniya
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MILES RAWLINGS AGE 8
About Miles The best advice I’ve ever received was when I was over at my cousin’s house, and he helped me learn how to play a game. I spent a lot of time working on this book, and I hope you enjoy it. People should really keep using their imagination if they want to succeed in writing books and making video games.
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Advice from Miles Dear Janitor, Hey, my name is Miles, and I want to help with your problem of getting stuck in the janitor’s room, janitor. I think my advice will be helpful because I’m very good at solving problems. You can tell I’m good at solving problems because I’m a detective. I also know a lot about being in problems. I learned about your problem while I was in kindergarten. As you can see, I have a lot of wisdom I want to share with you. Just imagine you have a bunch of space, and call for help and use your phone to ask your relatives for help. And trust me, I have been in a lot of closed spaces. If there is a vent that you think you can fit through, and you know the school by the back of your hand, you should go through it. But if you don’t know, then don’t use it because then you could get really hot, really cold, or sick. If you feel like the walls are closing in on you, push and you will see reality. The best advice I have given was teaching my sister how to walk. I told her, “One foot in front of the other, and keep it steady.” She can barely understand me, but I had to help her walk. So I kept trying, but then I had to help her learn how to talk. It helped make her strong, and because it made her strong, I hope my advice makes you strong and can help you get out of the janitor’s closet. From, Miles 47
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OUR ADVICE TO HENRY
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Dear Henry, When you don’t have room to move around, think about this: we have been in situations like this before (like when we were doing an escape room with our cousins). It was in a little small cabin, and we had to go back and forth. You can have a small space, but it can feel like a big space if you keep walking around in different areas. You won’t be so squished. If you are lost, pay attention to where your home was (the woods), and think about how you got where you are now. You can retrace your steps. Be careful to not wander near a zoo because you could get caught. Call out for Amy or your mom for help. If you can’t find them, try sniffing them out. When you are sleeping, you can think about your problems, and you will solve them in your sleep! Ms. Islam says you can solve problems with math: you can count all the places you can go. If you have three places, you can go to them twice: that’s like six places! From, Mrs. Islam's Third-Grade Class
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OUR PLAYGROUND ADVICE
Dear Class, Help! I want to make a playground that helps people feel happier and have more fun when they play on it. How do I make a playground? What should I put in my playground to make people who use it happier? From, Lauren
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Dear Lauren, You should try to . . . • Have a bounce house! • Have a pool! • Make it outside in the backyard! • Include a chalkboard for drawing and a big bucket of chalk! • Make it next to water, like the ocean! • Make it like a waterpark without water! • Have slides (some with water) and swings! • Start by digging, then put in cement! • Ask a construction worker to help with the dirty work! • Make it like a gymnastics gym! • Have a rock climbing wall! • Make sure the ground isn’t hard (use wood chips)! • Have a ball pit with colorful balls inside! • Add parkour stuff and a juice bar! • Put a maze and a really long slide! • Have an ice cream booth with strawberry, vanilla, and mint ice cream. Don’t forget toppings, too! From, Ms. Islam's Third-Grade Class
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AZ REED AGE 8
About Az My name is Az. The best advice I’ve ever received was from my dad. The advice was: ask for help. It was the best advice I’ve ever received because my dad is nice. I think my dad is smart because he always says, “I’ll get some food,” and I always listen to him. So I love Daddy.
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Advice from Az Dear Everyone, My name is Az, and I want to help you with your problem: getting started with Minecraft and the Sonic game. I think my advice will be helpful because I’m very good at advice. I can tell I’m good at Minecraft and the Sonic game because I want you to play the Sonic game. I love Minecraft. I play it a lot. I always use the Xbox and my computer. I would recommend that you use your laptop. I also know a lot about the Sonic game. I learned about jumping when I have to run in the Sonic game. To jump, you hit the space button. As you can see, I have a lot of wisdom I want to share with you. From, Az
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JORDYN ROBERTS AGE 8
About Jordyn My name is Jordyn Roberts, and the best advice I ever received was from my mom. The advice was to make tasty foods, and it was the best advice I ever received because I always wanted to learn how to make these tasty things like mac and cheese.
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Advice from Jordyn Dear Reader, My name is Jordyn. I think my advice will be helpful because I’m very good at cooking and making tasty things. I take advice from my mom. She taught me everything I know, and now I can make all sorts of yummy things. I’m writing this letter because if someone likes to be a chef, my advice to give is so much information. I know all of the steps to making tasty things. My favorite thing to do now is to make yummy things. As I mentioned before, I got advice from my mom, and now I love to make these things. The advice is the steps to making your cupcakes perfectly. Those steps are like: first you need all the ingredients, like the eggs, milk, sugar if you like to add some, frosting, sprinkles, cupcake mix. And you can add some decorations. You can add candies to it, like a cherry or blueberries or nothing at all. The steps to making pizza are to get the pizza sauce and the pizza cheese. If you like veggies, you can have veggies. If you like meat, you can have meat—anything you like on your pizza. And most of all, the pizza dough. So the best part about pizza could be the crust, sauce, cheese, or toppings. So the key thing to making all the foods tasty is like, it could be the toppings to pizza, it could be the toppings to cupcakes, it could be the milk to cupcakes, it could be the sauce to pizza, it could be nothing at all. You can add the key ingredient a certain way, so there’s a certain way to make it tasty to how you like it. Thank you for reading this advice letter on making tasty things. From, Jordyn 55
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LANIA SHAMILY AGE 9
About LaNia My name is LaNia, and the best advice that I ever received was from my mom. The advice I received was about handstands. It was the best advice I received because I had a problem with doing handstands. The advice that she told me was: work on a wall. Then as you get better on the wall, you need to start doing it by yourself. I have more advice about another flip: a cartwheel. Actually, my gymnastics teacher taught me how to do it, and I was happy because I could never flip. I saw all my other friends do a cartwheel, and I couldn’t do it. Now I can. She told me to just act like I was doing a jumping jack and just go over. I like to clean, but I don’t do it often. My two favorite colors are all the neon colors and black. When I’m bored, I practice my twelves in math—usually in my head, not aloud. I play basketball, and I use my closet door to bounce it against so I can practice. It can also be nice to look outside and watch the birds fly by.
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Advice from LaNia Dear Reader, My name is LaNia, and I can help you with your problem of having crazy dreams. I think my advice will help you because I have crazy dreams, but I get over it and calm myself down. Then I have a nice dream. One thing you can do is stay calm and think about nice things. I do like scary things, but also I don’t. So, what I think about are hearts, unicorns, butterflies, waterfalls, rainbows, and all that. The second thing you can do if one doesn’t work is just wait to see what will happen in the dream. Last night I had a dream that everything was going wrong, and then two minutes later I was having a surprise party with my family. Another thing you can also do is wake up and watch a show, video, or movie. A few movies are cartoons. My favorite movie right now is Sister Sister. They are so nice. It’s very kid-friendly. It also gives me very nice vibes because it also teaches me a few things about life. When I was younger, I watched a TV show. It was someone having a bad dream, and they were thinking about good things. The good things were floating by, like they filled up the whole screen, and I thought, that’s smart. Another thing you can do is to walk around the house and think about good things before you go to sleep. The last thing you can do is wake up and go back to sleep. You will probably have a great dream. I hope these things can help you, and thank you for listening! From, LaNia 57
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ANGEL SHIRLEE AGE 9
About Angel The best advice I got was from my grandma. At the time, I was sad because I have issues with my stomach. She made me happy by telling me it’s OK and everything’s going to be better. She told me that God is going to be with me. She tells me to sit down, and she gives me some water. So that’s the best advice that I wrote down.
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Advice from Angel Dear Timothy, my baby cousin, My name is Angel, and I want to give you advice about how to help people. I want to help you with your problem to be better at this. Like we can help them feel better when they’re down. I think my advice will be helpful because I’m very good at being nice and giving advice. I can tell I’m good at it because I gave advice before. We can make pictures to show how we feel when people are sad. Sometimes when I’m sad, I like to paint because I like painting. When you’re sad, you can do an activity to start being happy. I listen to the song “Better” when I’m dancing. Painting and making pictures are both art. When I’m hurt, my sister Noelle helps me, and she tells me the same things my grandma tells me. She likes to do activities with me. I can do better in school to make my parents happy because they have been sad. I think I should help because without nice people, everyone would be mad and down. So I want to do the opposite and be nice. I want to make it better when sometimes everybody is arguing because it’s sad. I don’t like when people argue. From, Angel
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ROBERT SMITH AGE 9
About Robert My name is Robert and I’m nine years old. The best advice I ever got was from TV from Dhar Mann. He said we should treat other people like you want to be treated. It was the best advice because it applies to every day and to the future.
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Advice from Robert Dear Miss Jenkins, My name is Robert, and I want to help you with your problem of a flat bike tire. I have been fixing flat bike tires in my complex. I have a list of customers. I am also offering my services of fixing your bike tires to you and your complex. I taught myself how to fix bike tires by watching people do it multiple times. You really have to put force into changing a bike tire. You have to be strong to change a bike tire. You also need special tools like a screwdriver. It’s going to take about an hour. From, Robert
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SILVIA STELLA AGE 8
About Silvia My name is Silvia. My best advice is from my parents. They show me how to do stuff that I don’t know how to do. I like it when they give me this kind of advice because it helps me learn more things.
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Advice from Silvia Dear Reader, My name is Silvia, and I’d like to give you advice for a problem: global warming. I think my advice would be useful because I have helpful information. I can tell I have helpful information because global warming is a real problem, and if people don’t act fast, it’ll be a bigger problem. I’m also interested in reducing plastic waste. One way to slow down global warming is to stop using fossil-fuel-powered tools such as fossil-fuel-powered stoves, fossil-fuel-powered fireplaces, fossil-fuel-powered cars, and start to use electric stoves, electric cars, and use fireplaces that don’t use fossil fuels. I think that once you stop using fossil-fuel-powered tools, you can start to try a new way of helping the environment called reducing plastic waste. One way is to stop using plastic bags and start using reusable bags because when people come to think about plastic bags, there are a lot of them. And they can be bad for the environment because they can injure wildlife, mostly sea turtles. From, Silvia
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PARKER TOMLIN AGE 8
About Parker The best advice I got was when my mom let me pick what colors I was going to put on my wall. I was going to go with a dark purple and burgundy red. I’m a bright person, but I like dark colors. My mommy was like, “You should get this nice pink. It’s not too light and it’s not too dark. And this green.” And it really made my room brighter and better. She has really good advice.
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Advice from Parker Dear Sheridan, My name is Parker. I want to help you with your problem with singing. I think my advice will be helpful. Maybe you can use this advice to teach your sister because you are a great sister. I’m very good at singing. I can tell I’m good at singing because my mom said I am good. You need to sing from your stomach. I am also good at doing therapy. I helped my neighbor who didn’t feel confident about himself. You can book me on every other Friday afternoon from 1:30 to about 2:00. From, Parker
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SHERIDAN TYLER AGE 8
About Sheridan My name is Sheridan. I received the best advice from my mom: always believe you can do it. My mom told me to close my eyes, imagine doing something, and then do it. That is how I did my back handspring.
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Advice from Sheridan Dear Dad, My name is Sheridan, and I want to help you with your dancing problem. I think you need my advice because I am very good at it. I am also sad that you tried to do the floss. It was so embarrassing. Don’t try it again without me teaching you. I have known a lot about dancing for about three years. When I saw you, I said: “I got a mission.” And wear cool clothes and outfits that fit. Step one, put your fist down. And wait. Put your hands down and make a fist. And swing between your waist, then try to go faster. And faster. Second step, good. Always believe that you can do your best. Good job believing in yourself. Give yourself confidence. You got it. Great progress. Bye. Love, Sheridan
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PARIS WILLIAMS AGE 8
About Paris My best advice is to do a great job, like 100%, on your work. The first time someone told me this was Papa (my grandpa). I gave 100% on my math test, I think. I got my wisdom from Nana and Papa’s house. I like to eat lasagna, pizza rolls, pizza, french fries, chicken wings from White Castle, and chicken nuggets from Wendy’s and McDonald’s. I like Wendy’s burger that they make at breakfast time, and my favorite things to play are Minecraft Bed Wars and Minecraft. I also like to play Blockman Go. I like to read Dog Man books.
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Advice from Paris Dear Reader, My name is Paris, and I want to help you with your problem, succeeding in Minecraft Bed Wars. I think my advice will be helpful because I won a lot of games on Minecraft. You can tell I’m good at Minecraft Bed Wars because I always play it, and people sometimes see me do it. I also know a lot about Minecraft Survival Mode because I got a bunch of diamonds. This advice could help anyone who knows how to play Minecraft. The Minecraft players have to build a house while I go on creative mode so I can grab some ender pearls because I can’t jump for some reason. The person who was playing with me would be able to fly, but I can’t fly because I can’t jump. At least I can just sit there and watch them build the house. If they’re going to build the house, they’re going to make the carpet pattern blue and whatever they like. I learned about Minecraft when my mom got me an Xbox. When my mom got me an Xbox, it made me feel happy, and then my papa got me a Nintendo. As you can see, I have a lot of wisdom to share with you! From, Paris 69
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PIERRE WILLIAMS AGE 8
About Pierre My first piece of advice is to try your best. I learned it from my grandpa, Papa. I am still working on my skills. I couldn’t make this possible without my papa. This advice is important to me because if I try my best, I won’t get stressed when I’m doing my work. I like to help people, my mom, my grandma and grandpa. I am also thinking about my grandmother, because she passed away. Families could know each other better. People could have the same thinking and get to know each other.
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Advice from Pierre Dear Reader, My name is Pierre, and I want to help you with your problem by encouraging you. I can help with Brawlhalla and Super Smash Bros. You might not know strategies to use. They are fun games. You can play Super Smash Bros. on Nintendo or Brawlhalla on Xbox. I think my advice will be helpful because I’m really good at playing video games because I practice. I’m good at playing chess also. I’m sometimes bad at it, but I win more than Paris does. You can tell I’m good at Super Smash Bros. because I play against my brother, my friends, and my mom’s friend’s daughter, Tamara. We even made her a skin. There is a new character named Steve, and there is one thing that I haven’t known about this character King K. Rool. King K. Rool looks like a frog because he has green skin. I learned about frogs and other things when I was in ELA. First, we learned about tree frogs. Second, we learned about glass frogs, and we learned about the bullfrog. My favorite is the bullfrog because it can eat anything that fits in its mouth. It can fit mice and bugs in its mouth. I’ll give you some tips. If you play Samus, you need to hold the down button to use the super beam. As you can see, I have a lot of wisdom to share with you! From, Pierre 71
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OUR ADVICE TO JAX
adventure and advice from ms. islam’s third-grade class Dear Jax, I want to help you with your problems of being hurt, lost, and missing your family. To help with your hurt foot, you can use items in the forest to help with your injury. You can use leaves for bandages. If the leaves don't stick, you can use sap from the trees to stick it on. If you feel pain, maybe you should sit down and relax. Drink a huge, cold cup of water and watch some TV. I can also help you find your way home. You and your new friends can go in one straight path until you find water. You can make a raft and paddle to a nearby island. If you don't find any islands, you can try to paddle to America. If you can't find water, climb up a big tree and look around. You can also retrace your steps. If you work with Henry, he can sniff out your footsteps! You can also try to scream for help and run until you see a place that is familiar. Back in the U.S., you can talk to the police in downtown Detroit to track down Amy's address. Then they can help you get on an airplane to fly back to Louisiana. In case you stay in the forest longer, you can use leaves as a bed. You could build a treehouse out of tree stumps. You can eat fruits, veggies, berries, and bark. Wash them with water and dry them with leaves. The food will be safer that way. If you miss your family, you should remember that soon you'll be able to find them, and you have to be patient. They're always with you, even if they aren't physically there. When you get back, you'll be able to see your family. If you have a picture of them, look at it! If you don't, picture them in your head. From, Ms. Islam's Third-Grade Class
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HENRY, JAX, AND LEXI
read their letters and decide to combine their advice and find a way home. They decide to go home by sea. They find a raft by the shore and decide to paddle to the United States. They start to paddle when they hear a growling sound: there is a grizzly bear behind them on the raft! They scream, "AAAAAHH!" Luckily, Henry catches a giant fish at that moment, and Lexi and Jax help Henry fling the fish into the sea and the bear chases after it. “I’ll give you some advice,” they say together. “Never try to out-do a grizzly bear!” By the time they solve their bear problem, they are near the shore of the United States. Henry looks up and sees Amy waiting to give them all hugs. Henry, Jax, and Lexi are all happy to see Amy, but Jax doesn’t know how to get home from here, and Lexi is starting to feel lonely away from the forest. Henry sniffs and says to Jax, “I’ll sniff out your way home with my super strong nose!” Jax feels glad to have a lion as a friend to help him. Then, Henry asks Amy, “Can we have Lexi come visit with us so she won’t be lonely?” Lexi decides she will make new friends in the United States so that they can all live happily ever after.
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THE END
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LETTERS FROM MS. CAMPBELL & MS. ISLAM TO THE CLASS
adventure and advice from ms. islam’s third-grade class Congratulations Scholars! You all were able to collaborate and write a book, virtually. I’m so proud of you all! Please continue to grow your mind by learning something new every day. Love, Ms. V. Campbell Dear Scholars, This year has been an incredible journey, indeed. Scholars, we have shared so many wonderful memories this school year, and we also had so much fun learning! We are coming to the end of our time together, and I am feeling bittersweet that you are going off to fourth grade. No matter how the next school year may look, I hope you remember that I will always be grateful to have been your teacher. You have impressed me more than you will ever know. You should be proud of your flexibility, positivity, and resilience during these crazy times. I know this wasn’t the school year we were expecting, but you are wiser, more independent, and more responsible because of it. My advice is simple—bring all the beautiful things you have brought to our classroom to your next year. I want to thank you for sharing your lives and this school year with me. You scholars are so special, and you will always be special to me! Love, Ms. Islam 77
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WHAT KIND OF CHANGES WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE IN IN-PERSON SCHOOL WHEN WE ALL GET TO SEE EACH OTHER AGAIN?
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* Long breaks! * Class pet, like a hamster! * TV in school! * Wear pajamas! * More ice cream parties! * Drink hot chocolate! * Go to school looking cool! * Playing Pokémon!
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adventure and advice from ms. islam’s third-grade class
2021 826MICHIGAN YOUNG AUTHORS BOOK PROJECT INSIDE THE PUBLICATION PROJECT CURRICULUM
the book of many wisdoms SPARKS: SHORT WRITING PROMPTS
826michigan brings together writers and educators in the community to facilitate relevant and engaging writing projects that transform into publications like the one you now hold in your hands. We have included four of the writing activities we created for our Young Authors Book Project at University Prep Science and Math Elementary School. All of our prompts are starting points, catalysts to kick-start the writing process—our writers take it from there. We encourage you to try these activities with your own family, students, and friends, to see where the sparks fly. GROUNDING ACTIVITY: GETTING READY TO WRITE
In these exercises, we will get ready to write by grounding ourselves in our bodies and our spaces. Materials Needed:
• Timer (for first activity) • Paper and writing utensils (for second activity) First activity: breathing
Sometimes writing can evoke feelings of anxiety and insecurity: there is this huge blank page staring at me (and giving me dirty looks?!), and I don’t know what to put on it! You want me to fill up this whole entire blank piece of paper with my writing?! When we get these feelings, acknowledging the feelings and taking deep breaths can help clear your mind and get you ready for the task. 82
adventure and advice from ms. islam’s third-grade class First, find yourself a comfortable position to sit in. You can sit in a chair or on the floor—wherever feels good for you. When you settle into a position, take a minute to really think about whatever body parts are in contact with the floor, whether that’s your feet or your behind. Then, sit up nice and tall, stretching out your spine. You can close your eyes, or you can keep them open if you like. Then, take a big inhale through your nose and breathe in as much air as you can. After all that air is inhaled, let it out through your nose too. Do this a couple times, and then start counting. In your head, slowly count to four as you breathe in. Hold the breath for one count, then release the breath while counting backward from four. Inhale 1, 2, 3, 4. Hold. Release 4, 3, 2, 1. That’s one cycle! When you’re ready, set a timer for two minutes and complete as many cycles as you can before the timer goes off. It’s not a contest, just a way to mark two minutes of deep breathing! After two minutes, you might feel ready to write! If you’re still feeling nervous or anxious, do two more minutes or try the next activity. Second activity: practicing observation
In this next grounding activity, we practice skills of observation. Part of being a good writer is being a careful observer of the world around us. For this activity, we will use our paper and writing utensils.
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the book of many wisdoms First, write the numbers 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 on your paper as if you were making a list. So it’ll look like this: 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. Then, by each number, put one of your five senses and a colon (:). It can look like this or you can put different senses by different numbers: 5. sight: 4. sound: 3. smell: 2. touch: 1. taste: Take a deep breath. Then, look around in the space that you are in. What do you see? Write down five things you see. Then, what do you hear? Write down four things you hear. What can you smell right now? Write down three things you can smell. Next, what are you touching right now? Write down two things you’re touching. Last, what can you taste right now? Write down one taste. You can do this activity when you feel like you need to focus, or to practice your observational skills! Now you are ready to do more writing! 84
adventure and advice from ms. islam’s third-grade class HOW TO: WRITE A FRAME NARRATIVE
In this exercise, we’ll write a frame narrative to get readers excited about reading our main text. Materials Needed:
• Paper and writing utensils First, it’s important to know what the main text in your book is about and to brainstorm who would be a good audience for that writing. You will want to create characters for your frame narrative who might be in a similar position as your ideal audience. We decided our book was going to be about advice, so the characters in our frame narrative were in desperate need of advice. If you are writing a cookbook, your frame characters might be preparing for a baking contest, and if you are writing a book of adventure, your frame characters might be bored at home on a rainy day. Brainstorm: what problems could a character have that would be solved by reading your main text?
Once you have established the main problem of your frame characters, develop these characters with details. What do they look and sound like? What do they care about? What does their environment smell and feel like? If you think there is a wide range of people who might benefit from your book (young people, adults, boys, girls, etc.), you might want to include multiple types of characters that different members of your audience will find relatable. 85
the book of many wisdoms Then, you will need to decide how your characters will find your main book of writing. Imagine that your main text is a real book that exists in your character’s world. Where would they find it and how? Does someone give it to them or do they discover it by accident? Include details about what the book looks like and where it is found. Once you have considered all these details, draft your frame narrative. Start by introducing your characters and their problems, and end the narrative when they find the book. After you have created a draft, read back through to yourself or to a buddy; if there are parts that don’t make sense, you can add details that might be missing (think back to those sensory details you brainstormed at the beginning!). If you want, you can also create a conclusion to the frame narrative that you can put at the end of your entire book, after your main text. In writing a conclusion, ask yourself: how would my frame narrative characters solve their problems now that they’ve read the main text?
FINDING, USING, AND WRITING YOUR WISDOM
In this exercise, we will use writing to identify our wisdom and where it comes from, and then we will write a letter of advice that addresses a problem we think our unique wisdom can help solve.
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adventure and advice from ms. islam’s third-grade class Materials needed:
• Pen or pencil • Two separate pieces of paper When you give advice, how do you know what to say? We all use our own wisdom to help us give advice, and if we know what exact wisdom we have and where it comes from, we start to see just which problems our unique wisdom could be the most helpful for solving. And when you write about both your wisdom and your advice in your advice letters, the advice you give will not only be helpful, but it will seem just as special to your readers as the wisdom that helped you to give it! STEP 1:
Let’s start by thinking about advice that you have received before. If you try to think back to the best advice you’ve ever received, what was it? Who gave it to you? Write your answers down on your paper! Then, write down which problem or problems this great advice helped you to solve. STEP 2:
Now think: how did the person who gave you this great advice know what advice to give? Where did they get the wisdom that they used in order to give you advice? Write down a list of all the places they might have gotten their wisdom. Do you think they got their wisdom from certain experiences they’ve had in their life? Have they had friends and family with similar problems? Or, maybe they’ve read a book or watched a show where a character tries to solve a similar problem? Maybe they 87
the book of many wisdoms had the wisdom to know they couldn’t give you all the advice you needed—did they suggest that you talk to someone they knew could give even more advice? STEP 3:
You may not realize it, but the advice this person gave you is actually wisdom that you now have! If someone came to talk to you about a problem like the one you had, you would know what to say because of this advice and because of your personal experience with that problem. And I bet you would have really helpful advice to give on lots of other topics! So let’s brainstorm some more places you get your wisdom from, and the kinds of problems you could use your wisdom to solve. First, make a T-chart on the same piece of paper where you wrote about the best advice you’ve ever received. Title the left, “My Wisdom,” and title the right, “Problems I Can Solve.” In the left hand column, make a list of: • Anything you are an expert in. What are you really good at? What topics do you know a lot about? • Any people or books or movies that you’ve learned a lot from. • Any hard experiences you’ve had or problems you’ve solved before. Have you ever been nervous for the first day of school? Have you ever been sad? Have you had to learn how to do something new, like doing a science project, riding a bike, or cleaning the dishes? 88
adventure and advice from ms. islam’s third-grade class Now, in the right hand column, write down the kinds of problems you think this wisdom could help you solve. Are there any problems that you’ve never had before, but that you think your wisdom could help solve? For example, if you met an astronaut who was scared they wouldn’t know what to say if they met an alien—how do you think you could help them? Or if the city you live in wanted advice for building some new parks, what suggestions would you give—even if you’ve never built a park before? STEP 4:
Now that you know what kinds of wisdom you have, you’re ready to write an advice letter! Get out your second piece of paper, and before you start writing, think about a problem that someone has asked you for advice on, a problem you’ve noticed in your neighborhood, or a problem you’ve had before that you want to talk about so that others with a similar problem can find advice about it. Is the problem you chose similar to a problem you brainstormed in your T-chart? If so, you might try to connect the two problems when you write your letter! Now, put pen to paper, and start your letter with an address to your reader! You could address a general reader as, “Dear reader,” or you could name a more specific reader, like your mom, or the mayor of your city. Think: who do you most want (or need!) to hear this advice? Next, start your letter by introducing yourself: share your name and something about who you are, like your name, 89
the book of many wisdoms maybe how old you are, the town you live in, or maybe your favorite ice cream flavor! Then, introduce your wisdom. What problem do you want to help your reader with? Why do you think you can give helpful advice for solving this problem? What wisdom will you use to give advice, and where did you get it from? Now, give your advice! Write down all the steps your reader could take to solve their problem. You can use a structure like the one below to write down your advice so that readers understand how to do the steps you’ve outlined in a specific order: “First, you should . . .” “Then, I recommend that you . . .” “Next, try . . .” “Lastly, you could . . .” Finally, close out your letter with next steps. Is there anyone else you think they could talk to in order to get help with their problem? Is there any research you think they could do? If they have questions, can they come talk to you again? After you’ve answered these, sign your name at the bottom of the letter! Someone is going to feel so grateful to get this advice from you! HOW TO: REVISE (SEE AGAIN!) YOUR WRITING!
In this exercise, we will revise (or see again) our writing! Materials needed:
• your original drafts (stories or letters if you’re writing something like we did in this book, but you can revise ANY piece of writing that you create!) 90
adventure and advice from ms. islam’s third-grade class • Different color highlighters or pencils/pens • Sticky notes (optional) After writers get their first ideas down on the page, they reread what they’ve written many times. Why? To make sure that their writing will make sense to readers, that it will excite or inspire or move readers in some way, and that it will help readers live their lives (especially if we are giving advice)! When writers reread their work, they try to make sure that their main ideas are clear and supported with details and that the order of ideas on the page makes sense. They also listen to the way words sound together and think about if they want to add, change, move, or take away parts of their writing. First, find a buddy—someone who will listen to you read your piece of writing aloud and ask you questions about it. Read your piece of writing so that you both can listen for things you might want to change and for things that are working really well already. After you read, you can use these questions to have a conversation with your buddy about the writing: • What were each of your first reactions to hearing the writing? • What did you both notice about the writing when you read it? • How did it feel to listen to the piece of writing? Here’s where it’s extra important to listen to your buddy: for example, if they felt sad at the end when you wanted them to feel 91
the book of many wisdoms happy, you can take that information and use it to help you make changes! • What parts of the writing were really strong already? • What questions do either of you have about the writing? Here’s where it is extra important to listen to your buddy again: they might be able to hear or see things in the writing that you missed! • What parts of the piece of writing do you think could be changed? You can use your different colored pencils or highlighter to mark places in your piece of writing that you want to change. Sticky notes can come in handy here too: you can write a new idea for a sentence or a word on a sticky note and stick in the right spot, so that you can know what you want to change when you rewrite it or type it up later. When we first reread our framing narrative, for example, we noticed that the characters didn’t represent all of our readers and that some parts of the story were confusing to our readers (how our characters got to different places wasn’t clear). We made changes to our story to help us answer those questions that came up! When we reread our letters of advice, we wanted to be sure that we could answer the following questions: • What is the writer’s wisdom and how can they share it?
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adventure and advice from ms. islam’s third-grade class • Why is the writer the best person to share that wisdom? • Who will they help with their advice ? • Does the advice make sense to solve the problem the writer has described? • Are the details rich and juicy enough to take the advice from being general to being specific? • Will our readers know what to do with the advice once they read it? You can use these questions to help you revise your letter, to make sure that your writing is powerful and clear and shows your expertise to the reader!
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the book of many wisdoms
826MICHIGAN GUIDING DOCUMENTS The 826 Stand 826 National was inspired to take a stand on issues of inclusion and diversity in light of the many events that spotlighted social and racial injustices throughout the country. We as educators, volunteers, and caring adults need to be aware of the wide range of issues our students face on a day-to-day basis. We need to support these young people as they navigate through and try to make sense of the world and their own identities. We stand for our students. We stand for our students’ right to express their opinions—freely, creatively, and safely—and to provide them the space to do that, free of judgment and full of support. We stand for our students’ right to tell their stories, share their experiences, and seek out information and answers. We stand for connecting our students to caring adults— volunteers eager to listen as students search for answers and discover themselves. Through our work and our actions, we must continuously support the development of our students’ voices and stories, and also celebrate those voices and stories. 94
adventure and advice from ms. islam’s third-grade class We stand for building diverse and inclusive environments for our students, our volunteers, and our staff. We need the support and the feedback from our community to ensure 826 is living up to these standards. Through our inclusion statement, our internal diversity and inclusion group, cultural competency resources provided to staff and volunteers, and partnerships with other organizations, we are always working toward being a more inclusive and supportive organization. We at 826 have the privilege of working with the next generation of scholars, teachers, doctors, artists, lawyers, and writers. It's our job to make sure they are able to take their own stands. As an organization committed to encouraging youth in their creative expression, personal growth, and academic success, 826 National and its chapters recognize the importance of diversity at all levels and in all aspects of our work. In order to build and maintain the safe, supportive 826 environment in which great leaps in learning happen, we commit ourselves to inclusion: we do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity, age, gender identity, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, nationality, marital status, English fluency, parental status, military service, or disability. The 826 National network is committed to encouraging youth to express themselves and to use the written word to effectively do so. We encourage our students to write, take chances, make decisions, and finish what they start. And 826 strives to do this in an environment free from discrimination and exclusion. 95
WRITING IS
A way to figure things out by ourselves
We create a safe place to be ourselves and try new things We support the ways that writers work (like thinking, sketching, talking)
A way to help us connect to our world
We study the writing we want to do so we can try it We learn how to change our writing for genre, audience, and purpose
A way to help us learn who we are and who we will become
We work with a group of writers who help and support each other
A way for us to use our power to make changes and build a better world
www.826michigan.org
the book of many wisdoms
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Tremendous gratitude to the following people and groups, without whom this publication would not have been possible. We are grateful for the wisdom you share with us every day! What a joy to write with such caring and brilliant volunteers throughout this project!
DEEPEST THANKS TO . . . Rachel Cawkwell, Young Authors Book Project Program Facilitator Lauren Rudewicz, Young Authors Book Project Program Facilitator Naitnaphit Limlamai, Young Authors Book Project Program Facilitator Ingrid Ankerson, Publication Designer Megan White/Daisy Illustrations, Illustrator
PROGRAM INTERNS
Jennifer Galvao, Bridgette Brados, Ritika Shetty, Annie Else, Mikaela Trowbridge
826MICHIGAN PROGRAM VOLUNTEERS, TYPISTS, AND TRAVELING EDITORS
Amy Ewing, Ann Bolotin, Arianna Afonso, Ashley Zhang, Bridgette Brados, Caitlin Koska, Charlotte Moore, Elizabeth Mitchell, Emily Xin-Yi Teh, Isabella Schilling, Jayden Spencer, Jennifer Galvao, Jesse Wilcox, Kaitlyn Fox, Kelly Souza, Lara Orkun, Lydia Forhan, Mary Pappalardo, Mikaela Trowbridge, Nina Goodwin, Patricia Gold, Ritika Shetty
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adventure and advice from ms. islam’s third-grade class
COPYEDITORS
Aaron Stone, Annie Else, Naitnaphit Limlamai, Rachel Cawkwell, Lauren Rudewicz
UNIVERSITY PREP TEACHERS & ADMINISTRATORS
We were so fortunate to collaborate, learn, and grow with Ms. Islam and Ms. Campbell this year! We are grateful for the support and encouragement of all of the leaders at University Prep, especially: Walter Reese, School Director University Prep Sci & Math Elementary School Bianca Morgan, Humanities Instructional Coach Danielle Jackson, Chief Executive Officer, Detroit 90/90-UPREP Schools
AND WE ARE ESPECIALLY GRATEFUL FOR OUR COMMUNITY!
All students, staff, and teachers at University Prep Science & Math Elementary School; the Rackham Graduate School, Program in Public Scholarship at the University of Michigan; the Helen Zell Writers’ Program at the University of Michigan; families, siblings, and community members who were the inspiration for our letters; and our friends and collaborators in the 826 National Network.
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ABOUT 826MICHIGAN 826michigan inspires school-aged students to write with skill and confidence in collaboration with adult volunteers in their communities. Our writing and tutoring programs uphold a culture of creativity and imagination and support students in establishing strong habits of mind. Through publication and community engagement, we provide students with an authentic and enthusiastic audience for their writing. Our programs provide an energizing creative outlet for students and meaningful volunteer opportunities for community members. We believe that with one-on-one attention from caring adults, students improve their academic performance, develop a sense of belonging, and discover the unique value of their voices. We also believe that the more fun a student has, and the more directly we speak to a student’s interests, the more we can help students find the fun in learning. That’s why our programs are more than just extra homework. All of our programs are challenging and enjoyable, and ultimately strengthen each student’s power to express ideas effectively, creatively, confidently, and in their individual voice. 100
adventure and advice from ms. islam’s third-grade class
ONLINE LEARNING LAB In the spring of 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we quickly transitioned all of our programs online. Our priority is to ensure the safety of our community, while continuing to offer engaging, high-quality opportunities to students. Each of our main programs—Schoolwork Support, Workshops, Field Trips, and In-school Projects—has been reimagined for the virtual space as part of our new Online Learning Lab. For the 2020–21 school year, our programs were fully virtual. When it is safe to return to our in-person programs, we plan to continue to offer virtual program opportunities as well! SCHOOLWORK SUPPORT The program formerly known as tutoring has been given an updated name, but the same great foundations remain. We organize trained volunteer tutors to work with students oneon-one with their homework after school. Schoolwork Support is available for all subjects, for students ages 8–18. Generally, we offer this program at three locations: at our Liberty Street Lab in Ann Arbor, at the Michigan Avenue Branch of the Ypsilanti District Library, and at our Winder Street Lab in Detroit’s Eastern Market, though in-person programs are on pause this year. We have added a Virtual Schoolwork Support program. Students are paired with two tutors to work on assignments for school and writing projects of their choosing. 101
the book of many wisdoms WORKSHOPS We offer a number of free workshops taught by professional artists, writers, and our talented volunteers. From comic books to screenplays, bookmaking to radio, our wide variety of workshops are perfect for writers of all ages and interests. One of the most popular workshops we offer is our weekly Wee-bots program for elementary-aged writers. IN-SCHOOL PROJECTS Our trained volunteers go into local public schools every day to support teachers with their classroom writing assignments. Based on the teacher’s curriculum, assignments range from writing tales to crafting college essays to exploring poetry. In addition, we hold regular Writers Clubs, in which small groups of students are able to work on a writing project over the course of a semester, culminating in a publication. We also partner with schools to hold Family Writing Labs: laughter-filled events in which families come together and participate in an evening of engaging writing activities and community connection. FIELD TRIPS Always full of surprises and theatrics (and usually a visit from our crotchety editor, Dr. Blotch), our Field Trip program is an experiential writing extravaganza. We welcome teachers to bring their classes in for field trips during the school day. Students join a group of volunteers, interns, and staff to help solve a problem through writing—whether that is Dr. Blotch’s insomnia, our looming story deadline, a mystery in need of solving, or one of the many others we encounter. Our field trips always end in a finished publication of original 102
adventure and advice from ms. islam’s third-grade class writing that students take home. Often the field trip writing is connected to a second leg of the students’ journey, whether a trip to a museum, library, or local record label, thanks to our many incredible community partners. OUR STORES Our Robot Supply Co. stores are one-stop shops for robots, robot owners, and enthusiasts alike. They are designed to inspire creativity and bring awareness of our programs to the community. When it is safe to do so again, come visit the Ann Arbor Robot Supply Co. at 115 East Liberty Street in downtown Ann Arbor and the Detroit Robot Supply Co. at 1351 Winder Street in Eastern Market in Detroit. In the meantime, please visit the Robot Supply Co. at onwardrobots.com. All proceeds from our stores directly fund our free student programming. Onward robots!
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ADVICE TO
FUTURE WRITERS FROM MS. ISLAM'S THIRD-GRADE CLASS 104
adventure and advice from ms. islam’s third-grade class
Be creative Write what feels right to write Write about things like making robots, playing football, doing handstands
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WRITE YOUR OWN LETTER!
Dear Reader, We know that you have your own wisdom to share as well! Please use this space here, or a notebook of your own, to write a letter of advice. Thank you for sharing your ideas with the world! From, Your friends in Ms. Islam’s third-grade class and at 826michigan
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Dear _________________________,
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Book Design by Ingrid Ankerson Ingrid Ankerson is an educator, graphic designer, illustrator, and letterpress printer in southeast Michigan. She is a full-time graphic design faculty member at Washtenaw Community College’s Digital Media Arts department. You learn more about Ingrid and her work at ankerson.com Cover & Interior Illustration by Daisy Daisy is an artist and published illustrator, born and raised in Detroit, and currently living in San Francisco. She creates social media content, editorial illustrations, and book illustrations. Fun fact: Daisy also attended University Prep in middle school! You can find out more about Daisy and her work at daisyillustrations.com
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