Take your fears and triumphs and transform them into a compelling story – that was the assignment for grade 5 boys who embarked on a journey to not only sharpen their writing skills, but also to explore their bravery.  

“I learned more ways to write stories, which helps me become a better writer,” said Kyle ’32, who was inspired to write about how he mustered up his courage when a tornado touched down in his backyard. 

The assignment was inspired by Katherine Applegate's novel-in-verse, Home of the Brave, which tells the story of a refugee's journey to America.  

Lower School English Teacher Nora Cameron and her students discussed the significance of bravery as a central theme in the story. 

“I try to use analogies as much as possible in my teaching to help them understand more abstract concepts, and I try to help them empathize with characters when discussing themes such as bravery or resilience,” Cameron said. 

This assignment fits into the broader learning progression for grade 5 boys.  

“We start with sentences, move to paragraphs, and then the personal narrative is their first multi-paragraph piece of writing in the year. They then go on to write a five-paragraph essay and other longer pieces later in the year,” said Cameron. 

Caleb ’32 wrote about overcoming his fear of heights during his first airplane ride. He noted the progress he made in his writing. "Instead of me just writing four or five sentences, Ms. Cameron boosted me and now I can write seven to eight sentences,” he said. “It’s more descriptive and includes dialogue. I know now that I’m capable of doing more and getting more detail out there.” 

To support the boys' development as more detailed and engaging authors, Cameron provided a mentor text and a checklist to hold them accountable for employing the writing strategies they are learning, which include internal thought, dialogue, figurative language, and showing versus telling emotions.  She also used color coding to help them understand structure and identify different aspects of their work during revisions. 

“At the start, it was kind of challenging because we had just gotten used to it, but now that I’m here, I understand it now and it’s easy to add details every single day,” added Caleb.