Students in Mrs. Sasha Johnson’s Reading classes are not just reading books but are actually writing their own. Given different prompts to work off of, the students all wrote about their lives, favorite memories, love, emotions, and personal experiences. Some students wrote their own stories as poems, while others wrote in classic essay styles. Each class’s work was compiled into an anthology that is available in the CLHS library.
With a diverse range of prompts, the students expressed their personalities through writing practices using things like similes and metaphors to tell their stories. Students shared their struggles, with love, with family and friends, with school, and other issues, but on the other hand, students also let themselves share their most personal memories and experiences, talking about their favorite memories as children, their families, and how they grew up. Some students shared about their interests, how they love the sport they play, or how the arts have made their lives better, but either way, very positive about their personal interests. Some students even shared their goals and wants, their future plans, how they want to spend their life, like the people they admire, how they would live in a world made just for them, or how they would change the world.
The immense effort put into these stories is clear, with round after round of revisions and readings. These are clearly from the heart and are true to the students’ lives. It can be difficult to open up, especially to such a public space, but these stories tell it like it is: the good, the bad, and the ugly, all to put these stories out there. This kind of project helps us step into other’s shoes, and to realize that what we are going through may be a shared or universal experience.
Thank you to Mrs. Johnson’s classes for producing so many amazing stories, and please check them out in the library.
