Authors Note: This week for my reading diary I decided to
read some nursery rhymes from the British unit.
To me most of these stories are random and short. In three of these
rhymes it goes down the days of the week. One of the rhymes that really got my creativity
flowing for this story is the unit in Reading A, named Proverbs. In Proverbs there is a story that goes over what happens if you sneeze on certain days. For example:
"If you sneeze on Monday, you sneeze for danger;
This is how I created my story for this week: dealing with the days of the week.
The British nursery rhymes also have a lot to do with animals and this
is also why I incorporated animals in my story. Growing up I used to play outside in my neighborhood with all the other kids every chance I got. I always had curfews on different nights of the week. This memory of mine helped me think of this story about Rio and Solo. I even used the same neighborhood name that I had growing up, Johnson Woods.
"If you sneeze on Monday, you sneeze for danger;
Sneeze on a Tuesday, kiss a stranger;
Sneeze on a Wednesday, sneeze for a letter;
Sneeze on a Thursday, something better;
Sneeze on a Friday, sneeze for sorrow;
Sneeze on a Saturday, see your sweetheart to-morrow."
Rio and Solo’s
Adventures
In a small Texas town deep in the south there is a neighborhood known as Johnson Woods. Johnson Woods is
home to many different animals. Mostly owls,
squirrels, cats, dogs, and frogs live in Johnson Woods. These animals for the most part kept to
themselves. The dogs only interacted
with the dogs and the owls only interacted with the owls and so on. It works out this way because all the animals
have different lifestyles. The owls
only come out at night, the dogs stay out of the cat's way, and the frogs keep
clear of everyone by staying in the ditches throughout the neighborhood. The squirrels were the most sociable animals
of the neighborhood. They were never spotted in just one spot, but all over the neighborhood. At nights they would stay up in the trees
with the owls. During the day they would
run around playing with the dogs. The
squirrels and frogs would have races alongside the creek to see what was faster
hopping or running. The cats were the
only animals in the neighborhood that the squirrels wouldn’t socialize with. This is because the cats were mean and spiteful, so no one ever messed with them.
One day a
baby kitten named Solo ran into a baby squirrel named Rio. Solo and Rio instantly hit it off and became
best friends. Rio knew to stay away from
the cats, so he told Solo that they had to be secret friends. Solo understood and promised to keep it a
secret. Well, it didn't take long until
they were caught playing in their secret spot by Solo’s father. Solo’s father instantly hissed at Rio and Rio
ran away out of fear. Solo was angry
with her father and told him that Rio was his best friend! But Solo’s father didn't care. Solo thought she would never get to see Rio
again and that he hated her. Little did
she know Rio was jumping from tree to tree watching Solo wishing he could play
with her. Rio decided to tell his father
that he wanted to be friends with a cat and he needed his help. His father being one of the most social
squirrels decided to go talk to Solo’s father to see if he could figure
something out.
Rio’s
father was quite nervous at first walking into the ally where all the cats
lived. Finally Rio’s father tracked down
Solo’s father. While Solo and Rio’s
fathers were talking they started to notice that they had many things in
common. It didn’t take them long to
enjoy each other’s company. Solo’s father apologized to Rio for hissing at him
and agreed to let Solo play in the neighborhood together with Rio. Rio and Solo’s father planned out a schedule
to work out where they could play everyday together.
On Mondays: 2:00pm
-5:00pm
On Tuesdays: 10:00am-12:00pm
(Including lunch)
On Wednesdays:
5:00pm-7:00pm
On Thursdays:
3:00pm-6:00pm (Including Dinner)
On Fridays:
7:00pm-9: 30pm
Weekends: Free
Bibliography: British Unit: Nursery Rhymes by Andrew Lang with illustrations by L Leslie Brookn (1897) . Focusing on the story Proverbs in Reading A
