Week 14 Storytelling: Chloe's Spaghetti Hair

 Authors Note: This week for my reading diary I read the stories from the Grimm unit.  There are four different Grimm units.  I chose to look at the Librivox unit.  This unit has two reading sections with 14 different stories.  Most of these stories are fictional with made up charters.  For example in “The Straw, the Coal, and the Bean” all of these objects are able to talk and act normal.  I usually turn these type of stories around to a real life situation.  This week I decided to be a little silly with my own story.  I based my story off of Rapunzel.  Rapunzel ended up being restricted to her tower not being able to ever leave.  There was a Prince that came to Rapunzel’s tower and told her to let down her long hair and that we would climb and save her.  In the end of the story the Prince is able to save Rapunzel with the help of her hair hanging out of the window of her tower.  My story resembles Rapunzel’s but it is more of a silly/ funny story. 

Chloe’s Spaghetti Hair

(Photo Source) 

Chloe was born into a very poor family.  So when Chloe’s mom was five months pregnant she went to a fairy and asked her to bless her unborn child with the gift of wealth.  She told the fairy that she never wanted her baby to starve.  The fairy told Chloe’s mother that she would help her only under one condition. Chloe had to live in the tallest tower in the city for the rest of her life.  Chloe’s mother didn’t see anything wrong with this and agreed to the condition.  When Chloe was born the fairy came and took her away from her family and placed her in the tower.  The tallest tower in city is placed in the middle of the forest.  There was an old woman who lived in this tower and took care of Chloe as an infant.  It wasn’t until Chloe was four that the women realized she had a gift.  Chloe could grow spaghetti from her head.  In fact that is the only thing she could grow from her head, no hair.  After the women figured out that she could grow spaghetti she kept her locked away at the top of the tower.  The women would let Chloe’s hair get really long and then she would cut it off and go sell the spaghetti to the city.  This went on for 16 years, and Chloe grow to hate her life.  But she didn't know anything other than the top of the tower and what that lady has told her.   She even thought the woman who took care and sold her hair was her real mother.  Everyone in the city wondered where this wonderful spaghetti was coming from for so many years.  Finally, one afternoon a young man named Joe followed the women back to the tower to try and find out where she was getting the spaghetti.  He saw Chloe though the window at the top of the tower, and noticed that the spaghetti was coming from her hair.  He was shocked at first and then he started to feel bad for Chloe.   Joe decided he was going to save Chloe from the tower.  He waited in the bushes until he saw the old women leave the tower to go into the city.  Joe walked up to the tower and yelled

 “Excuse me, excuse me miss!!” 

No answer.. So he yelled even louder

“EXCUSE ME MISS!”

Chloe heard the man so she came to her window.  Joe introduced himself and asked what her name was. 

“Chloe” she said

Joe asked her if she was lonely up there and if she ever got to come down.  Chloe explained to him that she was not allowed to leave the tower, but that she was very lonely and had been for years.  Joe told her if she let her spaghetti hair down he would be able to climb up and save her.  Chloe was hesitant at first to let her hair down because she thought that he would just eat her hair.  Joe assured her that he was only there to help her.  So Chloe let down her long yummy spaghetti hair, so that Joe was able to come help her. 

Bibliography: Rapunzel. The Brothers Grimm. LibriVox unit.  Fairy Tales by the Brother Grimm.

Week 14 Reading Diary: European cont.

This weeks reading diary is still a part of the European reading units.  I decided to look at the Brothers Grimm section.  I went with the stories from Librivox, which is one of the four different versions on the Grimm tales.

(photo source)

Reading B:

1. The Queen Bee
-This was an interesting story about three brothers. Two of the three brothers were normal looking and handsome, while the third brother was described as an insignificant dwarf.  When in reality he is the one who wins it all.

2.The Twelve Huntsman
-I have never read this story before.  You can tell it is an older story because the king wanted his son to marry a certain women.  It makes me sad to think about all of the women in our world today that don't have a choice on who they want to be with.

3. Jorinda and Jorindel
-I thought this story was a little bit silly.  Why was this fairy so mean to anyone who came to close to her castle?  and Jorinda and Jorindel had just warned themselves to not go near the castle, but yet they got caught anyways.

4. The Fox and the Horse
-How sad that the farmer turned away his servant until he was stronger.  Why not just make him strong yourself? Ahh but as I keep reading I see that the horse had the help from a fox to trick the man.

5. The Twelve Dancing Princesses
-This was also silly story. Really no meaning behind it beside the king wanting to know what his daughters did. I thought it was crazy that he killed the men who couldn't find it out in three days.. like why kill them?! They were just trying to help you out.

6. The Turnip
-This is a typical story about a good brother and a bad brother.  Where eventually the bad brother gets what he has coming.

Week 14 Reading Diary: European Unit

This weeks reading diary is still a part of the European reading units.  I decided to look at the Brothers Grimm section.  I went with the stories from Librivox, which is one of the four different versions on the Grimm tales.

Reading A

1. The Frog Prince
-I really enjoy this story.  I believe that it sets a good examples for little girls who read this.  I liked how the King made his daughter keep her words.  Teaching his daughter this lesson helps teaches those who read this story how important it is to keep our word.

2. Rapunzel
-The beginning of the story was a little diffrent than I thought it would be.  I didn't realize that is how Rapunzel came to be the daughter of a women who keeps her locked away in the forest.  The end of the story I was very familiar with.  Rapunzel lets down her hair and the prince climbs up.

3. The Straw, the Coal, and the Bean
-This is an interesting little story I never read.  I love how all of these objects come to life.  I also really like how they all try to help each other, even though it ends badly for all three of them.

4. The Mouse, the Bird, and the Sausage
-My first thought about this story is that it is kinda strange/funny that a sausage is apart of this partnership. This story has a good lesson about remembering to be level headed and not get too big of a head about yourself just because you have a lot already.

5. The Traveling Musicians
-Interesting twist to this story.  You would think that these traveling musicians were people.  But really they are old worn down animals that their masters didn't want then anymore. There was an ass, a dog, a cat, and a cock.

6. Clever Elsie
-I think that it is sad that Hans wouldn't have Clever Elsie unless she was smart.

7. Briar Rose
-This is my all time favorite fairy tale.  I hate that they have to leave out one fairy for dinner in this story.  Like reallllly you didn't have any more plates in your castle for the last fairy to eat on?? Of course this fairy is mad and this why she puts the curse on Briar Rose.  Of course a prince comes and saves the princess, and they live happily ever after.

illustration by Walter Crane

Learning Challenges: Time for reading

Time For Reading

I have never been one to love to read.  In fact I hated it for a very long time.  Since I am dyslexic it has always been a challenge to read a large amount of words, and really enjoy it.  Lately because I have to read so much for school I have come to love to read.  I see that it is good for you in so many ways.  First of your vocabulary grows much stronger and you learn tons of new words.  I try to read things fro enjoyment but sometimes I am just to tired of already reading so much for school.  The best way I get my reading is to read my bible every night.  This way I am taking time to read something that is good for my soul and I'm keeping up with reading every day. Challenge your learning skills by reading every night.  Dr. Seuss had it right when he said this:

                                               

(Photo Source) 

Week 13 Growth Mindset: Embrace Challenges

The image comes from cheeseburger.

With my major I have done a lot of learning about fixed and growth mindsets.  I have never actually taken the time to place myself in one of these categories.  I think that I go back and forth between a fixed and growth mindset. Some days I am really motivated to move forward with my life while others I just want to lay under my covers all day and wait for good things to happen for me.  I am challenging myself this week with the growth mindset post.  I am challenging myself to embrace challenges instead of lay under the covers.  With graduating in a month (yes a month) I find myself always wanting to stay in bed.  But I am changing that from here on out, it's time for me to start embracing the challenges from here on out. 

 

(photo source) 

Week 13 Storytelling: The Foolish Student

Authors Note:  This week for my reading diary I focused on the Europe Unit.  Elizur Write wrote the Fables of La Fonraine.  This is a book of cute little nursery rhyme type stories.  Most of these stories are made for a child’s audience.   There are many stories in this book that are labeled under the category of foolish animals.  While reading the stories I ran into the story of The Tortoise and the Two Ducks.  The tortoise in this story is very foolish.  The ducks offer to help the turtle get to his destination by flying him there.  The ducks told the turtle to not let go of the stick while flying though the sky; the turtle ended up talking and crashed into the ground. Talking while the ducks were flying the turtle was a very foolish act on the turtle that resulted in him dying.  Here in my story Ben is a very foolish student when it comes to his schoolwork.  Read my story here to see where Ben’s foolishness ends him up. 

The Foolish Student

            Ben Wellington is one of the richest students to attend Murry Case High School.  Ben’s parents own the only department store located in Tulip County.  Tulip County has a population of about 25,000.  Since this is the only department store everyone uses it.  You can buy food, clothes, tools, and pretty much anything you would ever need to live life day to day.  This department store is where the Wellington’s get their wealth.  Ben is the youngest Wellington and has three older sisters and two older brothers. The Wellington family is well known in their community.  Not only are they one of the wealthiest families, but also they are known for their academic status.   You see, all of Ben’s brothers and sisters were valedictorian of their high school class.  Ben was never nervous about not making top of his class until it came down to his senior year.  School came easy to Ben.  Every year he put in little effort and always came out on top.  He never felt at competition with anyone for his spot.  Ben’s mother always tried to tell him that school isn’t always that easy, and that he should study more.  She would tell him that there would be a point of time where he will need to put forth more effort to achieve at a high standard.  When Ben’s senior year rolled around he still had no fear that someone would beat him out of his spot.  He knew that this year is time that really mattered at being first, but he still gave little effort.  After two months of being a senior Ben and his fellow classmates received a new student.  His name was Matthew.  Even though Matthew was placed in all the same classes as Ben, Ben still didn't fret that he would get his spot taken.  It came down to be two months before graduation and Ben still wasn’t worried that is until his teacher informed him that he had moved down a spot by half a point.  Ben was angry and knew there had to be a mistake. But his teacher told him that it was because Matthew did 10 points higher than him on the last exam.   When Ben’s mom found out about him dropping a spot she was furious and told him he better get is act together for the last two months.   Ben didn’t take it seriously and instead of studying after school he would play basketball all night.  The shot for his spot back depended on the last test of the semester.  All Ben had to do was get 10 points higher than Mathew on this test.  When the results came out Mathew ended up doing 12 points higher than Ben.  Ben then realized that it was all his fault by not working harder when he should have.  His family will always be upset with him for ruining the family tradition. 

(photo source)

Bibliography:  “TheTortoise and the Two Ducks”  This story is apart of the La Fontaine unit.  The Fables of la Fontanie translated by Elizur Wright (1882)

Week 13 Reading Diary: EUROPE Unit

This is the second day for week 13's Reading diary.  I am still reading Fables of La Fontaine, but today I am focused on Part B. All of the stories in this part are from Fables of La Fontaine by Elizur Wright.

READING B:

Mice
-This first section of mouse stories is a little bit hard for me to understand.  I don't always understand what these rhymes are trying to say and these were pretty complicated and didn't make sense to me.  Nothing found me interested.

More Mice
-Same thing with these stories, they aren't interesting to me at all.  Nothing about them catches my attention.

The Tortoise; The Bat
-I think I have read about the tortoise that can't keep him mouth shut on the stick about 12 times now.  This time it was ducks that tried to fly him.  Every time the turtle hits the ground and dies I still get a little sad.

Frogs
-It's nice to see different types of frog stories than the regular prince is a frog story.  I still wash;t very interested in these stories.

The Swallow; The Eagle
-How sad that the Eagle's eggs got broken.  Yes I understand that the eagle was being mean but don't we know the golden rule "Do unto others as you would do to you".

Man and Beast
-This bear and man have become friends. And the man invited the bear to come back hime with him.  Even though the her does not want to go he accepts Eventually their relationship grew to be familiar and friendly.

The Astrologer; The Dairywomen
-A astrologer falls into a well, but thats is about all I got from that story.  I think there is a lot of creativity that could be placed in this story.  I like that the dairywomen's name is "Good Peggy" Good Peggy seems to have a happy life.

(Good Peggy) 

The God Mercury; Hercules
-In "The Woodman and Mercury" it was interesting to me that the man had lost his honest livelihood because he had no axe to tools. Why do these things make a man honest?

Sun and Wind; Belly and Members
-In this first story they take sun and wind and talk about their different affects on life.  I loved this because I love anything to go with nature especially the sun.. because it's yellow and reminds up to be bight and happy.

Week 13 Reading Diary: EUROPE Unit

This weeks reading diary is from the Europe Unit: Fables of La Fontaine By W.T. Larned and Illustrated by John Rae

(Illustration by Tilney)

READING A:

Foolish Animals
-I have always loved the story of the Turtle and the Hare.  I love turtles so I enjoy that he wins the race. Also the story sets up for a good lesson to be learned.  The second story is a bit strange.

More Foolish Animals
-Poor dog lost his bone and then the meat.  I believe that maybe he was trying to go for a swim.  Dogs love to swim.

Foxes
-The fox wanted the grapes so bad.  Once he finally jumped high enough to reach the grapes he realized that the grapes were nasty and sour.  Interesting that the Stork and Fox were friends inviting each other to eat.

Birds
-The fox in the first story was quite funny making fun of the bird.  I hate birds so I found this pretty funny.

Insects
-Cute that the Grasshopper sings, it's cute because grasshoppers makes noises and in this story they related those noises with singing.  The ant having to swim reminded me of one time at pool someone told me that an ant can survive in the water for 11 minuets, I'm going to have to look this up now.

Foolish People
The Hen With the Golden Eggs was a good lesson in greed. Why would he kill the Hen if she laid Gold Eggs?? All of these stories deal with some person acting foolishly like the man who killed the hen.

Horses
-I like how the horse was described by "The humble slaves of men"  I have never thought of a horse this way for a man. It's like we describe dogs sometimes, "a man's best friend"

Dogs
-In the first story I like how the dog was able to help save the wolf. Everyone knows that wolves and dogs are in the same family. In these stories the dog seemed to always be the one to help.  I really enjoyed that because dogs can be very loyal.

Be Positive: Learning by HEART

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Everyday I try and remember to be positive in everything I do.

I always try and encourage my friends to be positive because good things and kind people flow from positivity. 

So if you have a group text or you are siting with your room mates at breakfast remind them to be positive for the day! 

It just might make a Monday good for once :) 

Week 12 Famous Last words

This whole semester has been extremely busy for me.  I am in enrolled in 6 classes have two jobs plus I strive for a social life.  I have not been into my blogs as much as I should be.  My other classes have a lot to do with research. If you didn't know producing and creating a research proposal takes a lot of time.. and I mean A LOT.  Most of my time is spent digging deep into book at the library reading information on my research question for this semester.  So for the next two weeks I am going to strive to hit every assignment and have it turned in on time.  This will be a challenge for me since there is an assignment due everyday, but I am ready to give it my all! I have recently re planned my calendar and have left certain times to spend on this class.  So we will see how this goes.  Stay tuned for next weeks famous last words to see if I have succeed. 

-Sarah Trapp 

Growth Mindset: Multiple Intelligences

For this week's Growth Mindset Challenge I watched a short video about Multiple Intelligences by Marek Bennett.  I have been introduced to the term multiple intelligence before, but I have never taken the time to actually write out all of the different types.  This video did exactly that and I was able to see that there are so many different ways an individual can learn.  I for one know that everyone has their own personal learning style that works best for them.  I am dyslexic and apart of being dyslexic is that you have to learn the best form of human expression and communication that works best for their brains.  This video serves as a great reminder that we should focus on expanding and learning how to approach all the different learning styles.

Multiple Intelligences by Marek Bennett

Week 12 Reading Diary: Aesop's Fables

Week 12 reading diary from Aesop's Fables (english)

(illustration by Arthur Rackham)

Reading A

The Gods
-I like the story about the sculptor and mercury.  In this story one learns that god alwasy shows up to help.  In the story "the dover that lost a bull" the goddess of love turns into a women.  so that she can be loved and marry.

More Gods
-I found it realy cool that they put a speical association between each tree and a God.  In "The two bags" we learn a lesson about slowing down to see our faults before pointing out others.  And again very cool  that they pair an animal and a god together.

Fables about People
-The boy you cried wold is alwasy good story to remember.  I love the story of the goode that laid the golden eggs. Intersitn turn around that the women just wants her her to lay more regular eggs.

More Fables about people
-These are intrersting stories that deal with morals and reflections. I think that these stories are really intresting and fun to read!

Apes
-Fondlings are commonly unfortunate.  I really enjoyed the story about the dancing apes.  i feel that I could get creative a make a spin off of this.

Foxes
-I alwasy like it when a trickster is alwasy out tricked.  This is what happend in "The Fox and the Stork."   So instead of keeping the fox a trickster he mas become much more sympathetic in "The Fox and Eagle"

More Foxes
-I'm really enjoying these fox stories the most. They are fun to read  and easy to understand.  I am getting a lot of creative ideas for a story for these.

Lions
-in this fable the lion is able to hold a conversation with the man, but this does not insure that the lion can do everything a man can.  This lion is crafty and dangerous.

A lion and a Man
-I alwasy enjoy reading about things that go with or aginst the laws of nature.  The laws of nature are so intresting to me becasue it is almost like we can not change them.

Lions and Asses
-This is intersting to me that the lions don't earn the trust and yalty of the other animals.  Useally Lions rule all the other animals and for them to not gain trust makes it hard for the other animals to follow his camands... intresting twist.

Asses
-I like how the donkey learns that even though his lot in life is not the best, he knows it could certainly be worse.  This reminds me of a lesson my mom alwasy taught me.. she would alwasy tell me that we have enough.

More Asses
-These tiles are making me giggle a little. I know that it is referring to a donkey, but it's just funny to see "The ass's wish."

Week 11 Reading Dairy: British Nursery Rhymes continued

Nursery Rhymes Unit, Part one continued

Nursery Rhymes: Songs, Part 1

-The old man was so kind always asking people how they were doing.  It is a good example of how most old men act, caring.

-Strange foxes that don't eat mustard and don't eat meat without spoons and forks.. that must be hard. What an evil fox killling the goose and bringing it back to his den to get praised.

-Whenever he sold something he never knew how to make it worth something.  This could be a very good life lesson

-I love the name Polly it reminds me of my best friend! Not a common name!

Little Bo-Peep
-I love this character, I was actually Little Bo-Peep in a play once and I was so proud!

Sind a Song of Sixpence
- I like it went through each person in the home and talked about what their jobs contained.

-Why wouldn't you love Johnny, and why should Johnny love you?  

Tom, the Piper's Son
- I bet it got annoying hearing Tom always play the same tune.

London Bridge is Falling Down
-This was fun to actually read. I always played this a child during school.  It made the shorten version that I knew make a lot more sense.

Week 11 Reading Diary: British Unit

Week 11 reading diary comes from the British Unit: Nursery Rhymes.  The Nursery Rhyme Book by Andrew Lang are one of the many collections and editions of the English nursery rhymes.

Reading A:
Nursery Rhymes: Tales

-Babes in the Woods - This is a rather sad nursery rhyme, children were taken and killed, saddest part is that no now knew their names.

There was a Crooked Man - What cute little story of a crooked man who loves who he is and continued the theme of crookedness.

Simple Simon
- I like how the pieman was going to the fair, and he only wanted a penny for a taste?!

The Lion and the Unicorn
-Of course the lion beats the unicorn, but i like how after the lion won he gave the town food.

Tom, Tom, The Piper's Son
-I didn't like that Tom the piper's son stole a pig to eat it.

Three Wise Men of Gotham
- Cute, that if the bowl had been stronger that the song could have been longer.

Taffy was a Welshman
- Taffy sounds like a real sketchy dude, I'm glad someone finally flung a poker and hit his head.

Little Jack Horner
-I always loved this nursery rhyme, such a cute story

Solomon Grundy
-Interesting rhyme going through the days of the week, very creative.

Nursery Rhymes: Proverbs

St. Swithin's Day
-This is reminds me of the story of the flood that God sent.

If Wished Were Horses
-These are cute little stories that talk about what would happen if did something a certain way.

Monday's Child
- I love how all of these go with the days of the weeks, really starts to make me think creatively for my story.

For Want of a Nail
- You always want something, and something always leaves you once you get what you want.

"March winds and April showers Bring forth May flowers."

Storytelling Week 3: Everything Happens for a Reason

Everything Happens for a Reason

It was one week before high school graduation and Susan still hadn’t received her acceptance letter from the University of Oklahoma.  Susan didn’t think that she would even be accepted, because she struggled with school, but this was her dream school so she had to try and get in.  Even though Susan had hardships with schoolwork, she was very privileged at home. It was just Susan and her mother who lived at home, and she was a hard-working mother who provided Susan with anything she needed, except for the one thing she really wanted, which was intelligence. 

 

(This photo represents Susan struggling with school. Source: Pinterest)

Being on the cheer squad and playing soccer and volleyball made Susan pretty popular during high school.  She had tons of friends, but never really had any classes with them because they were in advanced classes, and she was in regular classes.  Susan was placed in the regular classes because her test scores were not high enough for her to be placed in advanced classes with her friends.  Let's get this straight; Susan was not dumb. She just had to try much harder than most students.  Early in life she became very frustrated with the fact that school did not come easy to her, and she found many ways to keep passing each grade.  One of those ways consisted of hours on hours of tutoring, and asking for help. 

Graduation night had finally come and she still hadn’t received an acceptance letter.  This upset Susan because all of her friends had received all of their letters long ago.  Susan had a back up-plan, and it was to stay home and attend the junior college in her hometown.  Even though this was not her original plan and was upsetting to her, she soon realizes why things happen for a reason.  

During Susan's freshman year of college she found out that her mom had been diagnosed with breast cancer.  Her mom had treatment every day for three months, and because Susan was still home she was able to be there for her mom each appointment. Appointments took about an hour each maybe even a little longer. During that time she would study and work on her re-application for the University of Oklahoma.  After three months of treatment her mother was declared cancer free, and Susan was able to put a lot more time into her schoolwork and her goal of getting into OU. 

Susan eventually resubmitted her application and patiently waited for a response.  After about two and a half weeks Susan received a letter from the University of Oklahoma.  She ripped the letter open to find that she had been accepted, and she cried tears of joy.  She soon worried about how hard the schoolwork would be for her, but she quickly reassured herself.  Susan knew that she would succeed because all through her academic career she had learned how to work harder and ask for help when needed and knew that she would be able to carry these traits with her through her time at OU. 

Ever since her mother's cancer Susan never felt sad or upset about not getting into OU when she wanted.  She learned to accept that she had to work harder than other students, and that because intelligence didn't come to her naturally didn’t mean she couldn’t succeed.  Susan also knew that if she would have gotten into OU the first time she wouldn’t have been able to be there for her mom like she was, and to Susan being there for her mom meant more to her than going to her dream school.  Of course Susan gets tired of working harder than other, and feels unfairness often, but overall she has learned to appreciate the brain she was given, because her situations have taught her life lessons that will stick with her wherever she goes.

Author Notes:

This week I read the stories of women from the Bible.  This story is mainly based off the story of Sarah from Genesis.  Sarah waited for a child for a long time and finally became pregnant when she was much older. Sarah found herself frustrated but trusted that God had a plan for her.  In this story Susan learns the lesson of acceptance. All Susan wanted was wanted intelligence, but life had other plans for her that happen to work out better then the ones she had for herself.  I think it’s important to remember even if things don’t go your way to not get overly upset about it, because soon enough you will see that everything happens for a reason.  Overall the main goal of this story is to remember that life is going to move on, even if life isn’t going the way we want.  We must learn from Susan who struggled for so long with her schoolwork that frustration is not the answer. We must always look at the bigger picture, and accept that fate chooses us.  That we should enjoy the fate that we have.  I think that Susan learned that once you learn to accept certain situations in life, the ride will move on much smoother.  

Bibliography:

'Everything Happens for a Reason' is based off the story of the story of "Sarah" in the Bible.