Jamestown

Emily is taking a writing class this year (and so am I for that matter!)...The name of the class is called Institute for Excellence in Writing...she is already learning so much!  One of the greatest tools the curriculum teaches is how to "dress-up" your writing...making it interesting and easy to read.  She has learned about banned words, "ly" words, who/which clauses, strong verbs and quality adjectives.  She is also learning how to take a paragraph, make a key word outline, and then turn it into her own paragraph by using the "dress-ups" and key words.  This week she read a paragraph on Jamestown.  The following is her own paragraph.....I was impressed! Of course, mommy and daddy read over it and give her ideas and help but the tools she is learning have given her so much confidence.  She even raised her hand last week in class to read her poem from last week on Native Americans...which I may post later!  I'm so happy with this class and I'm learning so much too!


CITY IN THE NEWLY DISCOVERED WORLD


In 1607, Englishmen sailed across the ocean to an unknown world to find riches. They landed in Virginia and named their settlement after King James calling it Jamestown. The landscape around them was swampy wilderness. Men where struggling because they didn't know how to work. Captain John Smith, heroically, helped the settlement survive. No one would have lived without him. Captain John Smith wanted to have peace with the Indians so that he could have food and supplies. Captain Smith, who was the leader of the new settlement, had a rule that stated: "If you don't work, you should not presume to eat." Surprisingly, the men didn't find gold but they found tobacco that could lead them to prosperity. Tons of tobacco was sold to England. The settlers earned money. Jamestown still exists today in VA and is still visited frequently. Jamestown is famously known for being the first city in the newly discovered world.

By Emily Gay