Exploring Dreams at Redwood Heights

This Fall at Redwood Heights, our curriculum is focused on Dreams. We are exploring all interpretations of "dreams", including the ones we have when we sleep, as well as the ones that are wishes and hopes for our future and for the world. 

We had fun investigating the concept of symbology, and considering what different objects might symbolize in our night time dreams. In one exercise, I asked the students to imagine walking through the woods and write about different objects they encounter, such as a path, a fence, and a field. Each of these objects then had a loose interpretation as a symbol for something else. In our exercise, the field symbolized things unseen and unknown.

Here's how Alex described the field that he imagined: "I see an expansive field full of exotic animals and fruits. There is a sign that says Welcome to the Fields of Destiny, and under that there is small writing that reads Be careful which fruit you eat or which animal you kill; doing either could kill you, transport you home, give you fame, make you a billionaire, give you superpowers, or any combination of these symptoms. Eat at your own risk!'' 

 

Alex

In another exercise, I asked the students to think about what the following objects might symbolize in dreams: a crown, red eyes, fire, and a bird flying in front of them. Here's what Nathan came up with: "If I dreamed about a crown I think it would mean that I have a bright future. If I put on the crown I think that would mean that I would be proud about something. If the crown had two red eyes I think that would mean that I have a very lively future. If the crown caught on fire and produced a flock of birds that followed me, I think that would mean that my future would hold a lot of surprises."

 

Tatiana (left) and Nathan (right)

Another day I asked the kids to create an acrostic using the word DREAM. 

Here's what Maddie wrote:

D aytime or night

R ealistic or not

E nough for everyone

A lways

M orphing

Reilly (left) and Maddie (right)

And Eli came up with:

D umb zombies ate cheese 

R ampaging

E lephants flew around on WWII

A ircrafts and drop

M ozzarella bombs on soldiers.

 

Eli

Here are most of our other students hard at work! (Not pictured: Calem)

 

Lou (left) and Jackton (right)

 

Josie (left) and Jamon (right)

What have "Take My Word For It!" kids been up to? Check out Redwood Heights Elementary:

Students in our after-school and community classes are exploring all the different ways writers generate ideas, and put captivating words on the page.

Here are writing excerpts and some photos of our young authors working with instructor, Lauran Weinmann at Redwood Heights Elementary in the East Bay:

From “What Are You Made Of?” self-recipe exercise:

Recipe for Josie

½ cup pure awesomeness

2 tons of coolness

2 blue-ish eyes

2 cups brown hair

1 pinch anger

1 pinch powdered Unicorn hair

1 quart of strangeness

Step 1: Preheat oven to 360

Step 2: Stir the awesomeness and coolness together (unless you are in bed in the hospital because you threw out your back lifting 2 tons of coolness)

Step 3: Pour the cool-awesome mixture on to the blue-ish eyes, making sure they are thoroughly soaked

Step 4: Sprinkle brown hair and anger into the quart of strangeness

Step 5: Sprinkle powdered unicorn hair onto strange-angry-brown hair.

Step 6: Mix it all together.

Step 7: Put in oven for 45 minutes.

Step 8: EAT.

Recipe for Maddie

20 pounds of chocolate

Half cup of fun

Drop of sarcasm

Quart of awesomeness

5 ounces of pure talent

Recipe for Reilly

1. Mix friendship and animal lover until smooth, but leave a few chunks
2. Stir in blond hair and freckles
3. Chop older sister until microscopic and mince with annoying
4. Leave chocolate by itself
5. Stick in oven at 353 and leave in for 45 minutes
6. Let it go in the wild, but close to 3536 Monterey Blvd., Oakland CA

Recipe for Alex L.

5 tons legos

1/1000 pinch of dog walker

1 gallon robotics

½ cup noisy

1 ½ cups stubborn

1 cup of awesomeness (pure if possible)

Preheat oven to 3,000 degrees. Stir ½ cup noisy with ½ cup stubborn for 2 hours. Put in oven for one day.

More food writing exercises...

By Magda 

Personification: Broccoli

Hello, my name’s Barak oh Broccoli, and yes, I am broccoli. I’m the president of the field. I’m 29 broccoli years old, and my favorite hobby is eating broccoli soup. AAAAAA I’m a cannibal! I just ate my cousin Nina!

By Sydney:

(If I were a food, I’d be...)

I would be a lime because usually people don’t like limes. And if they do like limes, it’s to make limeade so they would juice me and that would probably feel good.

By Justine

(Food metaphors/similes)

Cantaloupe: Smells like a rose blooming in late summer. Tastes like late spring and early summer.

Gummy bunny: Smells like an edible rose where the petals are made out of fruit. Tastes like an explosion of gooey fruit in my mouth.

By Alex H.

(Food metaphors/similes)

Gummy bunny: Smooth as plastic; squishy as mud; cold as the refrigerator; stretchy as gum.

Cantaloupe: Orange as my hair; juicy as water; sweet as candy; yummy as apricots.

Graham cracker: Crunchy as tree bark; rough as sandpaper; smells like nothing; brown like my shirt with trees on it.

Come Hear Our Young Writers Read Their Original Work!

In the next couple of weeks our talented writers will be showcasing some of the awesome writing they've been working on all Spring!

Look out for them at:

Musically Minded Academy (5776 Broadway, Oakland, CA 94618)

• Chabot Elementary: Tuesday, May 31st @ 5:30pm
• Crocker Highlands Elementary: Wednesday, June 1st @5:30pm
• Thornhill Elementary (2nd & 3rd-5th): Monday, June 6th @5:30pm
• Redwood Heights Elementary: Tuesday, June 7th @5:30pm
• The Young Writer's Lab: Thursday, June 9th @5:30pm

San Ramon (tentatively at Rakestraw Books)

• Walt Disney Elementary (2nd/3rd & 4th/5th): Tuesday, June 5th @ 5:30pm

Palo Alto

• El Carmelo Elementary: Thursday, May 26th @ 5:30pm

San Francisco

• Katherine Delmar Burke School: May 23rd @ 5:00pm
• Flynn Elementary: May 25th @ 5:30pm