阿貝那家作文班每年有辦兩次作文比賽
去年九月剛開學有一次Back to School Narrative Writing Contest
現在春季也有一次 Spring Narrative Writing Contest
其實參加他們作文比賽不限於他們自己的學生
任何人都可以投稿的
第一名有$25禮卷
我每次都會鼓勵阿貝參加
得不得獎真的是其次
因為寫作高手真的很多
但是作文這種東西就是要多寫才會進步
多寫作文
思路就會比較多元
而且比較不會辭窮
不然不常寫作文的人
真的連開頭第一句都寫不出來
然後就總用那幾個boring words: 像是 good, many, go to, a lot of, beautiful, get
這次題目不是很侷限, 但有一個大概的主題
People think about spring as a time for new beginnings. Think of a creative story where a character(s) faces a problem requiring a new beginning or a new start in a life. Be sure to have a clear beginning, middle, and end in your creative narrative. Some possible story ideas include:
1. A character having to move to a new city
2. A character facing a tragedy and having to overcome it
3. A community that comes together to start a new program
4. An alien moving to this planet and starting a new life
阿貝寫的比較接近上述的第二類
那這次阿貝沒第一了
是第二名
不過聽說這次投稿的人比以往多很多
所以能拿到個第二名也不簡單啦!
寫故事這種除了文法和用詞之外
故事的原創性和特色是他們評分很重要的一點
因為創意是無價的
也希望讓人家讀故事的時候
能有煥然一新的感覺
而不是在讀一個陳腔濫調換湯不換藥的故事
今天拿到獎狀
也剛好我比較晚去接阿貝
阿貝一個人坐在他們辦公室等
而剛好又看到她們老師也在辦公室
於是就邀他們老師來合照
這個是阿貝最愛的老師
她一定要去上這個老師的課
其他老師的她都不要
當然Miss Shelley也是老闆啦!
但是她真的教的超好的
她本來是阿貝那間小學的老師
後來自己出來開補習班
然後賺翻了
他們這家Silver Creek Academy已經連續六年榮獲 Bayarea Parent Family Favorite
下面就是阿貝這次寫的作文
Field Trip Tragedy
I still remember that the tragedy happened on a sunny day in a fall season when my third grade class had a field trip to visit Ohlone Indian's ancient village. Since Ohlone village was a Native American heritage site that was located in a mountain, the bus ride took us forty minutes to get there. When I was on the bus, I looked through the window and admired the treetop leafs that blossomed everywhere as if I was in a mossy lake or pond. Suddenly, our bus stopped in a flash and I stopped daydreaming. Meanwhile, some students shouted, “Yes, we are finally here safely!” and others just clapped as loud as the thunder.
When all of us trotted down the stairs of the bus, I noticed that this field was extremely deserted. There were no modern buildings or shops around but only a great abundance of trees. Of course, I spotted few Native American huts made with dry hay. To my surprise, besides our class, no other tourists came to visit on that day. Shortly after, our class started to explore the Ohlone's culture stop by stop. First, we entered one exhibit shelter with numerous displays of Ohlone's tools, clothing, and furniture in ancient times. After we moved to the second stop that had a cave close by, I felt I had an urgent need to go to the restroom. However, there was no restroom near by. In order to use restroom, I had to walk a long distance to find one. I did tell my chaperon to wait for me because I needed to use restroom. After I was done, I zoomed back as fast as I could. When I arrived at the place where we just visited, I could not believe my eyes. The field was completely empty as if one cleaning lady just vacuumed the carpet.
All of a sudden, my hair stood up. I mumbled to myself, “They moved to the next stop already? Or I did not find the right place?” Then, I carefully examined the surroundings to see if this was the right place. A minute later, I recognized that cave as the one we just stopped by, so this should be the right place. Since I had no idea where they went, I determined to wait for my class at the parking lot. However, the mountain trails were very similar so I had difficulties finding the correct path out. To find the accurate route back to the parking lot, I was like a detective utilizing any possible clues to investigate if this path was where we just passed by. After I tried several routes and finally located the parking lot, the school bus was out of my sight. My eyes popped out and I exclaimed to myself, “What? They left? How can it possible leave me alone and left?”
Soon after, I told myself that I should calm down and try to figure out the ways out. I recalled that my mom had given me a cellphone in case of any emergencies. I cautiously took my cellphone out of my pocket and then called my chaperon right way. However, the cellphone just kept ringing without any response. I never gave up and called countless times. Unfortunately, still no magic happened. That was the first time that few minutes long had made me feel as if a hundred years had just passed. I couldn't believe that my chaperon was not picking up her phone so I turned to call my mother instead. After a few attempts, still no luck happened to me. Finally, I gave up calling anyone because it might be due to no signal in the mountains. Therefore, I pushed myself to think of other ways to get in contact with my class.
Luckily, I loved to watch a geographic channel and I learned some tricks to rescue myself. My impression was that if I got lost in a mountain, I could create smoke so the rescuers will easily locate me. Quickly as a squirrel, I founded two broken branches and started to rub them together to produce fire. After about twenty minutes of rubbing the branches, smoke finally began to come out and then started to rise high above the tall pine trees. At that moment, my face beamed with joy because I successfully generated some 911 signals. With my fingers crossed, I wished that at least someone could come to save me if he or she saw that smoke. After one hour or so, there was still no sound of footsteps or breathing except for mine.
To my disappointment, I didn't know if I could be able to see my classmates ever again. Desperately, I still looked around to double check if anybody could be possibly about. After a few seconds of examination, I came across something flickering in a distance from the forest. “See! This might work! Somebody is just looking for me!” I cried to myself with hope. I walked to that direction and the glare appeared more and more visible. Suddenly, a group of kids sprang out from behind the trees and shrieked, “Surprise, Happy Birthday!” While I was stunned and puzzled, they all yelled and cheered with excitement. All at once, I realized that my classmates did not abandon me but planned a surprise on my birthday. Although I experienced harsh obstacles at the time I thought I was lost, now I truly appreciate the astonishing birthday they celebrated for me. At that moment, all my unpleasant feelings that I had earlier was all forgotten. I would say that this birthday was the most disastrous one but also the most memorable one in my whole entire life.
