The Campfire Chronicles

Are you ready for an amazing coincidence? It was Tuesday, October 16th at 2:40 p.m. President Bush was at a Red Cross event at an elementary school in Washington , D.C. As President Bush had requested of all the children in America, the students had each brought in one dollar to help the children in Afghanistan. Surrounded by students holding up their dollar bills, President Bush says, "We should have a merit badge for this!" On that very morning, Miss Camp had introduced the Citizenship Merit Badge to Camp Linus.

Unlike the other merit badges being earned by the scouts at Camp Linus, the Citizenship Merit Badge is earned by completing 10 separate items:

1. Make an American flag (done)

2. Make a picture card for the firemen and rescue workers in NY City (done on Sept. 14)

3. Draw a picture of American Pride (ideas of class included: White House, Statue of Liberty, Bald Eagle, Dollar Bill with George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Mount Rushmore, Yankee Stadium, border of stars and stripes)

4. Write the Pledge of Allegiance and illustrate

5. Poem about FREEDOM

6. Write a letter to President Bush

7. Think of one thing you can do to make a difference in this world.

8. Perform one act of community service (i.e. rake leaves for a neighbor, pick up trash by side of road, make cookies for a neighbor - must be okayed and supervised by a parent).

9. Wear Red, White, and Blue on Tuesday, October 23, 2001.

10. Bring in the One Dollar for the children of Afghanistan as requested by President Bush.

When the merit badges have been earned, the letters to President Bush, the dollars, and photocopies of the completed merit badges will be sent to President Bush at the White House. The scouts at Camp Linus are proud to be Americans, and believe in the freedom for which America stands.

Tabatha...

• is kind to others.
• has good manners and is patient.
• waits her turn to speak, and raises her hand before speaking.
• has a good attitude.
• has a sense of humor.
• always tries her best.
• keeps her supply box neat.
• brings her take-home folder back each day.

Storytelling 'Round the Campfire at Camp Linus has been scheduled for the scouts and their parents on Monday, October 29 at 6:30 p.m.

Each scout, when holding the marshmallow stick, will have the chance to be a storyteller. Stories must be from one's family, and as far back as possible. The story may be:

• How one's ancestors arrived in America
• From a grandparent's childhood.
• From a parent's childhood.
• From the scout's early childhood.

Some suggestions from the scouts have included:

• "how my parents got married"
• "how my grandfather went to war"

Revision is our chance to change or improve our writing so that it...

• Makes more sense (ideas)
• Has a clear beginning, middle, and end (organization)
• is more descriptive (word choice)
• Has different types of sentences (sentence fluency)
• Has personality that makes us want to keep reading (voice)

We want others to read what we write, and so it is helpful to get feedback from the reader's perspective. Before we revise our writing, we have a PEER CONFERENCE with a classmate.

During the conference, the two students sit facing each other while the author reads the piece to the peer. The job of the peer is to think of one thing he/she likes about the story, and one thing he/she wants to know more about.

Both students fill out a PEER CONFERENCE sheet and sign it. The author considers the comments of the peer when deciding what to revise in the story.

The conventions of spelling, capitals, and punctuation are not looked at during this step. Revision deals with the meaning and style of the writing. The conventions are looked at in Step 4: Editing.