Our class read The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary. We did several different projects using Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, or Kidspiration. Some of us did character studies, story maps, or written responses. We got to choose our own project.

In the story, Ralph and Keith had a very good friendship. Both of them were good buds to each other. Sometimes they helped each other. Keith gave Ralph a peanut butter sandwich. When Keith was sick with a fever, Ralph took a risk to find an aspirin.

 Ralph and Keith showed compassion. Keith rescued Ralph from the wastebasket. He made a crash helmet for Ralph out of a ping-pong ball. They were honest and forgiving to each other.

We had many discussions about the book and the theme of friendship seemed to keep coming up. Everyone wrote their own essay about friendship, what it means, and what good friends do for each other.

Friendship

Friendship to me is lots of things. It can be somebody who always gets your back. Maybe it could be somebody who always cheers you on. It could also be somebody that cares with all their heart for that one special person. I�m a good friend when I play with everybody that wants to play with me. When I let people play with my stuff, I am a good friend. I let people ride my scooter, bike, or even my pogo-stick. I know I have good friends because my friends care for me. If you didn�t have friends, your friends would be really boring. If you don�t have any friends who would you play with? Well, the answer would be no one. That is why you should have friends!

Friendship

To me, friendship means being nice to my friends and helping them when they need help. Friendship is choosing what to do with my friends without anybody getting sad or mad. I let them choose what to do and I�m happy with what they want to do, even if I don�t want to do it. I know I have good friends because they are nice to me. They let me go first when we jump rope. They help me when I am sad. When I have trouble with something, they help. They help me have a good time. Friends are important to me because I would get bored. I would be lonely. It will be no fun. I couldn�t do anything. Life wouldn�t be fun.

Friendship

To me, friendship means being helpful, like when I help my friends pick up balls after recess. (We still hurry up and make the bell.) Friendship is also me helping someone if they are hurt, lonely, or sad. I will help them at recess. If someone is beating my friend up, I will tell them to stop. If they do not listen, I will go tell. I am a good friend to everyone because I do not want to get into trouble. I am kind to teachers because I know they will not put up with trouble.

Reading Essentials Addressed:
Students are able to apply strategies to read and understand different types of texts.
Students are able to locate major structures in text to form an understanding of stories and other materials Students are able to explain the difference between fiction and informational text

Writing Standards Addressed:
Students are able to write short stories, paragraphs, and poems to express ideas.
Students are to generate various forms of writing.
Students are able to write descriptive detail and a variety of sentence types.
Students are able to use correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling when editing written expression.
Students are able to write in all subject areas.