1. Welcome Back
Now, get back to work!

2. Writing Away the Cobwebs
For many of you, it has been quite some time since you wrote anything. You are going to have 3 minutes to write regarding the following prompt:
What did you do over Winter Break?

3. Writing Away the Cobwebs
Now you are going to have 12 minutes to make your winter break as memorable as it wasn’t.
Keep some of the elements/experiences/locations from your actual Winter Break, but add some of the following:
Unicorns Vomit
Zombies Lawn Gnomes
Ninjas Surfing
Flying Pigs $1,000,000
Dragons Tofu
Clowns Vampires
Make this story as enjoyable as you can. I hope to hear the best fake Winter Break stories ever written. Some volunteers will share their “Winter Breaks.”

4. The World Is Not A Pleasant Place to Be by Nikki Giovanni
The world is not a pleasant place to be without someone to hold and be held by a river would stop its flow if only a stream were there to receive it an ocean would never laugh if clouds weren't there to kiss her tears the world is not a pleasant place to be without someone

5. With Inspiration from Nikki Giovanni
We will now work together to create our own versions of “The World Is Not A Pleasant Place To Be”
We will keep the first and last stanzas from Nikki Giovanni’s poem
The middle stanzas will be a team effort from you and your classmates
You will not know who’s stanzas are going to work together with your own
You need to create 2 or 3 metaphor stanzas (3-4 lines each)
Your stanzas should deal with some sort of experience or relationship on Earth
With Inspiration from Nikki Giovanni
Her Middle Stanzas:
a river would stop
its flow if only
a stream were there
to receive it
an ocean would never laugh
if clouds weren't there to kiss her tears
Think Nature:
Grass, Trees, Stars, Wind, Water, Dirt, Ice, Snow, etc.
Write this on a sheet that you can turn in and make sure your name is on it.

6. “The Happy Man’s Shirt”
Find “The Happy Man’s Shirt” on the class website
We are going to read this together

7. “The Happy Man’s Shirt”
Design a shirt that represents true and complete happiness to you.
On the back, explain why you designed the shirt in the manner that you did.
Remember – all assignments must be school appropriate.