Differences In Boys and Girls Are Many…Especially In Writing Styles
Posted on December 7, 2011, by Kim, under Education | Homeschool.
Yesterday in school, the children and I both learned something new while studying our Geography lesson. Did you know that children were trusted to hide Norway’s national treasury of gold bullion during the WWII German invasion of Norway? We didn’t either. So, to add creativity to our school day, I asked the children to brainstorm ideas and put in their words how they think those children might have felt.
Both writing assignments are good, but as you will see, very different. I know that I never have to ask Abby for more detail, but Ethan and I tend to go round and round on what is missing. I am not saying one is better than the other, they are just different. Below is an example of their writing styles.
Abby
4th grade
The Norwegian Adventure
A Tale of a Child’s Bravery During World War II
Hello, my name is Ingrid, and I welcome you to our beloved country, Norway. I am happy to tell you that you have come to visit at the right time. World War II has just ended, and we were being invaded by the German soldiers. This was very frightening, but my story is quite funny. It’s a great story, would you like to hear it? You would? Ok! So, the story starts with the Norwegian soldiers trying to hide the national treasury of our gold bullion. The Norwegian soldiers saw children on sleds and stopped them to ask if they could help. Of course the children said, “yes.” I was one of those children. I was so scared, but we thought of a plan! We didn’t realize how heavy the gold bullion was, they must have been at least 50 pounds each. Some of us couldn’t even lift the bullion. We each grabbed as many as we could and began hiding them in our coat pockets and on our sleds that were all covered in snow. We started sledding down hills and began building snowmen. Little did the German soldiers know, that we were hiding the gold bullion in the snowmen we were building. We would sled by the soldiers or they would walk by us and they didn’t even have a clue! It was so much fun.
I wish you the best, and if you’re ever here again, stop by. Maybe I will have more stories for you. Now you know a little piece of history from my beloved country, Norway.
Ethan
6th Grade
Letters From a Norwegian Child
In the Times of World War II
Dear Joseph,
Today, my friends and I were sledding in the snow when we heard that the German army was coming to attack. We were very nervous, but knew that the Norwegian soldiers would protect us. We overheard our army talking about the national treasury’s gold bullion and they were scared that the German soldiers were going to steal it. My friends and I told the soldiers that we could hide the gold in all the snowmen that we built that day. They were happy to let us help. I sledded right past a Nazi with about four gold bricks in my coat and eight on my sled. We thought the Nazi’s were so dumb because they never saw that we had been loaded up with gold. We couldn’t believe we outsmarted them! We fit about 12 gold bricks in the base of the each snowman.
This was a very fun and exciting day, now we just have to pray that the Nazi’s DON’T FIND THE GOLD!!!
Sincerely,
Gunnar
As you can see, they both have a different writing style, but their writer’s voice is fun to read!
This was a fun assignment to have the children do, but it was more fun learning something about history. This is one of the most rewarding things of homeschooling my children. I get to learn with them!
