Teachers Write- Thursday Quick Write

I just found a professional development of sorts.  It is a virtual summer camp for writing called Teachers Write.  Check out the details here: http://www.katemessner.com/announcing-teachers-write-a-virtual-summer-writing-camp-for-teachers-librarians/

So here is my response to the quick write Thursday prompt:

What We See vs. How We See.
Full description of the assignment: http://www.katemessner.com/teachers-write-71113-thursday-quick-write-with-megan-miranda/#respond

I am going to write from the perspective of two different characters.  I am taking the term "quick write" quite literally.  I am writing what comes to mind and then doing a quick edit of my work.  See if you can figure out who my two characters are.

1.  Finally, a moment alone and the book was calling her name.  Come...open my pages...delight in the story that I'm here to tell you.  But, Shanda didn't actually get the chance to open the book.  Five seconds after her "moment alone" she heard the dreaded words, "Mom, when's dinner?"  Of course, it was always her pleasure to be serving her family.  Making dinner and doing laundry and doing dishes...but how she missed those moments alone.  Thinking that dinner could wait, Shanda slipped outside on the back deck and opened her book.  Instantly she was transported into the world of Thomas and Katherine and their sultry love scenes.  Although Shanda only got to read one chapter, a smile was on her face for the rest of the evening.  Dinner was cooked; dishes were done; laundry was put away, and yet Shanda was still with Thomas and Katherine in their woodland cottage.

2.  Sarah avoided the kitchen table like the plague.  There was an item on the table that she did not want to see, think about, and certainly not read.  The book was assigned three weeks ago and had to be read by Monday, only two days away. Sarah hated reading and knew that this book would not turn that around.  She found other things to do instead of walk past the table.  Sarah organized her closet, did her math and science homework, and spent two hours on facebook.  Unfortunately, the time had come and the book could no longer be avoided.  If Sarah wanted to have any chance of finishing her assignment she had to get started.   She trudged over and flung out her arm.  Even without looking, her hand found the exact object that she had been avoiding for three weeks.  The location had been seared in her mind, and soon, the words would be as well.

This was an interesting activity for me.  I usually write along with my kids when I assign quick-writes in the classroom; however, those are almost always connected to the literature that we are reading.  It was harder to pull something out of thin air.  I think it is a valuable activity, and I want to start doing more of this next year.  I still think that you can dig deeper into the thoughts of characters by stepping into their shoes, but it would also be nice to see what the kids come up with when given a more open prompt.