In my sixth-grade language arts class, we read a book called The Last Cuentista. It depicts a girl named Petra and her adventures as Earth is destroyed by a comet. Some people, such as Petra, were saved and taken to another planet. When they arrive, Petra is the only passenger with any memory of Earth. Everyone else has been brainwashed by a group called the Collective. Eventually, Petra’s storytelling awakens people’s memories of Earth. I enjoyed reading The Last Cuentista because it was futuristic and is based on an interesting idea. Although the book had many strengths, I think the book needed more action. A major theme of the book was how important storytelling and keeping stories alive is. Because of Petra’s storytelling, the brainwashed children begin remembering their past and start to take action against the Collective. Telling stories reminds us of the past and is an important part of most, if not all cultures. It can pass on important life lessons and can also be a fun pastime. In this case, telling stories saved people from a soulless existence.
In addition to reading The Last Cuentista, my language arts class and I wrote a piece on what our ideal world would be. My world would be named The Matrix and it would have several interesting features. First, my planet would have floating islands. They would be like small moons that appear stationary relative to my planet. They would be topped by futuristic skyscrapers and glass skybridges linking them together. Second, there would be birds known as Cherpers who are easily trained and specialize in putting on aerial shows. They are commonly used to cheer on sports teams. Third, my planet would have an education system based on apprenticeships, which would allow students to focus on what mattered most to them. Finally, my planet would have highly advanced technology. The most recent breakthrough was interstellar travel, which allowed people to travel almost anywhere in the universe in a matter of seconds. Overall, writing about my ideal world has been a very creative experience and I also had a great time reading other people’s ideal worlds.
Half way through the year, we started making hardcover, handmade books. First, we used leaves and flowers to create beautiful paintings. Next, we folded and cut a large piece of poster board into a book. Then, we collaged our paintings into our book. Finally, we copied and pasted our ideal world writing and our cuento writing, a project in which we wrote a story that one of our family members told, into our books. Of course, we couldn’t have done this without the help of our local artist, Peg Gignoux. All in all, Bookmaking was one of the highlights of the year and it was fun to do something with my hands in class.
In conclusion, I had a very diverse and enjoyable time in my language arts class this year. I read a book about storytelling and comets. I imagined an entire world and watched it spring to life on my paper. I even made my very own book! Throughout my experience in language arts, this was an inspiring and memorable year. I look forward to language arts next year!
