Portfolio

Anne Dymond
Language Arts Portfolio

Table of Contents

1. Heart Map
2. 3 Poems About Writing

3. Writing Triangles
4. Small Moment
5. Scaffolded Text

6. Informational Text
7. Narrative

8. Argumentative
9. 6-word Memior



 
 
 
Like a large oak tree, 
One must have 
strong roots to 
Flourish creatively. 
 
 
 

 

There once was a girl that loved to write 
Who then realized with much of a fright 
That other kids at her school 
Did not know that grammar was cool. 
But she followed her heart, and wrote what was right. 
 
 
 

C​lassic literature 
Re​volves  
E​ntirely around 
Au​thors 
T​aking time to develop  
Id​eas, but also by 
N​avigating 
Gr​ammar 

 

Baking
Making Bread
Different kinds of Bread

John, Shane and I
experimenting with different

recipes one Saturday

afternoon.

The Boys
John

John loves to read

John and I read The Red
Pyramid together.

The Boys
Shane

Shane plays Basketball

Shane made 5 baskets in one
game.

Baseball

Rangers

Rangers Stadium in
Arlington

Taking the boys
to their first

baseball game.

The crowd was cheering loudly. The clapping and screaming were drowning
out the steady cadence of the basketball hitting the worn wood of the basketball
court. Shane was bringing the ball up the court. He had already scored 4 baskets
during the game. The anticipation could be felt in the air. There were 10 seconds
left. He faked a pass to the left and started dribbling to the right. 8 seconds. The
defender slides into his path. My heart feels like it is going to pound out of my
chest. Shane turns to the right moving around the defender. 5 seconds. Three more
dribbles, a layup, and swish. The ball goes in! I am instantly on my feet, arms
raised, as victory is his. Shane is running all the way down the court in celebration,
his teammates close behind. Parents, siblings, coaches, and even the ref are
clapping a cheering. Then the loud buzzer goes off, signaling the legitimate end of
the game. The team had done it. This was team they were not supposed to beat.
The joy could be felt all around as the molecules of air even seemed to be
bouncing around in celebration. Seeing the joy on Shane’s face as he celebrated
with his teammates was a priceless memory that I will cherish forever.

The most important thing about camping is that it is fun.
We sit around the fire and roast marshmallows
I like to take my guitar and sing songs
The kids like to throw the football around
When the weather is warm, we all like go swimming
The most important thing about camping is that it's fun.

The most important thing about football is the Super Bowl
The idea of the game is to score the most points by getting the ball in the end zone.
There are 11 players for each team on the field, the offensive players and the defensive players.
A touchdown is worth 6 points, with the opportunity to score either 1 or 2 points afterward.
A field goal is worth three points.
But the most important thing about football is the Super Bowl.

The most important thing about my dogs is that they are cute.
Charity is a border collie terrier mix.
Hank is a boxer pit mix.
Charity is 5 years old.
Hank is 3 years old.
But the most important thing about my dogs is that they are cute.



A broken foot, four ten year old boys, and a ruined birthday camping trip. What am I
going to do now? The whole thing started off great! John wanted to go camping for his tenth
birthday, so arrangements were made, friends were invited, and food was bought. It was going to
be amazing and a birthday he would never forget. We arrived at the campsite on Friday evening.
The first thing that had to be done was the tent needed to be set up and a fire started. Teaching 4
hyper boys how to put a tent up is an experience, but we did succeed. I got the fire started and
the kids began to throw the football around in a clearing. We grilled hotdogs over the fire for
dinner, and of course had s’mores for dessert. That night, getting the kids to settle down enough
to fall asleep was a chore and a half.

There is nothing better than waking up in nature, drinking a hot cup of coffee while
looking out over the lake. Since the boys stayed up so late the night before, they are still
sleeping, so I am sitting in complete silence, watching the birds dive down and catch fish. As the
day progresses, the boys wake up, and as all boys always are, were hungry. We made sandwiches
and then decided to get the inflatable raft to float on the lake. After about an hour, the boys tire
of being on the water. As I am coming off the bank to help them get out of the raft and bring in
up to shore, the rock I am standing on slips and my foot gets wedged between two rocks under
the surface of the water. With the help of the boys, I managed to get my foot unstuck and climb
back onto the bank. It was probably 5 minutes after I had slipped and my foot was already twice
the size it normally is with a bone sticking out of the side.

I was now out at the lake with four ten year old boys. The boys were great and we got the
car loaded and we headed back to town. It was quite a trick driving back seeing as my right foot
was broken. The camping trip was ruined. But the boys were overall good sports and adapted to

moving the party. We still had a sleepover and cooked over a fire in the backyard. So, maybe the
sleepover wasn’t ruined afterall.

Pay for Play: College football, student athletes, and the annual question of money

Every year, the NCAA seems to catch more and more student athletes accepting money
or other benefits for their participation in college football, as well as other sports. Does the
NCAA have this right? Should college athletes put their bodies and minds at risk to continue to
play without getting paid? After all, college football and basketball are multibillion dollar
enterprises, and it’s the athletes that are being put in harm’s way for the sake of entertainment.
The easy answer to this question is yes. Pay them. They deserve it. But pump the brakes for a
minute. Aren’t college athletes already getting paid, in the form of room, board, and education?
Aren’t those, especially education, worth more than a monthly stipend?

According to a report, “Student Debt and the Class of 2013”, the national average of
students graduating with a bachelor’s degree was between $18,000 and $26,000, with some
states even averaging over $30,000. And these figures promise to rise. In a national comparison
published in 2014, the average increase of tuition and fees nationwide was 3%. Even here at
ASU and in the Texas Tech system of colleges, tuition and fees increase almost yearly. So,
graduating without the burden of student loan debt is a huge incentive for athletes in that the
amount of the loan, with payments spread over 10 to 20 years with interest, is going to net a
year’s worth of salary in the long run.

I have heard it said that the universities and coaches and athletic departments are making
huge amounts of money on the backs of these athletes, and it is not fair. While this may be true,
that is the way the world works. Bill Gates makes lots of money on the backs of every single one
of his employees, while they do not see a fraction of that money. The automobile industry and its
CEOs make tons of money off the backs of those that work in the assembly line. These athletes
have the choice not to play football or basketball, or any other sport for that matter.

As one that will be graduating with debt, I resent the fact that college athletes that are
going to school for free think that they should be paid in addition to getting a free education.
While they may not see the value of a quality education now, and while many student athletes do
not even go on to graduate, that is their own decision. Perhaps if we start paying them, but expect
them to pay for their own schooling, they will understand that they have the better deal now.

Webster, M., & Washington Student Achievement, C. (2014). 2013-14 Tuition and Fee Rates: A
National Comparison. Washington Student Achievement Council.

Reed, M., Cochrane, D., & Institute for College Access & Success, P. D. (2014). Student Debt
and the Class of 2013. Project On Student Debt.