In term 1 some of the PLAs I achieved were:
I was resilient in rock climbing when I lost my grip and came off the wall. I kept going and climbed the harder ones.

I was courageous when I had to make a new start in another school when I was happy in my old school. I made an effort to make new friends and be positive about the change.

I was curious about the music program at Carey so joined Los Banditos and learned what it’s like to be part of a bigger band.

My goal for next term is to learn a new sport. (Hopefully volleyball.)

‘Out of my mind’ by Sharon Draper is a novel about a girl called Melody who has Cerebral palsy and photographic memory. Photographic memory means that she remembers everything that she has seen in her life.
Cerebral palsy means that she has no control over her limbs and can’t talk.
She attends to Spaulding street elementary and has to stay in room H5 for disabled kids.
In grade 5 she gets “inclusion” classes where she goes to “normal” classes.
In one class she gets to try out for the quiz team.
Will she make the team or stay in misery?

 

Some of the PLAs Melody shows are, Resilience because she is ignored by other kids and teachers at school, Courage because she does things that she doesn’t want to do and the biggest one, communication because she can’t talk so she has to unlock new ways to communicate.

 

Melody has a strong relationship with Elvira, her Medi-talker that allows her to say things that she has programmed into it. Melody uses Elvira a lot to talk to peers.

 

Sharon Draper’s writing techniques are: writing in the first person so you really feel how the character feels, she uses a lot of smiles and metaphors to describe things and she also leaves a lot of clues about what happens next or later on in the book.

Out of my mind was a real page turner and if I had taken it home I would’ve kept reading late into the night it’s a very excellent and well written and thought of.
This is a major must read for age 8 – 15 year olds.