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Mr. Murdick
Happy Valley Middle School
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Welcome to English Language Arts where reading and writing are living. The overall goal of this class is to begin or continue on a path towards becoming a lifelong reader and a competent, creative writer.
It's a path that is rocky and dirty and edged with grass and unknown plants and wildlife.
But it's a path worth taking—where challenges exist, unknowns occur, and adventures await.
We live in a time where authors are seeping out of the cracks and crawling out of the woodwork with great stories, amazing characters, and believable themes that we all can learn from.
It's an era of colorful and attractive book covers. It's an era of intense and page-turning plots. It's an era of the apocalypse or uncontrollable time travel and just not being able to accept a book's ending.
Language Arts class gives us time to learn and practice the skills of reading and writing. A time to celebrate the freedom of reading. A time to express our thoughts through writing. A time to meld the two together to show our appreciation of story and creativity.
“Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past me I will turn to see fear's path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain."
“Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past me I will turn to see fear's path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain."
Collect the writing that impacts you, impresses you, or leaves a mark.
Collect the writing that impacts you, impresses you, or leaves a mark.
Ode to the Bike
Ode to the Bike
I tip my helmet to you, good bike!
You make the world come alive!
Colors scream by in a fantastic blur
The wind rushes and hollers—never ceasing, never quieting
Scenes of clarity change constantly with each meter and mile achieved
I tip my helmet to you, good bike!
You make life less complicated.
You push aside the deadlines, appointments, and phone calls
Leaving the disquieted world to survive on its own
I tip my helmet to you, good bike!
You make my body feel alive!
Legs are fresh, strong, well rehearsed
Lungs are calm and tempered
Nose and mouth working in unison to restore and deplete
Tears stream and never end—not from joy or sadness.
Salty sweat surfacing, never lingering—wet briefly on skin’s surface, then dry once born into the air
Arms steady and engaged
With hands and fingers, knuckle-white, in an embrace.
A rigorous calm
An undying focus
A race not of time
A story told frequently, yet never the same.
Thank you, ol’ wise and powerful bike!
The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them.
—Mark Twain
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