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BROMWELL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL (214) Telephone: Mr. Jonathan Wolfer, Principal |
Kids Grope for Guffaws on the CSAP
A Tale of Two Schools, Part Seven
ESSAY TASK ON SOMETHING FUNNY
By Lisa Levitt Ryckman, Denver Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer A funny thing happened on the way to the CSAP. Nina, a fourth-grader at Bromwell Elementary, just wishes she could have remembered what it was. She and every other Denver Public School fourth-grader needed a knee-slapper for the Colorado Student Assessment Program, which asked kids to write about something funny or interesting that happened in school. They had exactly 50 minutes to do it. "They put SO much pressure on you to think of something funny that you can just think of one thing -- and it's not even that funny," Nina says. "But you're so desperate, you just write it down anyway." Naturally, after it was all over, she couldn't stop thinking of funny things. Funny things happen every day in her class at Bromwell Elementary. Maybe every hour. For example, Friday was Funny Hat or Hair Day, which makes for nonstop hilarity. It was a good way to decompress after two weeks of CSAP testing, which ended on Thursday for fourth-graders at Bromwell and Cheltenham elementaries. At Cheltenham, Tabitha had no problem thinking of something funny. It's so funny, in fact, that she giggles at the mere thought. "This teacher, at lunchtime . . . I can't tell you," Tabitha says, giggling again. Writing about this on the CSAP was one thing, but actually saying it out loud is another. "I'll tell you," says her classmate, Jasmine. Jasmine knows all the details of this story because it actually happened to her, not Tabitha. "She wrote about this teacher, she has a . . ." at this point, Jasmine and Tabitha both dissolve into giggles. But Jasmine quickly regains her composure, determined to get it out. "This teacher works in the lunchroom, she has a big butt," Jasmine blurts out. There. She said it. "And one time, I turned around, and her big butt was in my face," she adds. "I saw it," Tabitha says. This kind of story is chock-full of what CSAP scorers refer to as "voice." Writers can never have too much of it. Jasmine's own essay was a classic: a girl slipping on a banana peel in the cafeteria. Ralph, who's also in Meaghan O'Brien's fourth grade, wrote about how he sometimes accidentally calls their teacher "Mom" or "Grandma." "Everybody has done that this year," Tabitha says. They agree that O'Brien is sort of like another parent. A very harried parent. "I wouldn't want to have 28 kids," Tabitha says. At Bromwell, Katie wrote about how the shift key got jammed on the computer once. "It kept saying shift-shift-shift-shift," she says. When the test asked for an essay about a favorite piece of clothing, Katie wrote about her overall love of overalls. Her classmate Connor wrote about his red fleece pullover. Tabitha wrote about her pants, which fit her just right. "I wrote about my boxers," Ralph says. The girls agree that boxers are an excellent piece of clothing, definitely worthy of a CSAP essay. To a kid, they are pleased with their work. "I think I did good," Tabitha says. She and her classmates felt ready. "We practiced like the whole year," Tabitha says. "I told my teacher, `You should say it's just a practice, because you say we do good on practice tests,' " Jasmine says. Now that it's over, they're pretty glad. There is life after CSAP. "I don't have to go to sleep early now," Ralph says. "We got snacks after it," Jasmine says. "That's the only part I liked." At Bromwell, Katie and Connor both think the CSAPs are important. The question is, why? "Because you get . . .," Katie starts confidently, then suddenly stops, stumped. "I don't know," she finally says. But Connor knows the bottom line. "I guess, to my parents, they are."
This article is copyrighted by the Denver Rocky Mountain News and may not be reproduced or republished without their permission. You can contact them for further information at the Rocky Mountain News website. We are grateful for their permission to post it here for the enrichment of our school community.
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