CommuniTEA is our weekly virtual program where students (2nd to 8th grade) and mentors meet to share feelings, write and create together. Enjoy our CommuniTEA update below:
As students were welcomed into CommuniTEA on Tuesday afternoon, I couldn’t stop myself from imagining everything that was on their plates, mentally, and how they were coping. I didn’t have to do a lot of reading between the lines in the chat to find the answers. “I got some great news recently so I’m feeling extra fantabulous!” “I’m feeling good because I got all my school work done.” “I’m doing fine, school was pretty uneventful and I went for a nice walk this morning!” After sharing about how we're feeling, Eka, a BFI student, stepped in to share something exciting of hers that we were all looking forward to hearing: her reading us her original story, The Reason Bears Hibernate, that was recently published in creative magazine llustoria! We are so proud of Eka for her wonderful writing and loved listening to this creative story. Read below for some student reactions!
THAT WAS AMAZING!
It brightened my day!
WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU! :)
That was wonderful, Eka! I really enjoyed the plot, adventures and characters. Well done.
Like someone said before, we are so proud of you. The character name were so fun and the quest was EPIC and comical!
That was so inspiring! Now I want to write a myth too!
Best story I’ve heard in a while. Thanks!
SO COOL!!
Good story, I enjoyed how you always described the setting!
Click on the link below to see an Instagram post that will tell you more about Eka and her awesome accomplishment: https://www.instagram.com/p/CMU-TmpgxGD/
We dove into the BFI Idea Book again this week after Eka's reading, and worked on a fun creative challenge from page 13. Students saw circles on the page and were invited to draw anything they wanted out of those! After some chill time to do the activity with relaxing music on, we shared our circle drawings with the group.
Those drawings became characters in this next activity, where we picked two of our circle drawings and made up names for them! We each spent a few minutes writing a poem, haiku or short story about our two characters.
Read our clever circle character names below.
Soleil (they/them)
Sojourn (they/them)
Snickerdoodle the Cat Astronomer
Pawsley
Garish the Sun, He/Him
THE Cat
Gadhmuran (he/him)
Zeitgeist (they/them)
Sheep: Vanilla bean
Mooshroom: Fungus amoungus
Grump the Tree Frog (she/her)
Mr. Fuzzy Pants
Clementine (she/her), an orange cat
Sol (they/them) a yellow balloon
Egbert (He/Him) and Fried "Fred" Egg (It/Ate)
Reboot Mizo
Eye Spy the Eye (he/him)
Ninja
Basketball Boy
And read some lines from student's writing about their characters:
Very mythic with the celestial bodies.
Revenge for pig!
Unleash the fury cyclops!
Vanilla the sheep, puts you to sleep, she prances away to the night.
And quite literally, day and night.
Strawberries are forever…
Even though these two lived very far apart, there was some sort of magnetic pull that kept them constantly fighting for attention.
Grump the tree frog sat down on the lily pad…
“Get a blanket,” she stares fixedly.
Mr. Fuzzy Pants ran in to a tree.
Who knew that a cat and balloon could become such great pals...
Pawsley FINALLY found the catnip.
I am birdy and I fly south for the winter because birds can't stand the cold ya know!
Gadhmuran and Zeitgeist best friends 4eva a swirling seed and a watervapor.
Pig unleashed Fury.
Eye Spy spots the thing he wanted: creativity.
We loved listening to everyone's creative stories during share-out time at the end of the meeting and hearing about what these cool circle characters were up to!
This week's tea recommendation: Lemon Ginger Stash Tea!
Until next time!
Edited and Posted by Leone, Fearless Ideas Student Mentor
CommuniTEA summary by AL (long time Fearless Ideas Volunteer) and Leone
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