Last month, the W1 writing project challenged students to incorporate the grammar focus (can/can’t, could/couldn’t, and/but) into an essay that described five ages (When I was five, … When I was twelve…, etc.) and finish with the present (Now, I am xxx years old…). They were encouraged to expand with a few details for each of the ages. The writing was done during one hour in class, but prepared by a previous homework assignment to write 10 statements about things they could and couldn’t do when they were children. Shiping Zhang diligently stayed a few minutes after class to complete his essay that blew his teacher, Lynne away when she finally read it. She was so proud of his work, which required only minimal edits, and wanted to share it with you all.
When I was five years old, I could play with my toys in the backyard. It was a quiet place and my grandparents planted many plants there. I liked that backyard. I couldn’t go outside alone and that backyard was my whole world.
When I was ten years old, I was a student. I could study at school and I could play with my friends. I learned a lot from my teachers. I could ride a bicycle around my home town with my friends but I couldn’t ride too far from my home. At that age, my home town was my whole world.
When I was nineteen years old, I went to college. I could leave my hometown and go another city. I made many friends in college, and I went to many cities with my friends but I couldn’t go to other states. My state was my whole world.
When I was twenty-two years old, I went to work, and I went to other states. I saw many different things. I could try many different foods, and knew different cultures but I couldn’t go to another country. My country was my whole world.
When I was twenty-four years old, I came to the USA. I saw more people from different countries, and knew more cultures from other counties. Now I am twenty-seven years old. I still can’t know where I will go in the future but I know I will be better than before, and now the whole world is my world.