With a mix of a stuffed giraffe, mouse, and duck, I created my frankenstuffie named Jackson. Jackson is a 10 year old boy from Chicago, who loves peanut butter. The idea of Jackson came to me when I was craving a PB&J sandwich. Now you may be wondering why I am talking about a stuffie named Jackson, this is because of my most recent project in PLP. In this project, we read a book called Leviathan, wrote a short story, and made a video telling our story. In this project we were focusing on communicating our ideas, and how to do so effectively. The driving question we followed was How do we as writers make our message clear and engaging to an audience? Within this project, we learned many techniques so we could deliver an engaging and clear story.
This is my frankenstuffie named Jackson!
The first part of the project was reading a book called Leviathan. This book is in an alternate reality, but heavily based on the events in World War One. This book was different than the books I normally like to read. I feel this made it hard for me to stay engaged with the story. In reading this book I realized that even if I didn’t like the book I would still have to read it. This meant I tried to find little things in the book to look forward to or hypothesize what might happen. Reading this book also meant meeting deadlines. Deadlines such as being up to date on chapters, being ready for the chapter review tests, and coming prepared to class with questions about the book. If I could do the process of reading the book again, I would have helped myself with time management. Although I was always caught up with the reading and questions, I feel most of it was done the night before it was due. Next time I will follow a set schedule for myself to reduce stress.
This is the book we read called Leviathan.
Next, we had to write a short story. Within this part of the project, we had to create an original story about the Frankenstuffie we made. Before writing the story we used many tools to create a complete story. We used a hero’s journey organizer and character templates to gain a full understanding of our characters and the plot. While writing my story I learned how to successfully communicate my ideas to an audience. By using strategies such as a narrator, and characters talking I was able to say what my characters were feeling. I was able to portray my characters in a way where you could not only see their emotions but feel them. In this project, I made two drafts. The first one I did was roughly 3,000 words which was a tad bit long. In this version I added in extreme description and detail that was good to have, but unnecessary. If I were to redo this part of the project, I would have made the first copy 1,000 words in the beginning. This would have saved me some time and tears. While shortening my story I learned how to shorten my words and communicate in a concise and meaningful way.
In a world of fear, one young boy named Jackson has a fear he has never quite been able to get over. A fear that stops him from accomplishing daily tasks. What is that fear you ask? Well… his fear is of supermarkets. Specifically the Superstore 4 blocks from his house.
For as long as he could remember, Jackson had always gone to the store with his mom. It was always the two of them. Until one day, his mom brought along his baby brother. While in the store, Jackson was going to get his favourite peanut butter to fuel his PB&J obsession. He walked down the aisle and picked up the best peanut butter there is, the Kraft peanut butter with the bears on it. Sometimes I wonder if he only likes it because of the bears? I mean they are very cute! Once he got the peanut butter he headed back to find his mom. Jackson, running around frantically, with peanut butter in hand could find his mom and baby brother nowhere. With his head in his hands, and tears streaming down his face, he sadly walked to the cashier with his peanut butter. With no money, and no way home Jackson asked to call his mom. As loud rings, one after the other filled Jackson’s head, he wondered if he had done something wrong? “Why did she forget me? Does she not love me?” These thoughts circled around in his head until he started crying heavier. His mom picked up the phone after what seemed like an eternity. “Hello who is this?” Jackson trembling for words, trying not to sniffle and give away that he was crying said, “Hi mom.” It took his mom a minute to respond. All Jackson could hear was heavy breathing and frantic searching. With panic in her voice she asked Jackson where he was. “I’m at the Superstore mom. Where are you?” With the deepest guilt and sorrow in her voice she calmly said, “don’t worry my JJ, I’ll be right there.”
Hearing his mom use his special nickname made him feel better. It reminded him of all the time he would spend with her. It brought him back to all the Superstore trips with just the two of them. He would get anything he wanted if he gave her those big puppy eyes no one could refuse. His mom calmly said, “hello? JJ, are you still there?” “Yea mom I am.” He replied. “Okay honey I will be there in 2 minutes, you just stay on the phone right where you are and mommy will be right there. Everything will be alright my baby boy. I love you so much.” Jackson tried to hold back his tears but he could no longer. He started sobbing into the phone waiting for the moment his mom would arrive. On the phone his mom kept comforting him as she filled with shame. She would never forgive herself.
With his mom still on the phone, he could hear a sort of high pitched squeaking sound. “Mom? Hello? Is that you?” He asked perplexed. His mom also confused, said, “No honey, I didn't say anything.” “Oh that’s weird. I’m sorry I have to go!” Jackson said as he hung up the phone, continuing to hear the sound. Finally the squeaks he once heard, became a hello. Jackson, confused, looked around very curious. “Where was that coming from?” he thought. Then he heard it again, this time it was a “down here.” Jackson looked down but all he could see was the peanut butter in his hand. Confused he put the peanut butter down on the counter. He slowly bent down bringing his eyes closer, and closer to eye level with the peanut butter. His eyes reached the label. And there he saw the bear on the label moving! Confused he rapidly blinked thinking he was seeing things. He rubbed his eyes and when he finally opened them, the bear, in a fast, high-pitched voice said, “What’s your name? My name is Sarah!” “This can’t be right,” he thought. As far as Jackson knew, peanut butter wasn’t supposed to talk. Confused, Jackson rapidly said, “What is going on? Who are you? Matter of fact what are you?! How… what?” Sarah surprised said, “Whoa buddy! Calm down! Well you already know who I am. I said my name was Sarah! It’s nice too meet you! I’m sorry what was your name?” “Oh I’m sorry my name is Jackson.” “It’s nice to meet you Jackson!” Sarah responded. Jackson blurted out, “what about my questions? I need answers!” Sarah took a minute to think about it and said, “Well, I’m really not supposed to tell you. All I can say is I have special powers that not every peanut butter has. Powers that make me able to talk!” As Jackson waited for his mom he spent his time talking and getting to know the peanut butter. He told her all about his life and how he is feeling. The time flied and when he looked down at his watch it had been way longer than 2 minuted. Where was his mom? Jackson although worried his mom would never come, found happiness in the fact he had found a new friend! Finally, Jackson’s mom came running into the store and gave him a big hug. “I’m so glad you’re ok! I am so sorry! I was so worried about you!” His mom said with a sigh of relief. “It’s ok mom, I’m just glad you’re here! I missed you!” He said. They continued to hug for a while. Once it was time to go Jackson asked if he was allowed to bring home his new friend. His mom said, “of course honey.” Jackson knew his puppy dog eyes would work! Jackson, with a smile plastered to his face, left the store happy that he found his mom, and a new friend!
Lastly, we created our video. Creating this video was such a fun process! I loved being able to showcase my creativity and create a video I am overall very proud of. The first task we did was to create a storyboard. This helped me get a vision of how I wanted my film to go. One thing that I struggled with was the right shots. I went to Superstore to film my video and I didn’t go with a list of shots I needed. If I did have a specific list of shots I needed while in the store I think I could have created a more seamless and cohesive movie. I challenged myself in this project by doing something I have never done. I used a green screen! It took me multiple attempts to achieve the look that I wanted with my stuffie and the background. Overall I am very happy with the work I put in and the result I got.
Now it’s to me for some fun! If you’ve made it this far, good for you! If you haven’t already watched my video, after this post I suggest watching it to help you with this activity. What is a theme? A theme is an underlying message in a piece of writing, or film. For example, a theme for Hunger Games could be something such as “Finding trust in those who surround you will be beneficial.” What about Harry Potter? “The true power of friendship.” Although cheesy, these sentences sum up the main message the author is trying to convey. Now it’s your turn! After watching my video, you will create your theme statement. Please click the link below which will take you to a website called Padlet. Under the responses category please write your theme statement about my video. If you have any feedback or things you liked you can add that under the comment section! Thank you for participating and adding your response!
Syddy giddy out ✌️