Personal Narrative

Go Karting

I’m ready. I have three pillows on my back, my foot is ready to press the pedal, and my hands… Are on the wheel. I’m SUPER scared, and I was showering the wheel with sweat. Is it too late to turn back? I want to do it but why do I have to be such a scaredy cat? It’s not like this is my first time go karting. I did it when I was about five years old… On my dad’s lap! I guess that doesn’t really count, but I’ve played Mario Kart at home, and a few race car games in an arcade. Go karting can’t be that hard, or this scary. But is it even safe to go kart at 8o’clock at night? There isn’t even any sunlight! Why do nerves hate me so much?

“3...2...1, GO!” The checkered flag aggressively waves in front of me. I feel the pedal against my food, and I stomp on it. Zooming straight ahead, I feel my navy blue shirt stick to my back with sweat. I see the yellow ‘Slow down’ flag wave at me, but I ignore it, which is a bad idea because;

“SHCREEEH!” My cart slides while trying to get past a sharp turn. I look around. I’m still in front of everyone! I keep going.

Jeer. Jee-jeer. I hear an engine coming towards me, so I violently step on the accelerating pedal.

Phew! I’m safe. I think to myself while taking a deep breath. I suddenly notice another turn. This time I will not slide, I will not slide. So I vigorously turn my wheel. Slipping off with sweat, my hand flies of from the wheel. I feel my back jerk to the side. Then I notice… I’m facing the wrong direction!

“Help me! Someone! Please!” I yell. A man comes running towards me, but he came too late. My best friends Alex and Jackie had managed to get in front of me. The force between my foot and the ‘Go’ pedal makes the engine roar.

I come closer and closer to Alex. Her head turns around. Yup, she knows I’m here… I don’t know why, but suddenly I feel a sudden burst of rage. I grip the wheel and drive in front of her. One down, another to go. Jackie is now only 2 meters away from me, and she knows it. She tries swerving in front of me, but I was prepared for that. So as she tries again, I spin my wheel with pride, and make my way in front of her. I blindly look around barely seeing the checkered flag wave again. I head towards the starting point with no interruptions. I suddenly feel the sides of my mouth flying. I won.

“Nice job Maddy! How did you do it?” I hear.

“I dunno, nerves?” I call back. Then I look at Alex and Jackie’s dad.

“By the way, can I go again?” I ask. This time, I think, nerves were on my side.  

Madeleine's Typing Progress

Reading Log Reflection

In my reading log I notice that I'm reading just right and challenging books. I know this because readers at 5th grade typically read 3/4-1 page per minute. I'm typically readying 20 pages in 20 minutes for my just right books, and 13 pages in 20 minutes for my challenging books. A new genre I am passionate about is realistic fiction because I can really relate to some situations that the characters go into. One reading habit that has helped me this year is having big group discussions in our read-aloud book Wonder by R.J. Palacio because I can hear other people's thinking, and I can see the book in different lenses.

RLA Reflection

In Reading, we have been learning new ways to think about our novels. The most helpful type of thinking for me has been envisioning. An example of this is:
"I can can Hugo walking in the shadows in the train station, and I can see him go into his secret passage. This makes me think that Hugo is a mysterious boy. "
This envision I wrote was about the book The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick.
Envisioning helps me because I can see what the character is seeing and somethings I can understand what the character is feeling.

Science

We have finished Investigation 1 in Science. It was on Mixtures and Solutions. The new learning I discovered was how paper filters work and what solutions and what diatomaceous earth is.
The most interesting thing I learnt was that evaporation can separate solutions. What I enjoy about science is learning new scientific words.

My Self Reflection

My Typing Goal

My current WPM is: 23 WPM
My goal is: 27 WPM
I will aim to achieve this by the end of September.
I will be doing this by using typingtraining.com