Young Writers

Brynn and Mason come from a long line of writers. My Grandma Hale was a gifted writer and poet. She passed her love for writing down to my Dad who has written two books that were published (and several that weren't) and wrote columns for the Daily Herald for many years. I can't claim to be half as talented as that, but I have always enjoyed expressing myself through writing. I can still remember being in first grade where we had a writing bag that was passed from student to student each week. Inside the bag were materials such as cardstock, paper, markers, stencils, stickers, a stapler, etc. to write and illustrate your own story. When you brought your completed story back to school you got to share it with the class. I wrote the story _______________ and was sure it was the greatest book of all time. In 2nd and 3rd grade I was selected to be one of only a few students from the school to attend a young writers conference at BYU where we participated in workshops and activites to learn more about the writing process and also got to meet and listen to different authors and illustrators. I really enjoyed it and it stands out in my mind as a time when I was told I was a gifted writer and it helped me become more confident in myself and my abilities. For most of Elementary school I aspired to be an author when I grew up. Does being an author of 500 posts on a private blog count as reaching that goal? Probably not. In Junior High I continued to enjoy writing and was able to apply for and be accepted onto the Newspaper and Yearbook staff for my 9th grade year at Canyon View Junior High.
Seeing how these early life experiences shaped my love for writing, it brings me great joy to see my children's love to write grow.

Mason has always dreamed of writing a book that is published by Scholastic (he doesn't want it to be published by some no name publisher he's never heard of). He has started writing several stories, but unfortunately doesn't quite have the attention span to get past the first chapter. That first chapter always contains some great writing, though. He has filled up quite a few notebooks with his own version of graphic novels like Big Nate and Diary of a Wimpy Kid. He currently talks frequently about becoming an author after he retires from the NFL, just like one of his favorite authors, Tim Green.

Brynn loves to write. And write, and write, and write. Last year, in first grade, she filled an entire 2 inch binder with all the journal writing and stories she did in class. At the end of the year she took all her stories and made her own little library, complete with Library cards for each person in our family so we could check out her books whenever we wanted to.

This year we encouraged each of them to enter a story into the school's Reflections contest. The theme was "What is your story?" Mason wrote about his dream of playing for the Eagles and winning the Super Bowl. He creatively wrote it in the voice of a commentator doing a play by play of the game. Brynn wanted to write a story about a girl in second grade in the voice of her writing in her diary each day. They both won awards of excellence in Literature which means they were in the school's top 5 and advanced onto city. We are so proud of them and their hard work. I hope that this will be one of the little experiences in their life where they felt successful and it will help their confidence grow and they will continue to have a desire write.

 Super Bowl 51

By Mason Murray

Welcome to Super bowl 51! If you’re just joining us, it has been a tremendous game between the Eagles and the Patriots! The Patriots lead 55 to 51 after star tight end Rob Gronkowski scored on a 40 yard touchdown pass. The Patriots line up to kick off and it’s a booming kick downfield. Darren Sproles muffs the kick! The Eagles pick it up and are tackled at their own 1 yard line. The clock stops with 1:00 left in the game.

Eagles’ quarterback, Carson Wentz, trots onto the field. Wentz takes the snap. He is under heavy pressure, and is scrambling around in the end zone. He breaks a tackle avoiding a safety. Wentz spots star wide receiver, Mason Murray, open at the Eagles’ 35. Murray makes an amazing diving catch and it is first down and ten to go at the Eagles’ 35.

The Eagles’ offense runs to the line. Wentz spikes the ball to stop the clock with 40 seconds left in the game. With the play clock ticking down the Eagles huddle up and Wentz looks to the sideline to get the play call from the coach.  The offense sets up with 5 seconds left on the play clock. Wentz quickly takes the snap and hands it off to Darren Sproles. Sproles tries to run up the middle but only gets a 3 yard gain. The Eagles spend their last timeout with 21 seconds left on the clock.  Head coach, Doug Peterson, talks to the offense and they hurry back out onto the field. It’s third down and 7 to go.

 If the Eagles do not get this first down they will have to try to convert on 4^th down. Wentz takes the snap, and spots Mason Murray at midfield. Murray makes the catch and is tackled at midfield. There is 9 seconds left and the Eagles hurry to the line and spike the ball with 3 seconds left. They have time to run only one more play. They are down by 4 so kicking a field goal is not an option, they must go for a touchdown. Wentz takes the snap and throws it towards Mason Murray in the end zone . But the defender is all over him! The defender pins down Murray’s right arm, which is an obvious pass interference.  Murray leaps out with his left arm, and it is caught!!!! A one handed catch by Mason Murray! An exact replica of Odell Beckham Jr’s one handed catch! The Philadelphia Eagles are world champions, and have won their first super bowl! The MVP (Most Valuable Player), Mason Murray comes up with a one handed catch to win the super bowl for the Eagles! Thank you for watching Super Bowl 51! We will be back in a moment for the trophy presentation!    

My First Day of School

By: Brynn Murray

Chapter 1

Hi! My name is Ellie. I am 7 years old. This is a story that is about my first day in second grade. Tomorrow is my first day going to my new school. The school is called Foothill Elementary. My teacher’s name is Mrs. Murray. She seems like a really, really nice teacher. I have not met her yet. I just have a feeling that she will be nice to everyone in the class. I have about one or two people in the school I know. Elizabeth is in my class. Emma is in third grade. I do not get to see Emma a lot at school and you know why. I have to go to sleep now. It is getting late out here. See you tomorrow. Bye!

Chapter 2

Hi! I’m back. I just woke up at 6:00 in the morning. I woke up so early in the morning because I was so so so excited for school! I already have my clothes set up! I know I am going to have a great school year. I already have plans set up with my friends on where to meet before and after school today. I am going early to meet my friends at the park. I am kind of scared for my first day at school. I am just so so so excited for school today! See you later. Bye!

Chapter 3

Hi! I am back. I just got home from school. At school I had so much fun! I will tell you about my day right after I take off my backpack. It is so heavy.  So, at school today I got introduced. I got to say my name and tell some things about myself. It was so fun! And I met some new friends at school. Their names are Elizabeth, Madyson, Mady, Isabella, Bell, Bella, Rosy, and that is all the friends I met today. The good news is that we all sit by each other in class. That is how we met.  

At school we have two recesses. We made up a game at recess. The game is called run from the puppies. It is where there are cats and dogs. The cats run from the dogs. If you get tagged by a dog you become a dog. Once everyone is a dog the game is over. It is very fun in action. I love school so far, but I still have more to tell you so let’s get on with it. So, I have a lot of fun in my first year in a new school. The next thing I did was go to lunch. In my lunch I got a sandwich and chips and a juice box. I love juice boxes.  I just wanted to tell you about my school day. Bye!