Use the fascinating BuiLD YouR WiLD SeLF site for a creative writing exercise...

Have you tried this free application called 'BuiLD YouR WiLD SeLF' at all? It can be found at http://www.buildyourwildself.com/

How BuiLD YouR WiLD SeLF works
The way it works is you start with a human creature and then start adding animal parts. The program was created by the New York Zoos and Aquarium and a link to the New York Zoos and Aquariums can be found on the website pages.. It is a very easy site to use. No registration or logins are required. To get started  enter a name, choose boy or girl, and add various body parts. One just follows the prompts and makes choices from the various options continually. You can view the names of the animals as you mouse over each part of the options offered.

This tutorial from YouTube gives the step by step process



Creative writing task

After my Grade 6 class had created their wild selves on the site I set them a creative writing task: 'Write about a short dream adventure you had when you changed into half human half animal.  What happened?" Here are examples from three of my students:

Student 1:

"One morning I woke up from my first sleep in the Californian jungle (I was there  to observe birds) I saw the Condor  a beautiful  bird. Secretly I wished I had wings like that so I can fly and have a birds eye view. The next I knew I had developed the wings I had wished for. I set off to observe all the lovely birds."

Student 2:

"I was running away from the flock of birds chasing after me when my foot got stuck in a puddle of mud. I tugged and yanked but my foot would not move. The birds came racing past me, cutting my face with their sharp claws and beaks. That’s when I fell over, my face half submerged in a puddle of water.
“None of this is real,” I whispered to myself. I rolled over into puddle and swam through the water. “Ahh!” I yelled out in agonising pain. There were wings sprouting out of my back and my legs were turning into jelly-fish tentacles. I was become half an animal! I woke up with a gasp. “Thank goodness it was only a dream,” I said. “Oh no…” I muttered, looking down at tentacles floating in the water around me…."

Student 3:

"I was at the zoo and I was watching the tiger in its cage. It was so big and beautiful to look at. It looked friendly! I felt an urge to touch it, so I nervously put my hand slowly through the cage. Then, all of a sudden I found was in the Sahara desert. I was half tiger and I could run as fast as lightning. I had the most beautiful wings and I could fly high in the sky as well. It was awesome! I flew around the desert looking at all the other animals. Then I landed. The  animals came running to me and they started talking to me. They showed me everything and introduced me to their families. They gave me a special place to sleep and I flopped into bed filled with excitement and wonder. In the morning, when I woke up, the animals were gone! My wings were gone and I wasn’t half tiger anymore, The special cave  I had slept in was gone. That’s when I realised it was only a dream…"

This was a fun activity - the students enjoyed it!