Joshua's Composition

As this is our testing week, I have spent my days gathering together articles for grading and administering tests on the computer (the guys love online tests -- some with instant grades!!). I just uploaded one of Joshua's English Composition papers and it is such an example of who he is that I had to share. This guy has absolutely loved animals since he was a tiny tot (not that he was tiny--he was chubby!). As a toddler and preschooler, he used to gather all of his animals and line them up and sort them out. And when he learned to read, he started collecting books on animals. He loves them all. His older brother calls him a walking encyclopedia of useless information (teenagers!). I know that it's not useless, but some of it is pretty obscure.

But, I am happy with this paragraph he wrote. He was supposed to choose a topic sentence, then write three reasons to support that topic. Then write three details to support the third reason, followed by a concluding sentence. I think he did a good job.

Animals are interesting to me because they are so different from one another. All animals have different tactics for defending themselves in the wild. All animals look different in appearance and color. Different kinds of animals live in varied environments. South American rainforests are abundant with macaws and monkeys that live in high trees to survive against Harpy Eagles and Boa Constrictors. In the Sahara Desert are Fennec Foxes and scorpions that make burrows to survive against the heat. Hundreds of antelope, zebras and wildebeests, and even ostriches graze in the wide-open Savannah plains every year. What may interest me the most though, is the fact that people are trying every day to save these animals I love.