Writing Sample ~ Best Excuse Note Ever

I have been, or can be if you click on a link and make a purchase, compensated via a cash payment, gift, or something else of value for writing this post. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

This week I thought I’d share one of my high school student’s writing assignments.  He did most of his writing with Write at Home this year (High School Composition 2) which afforded me less stress over evaluating his writing.  Almost every assignment has multiple revisions that are required and allow the student to smooth the rough edges to their work. Much to my amazement, his writing coach scores him higher on the rubric than this homeschool mother might have done.  (I am planning to share more about Write at Home with everyone over the summer.  I was blessed to meet Brian Wasko, the owner, at our homeschool curriculum fair.)

 

Assignment: Best Excuse Note Ever
Your assignment this week is to pretend you are an ordinary high school student who has come to class without a very important project that was due. Fortunately, you do remember to bring an excuse note — the most outrageous, far‐fetched excuse note ever!
Address your “teacher,” but make the primary purpose of the note narrative. In other words, tell all the impressive and amazing details of the story that explains the absence of your science project. It is to be a story remember, not just a list of excuses.
Maybe it should start with something like, “There’s a good explanation for why I don’t have my project, but you’re not going to believe it…” Be as creative and original as you like (No “my dog ate it” papers, please!). Have fun with this one.

 

P’s Best Excuse Note Ever

Mrs. Teacher, I regrettably have to inform you that I am unable to turn in my science project although you may not believe me here is what truly happened.

If you didn’t already know what it was my science project was highly complex in nature and difficult to explain, it was essentially a working scale model of a UFO, capable of extremely sharp turns and almost instantaneous change in direction. As I was finishing the miniature nuclear reactor that powers the propulsion system, my laptop which had the plans on it suddenly turned on the webcam and opened a video conference with a backlit figure, he was sitting at a large mahogany desk in a well-furnished medieval style library. Because of the lighting I never got to see his face or any distinguishing factors about him. In an obviously scrambled voice, he told me to stop all work on the project and stay where I was, and I would be picked up soon. Then the conference shut down and the laptop turned off.

Not even fifteen minutes later, a black SUV rolled up to the curb and two large men in suits exited the vehicle and came straight into the garage where I was working. They said gravely, “Come with us and bring your research and the model,” having no obvious other routes I had to comply. After a 30 minute, drive I was blindfolded and driven another 30 minutes and led into a building and put in a cell, after which the blindfold was removed. After a while I was brought to an office where the shadowed man was sitting at the desk. I still couldn’t see his face but he finally told me what he wanted. After a long explanation what it boiled down to was that the government had discovered my project and wanted the technology in it. So they kidnapped me and gave me an ultimatum, Either I work for them and help develop the technology, or I would be imprisoned in that cell forever. I obviously took the job. Because the new job would conflict with school they sent me back here to drop out from school so as to be able to complete my commitment to the government.

That is the reason for not turning the project in. So as you can see, I have a perfectly reasonable and legitimate excuse for not turning in my science project, because the Government stole it from me and also hijacked me into working for them to further this technology.

This is being shared as part of the Middle and High School Homeschool Link-up #19.  Be sure to check out the other submissions, too.