Dear Diary - Today Was My First Day at My New School

Sep 29, 2026

Uploaded by Theodore

A diary entry recounts a student’s first day at a new school, describing how nervousness and stuttering make it hard to talk to others. After hearing classmates giggle at her name, she worries about making friends. Her teacher plans skits about favorite stories, leading her to connect her fear with the story The Harvest Birds. She prepares ideas for her skit with her teacher and grandmother, including costume plans using colorful scarves and a stage method to handle hard words.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryStory & Novel

FormatPDF

Pages20

Reading Time31 min

AccessFree to download

Dear Diary

First day at a new school

Teacher’s skit plan

Thinking and preparation

Talking with the teacher and grandma

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ie I | | elle | h | er | | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | HOUGHTON MIFFLIN HARCOURT https://archive.org/details/deardiary0000borg DearDiary by Rubí Borgiaillustrated by Kathie Kelleher 心 HOUGHTON MIFFLIN HARCOURT School Publishers Copyright ◎by Houghton Miflin Harcourt Publishing Company Allrights reserved.No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,electronic ormechanical,including photocopying or recording,or by any information storage and retrieval system,without the priorwritten permission of the copyright owner unless such copying is expressly permitted by federal copyright law.Requestsfor permission to make copies of any part of the work should be addressed to Houghton Miflin Harcourt School Publishers,Attn:Permissions,6277 Sea Harbor Drive,Orlando,Florida 32887-6777. Printed in China ISBN-10:0-547-25357-5 ISBN-13:978-0-547-25357-2 141516170940181716154500531815 | If you have received these materials as examnation copies free of charge,Houghton Mifflin Harcourt School Publishers
retains title to the materials and they may not be resold.Resale of examination copies is strictly prohibited. | | --- | | Possession of this publication in print format does not entitle users to convert this publication,or any portion of it,into
electronic format. | | --- | # Dear Diary: Today was my first day at my newschool.It's very big and there are lotsof students.I think they all know eachother.I am new.I also stutter.WhenI speak,especially when Iam nervous,my tongue gets all twisted up.So Idon't like to talk to anyone. Dear Diary: I think that my teacher knows whyI don't like talking in class.The firstday of school she asked me my namein front of everybody. “M-M-M-My name is M-M-M-Marisela,"I stammered.I heard giggles all around me.Will I ever haveany friends? Dear Diary: My teacher said that we are goingto put on skits about our favorite stories.Just thinking about speakingon a stage scares me.But then I thinkabout my favorite story,The HarvestBirds.The main character,Juan Zanate,tries so hard to have a good harvest.Ican try hard,too.I can learn how’totalk to people without being afraid. Dear Diary: This afternoon I went to my favoritetree to think.I love going there whenthe weather is beautiful.In The HarvestBirds,Juan Zanate always went to hisfavorite tree to think.Today I did a lotof thinking about my skit. Dear Diary: This morning I talked to my teacher.I told her my idea for my skit.Myteacher reminded me that Juan asked an old wise man for help.Mygrandma is the wisest person I know.I will ask her for advice about myCostume. Dear Diary: I told Grandma that I am going toplay the role of Grajo,the bird who isJuan's friend.My skit will show howthe bird helped Juan plant seeds on hissmall patch of land. Grandma has lots of cloth.She isgoing to make me a dress with colorfulscarves that will look like feathers. Dear Diary: I know that I will get nervous speaking in front of people.Grandmasaid that each time I have to say a hardword,I should spin around.When Ispin,I will pull off one of the scarves.It will fall on the floor.The audiencewill be so surprised,they won't noticehow I am speaking. 8

FAQs

Why does the narrator avoid talking at school?

She stutters, and when she speaks—especially when nervous—her tongue gets twisted up, so she doesn’t like talking to anyone.

What happens when the teacher asks for her name?

She stammers her name, and she hears giggles all around her, making her wonder if she’ll ever have friends.

How does the narrator plan to handle nervous speaking during the skit?

Her grandma suggests that when she has to say a hard word, she should spin around and pull off one of the scarves so the audience focuses on the surprising moment.

Sep 29, 2026

Uploaded by Theodore