The Young Man and the Sea

The Young Man and the Sea
by Rodman Philbrick

I couldn't put it down. I read it all in one day - all 192 pages. But don't be too impressed - the font size is large and there's a nice space between each line.

Skiff is a boy who lives near the waters of Maine - his father is a fisherman, and Skiff has spent his life on the water. Skiff's mother passed away a few months ago, and his dad isn't dealing with it very well. Their boat sank, and Skiff's dad spends his days on the couch - not working or fishing or helping out Skiff. Skiff is resolved to revive the boat, repair the engine, and get his and his dad's life back on track. Unfortunately, the engine will costs upwards of $5000 to repair, money Skiff does not have. Skiff is also being terrorized by the town bully (whom you meet in the first chapter). There are so many things going against Skiff - but he has the resolve and determination to overcome them. I don't want to give it away, but the final few chapters are incredible. Truly incredible. Skiff tells the story, and I loved hearing it being told through his voice.

Belle Prater's Boy

Belle Prater's Boy
by Ruth White

This is one of the best books I've read in a while. I loved Ruth White's Buttermilk Hill, but I think Belle Prater's Boy is even better. It's the early 1950's in a small coal town in the hills of Virginia. Woodrow Prater's mom disappears one day. Since his father is not handling it very well, Woodrow comes down from the hills and lives in town with his grandparents. Gypsy, Woodrow's cousin, lives next door and the two of them become fast friends. Woodrow and Gypsy are two of the most endearing and likable characters I've met in a while. Woodrow is hilarious, compassionate, and loyal. As the story unfolds, you learn more clues about Woodrow's mom and the struggles she faced. You learn more about Gypsy's family - and how she comes to grips with her own past. I really didn't want the story to end, and that's why I'm so glad there is a sequel - The Search for Belle Prater. I know that Naomi and Anna C. have both read this book and enjoyed it as much as I did. I remember Anna C. reading it during our end of the year testing - I watched her laugh and smile as she read (always a good sign).

Hank Zipzer - Niagra Falls, or Does It?

Hank Zipzer - Niagara Falls, or Does It?
by Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver

A former colleague of mine always reads this book to her 4th grade class. I now see why. Hank is funny, quick witted, creative, smart, and very true-to-life. At the start of his 4th grade year, Hank's teacher asks the class to describe their summer using a five paragraph essay. Instead of writing, which is extremely difficult for Hank, he decides to create a "living" essay of his family trip to Niagara Falls. When he brings his 3-D model into class, chaos breaks out.

I think a lot of the boys in my class would enjoy this book. It has a boy main character, lots of humor, and is a fairly quick read (only 133 pages). I'm looking forward to reading more in the series - I think there are about 10 books out right now. (And for you parents - yes, the "Fonz" wrote this book!)

A Dog's Life

A Dog's Life
by Ann Martin

This book came recommended to me by Madison (one of our own members of Room 241). I was excited to read something by Ann Martin. Ann Martin wrote all of the Babysitter Club books (which I'm not a huge fan of), but she's branched out and has actually won numerous awards for her writing. She did not disappoint.

Squirrel (the dog you see on the front cover) is born a stray. He is born in an old shed behind a summer house located in the country. He and his brother learn to hunt in the forest and knock over trash cans in order to find food. Their mother teaches them to be extremely wary of humans - which turns out to be incredibly good advice. One day Squirrel is forced to leave his home and this begins his journey. He is constantly on the move, meeting humans, other animals, towns, cities, farms, forests, and all kinds of weather. There is very little narration in the story as Squirrel describes his journey from one place to the next. You really get to see and understand how an animal survives in the wild. It developed a lot of compassion within me for all kinds of animals. If you are an animal lover, you will connect to this book. It wasn't my favorite book of the summer so far, but it was a good read. Thanks Madison!

Room 241 Newscast - May 23, 2008

Catch up on all the latest news from Room 241...

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What Are You Reading?

In our classroom, we are continually talking about books. Students are always sharing their reading life with their friends - always on the lookout for an incredible book. I was able to do a lot of reading this weekend, so I thought I'd share with you some of my reading life (in hopes that you will share about yours!).

The Shack
by William P. Young
Fiction

A good friend of mine recommended this book to me - it really impacted his life. In the story, a horrific tragedy strikes Mack's family when his daughter is kidnapped. Several years later, Mack gets a mysterious note in the mail from God - inviting him to meet and talk. Not knowing exactly what to think, Mack steps out and accepts the invitation. The rest of the story shows Mack and his conversations with God. It's an amazing dialogue that really challenged a lot of my previous thinking. Mack and God talk about evil, independence, relationships, and forgiveness. It's a book that covers a lot of ideas - I'm looking forward to working through it all. If you'd read this book, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Gossamer
by Lois Lowry
Young Adult Fiction (Fantasy)

I've always loved Lois Lowry. Number the Stars and The Giver have always been two of my favorites. I was finally able to order Gossamer through Scholastic, and it did not disappoint. Littlest One is a dream-giver, and she and Thin Elderly visit an older woman's home each night. Littlest One learns to collect "fragments" by touching objects in the home, collecting memories to bestow to the older woman in her dreams. The older woman takes in an eight year old foster child with a troubled past - and along with the foster child comes the Sinisteeds, who bestow nightmares upon their victims. Littlest One and Thin Elderly decide to stand up against the Sinisteeds and protect the young boy and older woman. I know it all sounds a little strange (my wife put the book down after just a few chapters), but it really puts forth a good message. The boy (John) had a terrible home life, but the older woman loves him unconditionally. It's a story about good being stronger than evil, and love being able to heal pain.

The Year of the Dog
by Grace Lin
Children's Fiction

I've heard great reviews about this book from several blogs, so I was ecstatic when Virginia donated it to our classroom library. Grace is the only Taiwanese-American in her elementary school. It's the Year of the Dog, which her mother explains is a good year to find true friends and to find yourself. Grace sets out to accomplish both. Each story tells a different story from Grace's life. I loved reading about the various traditions her family practiced and the different types of food they ate - so much centered around food! It was also very interesting to see how Grace was pulled between two cultures, and how she dealt with being the only Asian girl in her school. There were lots of strong messages in this story. I recommend it to all my students!

What are you reading? What's on your "to-read" list? Parents, friends, educators, students - please let us know what you're reading by leaving a comment below. As we wind the school year down, this is a great chance for all our blog readers (whoever you may be) to connect to one another. We look forward to hearing about your reading life!

Civil War Timelines

To conclude our unit on the Civil War, we created timelines highlighting the major events of the war. Partners worked together to correctly place events on their timeline, and then describe and illustrate four events. I really enjoyed watching the various approaches partners took to this project - everyone's timeline looked a little different. After everyone was finished, we participated in a "museum walk." We quietly walked around the room and viewed everyone's timeline, leaving our comments, questions, and responses on post-it notes.

Garvin and Anna C. work on adding illustrations to their project.

Rachael and Kelkcee begin adding events to their timeline.

Here is a portion of Taurus and Caroline's project.

Virginia, Charlie, and Kelkcee use post-it notes to respond to other timelines.

Preparing for PACT Writing

In order to prepare for the PACT writing portion, I decided to have the kids analyze and evaluate some student writing samples. I first created a kid-friendly PACT writing rubric, based on the official PACT rubric. I used our classroom language, words we use to describe and talk about the writing process. The four areas in which our kids' writing will be evaluated are content, organization, voice, and conventions. Students can score a 0-4 in each area (except for voice which has a high score of 3). We evaluated one writing sample together, then partners got together to evaluate one on their own. Partners then met up with another set of partners to discuss and defend their evaluations. I learned our students are very tough evaluators! They had extremely high standards for writing. Afterwards, we talked about how this activity would affect our own writing on the PACT test. Many students were able to clearly articulate their own goals for PACT writing. I was extremely pleased with how well our students were able to critique writing AND identify effective writing strategies they could use.

Naomi and Jordan are working as partners to evaluate the writing sample. You can see the writing rubric in front of Jordan.


Here is a group of four discussing their evaluations. Groups had to defend why they gave each sample its particular score.

Borenya African Dance

Last week Stone Academy was incredibly fortunate to host our artist in residence, Borenya. All 5th graders were taught African drumming, while all 4th grade classes were taught African dances. As our class danced, Mrs. Page's 5th grade class drummed. I was extremely proud of the way our class conducted itself. Our kids showed themselves to be wonderful dancers - no one was inhibited to show off their dance moves! The dance was so full of motion, it was difficult to capture with still pictures. Nonetheless, I hope you're able to get a glimpse of what went on. Be sure to ask your child to demonstrate the dance we learned - I know they'll be happy to show it off!

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Water Cycle Dance

After our hands-on experiment with the water cycle, we decided to deepen our understanding by using dance. Small groups of students were asked to create a dance highlighting the parts of the water cycle: evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and run-off. Students were also asked to utilize the elements of dance effectively -body, energy, space, time, transitions, and levels. After each group performed, our audience members gave feedback. I was so impressed with how our students recognized not only science content, but how they also connected the elements of dance to the water cycle. Here are some pictures from our performance.