Mr. Arnold’s Challenge

Mr. Arnold has started his reading challenge again. I hope all my students are participating! So far he hasn’t finished a book, but I’m sure he is reading one; he always is. Beat him!!!

Oh My! I Haven’t Blogged in Forever!

I’ve been busy, busy, busy and haven’t blogged about books I’m reading in a LONG time.

Here is a list of a few recent reads:
Pink Angels
Diary of a Wimpy Kid 4
Chains
Crank

And lots more!

Focus on Writing

We are starting a focus on writing.  First we will be discussing expository writing.  There are five types of expository writing.  They are:

1.  Sequence

2.  Descriptive

3.  Comparison

4.  Cause and Effect

5.  Problem and Solution

Check back soon to see my examples!

Another New Edublogger!

My friend Ms. Graumann, a great English teacher in Wicks, now has an Edublog.  If you want to know what she and her students are reading, visit her Edublog here, or look in the “Other Edublogs” section of my page.

Found by Haddix

So, I’m reading Found by Haddix this week.  In my library this book is in the science-fiction section, but I really haven’t found any elements of science-fiction yet.

So far, it is about a boy named Jonah, who has known all his life that he is adopted.  Then a boy named Chip moves to Jonah’s block.  They become friends, and one day, while playing basketball, Jonah tells Chip he is adopted.  Then, right after, he gets a letter that says, “Beware! You are one of the missing.”  Jonah thinks it is a prank.  But the next day, Chip gets the same letter.  He confronts his parents, and they admit he is also adopted, which they had never told him before.

Jonah and Chip start doing some snooping and they find an FBI agent’s number in Chip’s parents’ safe.  Then Jonah’s parents call his adoption agency to look at his file, and in it is the same FBI agent’s number.  Jonah and his family have a meeting with the agent, and during the meeting some really weird things happen.  Jonah is set up by some “janitors” to have a meeting in the bathroom, where they tell him that there is a file on the agent’s desk that he has to look at and memorize.  When he gets back to the agent’s office, there the file is.  He gets his sister to help him.  Jonah creates a distraction, and she takes pictures of the file with her cellphone. 

In the file were names of “survivors” and “witnesses.”  After calling the survivors, Jonah and Chip find out they are all 13 year-olds, and all live in the same area.  All of them were adopted.  Then Jonah and Chip call the witnesses.  Most of them hang up on J and C, but one does want to talk.  Her name is Angela, and she was an employee at an airport 13 years ago.  She tells J and C that they were found on a plane that landed without having shown up on radar and had no pilot on it.  The only people on the plane were 36 infants!

I have A LOT of questions about this book:  How did the babies get on the plane?  How did it fly when there was no pilot?  Who are these janitor guys?  How is it possible that all the adopted kids’ families’ are moving to the same area?  What else can Angela tell C and J about when and how they were found? 

I better keep reading!

A New Edublogger!

Welcome to Edublog, Mrs. Hawvermale!

Check out what Mrs. H is reading HERE, or go to the “Other EduBlogs” page.

Burned by Ellen Hopkins

As many of you know, Ellen Hopkins will be at the Fort Smith Public Library on October 20th.  I’m so excited to meet a “famous” author!  It will be a first for me.   But then I started thinking, I’ve never read one of her books.  So, I headed to Borders and bought the book Burned.

I have been at Lit Lab training this week, and that always makes me feel more inspired to read.  In the last two days, I finished American Born Chinese; continued with the book that Kris loaned me, Tangerine; and started this Ellen Hopkins book.

Her book, Burned, is realistic fiction and is written in poem form.   I believe all her books are.  So far I know that the main character, who narrates the book, is named Pattyn (after Gen. Patten) and she is the oldest sister of 7 girls in a Mormon family.  They live near the desert in Carson City, NV, in the present day. 

Pattyn’s father is an alcoholic and abusive towards her mother.  He also makes Pattyn feel worthless, and like she will never be anything except a servant to whatever man she marries.  In an act of rebellion, she begins dating a boy who is (GASP!) not a Mormon.  She also begins drinking.  When her father finds her drunk and with this boy, he freaks out! 

She is sent to live with her aunt over 500 miles away.  With her aunt she feels happy and free.  Though she had decided that boys were “evil,” she soon meets a new boy and falls in love. 

So far, that is about all I know.  I do have many questions about what will happen though.  First, will she be sent home at the end of summer?  Will her father find out about the new boyfriend, who is also not a Mormon?  Will Pattyn and her new boyfriend last?  Does he care that she is a Mormon? 

I want to finish the book NOW so I can answer all these questions.  More soon!

The Time Traveler’s Wife

I just finished The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.  I’m not sure what genre this book should be.  It could be fantasy or science fiction.  True, time travel isn’t real, so that makes me lean to fantasy, but he time travels because he has a genetic anomaly (good level 2 word).  Many people in the future have this anomaly, so I think I would call it sci-fi. 

Anyway, I really enjoyed the book.  As soon as I finished it, I wanted to read it again so I could understand it better.  It is a very complicated story line.  I couldn’t believe it was the author’s first book.

Basically, the book chronicles the lives of Henry (the time traveler) and his wife Clare.  He travels from his 40′s to visit her when she is a child.  In his reality, they are married with a child.  Then she meets up with him in the present when she is 20 and his is 27.  She knows that they are destined to be married, but he hasn’t traveled to her childhood yet, so he doesn’t even recognize her. 

They do however, fall in love, get married, and have a child.  Many crazy things happen as a result of Henry’s time traveling.  For example, his older self time travels to his wedding, just as his present self time travels away.  So, the older Henry marries Clare.  Later, Clare and the present-day Henry exchange vows again in a private ceremony.

When I told people that I was reading this book, I heard many comments about it being “sappy,” but it couldn’t be more the opposite.   I would call it “thought provoking” or maybe even “twisted.” 

I really enjoy it.  If you are looking for an adult read, pick it up. 

Thanks for the loan, Mr. Arnold!

Check It Out!

All the students  now have their Edublogs set up.  Check it out!  Reminder: all classes will be going to the library on Tuesday to post.  Be ready!

Does My Head Look Big in This? – Book Talk

I just finished the realistic fiction book Does My Head Look Big in This? by Randa Abdel Fattah.

This book is about a girl, Amal, who has decided to follow the Muslim tradition and wear the hijab, which is the scarf that covers a woman’s hair.  She encounters racism, prejudice, and many misconceptions after she begins to wear it.  Many people think her parents are forcing her.  One nasty girl, Tia, says very hateful things to her about all Muslims being terrorists.  Still Amal does not let it get to her. 

She has four great friends who support her, two are Muslim, two are not.  She also meets a boy named Adam who she likes to flirt with; however, her faith does not allow her to date.  Then one evening at a birthday party Adam tries to kiss her.  She turns away and it greatly hurts his feelings.  Will they ever be friends again?

At the same time one of her Muslim friends is having a battle with her family.  Her mother wants her to quit school and get married, but she wants to become a lawyer.  After she is caught at a restaurant having dinner with Amal, her mother tries to force her to marry.  So, she runs away.  Amal feels like it is her fault for taking her to dinner.  Will her friend come back home?  Will her family allow her to continue school?

I know that in some cultures parents still arrange marriages for their children.  Is this a parent overstepping their boundaries, or is it simply a cultural custom I don’t understand?  How do people who are in arranged marriages feel about it?  Is there a difference in divorce rates for love matches and arranged marriages?