Writing About Reading

1st, 3rd, and 4th Periods:  Moonbird by Phillip Hoose

Each chapter begins with a quote that connects with the information in the book.  Include the quote in your post.  Here are the quotes from the first four chapters:

  1. “To watch the flight of shore birds that have swept up and down the surf lines of the continents for untold thousands of years…is to have knowledge of things that are as nearly eternal as any earthly life can be.”  –Rachel Carson
  2. “Human ingenuity may make various inventions, but it will never devise any inventions more beautiful, nor more simple, nor more to the purpose than Nature does; because in her inventions nothing is wanting and nothing is superfluous.”  –Leonardo da Vinci
  3. “When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.”  –John Muir
  4. “One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.” –Shakespeare

Choose one of these quotes to write about.  What does the quote mean?  How does the message of the quote connect with what we are learning about B95 and the rufa red knots?  Give examples and facts from the book to support your ideas.

2nd and 6th Periods:  Notes from the Dog by Gary Paulsen

So far Dylan, the dog, has brought three notes to Finn.  Include the quote of the note in your post.  These are the first three  notes:

  1. You’re not as ugly as you think.”
  2. You’re wrong about you and girls.
  3. The truth always reveals itself, and usually in mysterious ways.”
  4. “Family is who you find.”

Choose one of these quotes to write about.  How does the quote connect to Finn’s life in the story?  What lesson can Finn learn from the message?  Give examples from the story to support your ideas.

7th Period:  Endangered by Eliot Schrefer

Sophie chooses to stay in the Congo in order to protect Otto, the baby bonobo she rescued.   Include the quote in your post.   There are several quotes from the book that explore her choice:

  • “I’d learn to shut all of it out , because you couldn’t travel more than a few miles in Kinshasa without seeing a person dying on the side of the road, and I figured dying humans were more important than dying animals.  But it had always been my mom’s philosophy that the way we treat animals goes hand in hand with the way we treat people, and so she’d dedicated her life to stopping men like this one, bushmeat traders hoping for a sale” (Schrefer 2).
  • My mom’s eyes flashed.  “He’s very bad, Sophie.  You made a big mistake by giving him money.  I can see you’re starting to understand the gravity of what I’m saying, so I won’t bring it up again.  But you have to be wise about these things.  You have to learn when to ignore suffering so that you’re strong enough to fight it when the time is right” (Schrefer 16).

Choose one of these quotes.  How does it relate to the events of the story?  How do Sophie’s choices and actions show the truth (or falsehood) of the quote?  Support your ideas with examples from the story.

No matter which book you write about, your post should be at least 150 words!

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