Archive of ‘Mrs. McGriff’ category
I know. I took way too long to get these up here, but I hope it’s better late than never. Some of your memoirs were fantastic. I wanted to point you to some of my favorites so you can enjoy them, too. Please visit these memoirs and tell the writer what you thought. I’m just sorry it took me so long to put them up for you to enjoy.
If you are a sports fan, you will want to check out these stories. Harrison writes about a homeroom that almost didn’t happen in “Baseball Revelation.” Ashley makes a surprising catch at a baseball game. Kate discovers that even swimmers can make “The ‘Homerun.‘” Adam tells another baseball story in “The Ball that Hit the Fence.” Keenan hit a homerun in “The Best Homerun Ever.” Baseball and softball aren’t the only sports. Courtney sets a new cross country record in “Every Second Counts.” Archery is the new sport in school, and you guys have had tremendous success with it. Read about the experiences of Meegan and Mistina at different tournaments.
For those of you who enjoy the great outdoors, I have a new blog to introduce you to written by a friend of mine from high school. He is an avid hunter and fisherman and teaches hunter’s ed courses. His new blog is Bill Howard’s Outdoors. (I put a link to it on my blog under Fun Stuff.) He’s looking for stories to share, so if you wrote one of these great hunting/fishing memoirs, you can email it to him at billhowardoutdoors@gmail.com. In the meantime, enjoy reading these stories. Chase recreates the time he shot his first turkey in “Adrenaline Rush.” I want to see the pictures of that turkey! Ethan shot his first turkey in Ohio. Anthony set his sights on a deer rather than a turkey. If fishing is more your thing, check out what Blake pulled out of the water. Maddy found “A Keeper” on her first fishing trip. Keegan caught “The Big One” when he went fishing. Carleesa won’t ever forget her first catfish.
Sometimes experiences don’t go exactly as planned. Sometimes the results are humorous as Alan describes in “Camping is Scary.” Monica discovered the thrill of “The Loopty Loop” while riding four-wheelers. If you haven’t figured it out yet, four-wheelers and dirt bikes can be dangerous. Just ask Elliott as his dad learned “What to Expect from Me.” Lexi had an altogether different “driving” experience. Gee brings to life a very close call in “The Feeling of Being Scared.” KK describes a different scary experience in “Shards of Glass.” Sara discovered the hidden dangers of bobby pins in “What an Appetite.” Riley had to leave home in the middle of the night for “The Evacuation.” Trinaty had to leave home as well as she shares in her memoir.
People and pets go together, whether it’s the first or last time together. Scarlett describes “Where It All Began” with her horse Prince. Brooklyn describes her last moments with her cat Little Bit in “One More Minute.” Sometimes the moments with our pets are not smooth sailing. Imagine what it would feel like if a horse fell on top of you, for example. You don’t have to imagine, just read Hunter’s “Excitement as a Teacher.”
Some of my favorite memoirs capture the daily moments of life. That’s what these last stories do. Adam Do. visits the Civil War, right here at the county park. Katelyn discovered the best hiding place in “The Best Place.” Ashton describes a scary moment with “The Stray Dog.” Brittany recreates her first flight and discovers comfort in an unexpected place in “We’ve Made It.” Cole recreates the excitement of Christmas morning in “A Wrapped Up Christmas.”
Memoirs can also be a tribute to someone you’ve loved and lost. Ariel and Allie reflect on how much they miss their grandmothers. Adi reflects on the death of a friend.
Which ones are your favorite memoirs?
Monday
I hope you had a wonderful Christmas break. I know I did. Enjoy your last day of freedom. I hope you stayed in the reading habit. If not, now’s your chance to get back in gear. Remember, you needed to have finished a book over Christmas. On Thursday and Friday, you’ll complete a project over it.
HOMEWORK: Read 30 minutes.
Tuesday
Welcome back! We will blog today. Write a new post reflecting on your goals as a reader and writer for the rest of this year. Check the Reading/Writing Challenge post below for ideas to get you started.
HOMEWORK: Read 30 minutes. No WORD STUDY this week.
Wednesday
ACUITY Testing. Remember to slow down and read the questions carefully. Do you understand what it is asking?
Homework: Read 30 minutes. No WORD STUDY due tomorrow.
Thursday
Complete one of the extension projects on the book you read over Christmas: Character Bookmark, Setting Pamphlet, Main Idea Belt, or Collage. Refer to the notes in your Reading Journal for directions and examples. Complete a planning sheet for your project and check it over with me.
HOMEWORK: No WORD STUDY due today. Read 30 minutes. Get your reading log signed.
Friday
Continue working on your book extension project. If you get it done, please turn it in. If you would like to work on it over the weekend, you may turn it in at the beginning of class on Monday.
HOMEWORK: Reading Log due TODAY. Read over the weekend.
Next week we will finish up editorials without the use of computers due to ACUITY testing.
91) Battling in the Pacific: Soldiering in World War II by Susan Provost Beller – This one was disappointing.
92) The Supernaturalist by Eoin Colfer – a twist on the future with Colfer’s usual humor and characters
93) Forge by Laurie Halse Anderson – Do I really have to wait to see what happens to Isabel and Curzon? Hurry up with Ashes!
94) Teaching from the Heart by Sharon Draper – I needed this beautiful reminder of why I do what I do and why I love it.
95) Chasing Lincoln’s Killer by James L. Swanson – this is history as it should be written.
96) So, You Want to Become a National Board Certified Teacher? by Jerry L. Parks – I’m gonna do it.
97) The Dead and Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer – Once I started, I couldn’t put it down–a compelling companion to Life As We Knew It. Now how soon can I get my hands on the third one?
98) The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson – WOW! This one will stay in my head a long time. Who do I pass it on to first?
99) The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan – I know who the missing hero is, and I like all three of the new heroes, but Leo is definitely my favorite.
100) The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum – it’s about time I red the original.
101) Poetry Speaks Who I Am, ed. by Elise Paschen – What a collection of poems. I especially enjoyed listening to the poems read by the poets on the accompanying cd.
102) On the Move by Bono – a picture book of Bono’s talk at the National Prayer Breakfast
103) Cracker! The Best Dog in Vietnam by Cynthia Kadohata – a good introduction to what the Vietnam War was like on the ground and a tale of friendship between man and dog
104) The Help by Kathryn Stockett – a powerful view of what life was like, with the good, the bad, and the ugly.
105) Mentor Leader by Tony Dungy – written like a true teacher.
What have been the best books you’ve read this year?
Cracker, a German shepherd finds herself taken from the boy she loves and shipped to Fort Benning, whatever that is. She trusts no one and lunges at all who come near her kennel. Rick shocks his Midwestern family by volunteering for the Army to fight in Vietnam. In spite of an attitude that gets him into trouble every so often, he finds himself assigned to Cracker as part of an elite dog handler squad.
Will Rick and Cracker learn to trust each other? If they can, they just might become the best team in Vietman and make it back home alive. Even if they survived their tour of duty together, the Army regards Cracker as just another weapon to be reassigned or put down.
Kadohata portrays the strong bond between man and dog against the savage backdrop of war. It is a good introduction to what the war in Vietnam was like, but not too intense. The relationship between Rick and Cracker is the focus and the highlight of this book.
If you like this one and want to learn more about the war in Vietnam, Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers is a much more intense look at the life of a soldier. Be warned, the language is that of soldiers on the ground in war. There are several other books that explore the bonds between human and animal. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls remains one of the most popular books among my students every year. Hurt Go Happy by Ginny Rorby explores how a chimp and a girl save each other.
Can you imagine the lead singer of a rock group–U-2–speaking at the National Prayer Breakfast before a mainly Republican audience? Neither could Bono, but there he was.
On the Move presents the text of his speech with moving pictures of men, women, and children who suffer under the reality of poverty and AIDS/HIV in Africa and around the world. Bono has found his passion in life: to prevent the 6,500 deaths of Africans each day from AIDS/HIV. He calls for the world to join him in this fight. Will we be the generation remembered for letting millions of people die of preventable causes, or will we be remembered as the generation who stopped poverty?
Find out how you can get involved and let your voice be heard at http://www.one.org.
Since I’ve seen the various movie versions, read Gregory Maguire’s Wicked, and now watched the musical Wicked, I decided it was about time to read the book that started it all.
I downloaded The Wonderful Wizard of Oz onto the brand new Kindle I got for Christmas, and read my first book on it and my 100th for this year. Even though it is an older book (and written very differently from today’s books), I enjoyed it. Of course the movie changed some things. In the original book, there are two good witches and Dorothy’s magic shoes are silver, not ruby. Dorothy and her friends had to undertake three dangerous journeys: following the Yellow Brick Road to Oz to ask the Wizard for help, killing the Wicked Witch of the West in her castle at Kiamo Ko, and finally asking Glinda the good witch of the South for help in getting Dorothy back to Kansas. One of my favorite lands they passed through was the land made entirely of porcelain that they passed through on their way south.
I don’t know if I will read the rest of the Oz books, but I’m glad I finally read this one. I do think Baum succeeded in creating a new fairy tale for children. I think he would be pleased at how his story has taken on a life of its own in its various retellings.
Now, what should I get next for my Kindle?
I know who the missing hero is. Should I tell you, or would it spoil too much? Okay, it doesn’t spoil too much–Percy is MIA, so if you’re looking for more Percy, you’ll be disappointed.
Rick Riordan gives us three new heroes to worry about. Jason wakes up on a school bus for the Wilderness School. (You guessed it–a school for troubled kids.) He has no idea how he got there. Even more disturbing, he can’t remember anything from his past.
He just happens to be holding hands with Piper, who says she is her girlfriend. Piper steals things (or does she really just talk people into giving her stuff) to get her father’s attention. He’s too busy being a movie star to spend time with her.
Jason’s so-called best friend is Leo, a hyperactive Hispanic kid who can building just about anything out of anything. Leo is definitely my favorite. Not only does he create really cool stuff, but he also has wisecracks that keep me laughing.
These three heros are older than unusual (almost 16) before they make it to Camp Halfblood, where strange things are happening. Percy is missing, the Hespaetus cabin is under a curse, and Drew, leader of Aphrodite’s cabin, is a dictator. Rachel, the new oracle, gives some strange prophesies and is even possessed by something NOT the oracle.
As usual, there are monsters galore as our three new heros set out on their quest to rescue both Hera and Piper’s dad. They also have to unravel the secrets of the gods in order to learn their own history and destiny. Will they stop the next round of bad gods and save Mount Olympus? These are even worse than the Titans defeated before.
I had been hearing about this book for some time. Everyone who read it loved it and couldn’t say enough about it. Now I know what all the buzz is about.
Jenna Fox wakes up after being in a coma for the past 18 months. She remembers nothing from her life before the accident. As she watches her past life on video (her parents obsessively filmed her every important moment), she begins to reclaim fragmented memories. But every memory she regains leads to more and more disturbing questions. Just who is/was Jenna Fox and what secrets does she contain?
It’s hard to tell any more about this book without giving too much away. Just trust me, this is a book you will want to read. The near future imagined and created by Pearson is frighteningly believable. I couldn’t put it down, and the questions raised still echo through my head: Just what does it mean to be human? What gives someone their identity? How far is too far to go to save a life?
Please. Read this book and let me know what you think.
Do you remember me talking about Life as We Knew It–the story of Miranda who tried to survive an asteroid striking the moon? She and her family lived in rural Pennsylvania and barely made it. If you thought she had it bad, you should read what happens to Alex Morales and his two sisters as they struggle through the same disaster in New York City.
The Dead and The Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer portrays a New York City that slowly dies after the asteroid hits. The stronger tides flood the subways and leave the lower parts of the city under water. Food riots break out on the street corners. Bodies pile up faster than they can be removed. Against this brutal backdrop, Alex tries to protect and provide for his two younger sisters after neither of their parents return home. Bri is the sweet sister, while Julie is a spitfire. The life and death struggles Alex now faces make his previous struggles to excel as a student pale into insignificance. Instead of campaigning to be senior class president, he is now “body surfing” to barter for enough food to eat each week.
Even though the moon is safely in its orbit and not threatened at all by any asteroids, Pfeffer has created a compelling and believable story. If you’ve ever wondered what it takes to survive, read this book. Now I’m looking for the third book, This World We Live In, which brings Alex and Miranda together.
I will definitely be turning to this book the next time I teach memoirs. This slim little book (under 100 pages) has much wisdom to share about writing the stories of your life. My favorite part is the variety of forms explored with memoir–from poetry to picture books to narratives.
In addition to sharing several memoirs from his own life, Fletcher interviews several popular YA writers who have written memoirs and explores different ways to craft your writing.
If you are interested in telling the story of your life, check this one out and pick up a pen and paper while you read.