January 2014 archive
My daughter picked this book up from our latest trip to the library. As soon as she finished it on one of our many snow days, she handed it to me and said, “You have to read this, and you have to put in your classroom library. It will be powerful birth control.”
Caela Carter gives an intimate look at the heartbreak caused by an unplanned, teen pregnancy in Me, Him, Them, and It (Bloomsbury 2013). Evelyn is a good girl turned bad. She’s still in the running to be valedictorian, but she has shortened her skirts and started drinking at parties in order to get back at her silent parents, who are no longer speaking to each other or to her. As part of her bad-girl makeover, Evelyn hooked up with Todd, a friend with benefits. She didn’t plan on falling for him–or to become pregnant–or to lose her best friend. Now that her world is crashing down around her, Evelyn withdraws further and further into herself.
Evelyn is funny and heartbreaking all at the same time as she tells her story and tries to sort out what has happened to her and to her family. She has no idea about what to do with this new life growing inside of her, and she is afraid to let anyone–even her beloved Aunt Linda–close enough to help her. As the baby grows bigger and bigger, she is running out of time to make decisions.
I’m not sure any book is enough to be used as book control, but this novel certainly offers an eye-opening look at the changes an unplanned pregnancy can bring, and it does so without being preachy. Thank you to my daughter for introducing me to another great book and author!
Time is running out for your favorites from the Young Hoosier Book Club. Check out the next four that are up for discussion in Survivor Book Club.
Candy Bomber: The Story of the Berlin Airlift’s “Chocolate Pilot” by Michael Tunnell
Prisoners in the Palace: How Victoria Became Queen with the Help of Her Maid, a Reporter, and a Scoundrel: a Novel of Intrigue and Romance by Michaela MacColl
Trapped by Michael Northrup
Dragon Castle by Joseph Bruchac
These are the Woodson books I got Thursday night! They’re all good.
It wasn’t quite over the river (though I did drive over a few bridges) and through the woods (more like empty fields), and it wasn’t to go to grandmother’s house, but last Thursday I braved the cold and snow roads to drive down to IUSWP’s “Authors as Artists” series. Learning from Jacqueline Woodson was a bright flame in a week filled with cold and snow.
In addition to sharing from her books, (I’ve got to find a copy of Show Way because she stopped before we got to the end), she shared her perspective on writing and life and even got us writing. This is a woman who does not believe in writer’s block even though she may be my equal in procrastinating. She says writer’s block is just fear getting in the way. Her advice for overcoming the fear for us and our students? Just tell yourself that no one has to read your first draft.
The we got to write (and no one has to read it). We picked an age from childhood to write about. I chose age 10 and started making a list of everything I could remember about being 10. Before I knew it, that list turned into the beginning of a story about a sick little girl who wanted nothing more than to play in the biggest snow she’d ever seen. No, you can’t read it yet, but I want to finish that story today.
Someone asked how many unfinished books she had lying around. I was surprised at the answer–just the current story she was working on. Then she shared her thinking: Every story has a point where it falls apart and nothing works. That is when the writer has to make a decision to work through the hard part or abandon it. Her advice is to work through it. The story may turn into something else entirely, but if you start abandon one story, it will be too easy to abaondon all the rest because they all fall apart at some point. Hmmm…I think that means I need to dig out that retelling of Little Red Riding Hood that fell apart because I have no idea where to go next.
I jotted down a few words of wisdom that I want to take back to my students (if we ever get back into the school routine again). There were many, many more, but these three struck me:
- “Writing is so much about listening.”
- “Writing is powerful and empowering even when it’s hard.”
- “Everyone has a story.”
If I can share these truths with my students and give them the tools and voice to tell their own stories, I will have accomplished something good.
P.S. It is the season for nominations for the Summer Institutes for the National Writing Project. If you have never taken part in this incredible professional development opportunity, find the closest site to you and apply. It will change your life.
This may be a winter to remember even though the folks who know say it’s not nearly as bad as the blizzard of ’78. (I wouldn’t know. I was down south that winter.) Since we’ve had a plethora (that means a lot) of snow days this winter, I suspect you are getting quite good at surviving a day off from school. How do you entertain yourself on these cold, snowy days? How do you keep from succumbing to cabin fever?
Write a post giving your best advice on how to spend a snow (or cold in case of today) day. You might try writing a list poem of all the possibilities. You could capture one moment of your day and describe it in detail. You could write a parody of an instruction manual that gives directions on what to do with your day. Have fun with it! Remember your posts should approach 150 words.
If you want to share, follow the directions below.
- Write a blog post: You can write about the suggested writing for the week, or write about any topic of your choice.
- Share your blog post by leaving a link in the comments for this post. To find the URL or address for your post, click on the post title you want to share. If you are in the right spot, you should see only your post (and a place to leave comments) on the page. Then COPY the URL from the address bar at the top of the screen. Come back to this post and PASTE the URL in the comments. You may want to briefly tell what your post is about as an invitation. If you’ve copied the URL correctly, you should see your blog post title at the end. Click the POST COMMENT button when you are done. Your comment then goes to the top.
- Read the blog posts of at least three others who leave a link in the comments. Leave a thoughtful comment that asks a question, shares more information, or points out something specific the writer did well.
Monday
Objectives:
Daily Grammar Practice Week 12 (Monday – parts of speech). We will define six new roots. You need to draw a picture that will help you remember the definition of each root and come up with two example words and definitions that use each root. Group 7 Roots are due on Friday. You may find the Group 7 Answers here.
Homework: Read 15-30 minutes in a book of your choice. Complete Group 7 Roots.
Tuesday
Objectives:
- Write on blog or in your notebook.
Daily Grammar Practice Week 12 (Tuesday – sentence parts). You should be writing twice and week in either your Writer’s Notebook or on our class blogs. Work on developing your ideas by adding details and examples. Strengthen your writing by focusing on part of your topic. It is actually easier to write more–and better–if your topic is smaller. You may write about anything you like (school appropriate), but if you need ideas, check out the Student Blogging Connection. Be sure to share the link to your post and connect with other bloggers. Make sure you click your name under Categories whenever you write a blog post!
Homework: Read a book of your choice for 15-30 minutes. Complete Group 7 Roots.
Wednesday
Objectives:
- Answer constructed response questions.
Daily Grammar Practice Week 12 (Wednesday – clauses, sentence type and purpose). In order to answer constructed response questions, use RATE: Restate and Answer the question. Tie it to the text with details. Explain your answer. When you read the question, circle key words that you should include in your answer. Answer the question concisely. Then support your answer with examples or details from the text. Watch the TED Talk video and take notes to answer these two questions: 1) So we know our minds change our bodies, but is it also true that our bodies change our minds? 2) Can power posing for a few minutes really change your life in meaningful ways?
Homework: Read a book of your choice for 15 -30 minutes. Complete Group 7 Roots.
Thursday
Objectives:
- Write answers to constructed response question.
Daily Grammar Practice Week 12 (Thursday – Correct capitalization and punctuation). Use your notes from yesterday to write an answer to both questions on our class blogs. Your answer should include key words from the question and give specific details from the video to support it.
Homework: Read 15-30 minutes in a book of your choice. Coomplete Group 7 Roots.
Friday
Objectives:
- Set reading goals for the week.
Daily Grammar Practice Week 12 (Friday – Sentence diagramming). Fill out the reading goal slip with the title and author of your book and write down what page you begin on. Read for 10 minutes and write down what page you end on. Subtract the beginning page from the ending page to find out how many pages you read in 10 minutes. Multiply that number by 6 to discover how many pages you should be able to read in 1 hour. Double that answer to find out how many pages you should be able to read in 2 hours. That is your reading goal for the week. If you finish or switch to a book that has a very different reading rate, you will need to redo your goal and let me know the new one. After you finish your reading, tell your partner what you read today. If you can’t remember anything you read, you are reading too fast.
Homework: Read 15-30 minutes in a book of your choice. Group 7 Roots due today.
Feathers (Puffin Books 2007) is a quiet book packed with the power of hope. You know hope–the thing with feathers that perches in the soul. Jacqueline Woodson weaves this snippet of poetry from Emily Dickinson throughout Frannie’s story, and in reading it, I find that hope is weaving its way into my thinking, too.
Frannie has much to hope for–or worry about–that snowy winter in the 1970s when she is eleven. Mean girls make fun of her older brother Sean because he is deaf. Her mother is pregnant, and everyone worries she might lose this baby, too. At school, a new boy–a white boy–moves into her class and challenges all of them to reconsider who belongs. She doesn’t hold go much to church, but her best friend Samantha sees Jesus in the new boy.
Through it all, Frannie thinks and thinks and thinks. Woodson’s lyrical prose doesn’t provide all the answers for faith and family and friendship life and death and racism, but her words do sing with hope.
When Neal Shusterman started the Unwind Dystology, he created a world that is both terrifying and all-too-familiar. While I am horrified at this dystopian world that literally tears apart its unwanted teenagers in order to harvest them for body parts to transplant, I am also reminded of our own society where people with money routinely undergo surgery to improve their looks and where politicians call for ever more punitive policies toward poor students (such as denying students a free lunch or tying food assistance for families to student test scores).
UnSouled, Book 3 in the series, continues to raise questions about our society even as Connor, Lev, and Risa continue their fight to change their world. Connor and Lev are on the run to find answers from the woman Proactive Citizenry has tried to eliminate from history. Along the way the pick up Grace, a low-cortical girl who is much smarter than most people suspect. They also detour to the Arapache Reservation Lev had previously visited with disastrous results. Risa is on her own now that she revealed Proactive Citizenry’s blackmail to the world. Cam, the perfect being of rewound parts, is determined to bring down the the organization that created him in order to win back Risa. Just when it seems things couldn’t get any worse, Starkey is back to rescue his fellow Storks and exact revenge.
I love the shifting points of view that give this book the complexity it deserves. While there are definite right and wrong sides, no one person is entirely right or wrong. They all have conflicting motivations and incomplete understanding of events. I like being able to connect pieces that the characters cannot see while trying to wrap my own brain around the conflicting bits of information.
I’m not sure if UnSouled is the end of the story. Connor, Lev, and Risa certainly haven’t stopped Proactive Citizenry and their unwinding, but the seeds have hope have taken root. Even if they can’t see how the can stop it or how soon, they believe there is a way out. I hope the same is true for the problems facing our world. We may not see a way out immediately, but hope still simmers and waits to come out of hiding.
Monday
Objectives:
- Choose books from library.
- Set reading goal.
Daily Grammar Practice Week 12 (Monday – parts of speech). We will visit the library for you to renew, return, and check out new books. Since we missed school last Friday, we will set your reading goal today for this week.
Homework: Read 15-30 minutes in a book of your choice. Since we didn’t have school on Friday, 6th & 7th periods will turn in Writer’s Notebooks for a writing check. Writing on the blog counts, too! You should have six entries for December.
Tuesday
Objectives:
- Write on blog or in your notebook.
Daily Grammar Practice Week 12 (Tuesday – sentence parts). You should be writing twice and week in either your Writer’s Notebook or on our class blogs. Work on developing your ideas by adding details and examples. Strengthen your writing by focusing on part of your topic. It is actually easier to write more–and better–if your topic is smaller. You may write about anything you like (school appropriate), but if you need ideas, check out the Student Blogging Connection. Be sure to share the link to your post and connect with other bloggers. Make sure you click your name under Categories whenever you write a blog post!
Homework: Read a book of your choice for 15-30 minutes.
Wednesday
Objectives:
- Explore the use of transitions.
Daily Grammar Practice Week 12 (Wednesday – clauses, sentence type and purpose).
Homework: Read a book of your choice for 15 -30 minutes. .
Thursday
Objectives:
- Add tranistions to your writing.
Daily Grammar Practice Week 12 (Thursday – Correct capitalization and punctuation). Transitions are like signposts that direct your reader where to go. Log into Google Drive (firstnamelastname19@jcsc.org and your lunch number 19) and open the compare contrast essay we drafted before Christmas. Use one of the transitions in your Writing Handbook to introduce each paragraph after your lead. Read your draft outloud. Does it flow smoothly?.
Homework: Read 15-30 minutes in a book of your choice.
Friday
Objectives:
- Set reading goals for the week.
Daily Grammar Practice Week 12 (Friday – Sentence diagramming). Fill out the reading goal slip with the title and author of your book and write down what page you begin on. Read for 10 minutes and write down what page you end on. Subtract the beginning page from the ending page to find out how many pages you read in 10 minutes. Multiply that number by 6 to discover how many pages you should be able to read in 1 hour. Double that answer to find out how many pages you should be able to read in 2 hours. That is your reading goal for the week. If you finish or switch to a book that has a very different reading rate, you will need to redo your goal and let me know the new one. After you finish your reading, tell your partner what you read today. If you can’t remember anything you read, you are reading too fast.
Homework: Read 15-30 minutes in a book of your choice.
In the second day of No Name Calling Week, what power does a name have? Think about all the names you are called. What do they say about you? You might answer one of the questions below:
- How did your parents choose your name? What do you like–or not–about your names?
- Do you have a nickname? How did you get it? Who calls you by that name? What do you like–or not–about it?
- You may have heard the saying, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” I don’t think that statement’s true. Words–especially insulting names–do hurt. How can you stop the hurt caused by name-calling? What can we as a school do? Have you ever been hurt by name calling?
Remember, your need to write about 150 words. Elaborate on your idea by giving examples, explaining your thinking, adding sensory detail, making comparisons with figurative language.
You don’t have to write on this topic. You can write about anything you want (at least 150 words) and leave a link to share your writing.
Here are the three easy steps to follow:
- Write a blog post: You can write about the suggested writing for the week, or write about any topic of your choice.
- Share your blog post by leaving a link in the comments for this post. To find the URL or address for your post, click on the post title you want to share. If you are in the right spot, you should see only your post (and a place to leave comments) on the page. Then COPY the URL from the address bar at the top of the screen. Come back to this post and PASTE the URL in the comments. You may want to briefly tell what your post is about as an invitation. If you’ve copied the URL correctly, you should see your blog post title at the end. Click the POST COMMENT button when you are done. Your comment then goes to the top.
- Read the blog posts of at least three others who leave a link in the comments. Leave a thoughtful comment that asks a question, shares more information, or points out something specific the writer did well.
Marie Lu has created a stunning and satisfying conclusion to the story begun in Legend. If you haven’t yet read Legend and Prodigy, you may want to stop reading this review now and go find yourself a copy of the first two books. Champion (G.P. Putnam’s Sons 2013) picks up where Prodigy left off.
Day and June have returned to the Republic to throw their support behind Anden, the new Elector, but they have gone their separate ways. Day is reunited with his little brother Eden, who is still blind from the Republic’s former experiments. Day is fighting to stay alive. June serves as Princeps-Elect, but hates the politics of the Senate.
It takes another crisis to bring them back together. The Colonies attack and invade the Republic because of a deadly plague outbreak. This one has no known cure and the only one who might hold the answer is Eden. Even though the people of the Republic hail Day as a hero now, neither he nor their government trust each other enough to work together. June might be able to bridge the gap, but is she willing to hurt Day even more than she already has?
Even though Day weakens throughout the story, he is still capable of running up walls and kicking butt when needed. He is also a thorn in Anden’s side, constantly reminding Anden to remember the common people–in emergency evacuations, housing, and medical treatment. Oh yeah, he still makes June swoon. June may not be cut out for politics, but she is still at the top of her class and is itching for an opportunity to go out on the streets again.
Just like the first two books, this one is impossible to put down once you start reading. The alternating voices of Day and June give two very different perspectives on this dystopian world that seems way too close to our own–especially the Colonies. I can’t wait to see what Marie Lu comes up with next.
My daughter picked this book up from our latest trip to the library. As soon as she finished it on one of our many snow days, she handed it to me and said, “You have to read this, and you have to put in your classroom library. It will be powerful birth control.”
