My Side of the Mountain: Week Three

This week marks our final week reading My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George. This week, we read from In Which I Learn About Birds and People through the end! Next week, we start The City of Ember!

The Great Horned Owl: Sam sees a Great Horned Owl nesting on his side of the mountain, and he's just delighted. Here's a National Geographic page that will give you more information about Great Horned Owls (with a really cool first picture). Here's a video from youtube about the Great Horned Owl that takes you up close and shows you what the owl looks like. It also gives you a good sense of the sounds the owl makes that Sam would have heard. 

What does the Great Horned Owl symbolize for Sam? What makes you think that? 

Winter and Spring in the Catskills: Can you imagine being outside in the woods all winter? This silent video gives you a little sense of what Sam might have seen when he peeked his head outside of his hemlock tree the first day of that major snow. 

Remember how delighted Sam was when the first greens of spring started to return? Here's a video that shows someone foraging for wild greens. Here, they've found wild onion!

Questions to Ponder/Answer:

1. Frightful finally joins in Sam's forum and contributes her own thoughts. She says, "You really want to be found, or you would not have told Matt all you did." Why does Frightful join in and say this? Why does Sam wish she would stay quiet? 

2. There are  many characters in books who run away, both literally (actually running away) and figuratively (avoiding problems, etc.). Think about Sam. What did he run away from? What other characters have you encountered who run away from their problems? Think about Hope from The Memory Bank. Think about Groovy from The Year The Swallows Came Early. Consider Harvey Swick from The Thief of Always. How are these characters similar to or different from Sam? 

3. Near the end of the book, Sam, Bando and Matt start building guest houses near Sam's hollowed out hemlock tree. Think about his quote: "I seem to have an address now." What do these guesthouses symbolize for Sam? 

4. What did you think about the ending of My Side of the Mountain? Did it seem realistic? Surprising? 

If you loved My Side of the Mountain, keep it alive! Here are some fun activities you could do and some other books in the series you could read!

Visit Jean Craighead George's website to learn about the other books in the My Side of the Mountain series and the hundreds of other books she's written. Here's a link to the other books in the trilogy. Let us know if you decided to read any of them! Maybe someone will want to form a book club with you and read the other books!

Go outside to somewhere natural. Really experience it. Take it in silently. What do you see? What do you hear? If you listen really closely, like Sam did, you might even hear the plip-plop of worms pushing up through the soil. 

Bando brings so many newspaper articles to share with Sam that were written about him. Try writing one of those articles out, imagining how the reporter might have captured the story. If you write one out, post it here or email it to me so I can post it!

Take a song Sam sung, like his Cold Water Song. How did the song go? Write the lyrics for it! Perform if for your family, friends or other members of our book club. Post the lyrics here so we can enjoy them!

My Side of the Mountain: Week Two

For Week Two of our Summer Online Book Club, we're continuing with My Side of the Mountain. This week, we're reading from Frightful Learns Her ABCs to I Pile Up Wood and Go On With Winter. Enjoy!

Peregrine Falcons and Frightful: Frightful quickly becomes a constant companion for Sam. She is a peregrine falcon. This National Geographic page gives you more information about the peregrine falcon. For example, did you know that peregrine falcons can live for around 17 years? On that page, there is an audio file you can click on to hear what the peregrine falcon sounds like!

There are so many videos on youtube.com about peregrine falcons. Here's one video of a falcon being trained to hunt, just like Sam had to train Frightful to hunt. What other interesting falcon videos can you find? If you find a video we should all watch, post a link to it in the comments!

Thoreau: Bando calls Sam Thoreau. Here are some resources for you to investigate about Henry David Thoreau. Philosophy Slam has a biography of Thoreau. Here are some quotes by Thoreau.  Why is Thoreau a fitting name for Sam?

Questions to Ponder/Answer:
1. Sam faces many challenges living in the wilderness alone, far from civilization. If you were on Sam's journey, what do you think would be most challenging to you? Why? What would you most look forward to?

2. Why do you think Sam wants to tell Bando about the Baron and Jessie C. James so badly? Does this relate to Sam heading out on the road to town without even thinking about it (In Trouble Begins)?

3. When Frightful flies off and doesn't immediately return, Sam says to himself, "She was more than a bird." What do you think he means by that?

4. Look back on your earlier theory. How have you had to revise your theory or strengthen it, based on the new information you've learned? What big idea are you growing now about Sam and the book?

5. Bando says "Desdemona" when Sam reveals his feast. Desdemonda is a heroine from Shakespeare's "Othello." Desdemona takes things at their face value and trusts people. Why do you think Bando says this?

Remember to keep looking back on your classmates' thinking, reading and responding to ideas that other people share! Make this into a conversation, and come back often to read, add on to, and question what we have to say!

My Side of the Mountain: Week One

For Week One of our Summer Online Book Club, we're reading My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George. We read from I Hole Up in a Snowstorm to How a Door Came to Me.

Every Monday, I'll post about the pages we are reading for the week. The post will always include some advice about reading the book, some videos you might want to watch or articles you might want to read related to the book, ideas about how you can bring the book to life, and questions to think about and respond to. Post your ideas about the book using the "comment" form. 

LOOK IT UP: My Side of the Mountain mentions a lot of terms and concepts that are unfamiliar to many readers who aren't living off the land in the Catskill Mountains. As smart readers, you can use books and the internet to help you make sense of those ideas. Google a word you aren't sure of. Search wikipedia to find out all you can about a plant Sam eats. Look at pictures of the plants and animals Sam mentions so you can really visualize them!

I googled "Catskill Mountains in May," and I found this beautiful picture that helped me imagine what the land might have looked like when Sam first arrived to the Gribley Farm. I can imagine him bent over this creek trying to catch a crayfish!

WELCOME TO THE CATSKILLS: Sam Gribley travels from our hometown to the Catskill Mountains. The Catskill Mountains are close by, and there is so much to learn about them! Visit this link to learn about what animals probably shared the mountain with Sam. Visit this site to learn about some of the edible plants found on the Catskills. The Catskill Mountains have a rich and diverse history. They were even involved in the Revolutionary War. Visit this site to learn all about the history of the Catskills. If you visit the Catskills Archives, they have an awesome slide show of pictures and paintings of life in the Catskills. It really shows you how life has changed in the Catskills over time!

This video transports you to the Catskill Mountains and shows you some of the most beautiful areas in the mountains today.

WALKING TOUR: Take a walking tour around your block, backyard, front stoop or neighborhood. Bring someone knowledgeable or a guidebook to plants with you. What do you find that's edible? Could you survive on what you find? If Sam stumbled upon this area, what meal would he make?

Questions to Ponder/Answer: 
1. Sam's way of thinking and acting changed dramatically from his first nights on the mountain to how he is thinking and acting at the end of this section. How did Sam's way of thinking and acting change? What does that tell you about Sam?

2. What do you think about the fact that all the adults in Sam's life seem alright with him running far away from New York City to live in the woods by himself?

3. How would you describe Sam? What kind of person is he? What big theories are you already growing about Sam and this story?

In order for our book club to be the most successful and exciting, our blog needs to be a place where we can have a conversation. Read other people's comments. Write back to people. Use their name so they know you are talking about them. Ask people questions you have about the book. Suggest answers to questions people post. Check back often and add your ideas!