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!

Independent Writing Projects We're Working on This Summer

Wow! We've got MAJOR writing plans for this summer. These are just a few of the projects we're planning on completing over the summer. In the fall, we'll all have lunch and treats with Katie during lunch to share the projects we've created!

• Charlotte: A chart/journal about my experiences at ice skating camp 
• Jason: A diary about what happens over the summer
• Ellis: Writing a journal with all the memories of what's happening over the summer and from the trips I go on
• Bria: Creating a new character who goes into my two favorite TV shows and writing a diary from her perspective
• Mayu: Create a teacher's notebook with student names, report cards, etc. 
• Michael: Working with my mom and sister to make a book (ideas, etc.) 
• Elliot: A guidebook to the first six Star Wars movies 
• Andrew: A book about a sci-fi game that people play in the future where people enter a challenge, get a weapon, and have to fight their way through legions of monsters and zombies to get millions of dollars
• Alec: A book of chemistry and physics
• Jack: A survival guide to Stoney Lake 
• Sam: A journal/entries of what I'm doing over vacation AND a journal from my trip to the Bahamas AND a journal from sleep-away cam
• Ida; Finishing an earlier independent writing project AND writing some random fantasy stories 
• Jonathan: Writing a science fiction story (continuation of my previous independent writing projects!) 
• Jane: Making a Do-Anything Book from Camp (a book of all kinds of stuff me and my friends think of at camp) 
• Sabina: A diary book, but from a different character's perspective (still kind of based off of what I do this summer) 
• Katya: A sketch book of sketches from my travels and my writing about them
• Dylan: A graphic novel about places I've been (a story of my summer) 
• Sydney: (Maybe) A sketchbook of memories from my life with my writing about them 
• Max: A sketch book of weird machines and information about how they work 
• Leela: A fantasy/mystery involving India (where I'm traveling this summer)
• Allie: A scrapbook with pictures and notes from my travels this summer
• Adina; Writing a diary about a little girl named Sara
• Emma: An album of memories (post pictures in it and write about them) from my whole life 
• Chloe: Creating a photo album of what I see and do 
• Ava: A journal of my summer adventures because I'm going on a lot of adventures 

How are your independent writing projects going? Have you started any new ones? 

Last Day of Fourth Grade

Today was the last day of fourth grade! It's hard to believe the year is already over. I so enjoyed having each of you in fourth grade this year. Over the summer, I'll be sharing different links and articles with you on the blog that I think you will enjoy. Check back often! If you have anything you want me to post on the blog, email it to me.

What is your favorite memory from fourth grade? 

The Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence is an important document in our nation's history. But, it's also a document that's filled with complex language and concepts that can be difficult to understand at first. One smart thing that historians do when they encounter difficult information is to try to find easier resources that help them understand the tricky document. Today, we'll explore the Declaration of Independence, using many resources that are available to anyone with access to a computer and the internet. As you explore each resource, consider what you are learning about the Declaration of Independence that you didn't know before.

1. Talk with your partner: What do you already know about the Declaration of Independence? Consider everything you learned at Independence Hall and at Constitution Center.

2. Read this article from Scholastic News about the Declaration of Independence. Stop along the way to talk with your partner about what you are learning. If you find something confusing and your partner can't help you, jot it down in your notebook.

3. Watch this BrainPop video about the Declaration of Independence. Log in using the password Katie puts on the board.

4. Read this version of the Declaration of Independence that is written in more friendly language. If you come to a tricky word, work through it with your partner, reading the sentences around it to try to make sense of the word.

Talk with your partner: What ideas do you have about the Declaration of Independence now? How did studying all these different texts help you learn more about the Declaration of Independence?

5. Type a long comment in the blog: What ideas do you have about the Declaration of Independence now? What did it say (in your own words)?

6. If you have time, look at a response that the colonists had to the Declaration of Independence. This image is titled "The Destruction of the Statue of King George III in Bowling Green" in New York City. With your partner, become one of the characters in the scene. Say first what the characters are thinking internally and a bit of their dialogue. Type a conversation with your partner that the characters in the painting are having. Include what you know about the Declaration of Independence in the conversation. Post your conversation in the comment section of the blog!

Poetry Anthology Publishing Requirements

Your finished poetry anthology is due in class on Tuesday, June 21. It is important that you have it finished by this date because we will be using it to rehearse for our Poetry Slam. Below are the requirements for your poetry anthology.

Poetry Anthology Requirements

1.     I worked neatly while publishing.

2.     I wrote each poem neatly or typed it.

3.     Each poem is on its own page.

4.     I included at least 6 poems in my anthology.

5.     I made a cover for my poetry anthology.

6.     I revised and edited each poem in my anthology.

7.     I used my mentor text to help me write and revise my poems.

8.     All the poems in my anthology are on one writing territory.

Here are several revision strategies we used that I should see in your poems.

1.    Work in setting details, dialogue and internal thoughts to strengthen your narrative poems.

2.   Revise to add to the meaning and imagery of your poems:

a.   Metaphors, Similes and Personification

b.   Alliteration

c.   Repetition, Patterns and Rhythm

3.   Choose your words carefully. Identify words or phrases that you could make stronger and try them out several ways to help your reader visualize your poem.

4.   Mine your mentor text for chunks of gold and include those ideas in your own poems.

5.   Experiment with different leads and endings for your poem.

6.   Craft titles that contribute to the meaning of your poem.

7.   Play around with line breaks, white space and punctuation to add to the meaning of your poem.

8.   Make careful decisions with capitalization and punctuation that add meaning to your poem.

Online Summer Book Club!

This summer, Class 4-324 will host a Online Book Club on our blog!!!

We'll choose books together that we want to read, and we'll read certain chapters in those books each week. Katie will post questions we can think about/blog about and some fun activities for us each week that relate to the book! We'll get to continue the fabulous conversations we've been having about books all year.

In order to make this happen, we need to choose books that kids are interested in reading for the book club.  Post all your suggestions for books we could read below! After we choose books, we'll order copies for all the kids who are interested in participating. If you have ideas about how to make the book club even more exciting, post those here too!