City of Ember: Week Two

This is our second week reading The City of Ember, the first Book of Ember, by Jeanne DuPrau. This week, read from A Message Full of Holes (Page 93) through The Way Out (Page 192).

READING TIP: On page 94 of The City of Ember, Lina discovers something terribly important. Once I noticed this message, I got a post-it note (a second bookmark), and I left it on the page. That way, I could return to the message Lina found again and again. This helped me because then I didn't have to waste time searching for the message. 

Secret Message: Lina tries to decode the secret message that she finds, and she really struggles to make sense of it. Here's another secret message. Try it out! Can you decode the message? Click HERE to give it a go!

The Greenhouse: Clary has an incredibly important role in Ember as head of the greenhouse. I know you learned a lot about how plants grow when you worked with Patty this year. If you want to learn more, here are some sites you can visit. This site has a game you can play to determine the exact balance of resources a plant needs. Here's a visual from the Weather Channel that shows how greenhouses work on Earth (although perhaps not in Ember). If you want to try growing some of your own plants from materials you might have around your house, visit this site. 

Questions to Ponder/Respond to: 

1. Lina shares "The Instructions" with many different citizens of Ember. Study their reactions to "The Instructions" closely. What can you learn about the characters from studying their reactions? For example, how does Doon respond? The Mayor? Captain Fleery? Lizzie? 

2. Lina makes a major decision on page 153. What does that decision reveal about her character? What does it help you understand about the kind of place Ember is? 

3. What major symbols are you noticing that repeat again and again throughout the book? 

4. What questions do YOU have for the group? Post a question in the comments, and we can respond to your question with our own ideas. Think about the smart questions you would ask your book club! For example, last week Max wondered about why the residents of Ember don't recognize where they are. When he asked that question, I thought more deeply about that idea. 

Keep reading and responding to the comments other people post! Your fellow readers have some FASCINATING ideas that will really make you think. Ask them questions. Ask for their evidence. Add your own thoughts and opinions. 

City of Ember: Week One

This is our first week reading The City of Ember, the first Book of Ember, by Jeanne DuPrau. This week, read from The Instructions (before page 1) through The Box in the Closet (Page 92).

Generators: Doon takes Lina's job down in Pipeworks because he wants to figure out how the generator works and try to solve Ember's problems. Read up to see if you can find any information that could help Doon. Here's a little bit about how generators work. Here's some information about how electricity works. The Power Kids is another fun site that will teach you more about electricity and energy.

City of Ember: Ember is a large city, and it's certainly an unfamiliar city to all of us. Here's a map to the City of Ember. You can access the map by putting the puzzle pieces together, and then you can get an up-close view of all the places Lina and Doon talk about. Here's the map.

Book Trailer: Often now on Youtube, there are "book trailers" for books that you read. These are kind of like movie trailers, and they give you a preview of what the book will be about. Here's one trailer:

Here's another trailer for the book. This one was made by two students. It really helps you get inside the main characters' minds.

Questions to Ponder/Respond to: 
1. Several events early on help us to understand Lina and Doon and the kinds of characters they are. Some key events that stand out to me are: the choosing of jobs, Lina and Doon switching jobs, Lina dancing on the roof, and Lina caring for her grandma and little sister. What do these events already reveal about our main characters? What kinds of people are they?

2. We're about one-third of the way through the book. What big theory are you already growing about the book? Make your theory go beyond the book so that it tells a big idea you are growing.

3. The setting in the "City of Ember" is a lot different than the setting in an Amber Brown book. An Amber Brown book could take place in almost any school, and the setting doesn't matter so much. But in "City of Ember," the setting is terribly important. Ember isn't just any old place. What kind of place is Ember? You might say "Ember is the kind of place where...." and push yourself to write a few sentences about it.

Keep reading and responding to the comments other people post! Your fellow readers have some FASCINATING ideas that will really make you think. Ask them questions. Ask for their evidence. Add your own thoughts and opinions. 

Remember that whatever you post in the "Comment" section goes on the internet and other readers can read it. That means, you should try to use the best spelling, punctuation and capitalization that you can. 

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!

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?