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RESPONDING TO LITERATURE |
| Every month our class reads a different genre of literature. So far,
we have read books about children and war, suspense novels, non-fiction
books and christmas stories. Each week we write a journal entry that allows
us to reflect and respond to what we have read. Our weekly writings are
first drafts only. They have not been revised. We hope you enjoy our ideas
and opinions - maybe you will be interested in reading some of the novels
we discussed!
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Journal responses |
| Nov 20, 2003 Book Title:Hank and The Aliens By:Steven Beauchamp & Allen Dovorsky The same thing happened to me once only it was a little different. I’ll tell you. One day Hank was walking and on his way home until ‘they’ came. It was the ALIENS! They were up to no good looking for people and dogs like him. Hank knew something was wrong but when he looked behind him nothing was there. He walked a little faster but the ‘tip, tap’ was coming closer. He looked back again but nothing was there. Hank ran as fast as he could then he stopped and looked back and they were stand right in front of him. The aliens came. Hank got scared and yelled as loud as he could. The aliens got away. Now I’ll tell you my story. One crazy night I was getting a glass of milk. I heard something land in my back yard and it was a mothership, I called my mom and then we looked outside but it was gone. Yep, it was a true story! By: Selvin Date: Sept 26 2003 Title: Moby Dick Illustrator: Herman Melveille & Braden Lynch In the book, Moby Dick, there is a man named Ishmael who wants a more exciting life at sea. He goes to a hotel to spend the night with a strange roommate and had to share a bed with him. The stranger worshiped a little idol. He pulled out a pipe with a tomahawk end. This stranger is a whaler. Queequeg was his name. Ishmael and Queequeg became good friends and they signed up to travel on a whaling ship. The captain of the ship was named Ahab. He was a one legged demon who never gave up his hunt to find and kill the great white sperm whale, Moby Dick. Ahab wanted revenge because Moby Dick had bit off his leg. On the expedition they found Moby Dick and set out to kill him. Moby Dick dived down and comes up mouth open under Ahabs boat. He knocks everyones boat except Ahab’s and Ishmael’s boat. Ahab gives Mob Dick three strikes of pain with his harpoon and then leaves it in him. Ahab gets tangled in the harpoon rope and was strangled as Moby Dick dives down pulling Ahab with him. Ishmael falls out of his boat and is caught in a whirlpool. Queequeg, who had died earlier of sickness was buried at sea, His coffin burst out of the whirl pool and Ishmael was able to climb on top of it. The Rachel (Ishmael’s boat) came to rescue Ishmael. By Dylan Title:The Best Christmas Pageant Ever Author: Barbara Robinson I think the Herdmen kids shouldn’t smoke cigars because they could kill you and they are way too young anyway. Another reason, I think that they shouldn’t smoke is that it’s harder to breath. Another thing, I think they shouldn’t have done is burn down Fred Shoemakers old broken down tool house. They should not have done that because, one, it isn’t their property, two, they could have got sued and three, they could have got burnt. By Bobbi-jo Date: November 2, 2003 Title: Wings Author: Bruce Brooks My favorite books are about hockey because I play hockey. This book is about a kid named Zip who is a goalie for the Wings. His friend Kenny leaves the Wings to go play with another team. This causes some hard feelings between the two boys and the Wings also lose Kenny who is a good defense. There is action packed hockey throughout the book. In the end, the boys become best friends again. By: Kyle Date: Nov.21, 2003 Book Title: Mieko and the Fifth Treasure Author: Eleanor Coerr This book reminds me of when I cracked my head open and I couldn’t do very much. It must have been hard for Meiko when she could not paint. I am sort of like Mieko because I love to paint, draw and color. Also, I had an operation and I could barely get out of bed. I know the feeling and it’s really tough to go through. Mieko must think that life is nothing without the five treasures. So in closing, I just want to say that when you have a disability and you can’t do your hobby, don’t think that life is useless. By ZACH Date: Saturday, November 21,2003 Title: My Side Of The Mountain Author: Jean Craig George I’ve learned so much from this book. For example, I can make beds out of leaves. Many roots can be salty. I’ve also learned that living in the woods can be hard. You have to catch your own food, make your own house, clothing and get enough food to survive the winter. You’ll also have to make a fire, which is hard. Sam Gribley, the main character in the book, has lived in a tree for 8 months! She has a bird called frightful and she trains him to hunt. Sam has built many things like hooks out of wood and traps to catch animals. She made the hook by whittling an angle on a twig. Then she cut a smaller twig and sharpened it to a point. Then she whittled the end and bound the two angles face to face with a strip of green bark. That’s how Sam made the fishing hook out of wood. She had a pocketknife to her. She made the trap two different ways. The first trap had bait on it. She bent a long twig and hook it to a “u” shape twig. Then she used a rope to catch the animals while it’s eating the bait. By RJ October 17, 2003 Heartland Lauren Brooke In the book, Heartland, by Lauren Brooke, the setting is played at a farm that’s main purpose is to heal physically or emotionally hurt horses. They also look after abandoned or mistreated horses. Most horses that they treat are owned and owners take them to Heartland believing in their way of treating, hoping that Heartland can cure their horse’s problem. Heartland is a small farm with two barns, two training rings and three small to medium sized pastures. Two of the pastures have horses grazing quietly or playing with each other. One small quiet pasture has an Oak tree in the middle. Beneath the ground next to the tree is where a legendary jumper horse’s body lays. Pegasus died of cancer because he refused to eat and grew weak. Close to the pasture the front barn is located. Inside is twelve freshly cleaned stalls and two packed rooms. Inside the first room are overcrowded horses (a post to put saddles on) and the walls are filled with pictures of horses they own or have treated. Next to the tack room the feed room can be found. Inside are several types of feeds and a shelf with many types of oils. The oils are types of medicines or therapy; they use to treat horses. During the day a lot gets done at Heartland. Ty, a stable hand, exercises the horses. Lou, the financial manager adds up figures. Jack Barlett, the owner of Heartland, makes lunches. Ben the stable hand cleans stalls and the Amy, the one who treats the horses, is at school, thinking of work back home. Once school is over the training rings are busy. By: Amber Date: Friday January 16, 2004 Title: Life in an Anishinabe Camp Author: Niki walker In this story it tells me about people living in an Anishinabe camp and how they live. They use what’s around them to eat, drink and make clothes. They lived in the great lakes region. They name Anishinabe means people. The people once lived by a huge body of water, which may have been the Atlantic Ocean or Hudson’s bay. The people split up and settled in different spots. The Odawa (Ottawa) and the Potawatomi people often married one another, traded goods and settled disputes. They had an alliance called, The Three Fires. They were so close that people described it in family terms. The Anishinabe nation was the eldest brother, the Potawatomi nation was the youngest brother, and the Ottawa nation was in the middle. By Briann Jan 16, 2004 Book title: The Voyageurs Authors; Ian & Sally My favorite part was when Ian and Sally hitched up a team of huskies named Blue, Jeff, Link, Sting, Buck, Tom, Hank, and took them across the country with supplies and letters. This was called The Winter Express. The voyagers were a colorful sight to see. The men wore bright red sashes and long flowing toques. Their dogs were decorated with wool ornaments, bells and embroidered coats. It was time for celebration when The Winter Express arrived at the post with mail and new supplies. The voyageurs always had new stories to share at the post when they arrived. They often exaggerated their stories to entertain people at each post. Before they could start their journey they needed a team of dogs, which were already hitched up. They worked with the dogs for several weeks before they could get them to listen. Luckily the dogs loved to pull! By Derek Title: Good Night Kiss Date: January 13/2003 Author: R.L. Stine I think… That good night kiss is a very good book because it’s very detailed. It has a lot of good words like ghostly, rich red, ice cold, in it.It contains surprises, which I like about books. I would like to be Billy because he is a slayer. By Darcy Date: Nov 3, 2003 Title: Meiko and the Fifth Treasure Author: Eleanor Coffer Meiko is a young girl. Meiko is from Asia. I feel bad for Meiko when she gets called monster hand. Meiko is a little shy I am not. If you ask me Mieko is a good artist compared to me. I feel bad for Meiko because she was separated from her parents and that’s why she lives with her grandparents. By Jon Date: January 18,2004 Title: The Reptile Room Author: Lemony Snicket I noticed that this book is predictable because I knew that Count Olaf was going to come back. This is how it happened; first, the Baularuide children went to go live with their Uncle. He studied snakes. The Baularuide children and their Uncle were supposed to go to Peru. He hires a new assistant. While their uncle was gone the assistant came. It was Count Olaf! Violet was the first one to notice because of the tattoo he had. Later on, their Uncle thought that Stephano (Count Olaf) was a spy so he wouldn’t be going to Peru with them. One day they found their Uncle DEAD in the Reptile room. Stephano said it was from the bite from a poisonous snake but the children saw some of the Venom was missing, so they knew Stephano was the one that killed their Uncle. By: Michelle Date: Jan 19, 2004 Author: Riel’s People By Maria Campbell & David Maclangon I learned so much from this book, such as the importance of the chief. If there were no chief the things wouldn’t be organized. Also there wouldn’t be any food because there would not be any hunting trips planed. I think that Riels people should remember the mother and father of the natives and the fur traders. They were often forgotten. Without them they would not be living. I could find a resemblance between the books Sweet Grass and Riel’s people. They would hunt buffalo just like them. Also they marked their buffalo with a cloth and the women would butcher it and prepare diner for their husband. By: Sandy Date: Nov.7, 2003 Title: The Wild Children Author: Felice Holman This book reminds me of, ME, because I’ve always had a rough life. I didn’t seem to mind but when Alex got to the Wild Children he wanted to leave. He had nowhere to go but back to the SP so he stayed. I always wanted to leave too but I had nowhere to go but home. You see he relates to me because at that moment the cellar is all he will ever have just like I always have my mom. By: Steven Date: October 24/03 Title: Mystery house Author: Jean Booker Illustrator: Ginn Publishing Response to selection: I learned in this book that you should always trust your instincts. I learned this lesson in many ways. One of those ways was when Glen thought that he had seen a ghost, which was David. Chris thought something was up but he ignored it. Another way it taught me to trust myself, was when Chris heard Lena and someone else in the tree house. Chris hesitated to get her dad and that is when she should have used her instincts and got her dad because they got away and her dad did not believe her. The last example is when Lena took Glen. Chris wanted to follow Lena but didn’t follow her because she didn’t listen to her instincts. That is what the book Mystery house taught me always trust your instincts. By: Josh H |
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School |
| High park is located in West Edmonton. Our class is a
combined grade 5 and 6 classroom. |
| Name: High Park Elementary School |
| Location: |
| Click here to send an E-mail to High Park Elementary School if you have any questions. |
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[Functional Writing]