Ms. Walsh’s Comments (group member since Aug 16, 2010)

Ms. Walsh’s comments from the MS 256 Reading Group group.

Alexis wrote: "What i been reading is a book call " Day of the Iguana" by Henry Winkler it is a good book i just started reading this book and already like this book ... i think u should read this book it called ..."

Alexis, did you finish this book yet? We have plenty more books from this series if you are interested in reading more Hank Zipzer.

Kurt, from the book Sudden Impact, wants to be good enough to make the school soccer team, only, HE'S NOT A GOOD RUNNER! This is his conflict. The narrator of this book offers to train Kurt to be the best runner around. Kurt takes him up on the offer, pushes himself to the limit, and before long, he's running around town like a champion. The fact that he pushes himself to get better, and then CHANGES so rapidly and drastically is what makes him a dynamic character. I just started this book, so I'm not sure if Kurt makes the team, but based on the clues I've seen so far, I'll bet he does make it! YAY KURT!

Which characters in your book are turning out to be dynamic? Tell us about some of the conflicts that are contributing to the changes you see in your characters.

Describe the relationship between Tim and Sam. Give specific examples from the book to support your ideas. Write a complete paragraph and write in complete sentences.

What do we know about Mr. Beach? What kind of person is he? Why is he important to the story so far?
Write a paragraph and write in complete sentences.

At the end of chapter 1, Tim overhears Father crying. What are some of the reasons that Father is crying? Write a full paragraph, in complete sentences.

Answer all four questions in one paragraph.

1) What is Sam fighting for?
2) What is his father's opinion?
3) Does Sam's father think that he should be fightning?
4) How can you tell what his father's opinons are?

*In your paragraph, make sure to tell the page numbers you looked back at to form your answers.

Read the following passage from The Hobbit and then complete the task that follows:

Long days after they had climbed out of the valley and left the Last Homely House miles behind, they were still going up and up and up. It was a hard path and a dangerous path, a crooked way and a lonely and a long. Bilbo shivered. It was getting bitter cold, and boulders at times came galloping down the mountainsides, let loose by mid-day sun upon the snow, and passed among them or over their heads. The nights were comfortless and chill, and they did not dare to sing or talk to loud, for the echoes were uncanny (55).

TASK: Copy the author's style of writing as best as you can to write the next paragraph. Imagine that you had to write the next paragraph all on your own, and that it would be published, only if it matched up with the writer's same descriptive writing style. You are free to make anything happen that you want to happen next. You need to write at least ten sentences.

The first BOOK CLUB meeting for MS 256 will take place on Friday, December 3, from 2:30-3:30 in the LIBRARY!!!

At our first meeting, we will begin reading Sharon M. Draper's novel,The Battle of Jericho.

Try to bring a copy of the book to the first meeting. You can go to the public library and borrow one, or purchase one at any bookstore.

You guys and dolls are awesome. I hope to have get some of the bulletin boards done by the end of the day tomorrow. YAY!

Hi girlies,

May I suggest making up snazzy flyers to "advertise" for this online book club? Here are the steps I advise you to take:

1) As a group, the three of you should select a book you all want to read. It should be a book that we have LOTS of copies of. We have class sets of books in the bookroom, so I'll try to send you there tomorrow at some point to check it out.

2) Get to work on your flyers starting tomorrow in advisory. Your flyers should include information such as the goal of the online book club, the first book you are going to read, and the kinds of discussions you are planning to have

3) We'll hang one on the bulletin board assigned to the library, and we'll make one for each of the English teachers so they can hang them on their classroom doors.

4) Start talking it up! Tell everyone you know at school to join your reading club. The more you talk about it, the more people will be interested.

* This sounds super fun!

Hello all!

I have an idea, and I need your help. I want to fill some of those sadly blank bulletin boards in our halls with book recommendations. Here's what I'm thinking: we'll recommend books by category. So, we might have a section of bulletin space that says something like, "IF YOU LIKE VAMPIRES, READ THESE BOOKS..." or "IF YOU WANT TO CRY YOUR EYES OUT OVER A SAD STORY, THEN READ THIS..." or "IF YOU'RE INTO SPORTS..." or "IF YOU'RE INTO LOVE STORIES..." and so on and so forth.

The first step in accomplishing this goal: POST IDEAS FOR CATEGORIES HERE!

Dariq wrote: "I CHOOSE MY BOOK BECAUSE POEMS IS THE BEST THING THAT HAPPEN IN THE WORLD AND BECAUSE BILL ( MY AUTHOR) IS A GOOD POEM WRITER"

Dariq, OMG! OMG! I love poems, too. So there's this whole new wave of books that are becoming really popular: Books that tell an entire story in poetry format. They are awesome. Some titles include: "What my Girlfriend Doesn't Know," (I'll bet you'd love this one)... and also "One of those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies," and others like "Crank." These are sad stories with lots of emotion and lots of poetry stanzas. Check it! Let me know.

Kenneth wrote: "I picked my book the voices of Vietnam because I was curious about Vietnam because I know there must be more about Vietnam that I didn't know about so I wanted to learn more and I did by reading th..."

Kenneth, we have a zillion books on Vietnam. When you're finished with your book, find me in the library and let me know if you want another book on the topic!

Kenny wrote: "Hi miss walsh im reading a book called Robin Hood I like it because its entertaining"

Hi Kenny, I'm pretty sure you took the AR quiz for this, right? Or am I mistaken? Do you like adventure tales like Robin Hood? Read The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien. Let me know if you're interested. It's one of my top 3 in the universe!

Devonmcgowan wrote: "Hi Ms. Walsh i Am Reading A Book Called Played ! The Author is DANA DAVIDSON ! I Am Really Liking The BOOK !"

Devon, the title is intriguing. It could mean so many things! What's going on in your story? A detail or two might make me pick that book up!

Steven wrote: "im reading a book called sammmy keyes and the hotel theif and its about this girl that is curuious what happend in the hotel when a hotel theif sneak into a room and steal something but nobody bele..."

Steven, how's it going with the book? What did she steal? I'm dying to know here! Can you tell us without spoiling the end?!

Shavon wrote: "Im Reading "Nothing But Drama". The book is very interesting . I enjoy reading it"

Shavon,
What is interesting about it? What's the drama? Tell me something here, darling!

Chyna wrote: "Im reading How to (Un)cage a Girl Block by Francesca Lia"

Chyna, the title of your book is intriguing to me. What's it all about? How do you uncage a girl, and what the heck is caging us?

Dariq wrote: "I am reading paint me like I am. I love this book so much because it has so many strong sentences.evey one should check it out :)"

Dariq, I LOVE strong sentences. Post your favorite strong sentence. I DARE YOU!