Reading Response Blog #6

11/8/2015

Last week, I asked you to find a great description in your independent reading. This week, I'm asking you to read some great descriptions that I chose. I chose these descriptions because they paint a vivid picture with words.

This Week's Prompt:

Choose one of the descriptions below that you like. Read it carefully a few times.
Explain what the description says explicitly and what you can infer from it, using evidence from the text.
Then explain why you like the description.

Description #1

Description #2

Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff

Description #3

49 Comments

Julia

11/9/2015 05:26:38 pm

Dear class,
I have chosen description one. The text explicitly says that the giant has ugly clothing. I will zoom into one part of his outfit, the shoes. In the text it says, "On his bare feet, he was wearing a pair of ridiculous sandals that for some reason had holes cut along each side, with a large hole at the end where his toes stuck out.". I can infer that the giant is quite large. I can infer this because in the text it says, "His trousers were faded green and were far too short for his legs." which tells me that he is HUGE. I like this description because it created a very clear image in my head. It is also a little humorous by saying that the giant has no fashion sense!
Sincerely,
Julia

Ms. Kimball

11/9/2015 09:00:29 pm

Dear Julia,

You made me chuckle with your inference that the giant has no fashion sense. I was wrestling with your statement that, "The text explicitly says that the giant has ugly clothing." I was wondering if we can actually explicitly say his clothing is "ugly." Tattered and worn out, yes. Old and shabby, probably. Ugly... maybe? What do you think? Can you convince me of "ugly"?

Sincerely,
Ms. Kimball

Julia

11/10/2015 05:17:47 pm

Dear Ms. Kimball,
I agree that maybe the word "ugly" wasn't the best word choice. I'm going to rewrite the sentence that I used: The text explicitly says that the giant has very old clothing, when it says that his trousers are faded and that they are to short. This tells me that he has had the clothing for a long time because the are faded and don't fit.I hope that this was a better example of what you were looking for.
Sincerely,
Julia

Ms. Kimball

11/11/2015 08:39:49 am

Dear Julia,

I can see that the giant's clothing is old based on your explanation. Don't worry about what I'm looking for so much as supporting your thinking. I definitely think you supported your argument!

Whitney

11/9/2015 07:37:00 pm

Dear Ms.Kimball,
I chose description #1, The BFG. From this description, I think that the BFG is very poor and not wealthy. When the text says "His trousers were faded green and were far too short for his legs," that is actually saying that he doesn't have the time nor the money to buy new clothes. I like this description because it is very good how they describe how poor he is in a very "spicy" way. Roald Dahl also uses really good adjectives to describe his clothes.
Sincerely,
Whitney

Ms. Kimball

11/9/2015 09:06:20 pm

Dear Whitney,

That is a pretty interesting inference you make, that the BFG is "very poor." I can see how you got there by reading about his faded and short trousers. However, just because his pants are faded and short, doesn't mean he is short on time and money to buy new clothes. What else about the description hinted to you that the BFG is poor? One detail that tinted my thinking is the fact that he is a giant!

Sincerely,
Ms. Kimball

Whitney

11/15/2015 06:09:58 pm

Dear Ms.Kimball,
I agree with you. The fact that he is a giant may make it so that it is harder to get new clothing because everyone is afraid of you, even though he is very nice. That must be hard to swallow, the fact that nobody wants to be with you, even though they've never met you.
Sincerely,
Whitney

Alec the scary 6th grader

11/17/2015 08:16:53 pm

Great response! I totally agree. I like how you thought this response through. Keep up the good work!

Alec (Please respond to my comments)

Trisha link

11/10/2015 03:39:32 pm

Dear class,
I'm going to do the third description from the Witches by Roald Dahl.
In the text it says explicitly that the witch has a lot of wrinkles all over her face. The author said " it looked as if it had been pickled in vinegar." He also uses the word " crumpled " to describe the witch. I can infer that the witch is very old by the authors description. He also says " it seems quite literally to be rotting away at the edges, and in the middle of the face and around the mouth and cheeks." This describes the witch as ugly and looking a little creepy. I can infer that the witch is very mean and nasty looking by the description of " it seems quite literally to be rotting away." This doesn't sound like a pretty sight see based on the authors description.
Sincerely,
Trisha

Ms. Kimball

11/11/2015 08:44:04 am

Dear Trisha,

Great job using quotes from the text to support your thinking. I love that description of the witch's face looking like it was "pickled in vinegar." I agree, that definitely implies that she had a lot of wrinkles. I couldn't believe how many amazing vocabulary words the author used to describe just one part about her --her face! Are there any words that the author used that you didn't know the meaning of?

Sincerely,
Ms. Kimball

Trisha

11/11/2015 10:18:10 am

Dear Ms.Kimball,
Yes there were some words I didn't understand the meaning of. Like wizened and shriveled.
Sincerely,
Trisha

Maggie

11/20/2015 06:42:41 am

Dear Trisha,
I love your response! My favorite line was the pickeled vinaigr line as well! I question though. Dose that arrow nexto your name mean you replied to someone? If it dose try to not reply to someone when your writing the real response. Also you said "this discerns the witch as ugly and a little creepy," I do not think that there' a little creepy but super creepy!
From,
Maggie

Trisha

11/10/2015 03:44:19 pm

Dear class,
Here is why I like the descriptions of the witch, that I forgot to do.
I like the description of the witch because I can really see what the witch would look like. It really painted a picture with words so I can clearly see the details of the witches face.
Sincerely,
Trisha

Ms. Kimball

11/11/2015 08:48:08 am

Dear Trisha,

What was your favorite detail that helped you see the witch's face?

Sincerely,
Ms. Kimball

Trisha

11/11/2015 10:14:28 am

Dear Ms.Kimball,
My favorite detail that the author used was " it looked as if it had been pickled in vinegar." I like this because I can imagine it looks very wrinkled and that the witch is very old.
Sincerely,
Trisha

Ryan

11/10/2015 03:49:39 pm

Dear Ms. Kimball,
The description I am going to use is from the BFG. I can infer that the giant does not have very many possessions in his life. I can infer this because in the text it states "he was wearing a sort of colorless shirt and a dirty old leather waistcoat that didn't seem to have any buttons." I like this description because it paints a picture in my head of what the giant looks like and makes him seem like an interesting character.

Sincerely,
Ryan

Ms. Kimball

11/11/2015 08:47:28 am

Dear Ryan,

When you infer that "the giant does not have very many possessions in his life," how did you think that based on the description of his clothing? I don't disagree with you, but you might need to back up that inference with more explanation of how dirty and old clothes could be related to a lack of possessions --worldly belongings.

Also, why do you think the giant is an "interesting character"?

Sincerely,
Ms. Kimball

Ryan

11/12/2015 05:56:02 pm

Dear Ms. Kimball,
I think that the giant does not have very many possessions in his life because if he had many possessions he would have bought nice new clothing and would not have had such old and shriveled cloths. Also, usually the more possessions you have in your life, you would most likely also have nicer, newer clothes. I think that the giant is an interesting character because he does not care how he looks and does not care how people look at him. I think this because in the text it says "he was wearing ridiculous sandals", this indicates that he does not care how he looks.

Sincerely,
Ryan

Caitlin

11/11/2015 07:16:29 pm

Dear Class,
My favorite description was number 1, the BFG. The text explicitly states that the giant has clothe that are in need of some repair and don't exactly fit the Giant. In the text it say that "His trousers were faded and were far to short for his legs." Some evidence that I have from the text is "On his bare feet he was wearing a pair of ridiculous sandals that for some reason had holes cut on along each side, with a large hole at the end where his toes stuck out. I can infer that the giant is a guy who doesn't really matter what people think of him. For example the giant has a dirty waist coat why would anyone wear a dirty waist coat outside . I Know I wouldn't because I would be embarrassed if any one saw me with dirty clothes on. Also why would somebody were something that is to short for them because that might be a little embarrassing. Also that makes me think maybe the giant doesn't have a enough money to buy new clothe so that is why he might wear dirty clothe or clothe that are to small for him. I like this description because Roald Dahl really zoomed in on 1 part of the giant and gave me a really good vivid picture of how the giant looks in his imagination.
Sincerely,
Caitlin

Ms. Kimball

11/12/2015 07:15:23 pm

Dear Caitlin,

I agree that the text explicitly says that the giant's clothes are in need of repair. Using words like "dirty," "faded," and "old" really shows that. I see that you inferred that the giant doesn't care what people think of him. I am not sure I would jump to that conclusion. I didn't see any evidence in the text that showed that the giant was confident or unconcerned about his appearance. Did you? You may personally be embarrassed with clothes like that, but make sure to stay within the text when making inferences about characters.

Thanks for your detailed response!

Sincerely,
Ms. Kimball

Caitlin

11/18/2015 09:06:53 pm

Dear Ms Kimball,
I agree that their is not much evidence to support that the Giant doesn't care what people think of him. I think that I need to stay in the characters thoughts because the character has different feelings then me and probably will not care about the things I care about.
Sincerely,
Caitlin

Henry

11/12/2015 02:41:51 pm

Dear Class
I liked the BFG description the most. I like this description because it introduces how the BFG lives. In the text it says. "On his bare feet he wore a pair of ridiculous sandals that for some reason had holes along each sides with a large hole at the end were his toe stuck out." This explicitly says that he isn't wearing new or well fitting clothes. And leads me to infer that he doesn't have a lot of money and he doesn't have people to take care of him and he doesn't have many clothes.
Sincerely
Henry

Ms. Kimball

11/12/2015 07:17:48 pm

Dear Henry,

I agree that the BFG's clothes are old and ill-fitting. Your inference about him not having other people to take care of him is interesting. I didn't think about that before.

Why do you specifically like this description?

Sincerely,
Ms. Kimball

Henry

11/19/2015 02:55:03 pm

Dear Ms, Kimball,
To answer your question I liked it because my family didn't have a lot of money and sometimes I feel like I don't have people to take care of me. Even though I do.
Sincerely,
Henry

Maggie

11/12/2015 04:51:45 pm

Dear Class,
I chose the piece from The Witches. I believe that in the text it is trying to say how scary and ugly the witch is. For instance in the text it says ",It looked as though it had been pickled in vinegar." This is part of the description of the witch. As you can tell the witches are very very UGLY. The reason I chose this piece is because I love Rould Dahl books (Especially this one) and his writing style. I LOVE his descriptions.
from,
Maggie

Ms. Kimball

11/12/2015 07:21:55 pm

Dear Maggie,

I agree that the text explicitly describes how scary and ugly the witch is, but can you go deeper than that? There are so many interesting words and unusual details. Can you explain why the author described her face as “shrunken and shriveled,” with “skin all cankered and worm-eaten, as though maggots were working away in there"?

Sincerely,
Ms. Kimball

Maggie

11/20/2015 06:46:57 am

Dear Ms.Kimball,
Thank you for that great question! I think both of those descriptions are discribing the witch as ugly and terrifying. In fact I think this whole piece was trying to prove that the witch is ugly.
From,
Maggie

DeAngi

11/12/2015 05:42:06 pm

Dear Ms. Kimball

I chose the first description. In the book, the BFG it explicitly says
his trousers are faded green and wore a dirty leather waist coat. Since I already read the book, I know the BFG just spawned out of nowhere. And if your more than 400 years old then your clothes are differently going to be dirty. In addition, there is no store that sells a size for a giant. So, my point is that he could have money, but has nowhere to spend it.

Sincerely,
DeAngi

Ms. Kimball

11/12/2015 07:31:49 pm

Dear DeAngi,

If I were you, I would have chosen another description since you just recently read The BFG.

I'm confused by what you wrote though. You said, "the BFG just spawned out of nowhere." But then you said he is "more than 400 years old." Those two claims seem to contradict one another. Also, how does "spawning out of nowhere" relate to his appearance? Can you say more about how this description tells you about the giant?

Sincerely,
Ms. Kimball

cordy

11/12/2015 06:02:36 pm

Dear class

I am going to choose description 3. I can infer that the witches are VEARY ugly. by you saying " It was fearsome and something was terribly wrong. I can also infer that the will give someone nightmares because you said that "worm-eaten, as though maggots were working away in there".

Sincerely,
Cordy

Ms. Kimball

11/15/2015 07:59:16 pm

Dear Cordy,

I agree that the description says that the witch is extremely ugly and would give kids nightmares. I like how you quoted the text to prove your point. You forgot to write about why you liked the description. Why do you like it?

Sincerely,
Ms. Kimball

cordy

11/19/2015 06:12:44 pm

Dear Ms. Kimball,

I like this description because it really describes the whishes appearance.

Anthony

11/12/2015 06:23:02 pm

Dear Ms Kimball,
I am going to choose Description #1. It is nice and put out and easy.
From what I could infer from the text is that the BFG has very disorganized clothes. They are all ripped up and old and very uncomfortable looking. For example, in the text it says, " Sophie saw that under the cloak he was wearing a sort of collarless shirt and a dirty waistcoat that didn't seem top have any buttons." This shows me that his clothes are not new and shiny, but old and ragged.

Why I liked the description was because it explains what the BFG wore simply and the author described the way his clothes were like. It was also a small paragraph, but in that paragraph, the detail really painted a picture with words very well.

Sincerely,
Anthony

Ms. Kimball

11/15/2015 08:03:35 pm

Dear Anthony,

I agree with you that the BFG has old and ragged clothes. I like your choice of "ragged" to describe his outfit. That is a great word!

I like the description as well because it is short yet paints a vivid picture. Have you ever read about a different character in another book who has a ragged appearance with old, dirty clothes?

Sincerely,
Ms. Kimball

Anthony

11/16/2015 04:44:48 pm

Dear Ms Kimball,
I think that I have indeed. I think that it was Danny the Champion of the World. He helps his father in a lot of work in his cars shop, and his clothes start to get all dirty. They are a very poor and barely have enough money for a few days.
Sinerely,
Anthony

Emily

11/12/2015 07:08:01 pm

Dear class,
I chose description one. It explicitly says the bfg was dirty. It said
"Sophie saw that under the cloak he was wearing a sort of collarless shirt and a dirty old leather waistcoat that didn't seem to have buttons." I am inferring the bfg has more downs then ups. I likes this description because it is very well described and it connects to me because I like to get dirty(because it's fun). Also I like this description because the author really described what it was like and why.
Sincerely
Emily

Ms. Kimball

11/15/2015 08:05:22 pm

Dear Emily,

I agree that the BFG appears very dirty. He is probably someone who needs a bath! I am interested in your inference that "the bfg has more downs then ups." What do you mean by that?

Sincerely,
Ms. Kimball

Emily

11/17/2015 08:34:02 pm

Dear Ms Kimball,

What It meant when I said " he has more downs then ups" is he has more sad, old depressing things then joyful,happy and exciting things in his life.
sincerely
Emily

Liana

11/12/2015 07:08:52 pm

Dear Ms. Kimball,
I chose description one. It explicitly says that the giant had ugly and worn out clothes. This is part of what it says in the description; " Sophie saw that under the cloak he was wearing a sort of collarless shirt and a dirty old leather waistcoat that didn't seem to have any buttons." I think this shows that his clothes are ugly and seem to be very worn out. Maybe, the giant doesn't have many clothes and he's had to wear the same thing for a long time. My evidence is that it says his waistcoat didn't seen to have any buttons, his shirt was collarless, and his sandals have holes all over them. And for the part about the waistcoat, it says it is dirty and old, so that gives me a hint that he has had it for a long time. What I like about this description is that it really describes what he is like. From what it says about his clothing, you can guess about what his personality and character traits are like.

Ms. Kimball

11/15/2015 08:08:52 pm

Dear Liana,

Great job explaining what the text says explicitly and what you were able to infer from it. I agree that the BFG definitely has worn out clothing. I like how you inferred that he's probably had his clothing for a long time based on the fact that it is missing buttons, has no collar, has holes, and is dirty. He might be in desperate need of a tailor and a bath!

What do you think this description says about his personality?

Sincerely,
Ms. Kimball

Liana

11/19/2015 05:51:51 pm

Dear Ms. Kimball,
I think that the giant would probably have a strange personality. Maybe he doesn't try to stay clean and he doesn't care what he looks like. Since he has all those worn out clothes, maybe he hasn't bothered to get new ones. And maybe giants don't need to stay clean or he just doesn't care about how he looks and how clean he stays. From what I read I don't know if he is nice or mean because even if someone has worn out, not nice clothes, they could still be really nice, or maybe he is mean and doesn't care how he dresses.
Sincerely,
Liana

Ben

11/13/2015 04:37:24 pm

Dear Class,
I am choosing the first one. The one that says that the BFG has very ugly cloths. The way that Roald Dahl explained how the BFG had really old cloths. Roald said that he was wearing "a dirty old waistcoat that didn't seem to have any buttons." This shows that the BFG is maybe pore but doesn't have clean cloths. The text also says "His trousers were faded green and were far to short for his legs." This show that he can't get more cloths because he is pore and he might not have a lot of cloths so his pants are fatted green. Finally in the text it says "He was wearing ridiculous sandals that had hole cut along back side, with a large hole were his toes stuck out of. This means that he isn't able to get new shoes, so instead he cuts holes.

Sincerely,
Ben

Ms. Kimball

11/15/2015 08:13:01 pm

Dear Ben,

I like how you quoted the text to support your thinking. Good job! I also liked your inference that the BFG isn't able to get new shoes, which is why he cuts holes in his old ones as his feet grow. I didn't think about it that way. I just assumed his shoes were worn out.

You forgot to mention why you liked the description. Why do you like it?

Sincerely,
Ms. Kimball

Ben

11/16/2015 05:35:31 pm

Dear Ms K,
Thank you. The reason why I liked it was because I could really picture it in my head. I also liked how it was written in a different language that is easy for us to read. For example in the text it says, "he took off his black cloak against the wall." It also says that he's wearing a "dirty old waistcoat.

Sincerely,
Ben

Kate

11/15/2015 06:59:00 pm

Dear Mrs Kimball,

I am doing description 1 about the giant. From the description I can tell that the giants clothes are far to short for him. How I know that the giants clothes are to short for him is because in the text it writes "his trousers were faded green and far to short for him". Another thing I can tell from the description is that the giants shoes are way to small for his feet. I know this because in the text it writes "on his bare feet he was wearing a pair of ridicules sandals that for some reason had holes cut on the side , with a large hole at the end were his toes stuck out". Lastly from the text I can see that the giant doesn't have nice clothes. Evidence to support inference is in the text it writes "Sophie saw that under the cloak he was wearing a sort of colorless shirt and a dirty old leather waistcoat that didn't seem to have any buttons". What I liked about this story is it was very specific about what was happing in that part of the story. I also liked how the author put a lot of detail in the story about how bad and old the giants clothes are.

Sincerely Kate

Ms. Kimball

11/18/2015 06:56:37 pm

Dear Kate,

You very clearly explained what the text explicitly says. You said the giant's clothes are too short and not very nice and his shoes are too small. Why do you think that is? Can you infer anything about the giant based on the fact that he has such clothing?

Sincerely,
Ms. Kimball

Kate

11/19/2015 06:56:01 am

Dear Mrs, Kimball,

I can infer about the giant that it doesn't have time nor money to get new clothes. Also I think that the giant's clothes an shoes are like what they are because they got warn down and the giant doesn't have money to go get new clothes.

Sincerely Kate

Tommy

11/18/2015 06:45:23 pm

Dear Ms. Kimball, and the rest of the class,

Thank you for your complement! I also saw that you asked me why I inferred that the giant did not have a family because his clothes were ragged. I know that my family makes me happy, and if he had a family, then he would be happy. I think that since my family makes me happy I take pride in how I look and how I dress. Also, if that passage was written from the giant's perspective, then that would prove he does not have a family. I also think the reason why he has the holes at the end of his shoes means there is a hole between him and love. That proves he doesn't have a wife or a girlfriend, another example which proves he does not have family. I also think the hole means he used to have some love in his life, when they became apart into a hole, where they were separated.

-Tommy

Ms. Kimball

11/18/2015 06:59:12 pm

Dear Tommy,

Wow! What a thoughtful, insightful explanation of your inference about the giant. You even tried to look for some symbolism. I like how you said, "since my family makes me happy I take pride in how I look and how I dress." That is a very thoughtful way of connecting family and clothing. I totally understand that. Great job!

Sincerely,
Ms. Kimball

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