Blog #1: Summarize Your Book

10/1/2017

Dear Students,

You did well last week replying to my "Test Post." Now we'll start the actual "Reading Response Blog."

Each week, I'll introduce the new prompt, like I'm doing now. Following that, you'll see the phrase "This Week's Prompt." Underneath that, there will be a bolded statement of what you have to do. Then, I will describe in greater detail what I expect you to write about, and I will usually give you some tips that will help you meet my expectations. Review the Reading Response Rubric to learn more fully what the expectations of writing a blog response look like.

Okay, here is this week's prompt...

This Week's Prompt:

Summarize your book. Tell me what it is about.
Write a brief summary of the book you have been reading at home. Help me follow what is happening in the story by describing characters, the setting, and the plot as though I have never read the book. Make sure you write a summary, which focuses on the main events, not a retelling, which is a step-by-step account filled with many details.

If you are reading an informational book, describe the main ideas and specific examples that support each main idea.

I look forward to learning about what you are all reading!

60 Comments

Finley

10/2/2017 07:12:51 pm

Dear Class,
Have you ever had a bucket list? Well in the book 11 Before 12 two girls, named Ari and Kaylan, have a bucket list with 11 things they want to do before they turn 12. Things such as helping humanity, do something they think they will hate, and get on T.V for something cool. They even have a ritual for when they check something off their list! But when the first day of middle school rolls around things start to get rocky. First off, they can’t sit together at lunch because Ari couldn’t find the lunchroom, and it all goes downhill from there. They each start to make new friends, more Ari than Kaylan. So when Ari suggests that they invite her new friend, Marie, to do the list with them, Kaylan is hurt. She think’s that since Ari has been hanging out with Marie so much, they should be best friends. Now that Kaylan has realized how hard things are without Ari, she has to find away to make up with her.
Sincerely,
Finley

David

10/12/2017 04:31:43 pm

Dear Finley! You've done a great job summarizing that book. Now, I also want to read it! I wonder if Kaylan has found a way to make up with Ari? Have they become best friends again? Have they found their own friends each, and forgot about that bucket list? Maybe, each of them created a brand new list with their new friends?
Finley, do you have a bucket list? I don't have one, but now I am wondering if I should put things together that I want to be able to accomplish before I go to Middle School. I am also worrying if i will be able to find new friends quickly. I feel a resemblance with Kaylan. Like she misses Ari. But, I hope that everything will work out good for Kaylan and Ari from the book, and for me, when I enter the 6th grade. Regardless if they will be able to complete their bucket list or move away from it, they would still be happy in their new school and hopefully they have a great 12 y.o. birthday parties!

Finley

10/17/2017 07:45:27 pm

Dear David,
Thank you for the compliments! I do not have a bucket list but I used to when I was in second grade. But all the things on my list were pretty outrageous, like going to Paris and London before I turned 10. To answer your questions, Ari and Kaylan do become best friends again. But throughout the time that they were not friends, they both ended up doing things on their list by themselves. Furthermore, they never make a new list with anyone else. Also during the time that they weren’t friends, they still thought about the list. I agree that Middle School seems scary. It will also be a big challenge. But I’m sure that we’ll get through it!
From
Finley

Matthew

10/2/2017 07:34:43 pm

Dear Classmates,

The book that I am reading is called Jefferson’s Sons. It is about people named Beverly and Madison they are both boys and lived in 1805. Also they are slaves of someone named Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson is the president of the United States of America and also is a slave owner. Also Beverly’s mom is named Sally who is also a slave. Sally told Beverly that Thomas Jefferson was his dad and she also said not to tell anyone else. Thomas Jefferson wife is named Ms Martha. Ms Martha is sometimes nasty to Beverly and Madison. Beverly usually works out side on the farm. In conclusion, the book that I am reading is called Jefferson’s Sons.

From,
Matthew

Luca

10/15/2017 06:46:39 pm

Dear,Matthew
I loved reading your writing. It was so easy to understand and I loved how you elaborated to"say more." One of my questions for you is what made the book so interesting for you. Also I like how you put in the date and it helped me understand it better because if you don’t have the date you can’t understand as well. One thing is, why is Sally a slave and who does Sally live with? Finally, to push your thinking if you were Sally would you be scared of being a slave and working in rooms all day long? I can’t wait to hear back from you and learn the answers to my questions!
Sincerely,
Luca

Matthew

10/19/2017 06:26:51 pm

Dear Luca,
Thank you for responding to my RRB. To answer your first question, I thought the book was really interesting because it talked about slaves and it talked about slaves running away and what the can do and what they can't. To answer you second and third question, Sally is a slave because her grandmother was a slave too and she lives with her kids Beverly and Madison. In addition, to answer your 4th question if I were Sally I would be scared and I would be mad if someone would treat me like a slave. Hence, I like are you feedback.
Sincerely,
Matthew

Jack

10/3/2017 08:01:48 am

Dear Class,
In the book "The Mysterious Benedict Society" four children are elected through a series of test for mission that is unclear. They are then brought to a safe house where they learn that they all have something in common, not liking TV. There is a reason for this and it is because the is a "bad guy" sending messages through the TV but somehow there minds resist it. We don't know much about about the messages but we know they are bad. Next they are sent to a school to spy on the sender by Mr. Benedict, who has been trying to crack the code about these messages for his entire life.. You might be thinking why a evil mastermind would be at a school? This because he kidnaps kids to rehearse his messages. So far they have found that the messages are getting stronger while they are at the school.

Sincerely,
Jack

The Lilah

10/11/2017 02:16:48 pm

Dear Jack,
You did a great job with the first blog. "The Mysterious Benedict Society” sounds like a great book, maybe I’ll read it sometime. First, to give you some praise, you did a great job of explaining what’s going on in the book and you made your writing a summary not a retell. Also, you used a lot of great details that helped me better understand your summery. Including, “We don't know much about the messages but we know they are bad.” Next, a couple of questions I have for you are, who told the four kids that they have something in common, was it Mr. Benedict? Also, what made the house that the four kids went to so safe, were their crazy security systems? Last, to push your thinking, if you were one of the four kids would you be scared of the “bad guy” and how would you crack the code about the messages? I can’t wait to hear back from you and learn the answers to my questions!
Sincerely,
Lilah

Jack

10/18/2017 06:11:40 pm

Dear Lilah,
Thank you for responding to my summary. I think you did an especially good job on all your questions including the deep one.
First, to answer your question about who the four children here is a brief summary: Sticky, is pure intelligence. He's all brain (literally he has no muscle). Sticky is a huge scaredy-cat but he manages to live with that. An example of him being smart is when he finished a test that no one else in this world could finish except Mr. Benedict and Mr. Curtain (the sender). Reynie is just as intelligent as Sticky but in a different way. He is almost as smart in facts as Sticky but much smarter in logic. Reynie is the leader of the team and he is good at making plans. For example, at the school they had to make all the kids sick so he thought of a way to get a dangerous plant into the food. Kate is great in many ways. She has all kinds of useful tools in her bucket that she carries around. She's also very athletic. Kate loves to sneak around the school to spy on the sender. One example of her being athletic and using her tools was when she had to cross the room without touching the floor so she somehow got a rope to the other side and tight-roped to the other side. The last child is Constance. I don't know why she is on the team because she does not do much except whine. Also, Mr. Benedict is a very smart man who is trying to stop the sender.
One reason why the house was so safe was because to get into the house you had to go through a maze that is almost impossible to get through.
Finally, if I was one of those kids I would not be scared of the "bad guy" because I’d try to be friends with him or her so he or her would tell me secrets. Then I could try to stop him or her or break his or her machine. Maybe I’d call the police on him or her. That would be awesome.
In conclusion, those were some great questions that I had to answer and they pushed my thinking. I hope we write to each other again.
Sincerely,
Jack

Adie

10/3/2017 05:12:53 pm

Dear Ms.Kimball

Hi!

Love,
Adie

Silas

10/3/2017 05:46:17 pm

Dear Class,
I am reading a book called The Twits. It is about a couple that is probably the worst in the history of the entire world. Roald Dahl describes them as “the smelliest, nastiest, ugliest people in the world.”They only thing that they like is playing evil pranks on each other and making and eating bird pie. Bird pie is pretty self explanatory, it is pie with birds inside of it. Mr. Twit has a giant beard in which tons of food and other grime, gets stuck in his giant spiky beard. He also doesn’t really care about and anners. Mrs. Twit, has a crooked mouth, a very long nose, a double chin, and one glass eye. By the description of both of them It very much sounds like they are very ugly, nasty, and for Mr. Twit’s beard, smelly. Mr. Twit also has four pet monkeys which he does not treat them well. He makes the monkeys do everything upside down, including eating and drinking. So when Mr. Twit and Mrs. Twit go out to do something the monkeys want revenge, so they come up with a plan.

Sincerely,
Silas

Will

10/13/2017 11:36:01 am

Dear Silas
Really great job on the blog Silas! First I loved how you made me imagine what the couple looks like. It helps me get a good picture in my mind. Another thing I liked was that you used sentences from the book in your response. This helps me understand how the characters are feeling which I love. I enjoyed how you described how ugly they are. This helps me sense what the characters traits are. I liked it when you used a little humor in your response it puts a little magic on it. One thing that I got confused on was how in the middle of your response you said that he doesn’t really care about and anners. I have literally have no idea what you meant there it might be a word but i’m not positive. If I were you I would take a little bit more time. Also I would explain more about what the monkeys are planning. That would give me a great picture in my mind. And I would use more words than ugly nasty and smelly try to use words that not a lot of people use. But overall you did amazing on your response I loved it.

Sincerely,
Will

Silas

10/17/2017 07:20:26 pm

All you feedback back to me on my RRB was great, it told me what I did well, and what I struggled with. First to answer your question, or confusion, that was just a typo, although I do have to admit, yes I think I should’ve proofread that one more time, and that didn’t really make sense to me even though it did look like some real words. I meant to say, “ and he doesn’t care about ant manners.” When you pushed my thinking, first, I think you did really well on pushing my thinking. Second, I didn’t tell anything about the monkeys plan because I didn’t want to give to much away, to sort of leave them on a cliff hanger. Lastly, I only used Roald Dahl’s words on describing him, which were nasty, smelly, and ugly. I think I could’ve used words like hideous, rancid, and putrid, and other words like that. In the end, thank you for such great feedback on my first RRB
Sincerely,
Silas

Lilah

10/3/2017 07:03:21 pm

Dear Class,
Have you ever been the new person? I’m reading a book called Sleepaway Girls, written by Jen Calontina. In Sleepaway Girls, a girl named Samantha Montgomery, also known as Sam, is the new CIT at a sleepaway camp called The Pines. In the beginning, it’s hard for Sam to make friends because everyone else already has friend groups. After a while, Sam meets three nice girls in her bunk, named Grace, Court, and Em, and she makes friends with them. A mean girl named Ashley bullies Sam because she is insecure. Ashley is affecting Sam’s time at camp because she is playing mean pranks on Sam. For example, on the first day of camp Ashley told Sam to go to a place that Sam wasn’t allowed to go to and Sam didn’t know that she wasn’t allowed to go there because she was knew to camp. What will Sam do to make Ashley stop ruining her time at camp?
Sincerely,
Lilah’

Jack

10/11/2017 02:17:53 pm

Dear Lilah,
The book Sleepaway Girls sounds very interesting to me, and it probably connects well to the reader because of the everyday situations like bulling. First of all, there are lots of things to praise you on. To start of with, I loved how you started with a question that really pushed the readers thinking as well as connecting to them. I think that is a good strategy because, one, it hooks them and two, it might help them understand the summary if they can connect to it. I also like how you had a lot of good detail. For instance,instead of just saying "Ashley is mean!" You tell us why she mean to Sam, how she's mean to Sam and, you give a example of her being mean to Sam. One straight forward question I have is why is Sam so insecure? Also, do Sam's friends stand up for her when Ashley is being mean? Something to push your thinking is why is Ashley so mean, do you think there is a reason? Another deep question is how do you think Sam will make Ashley stop being so mean. In conclusion, in the book Sleepaway Girls there are a lot of questions that will surely be answered.
Sincerely,
Jack

SPARKLY Lilah

10/19/2017 08:28:44 pm

Dear Jack,
Thank you so much for writing back to me. I really enjoyed reading your praise, questions, and deeper questions!
To answer one of your questions, you asked, “why is Sam so insecure?” Sam is new to camp The Pines and she has no friends yet. And she really doesn’t undertand what’s going on. For example, every one is talking about a camp event called color war. Wouldn’t you be a bit insecure? Also you asked, “do Sam's friends stand up for her when Ashley is being mean?” To answer, Court, one of Sams friends always talks back to Ashley and helps defend Sam. Sam’s other two friends Grace and Em sometimes help. Court is the most consistent, though.
You also asked two deep questions, and here are some answers. First, you asked, “why do you think Ashley is so mean, do you think there is a reason?” I think that Ashley is mean because she doesn’t always get a lot of attention at home and sister does. I think this because Ashley’s sister Alexis is always helping the dad and the dad alway is talking to Alexis. I also think that Ashley may be jealous of Sam. I think this because Ashley always says mean things when Sam is doing well. For example, when Sam was winning a race Ashley screamed, “you are a horrible runner Sam!” That seems like like jealousy to me. The other deep qestion you asked is,”how do you think Sam will make Ashley stop being so mean?” I think that maybe Sam and Ashley will talk it out together and maybe realize that they can be friends.
Nice job giving me questions that really pushed my thinking and not just lameo boring questions. I really enjoyed writing to you and reading what you had to say about my writing. I hope to write to you again sometime.
Sincerely,
Lilah

Selina

10/4/2017 04:45:49 pm

Dear, Ms. Kimball,
This week I am going to summarize the book, More of Me. The book is by Cathryn Evans.. The main characters of the book are Teva, who is a sixteen years old girl, Maddy, who is Teva’s best friend since they were six, Mom, who is obviously Teva’s mom, Ollie, Teva’s ex-boyfriend, Tommo/Tom, Teva’s current boyfriend. Teva’s not a ordinary girl. When she was little, her mad scientist father changed her cells. Every birthday, Teva duplicates and let the newest Teva take over her life. Teva’s father experimented on the first Tevas, Four and Five. They didn’t survive. When Teva’s mom found out, she grabbed Six and Seven and moved away. Every year it happened again and again. Until, one year Sixteen came out. When she found out about the duplication, she was determined to keep her life and not lose it. They only had a year. After 5 months, she thought that she should tell her best friend and boyfriend. She thought they could help them. But, it was too late. At a fashion show, her skin started to split. Something went wrong and she had a lot of pain. Later, Seventeen came out and died.I recommend you read it, Ms. Kimball.
Sincerely,
Selina

Sanat

10/17/2017 02:27:39 pm

Dear Selina,
The book More of Me sounds very interesting but also a little creepy. It seems creepy that Teva’s mad scientist dad changes her cells and causes her to duplicate and eventually die. You did a very good job with elaboration and you also did a very good job summarizing. For example, you named all the characters and you helped me know what’s going on without spoiling the book. I also liked how you described the story with vivid detail. But I got a few questions. Why does her dad do this to her? Why do the duplicates die some times? Also it did not make sense in some parts because you did not think about that people might have not read the book. You could have explained more about the process of all the different Tevas. Could you tell me more about how the new Teva keeps doing what the old Teva started. How does she find out that Teva 17 is going to come out and die? Over all though you did a good job and it sounds like a good book.
Sincerely, Sanat

Selina

10/17/2017 03:40:38 pm

Dear Sanat,
I agree with you, it might sound creepy but it's actually a good book. Her dad did this to her because he wanted to give Teva a good life and immortality. He didn't think that this would affect her life. That this experience was going to be terrible. Some replicas die because something goes wrong with their separation. For example, Teva 16 had a condition with her body, her skin is always itchy. Her separation was different because Teva 17 came out slowly not quickly. It was suppose to be quick and easy and not painful. The new Tevas always get the old Teva's memories after they separate. They go outside while the new Tevas do what the old Teva was suppose to do. She already knows the minute she woke up because she looked at all her past selves. Thank you for replying to my comment!
Sincerely,
Selina

Alex

10/4/2017 06:46:08 pm

Wonder Alex
Dear Class,
This month, outside of school and in school I’ve been reading the book Wonder. What's been happening in the book Wonder? There are lots of characters in Wonder. The main character of the book is August. August’s face is different from others. He had surgeries. He also has bad hearing. He has hearing aides. Other characters in the book are his Mom and Dad, Summer, Jack, Via, Justin, Julian and Miranda.
Right now August is in the fifth grade, which is middle school for him. Part of being in the fifth grade is going to an overnight camp. August never really slept somewhere else besides his house. There was one time when August tried to sleepover at his friend Christopher's house but his parents went to get him in the middle of the night. So far at camp on night one he made it over night. The field trip is three days and two nights. I want August to make this trip because I think it will make him proud of his achievement.
One thing I like about the book is how the author R.J Palacio writes from everyone’s point of view. The author writes what's everyone is thinking. For example, “ l’m kind of scared to go on the field trip” August says.
Via is August older sister. She has a boyfriend named Justin and they just finished acting in this amazing play. Recently their dog died. It was a very sad moment in the book. I could tell that they have a lot of feelings for their dog. August and Via are very emotional about their dog because they cried hard. “I don’t want this to happen” Via said.
Julian hasn't been nice to August at all. He is a fifth grade boy. August and his friend Jack think Julian is a total jerk. I think Julian can be jerky around the edges. Julian can tell rumors about Jack.
In summary, I keep wanting to read the book. The book is very interesting and exciting and entertaining.
Sincerely,
Alex

Adie

10/17/2017 02:38:44 pm

Dear Alex,
You did an amazing job on the blog. Here is why. I liked how the paragraphs were different topics. For example, paragraph 1 was about introducing the characters, like his sister Via and the mom and dad and his friends Will and Summer .The second thing I liked was the vivid details . For example about August and his face and how it is different from others.I have some questions. How come you said August has hearing aids? I read the book and August doesn't have hearing aids.To push your thinking, I think that you should give more examples like if August did have hearing aids how did he get them and why? Do you like certain characters over the others? If so who? I think that you should've put that in your response. Overall you did great on everything else.
From,
Adie

Alex

10/17/2017 04:58:38 pm

Dear Adie,
Thank you for my praise, it was very specific and well thought out. Also, thank you for not just saying “you did okay”. Instead, you elaborated. Why did I say August has hearing aids? In the book it explains that Auggie is really worried when he has to get hearing aides, but they help his hearing a ton, and everyone is cool about the hearing aides.
To push my thinking you said do I like certain characters over the others? I do like some characters over the others. My favorite character is definitely the main character, August. I like August the best because he is not a bully but a nice friend and is easy going. I think August would include everyone in his awesomeness. A character I don’t like is Julian. I don’t like Julian mostly because he’s a bully. He definitely hurts August’s feelings. All the other characters are pretty even. Except Via’s old friend, who did a ton naughty things. Her name is Miranda. I don’t like her because she’s a bad influence. Everyone else like Summer and Will I like the same. Thank you for writing to me.
Sincerely,
Alex

Hazel

10/4/2017 07:07:53 pm

Dear class,
The book that I am reading is Land Of Forgotten Girls. So far this book is about a girl named Sol, and her sister Ming. These two girls are from the Philippines. They also had a sister named Amelia and a mother, but they both drowned. However, their father survived. Years later their father who was a good guy, got married to a bad woman. Sol did NOT like her new mom, Via. In fact, Sol refuses to call her mom. She smokes, she hits her stepdaughters and is never nice. Sol and her sister have to deal with her for three weeks because Sol's father is in the Philippines. One time sol was in the bathroom looking at herself in the mirror, meanwhile, Via has a guest coming over and wants to shower. Sol doesn't want to come out of the bathroom. Via breaks the lock to the bathroom and storms in giving Sol a bloody nose. In my opinion I would not want to have Via as my mother.

Gabe

10/11/2017 03:24:26 pm

Dear Hazel,

I really love how you put a lot of detail and description, but at the same time not making it result in you retailing the whole story. Your response had a great flow to it and it looks like you exceeded most of the expectations. Really the only thing that I personally think you could change was were you put the detail. The description and detail was all focused in one part, which was telling the reader about how horrid the stepmother was to her step daughters and how much the step daughters hated the step mother. In result of the lack of description placement it left me wondering things like why did the sister and mother drown? And finally if you were in one of the sisters shoes how would you feel? What would you do? Would you absolutely hate the step mother or try to shape her into what your mother was like? I am very sorry if you took my constructive criticism too seriously the only reason I focused on telling you about one little thing is because you did not have anything else wrong with your blog that I could see. Great job and I hope to see your response.

From,
Gabe

Gabe

10/4/2017 07:12:12 pm

Dear class,
I am reading a book called “The Trials Of Apollo” book #2. At the beginning the main character, Apollo who was a god but cast down from olympus for a punishment because he made some very big mistakes. He tries to stop the evil emperor Nero from taking over the world at the same time trying to get his friend back from Nero’s custody and getting an oracle. An oracle is something that tells the future and Nero wants all of them so that he can make the future himself. On the way he gets a quest. In the quest he almost dies but his friend saves him at the very last second. After that he goes to get the oracle but has to blow it up with a big bomb. Then finally he goes back to his secret base to get ready to go to Nero himself but it turned out Nero was already there. Him and one of apollo’s friends at the base battle. But at the end Nero lost but made a hasty escape. And that is all I’ve read.

Sincerely,
Gabe

Hazel

10/12/2017 09:02:33 pm

Dear Gabe,

The story sounds amazing and I would love to read it one day!
Your summery has a good structure and great language. You put your summery in order with a setting. The only thing about the setting is you didn't say where it was. However I have a few questions leaned on detail: What bad mistakes did Apollo do? Is Nero king? Is Nero hurting people? What is Apollo's friend's name? Other than that I think you did a fantastic job and you have just earned some credit! One more thing I enjoyed The words hasty, evil, or when you said "It turned out Nero was already there." I very much liked what you wrote.

Sincerely,
Hazel

Gabe

10/19/2017 07:21:28 pm

Dear Hazel,
I think your response was great and I envy how direct and forward it was. I also really like the structure of your response. But I am also sorry for my lack of detail that resulted in you questioning my response. So to answer the questions of your response the things Apollo did to get sent down from olympus by the lord of the skies was that one of his half human half god children almost destroyed the world. This meant that his father was instantly blamed. Your second question was “ Is Nero king?” and to answer that, very close but no, he is an emperor but some people worship him as a god which makes him kind of like a god/emperor. So your second question was “ Is Nero hurting people?” and so to answer it, yes, he is. He has tried to burn people alive and have killed people on his and the other side. And finally to answer your last question which was “ What is Apollo's friend's name?” and the answer to that is her name is Megan but she likes to be called Meg. Thank you so much for your commit on mine and I can’t wait to see your comment back.

Sincerely,
Gabe

Hazel

10/23/2017 08:07:18 pm

Dear Gabe,

Thank you for your reply and I’m sorry I am late on writing back. You really said a lot about my summary and I thank you for that. You asked a lot of questions with the words “what” and “why”. I believe I asked a lot of those kinds of questions to. I will try and fix my writing. The questions and answers to those are: What would you do if you were in Sol’s point of view and how would you feel? The answer to the question is pretty easy, I would be terrified and run away, and no I would never get her nicer, I would be too scared to talk to her. Your second question was how did the mother and daughter drown? The answer is that Sol was trying to get attention when she played beside a wavy river and her mom was trying to comfort the baby, the mom tried to look over with the baby in her arms but tripped and fell into the river. I believe that is all of the questions and I’m sorry for writing late, and don’t be ashamed that you didn’t put much detail in the characters, I just needed to know more about Nero.

Sincerely’
Hazel

Ava

10/4/2017 08:10:25 pm

Dear Class,

My book is about a boy named Jensen who is in Middle School and who is considered a "nerd". In the book Jesen learns the difference between real friends and fake ones. To make more friends he decides to join the Newspaper Committee. On the Committee he meets a girl named Jenny who is a bit of a control freak but still very nice. He also meets a girl named Akilah who is a sweet friendly girl who just wants more and more friends. So when I read more of the book I hope Jensen will still be working with the Newspaper Committee.

Sincerely,
Ava

Brayden

10/11/2017 06:45:55 pm

Dear Ava,

I loved the way you explained the characters. Now I know the characters. I know Jensen is in middle school and is considered a “nerd”. Also that Jenny and Akilah are both nice but Jenny is a bit of a control freak. One question for you is what newspaper committee? Also what did Jensen do before his new job? Another question is why is maine idea for Jensen to realize the difference between real and fake friends, why not the difference between a cat and dog? Lastly what would you do if you were Jensen? Would you stay at the newspaper committee? and why. Get back to me.

Sincerely,
Brayden

Brayden

10/20/2017 12:31:00 pm

Dear Brayden,

Thank you for the compliments. I definitely enjoyed reading those. To answer your question about what a newspaper committee is, it is a club after school that basically spreads information around the school by creating a newspaper paper. It is filled with clubs,drama,news and more. Also to answer your other question Jensen was in the art club and still is but people aren't too nice to him. They call him names they make fun of him and they call him a "nerd". But even though to me it sounds like bullying, the people in the art club say it's just a friendly joke. For your third question I basically answered it above. The main idea for Jensen to find the difference between fake friends and real ones is because in the art club he loves to draw and doodle. However in the newspaper committee they treat him seriously like he "belongs". Sadly during school he still normally gets bullied by two boys who call him fat and terrorize him. I felt so bad for Jensen. To answer your deep question if I were Jensen I would talk to the school counselor, stay with the newspaper committee, ask the art club to stop making fun of me and tell those boys to be nice. Though that's just me. Jensen is a whole different story.

Sincerely,
Ava

Paoli

10/5/2017 02:00:11 pm

Dear Ms. Kimball.
The book that I am reading is called Wonder. Wonder is a book about a kid that has a deformed face! Meet August Pullman! He loves science and has a sister named Via and a dog named Daisy. August loves Daisy like she is his life! August has been homeschooled all his life! And now he is starting fifth grade! This is a big change for him because he has never been to school before and he thinks people will call him a certain name! August meets two very nice people at his new school. One is a girl named Summer, and the boy is named Jack. But the thing is... not everything goes so smoothly for August! August meets a very popular bully named Julian! Julian starts calling August a freak! He starts putting notes in his locker and they say things like "get out of our school orc!" With the help and august and his friends. he...must...put...an...end...to...JULIAN!!!! [ Read the book for more information!]

Amari

10/17/2017 12:41:31 pm

Dear Paoli,
I loved reading your summary of the book Wonder. Something to help you improve your writing is to not add as many exclamation marks. I felt like I was screaming the whole thing! Something that I liked about your writing was how you " said more" about the topic. For example, you described how Julian treated August in lots of detail. One of my questions is, why did August have to go to a public school? Why didn't he just stay home schooled --was he forced into going or did he choose to go? Also why do you think Julian is a bully? Was he always a bully or did something make him like that?
From,
Amari.

Paoli

10/20/2017 12:26:37 pm

Dear Amari,
Thank you for the support! And i’m sorry if I made too many exclamation points. And i’m sorry that were screaming the whole paragraph! And to answer your question, August didn’t HAVE to go to a school. His parents just thought it was the best idea for him because he has been homeschooled all his life. Out of the blue his parents just told him he should go to a school because they just thought he should go into into some normal persons shoes and let him see the real world! And august didn’t choose to go to a real school, his parents forced to. And also I don’t think Julian is a bully, I KNOW he is a bully. Now you’re probably asking why i’m not telling you why I know Julian is a bully, that’s why i’m going to tell you why i know. He wrote notes in his locker like “get out of our school orc”! And he also went around telling the kids in their grade that they should call August a freak!

Sincerely,
Paoli

David

10/5/2017 05:01:16 pm

Dear class,
The tittle of one of the stories of a book called The Great Stories Of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The tittle of that particular story is called The Problem Of Thor Bridge. Mr. Sherlock Holmes is the greatest private investigator of London. He helps the London Police on numerous occasions. Sometimes he works with the police and sometimes, he works alone on a case. In our story, Mr Sherlock Homes is investigating a case of a murdered woman. Her husband, senator Gibson, so he asked for help from Mr. Sherlock Homes, so he could figure out how she died. senator Gibson reassured Mr Sherlock Holmes that Ms Dunbar is not guilty, although, she doesn't have a strong alibi, and she has admitted that she was heading to the bridge to meet Mrs.Gibson. It took a great deal to Mr Sherlock Holmes to reconsider the story from the very beginning but he managed to do so, It turns out that Mrs. Gibson was jealous for her husband spending more time with Ms Dunbar, than with her. So she decided to commit suicide, but in a way, so the police would frame Ms Dunbar for the murder. This genius plan might have worked, but not when the case went to the great Sherlock Holmes! How ideotic of her to do that! She died for nothing! Nothing at all! Once again Sherlock Holmes has proved his unbeatable talent!
Sincerely,
David

Finley

10/10/2017 04:20:59 pm

Dear David,
Wow David! You did a great job describing Sherlock Holmes. I also think you used really good word choices, that help better describe what’s going on. This also helped me learn more about Sherlock Holmes. But I was a little confused when you said “Her husband, senator Gibson, so he asked for help from Mr. Sherlock Holmes, so he could figure out how she died.” I don’t really understand what is happening. Also, who is Ms.Dunbar? I think you could provide some more information about her, so the reader can understand her better. Finally, if you were in Sherlock Holmes shoes, would you have suspected Ms.Dunbar to have been the murderer? Why or why not? Thanks for sharing about your book! I loved hearing about it.
Sincerely,
Finley

David

10/19/2017 06:18:16 pm

Dear Finley!

Thanks for pointing to the sentence of Senator Gibson. What I meant was that he could not figured out all by himself, what happened to his wife and who killed her, but he was absolutely sure it wasn't Ms. Dunbar. So, he let Mr. Sherlock Holmes who was known for his deductive method to swing into the picture and find out the truth behind his wife's death.

Ms Dunbar was working for his family, and she has prepared food, did their laundry and helped with some other tasks for the Senator Gibson. Senator Gibson has meant good her, but his wife was very jealous of him. She (senator's wife) thought, Ms. Dunbar was in love with Senator, and Sen. Gibson was in love with Ms. Dunbar.

She was probably very sick, the wife of Sen. Gibson, otherwise, I cannot imagine why would a senator kill herself just to make it looks like somebody else did it.

Sherlock Holmes was very experienced in such cases, so it was easy for him to find out the truth. If I were in his shoes, I would probably think of street robbers, or pocket lifters first, and i would not think of Ms.Dumber because she admitted right away that she was supposed to meet with Sen. wife that day, time, and place anyway. I don't know what I would do in his shoes... probably fill myself like Dr. Watson, his friend, who've seen and heard as much as Sherlock Holmes, but always would come with a wrong conclusion.

Yours Truly,
David

Will

10/5/2017 06:31:46 pm

Dear Ms.Kimball
I have just finished an a amazing book called Out of my mind. The book is based on an 11 year old girl who has awful disabilities and her name is Melody. She has a sister named Penny, a dog and parents. In the book everyone thinks Melody is stupid and brain dead. But in the book Melody thinks "words are powerful and people can misuse them". Melody watchs a lot of TV and learns all of these new things and doesn't forget them. She quotes in the book "ever since I've been a little baby whatever my parents have said to me I don't forget". When Melody goes to school everyone thinks she's stupid but she doesn't listen. In the book Melody has an aide that helps her. Melody gets a talker that will talk for her. She tries out for a whiz quiz team which is a team of kids that are really smart. Melody blows everyone away when she gets a lot of the answers right. She makes the team but two bullies Claire and Molly think that she is slow and takes too long. There was a local contest to see who would go to Washington and who would stay. Melody does amazing and her team goes to the finals. After the contest the whole team goes to a restaurant. And when they're ordering food Claire throws up everywhere. The day they had to go to Washington the flight was at 10:00 in the morning. Melody was so hyped up to go because she had never gone away from her town. When the family got to the airport the flight got canceled. Her Dad asked where the whole crew had gone. The flight agent said they went to breakfast together and went on a different plane. I don't want to spoil the whole book so I'm gonna end it here!
Sincerely Will

Silas

10/12/2017 07:05:10 am

Will, where do I begin? This reading response blog was awesome! First, I love how you added quotes to your RRB to add detail. I also love how at the end you didn’t say how the book ended, so it didn’t ruin it for those who haven’t read Out of my mind. For my question, it is who is the crew, and why are they with Melody? Also does she have any friends in the book or does she make some? Lastly, to push your thinking, next time try to summarize the book, in some parts of Your RRB, you went into small specific parts. For example, when you mentioned that they went out to dinner to celebrate, and that Claire threw up. Other than that, I thought that your RRB was great!

Sincerely,
Silas

Will

10/18/2017 06:36:48 pm

Thank you so much. Yours was incredible too! Thank you for the thoughtful and sincere compliments. Ok your first question says that who is the crew? Well the crew is Melody’s teammates for the quiz whiz team. They are with Melody because they are on her whiz quiz team plus they are friends with her. And lastly thank you for pointing out that I didn’t summarize the book. I was just giving a brief description of what happened. Thank you so much for the feedback. It really helped me realize what I’m good at and what I need some practice on.

Sincerely,
Will

Adie

10/5/2017 08:23:44 pm

Dear class,

Do you like fun mysteries ? Well if you do I have the book for you 12 Blue Envelopes.You are probably thinking what it is about,and that is what I am going to be talking about.
This book is about this teenager and her aunt . While The teenager was doing her own thing she received a note. The note says that her aunt has ran away and she needs to find her aunt. THe only things she can bring is clothes and extra money. Her aunt gave the teenager $1,000 dollars. All the money was for the plane ticket. The teen has to fly to New York City. How she finds her aunt is clues from the envelopes and her background knowledge from when the teen was little child .
I hope you like the book I love it.

From,
Adie

Alex

10/10/2017 05:12:55 pm

Dear Addie,
I really like the way you explained to me the summary of the book. You were really clear about how the teen is on a plane with a thousand dollar ticket to ride the plane. Also, I liked how you informed me to read Twelve Blue Envelopes. I also liked how you wrote about the clues notes.
My question is how would you feel if you were the teenager? Would your emotions affect who you are? Could you be responsible enough with a thousand Washington’s? Also, is the teenager in the book mature? Do you agree with the aunt giving a teen thousand dollars? If you had kids around thirteen and seventeen would you give them a thousand dollars for a plane ticket?
To push your thinking how do you think the teen is feeling right now and is her aunt a role role model? I really enjoyed your summary.
Sincerely your classmate,
Alex.

Adie

10/23/2017 10:49:36 am

Dear Alex,
Thank you for all of that feedback! I think it helps me a lot because I should have put in my feeling in there like, how would I feel if I was the teenager. The other thing I liked how you push my thinking like, is the aunt a good role model? I will answer your questions now. The first question I will answer is will the teen be reasonable with the $1,000? Yes the teen is a mature teenager. The second question is, how would you feel if you were the teenager? I would feel scared and lonely but I knew at the end I would find the aunt. The last question is, do you agree with the aunt giving a teen thousand dollars? The answer to that is yes the aunt gave her money to the teen for the plain ticket and food. Thank you for all the feedback and I also enjoyed answering your questions.
From,
Adie

Sanat

10/5/2017 08:35:20 pm

Dear Class,
The book I am reading is called 10,000 Days Of Thunder by Philip Caputo. It is about the history of the Vietnam war. It tells you about many things like the Viet Cong and the last POW of the Vietnam war. It also tells you about the different weapons and vehicles used in the war. Also the author fought in the war to. It is a very good non fictional book about the Vietnam war and it helped me learn more about it.

Selina

10/11/2017 04:00:56 pm

Dear Sanat,
I love that you are reading 1o,ooo Days Of Thunder. Although, I haven’t read it myself. I liked how you included some events that happened in the Vietnam War, like the Viet Cong and Pow. So, since you already told me what it is about, what happened in the Vietnam War? You didn’t quite elaborate that much. I don’t really know what was happening . If you put yourself in the a soldier’s shoes, what would you feel like living a war that has death in every corner? I would definitely feel really scared about what would happen. Also what is the Viet Cong and Pow? Some people don’t know what that is, including me. I would like to know a lot more about the Viet Cong and the Pow. They sound interesting. Also, what kind of weapons and vehicles did they use in the Vietnam War? Are they guns? Or are they Bows and Arrows? Thanks for sharing about what your reading! I hoped you enjoyed your book!
Sincerely,
Selina

Sanat

10/19/2017 05:22:26 pm

Dear, Selina
Thank you for replying back to me. It was very helpful for me. First let me explain to you what Pows are and who the Viet Cong was because I noticed that you did not understand that. The Viet Cong or VCs were the group that the americans were fighting and Pow stands for prisoner of war. These men were captured by the enemy's and were forced to do hard labor such as build machinery and break rock. They were fed poorly and were not given proper clothes or bedding. Many got killed. This though was against the laws of the geneva convention( a place where world leaders came together to for war laws) which said that Pows had to be treated humanely. The VCs did not follow the geneva convention so they were breaking a world law. Also I agree with you that it would be scary to be a soldier in vietnam because it was a very deadly war. Thank you for replying to me again.
Sincerely, Sanat

Amari

10/5/2017 09:44:43 pm

Dear Class,
The book I'm reading is called Insurgent, It's number two in the divergent series. In the book Tris and Four are forced to go to Amity the peaceful faction. they escape Amity dragging along Tris's brother, Caleb. They take a the train to Candor the honest faction, were Four and Tris are put in a simulation called the truth serum. Now they have to release the truth now matter what. This makes Tris nervous because she killed her best friends boyfriend and she doesn't want to admit it to Christina. When she finally does Tris walks out of the room crying and Christina avoids her for the next few days. Then something horrible happens three of Tris's friends stand over the edge a simulation speaks through one of them and tells her to deliver herself to Erudite (the smart faction),or this will happen every two days. And they all step of the edge Tris and Christina save a boy and a girl but the other girl step of the edge and falls to her death. To find out what happens next read the book.
From,
Amari

Paoli

10/11/2017 08:49:58 am

Dear Amari,
The book that you’re reading sounds so interesting! I love the way you said that the book was number two in the divergent series instead of just jumping right to the characters and how they have to solve the problem of some sort. The thing is though, would it be okay if you told me about the characters a little more because and want to know their character traits and things like that! And to push your thinking maybe you could tell me a little less than what you told me because it feels more like a retell than a summary. Like the time you said the girl dies, that kind of gives a chunk of the story away! But other than that I loved how you explained the SUMMARY of the story!

Sincerely,
Paoli

Amari

10/24/2017 07:44:56 pm

Dear Paoli,
Thank you for reading my writing. I think that yours was great too. On the other hand thank you for the nice compliments. I'm sorry I didn't say more about the characters, it must have been confusing for you. But one thing about Tris who is the main character is that she was raised to be a selfless person, in Abnegation then left her family to join Dauntless. Both her parents die trying to save her so she feels really bad about herself. Something about Four the secondary character is that he hates both his parents. His dad beats him and his mom left him with his crazy maniac dad. Also I'm sorry I gave a little away about the story. Just something after that happens that’s more important. But thank you for reading my writing.
From,
Amari.

Luca

10/6/2017 02:19:05 pm

Dear class,
The title of one of my books is Diary of a Wimpy Kid The Last Straw, by Jeff Kinney. My book is about a kid in High School who is not that popular in school at all, because he is not good at anything whatsoever. One thing is, that Christmas is coming up and the whole family has to come up with a resolution at the beginning of the year to try to make themselves better people. The thing is, it is hard for Greg to think of one because he does not really think that much because his family doesn't care at all. So Greg finally thought of a resolution and it is to try to help other people improve, but the thing is, what Greg's finding out is that some people don't really appreciate it when you're trying to be helpful to other people. For example he told dad to stop eating junk food and he caught him stuffing his face with donuts and potato chips. And that is all I read.

Sincerely,
Luca

Matthew

10/12/2017 07:40:50 pm

Dear Luca,

The book you're reading sounds really interesting Luca! I liked how you told the time of year and that made it easy to read because if I do not know the time then it is harder to understand. Another thing that I liked was that you gave a summary rather than a retell. In addition, I like how you included the name of the book and the name of the author. That helps me know the book that you are talking about and tells me who the aurthor is, rather then saying I am reading a book and I dont know the aurthors name. Also you gave me the right amount of details of Greg so I could understand the characters. It also seems like Greg is nice and a funny person. One of my questions is does Greg have any siblings? Finally, to push your thinking why is Greg not so much of a thinker is it just hard for him to think? Another question is why does the family have to come up with a resolution and why do they have to become better? Why is Greg not popular at his school? Why do people not appreciate what Greg is trying to do for them, especially the Dad?

Sincerely,
Matthew

Luca

10/23/2017 01:00:45 pm

Dear Matthew,

Thank you for your compliments Matthew. So let me answer your questions. To answer your first question, Greg is not a thinker because he just does not care about anything. To answer your second question, Greg has two siblings named Rodrick, and Manny. To answer your third question, the family has to come up with a resolution because the parents wants to make them better people. To answer your fourth question, that Greg is not popular because he is not good at any sports. To answer your last question, that no one appreciates him because he always messes it up. Thank you for your comments.

Sincerely,Luca

Brayden

10/6/2017 02:36:50 pm

Dear Class,
I’m reading a book called The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart. This book is about 4 kids that call themselves The Mysterious Benedict Society, after the guy who put this all together. There are 4 kids. Ronald who likes to call himself Reynie. Reynie is also the main character. Also George Washington after the president. He calls himself Sticky. Finally Kate and Constance. These kids are extremely smart in all different ways. Sticky and Reynie are really really intelligent in subjects in school. Kate is smart by having a bucket that she carries and has everything she needs and she comes up with good ideas to hide or to get past something. I don’t know much about Constance but I have learned that she’s very stubborn. She’s a tough cookie to crack. In the story the kids do a test.There’s math, tricks, and puzzles. Then at the end if you pass,you meet the guy who created the whole thing. They get sent to get in a hard school. The school is evil. The evil leader created this evil school.The kids want to become a person who helps the leader and gets told a secret.This secret is what This is all I learned so far from this amazing book.
Sincerely,
Brayden

Ava

10/12/2017 07:10:53 pm

Dear Brayden,

I like how you described each different character and their personality. Also when I read it I started to wonder why did they have to do all these tricks and puzzles? Another question I have is do any of these kids have parents because from your summary it didn't say anything about them? Or are they in boarding school? Also if you were in this weird situation what would you do?

Brayden

10/22/2017 05:05:13 pm

Dear Ava,

Thank you very much for the compliment. Now to answer your first question, why the kids had to do all these tricks and puzzles. The answer your first question, “ why did these kids have to do all these tricks and puzzles?” Is there was fliers that the test people sent out and these kids saw it, and wanted to enter. To answer your second question, “do these kids have parents?” The answer is not any more. Some kids had parents but they died, or the kid ran from home. Or the parents ran away. And to answer your third question, “are the kids at boarding school?” No they’re not at boarding school they chose to do the test from the flier. To answer your final but hardest question, “What would you do if you were in this weird situation?” What I would do is study hard for the tests. Also to take my time during the test. And use my brain during the test. If I did pass the test, I would see what happens next and learn what I should do then.

Sincerely,
Brayden

Anthony

10/8/2017 08:11:05 am

Dear Class,
I’m reading Diary Of A Wimpy Kid the long haul by Jeff Kinney it’s about when Greg gets out of school for summer but instead of playing video games all summer He has to go on a road trip with his family.Greg has to survive the summer in a stinky car and filthy hotels. Also when Greg gets hungry he asks for fast food but instead his Mom hands him a nutritious Mommy snack. They go to a fair and accidently win a pig and Roderick won a stinky shoe contest but they refused to give him back his shoe. And every one is mad at each other for ruining each other's summer so that makes it hard to get along.

Sincerely,
Anthony

Mia

10/17/2017 02:49:11 pm

Dear Anthony,
I really liked the way you said “instead of playing video games I have to spend a road trip with my family” . Why is that so bad? I also really liked how you said the person at the booth refused to give back Rodrick’s shoe. But why did he/she refuse to give it back? Next you said Greg won a pig .How did he win it?
Lastly some tips I have are try to explain more who, what, where, when, why. Next try to tell me how things happened because it was a little confusing. One example is why did they have a road trip? Otherwise your article really bought my interest and I can't wait to start reading the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.
Sincerely,
Mia

Anthoy

10/19/2017 07:25:17 pm

Dear Mia,
Thank you for the feedback. And now for the questions. Remember when Roderick won the stinky shoe contest and the judges refused to give his shoe back. The reason they didn’t give him back his shoe is because the judges wanted to send it to a museum. Secondly when they won the pig Greg didn’t win it his little brother Manny won it on accident. Manny won by holding up a sign with a number and a guy thought he was guessing for a number game so that’s how they got a pig. Also they had to go on a road trip because Greg’s Mom thought there family didn’t spend enough time together. And once again thank you for the feedback.
Sincerely,
Anthony

Mia

10/10/2017 04:09:09 pm

Mia Blog #1

Hi Class
My book is called "If I Were You". It Is about two girls. They are best friends and then they switch minds. They have to live life totally different. Katie is SUPER rich and her mom is very strict and will scream at a tiny scratch in the floor. Her mom also loves water polo. Abby is not as rich and her mom is super chilled out. She lets Abby do whatever she want’s. They both are opposite and the parents are confused because the girls are acting strangely. And I think the moms are catching on to something.
The setting is at beach in Florida. And it all starts at the beach. It makes me feel like I'm in the book. So read it soon.

Your Fellow Student,
MiaM

Anthony

10/12/2017 07:23:57 pm

Dear Mia,
The Book your reading sounds like a pretty good book. I like how you not only described the characters but also described what you felt like during the book. I have a question for you and it is do you know how they switched bodies? And to push your thinking do you think even though Katie's family is rich do you think her mother is a cheap skate because if she’s rich she’d be able to pay for the flour.
Sincerely,
Anthony

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.

Blog #1: Summarize Your Book

Leave a Reply.

Reading Response Blog
For
Ms. Kimball's Grade 5 At Pine Hill, 2017-2018

Archives

Categories

Automation Setup

Blog #1: Summarize Your Book

Leave a Reply.

Reading Response BlogFor​Ms. Kimball's Grade 5 At Pine Hill, 2017-2018

Archives

Categories

Automation Setup

Reading Response Blog
For
Ms. Kimball's Grade 5 At Pine Hill, 2017-2018