If I were Charlie Bone! #1

This week, we have started reading aloud, Midnight for Charlie Bone. We have read that Charlie has an interesting gift, one that allows him to hear what's going in the photographs that he sees. Can you imagine what that would be like, hearing what people are saying while the photos are being taken?
Pretend that you have the abilities of Charlie Bone, and you can hear what is happening in photographs. Use your new found ability to be like Charlie and tell what you "hear" from the photo below.

Be Creative and Have fun!

This is the first of what will hopefully be a weekly entry into our blogs called the "If I were Charlie Bone!" entries. Check back next week for a new picture and all those new "voices" it brings with it.

The Preserve of Fablehaven

We have just finished a read aloud of the book, Fablehaven by Brandon Mull. There is a promise at the front of the book that none who enter Fablehaven will leave unchanged. How did their experiences at Fablehaven change Seth and Kendra? Most of us were able to make a lot of connections with the characters in the story, because of our curiosity and imaginations. What do you take from the book? What was your overall opinion of the novel? And, does this make you want to read more of the series?

Dexter the Tough

We have just finished reading the novel, Dexter the Tough. This is a nominee for the 2009 William Allen White Award. Let me know what you think about the novel? Is this a good nominee? Do you think others your age would like it? Tell me your opinion of the book. Finally, I would like you to MAKE CONNECTIONS with the book in some way. We have been taking about making connections in whole group.

Read Aloud - Savvy

We have just finished the novel, Savvy, by Ingrid Law. We have had several good discussions about this novel in class and you've had a chance to do some predicting and reflecting in your journals as well. We even emailed, the author, Ingrid Law, herself because we were curious as to why she chose Salina as a setting for the story. Now that we've completed this story, I want to know, what did you think of the book? Let's hear your opinion. Do you have "I Wonder" statements about what we've read aloud together? If you could ask some questions of the author, what would they be? We've had the discussion about the author's use of similes in the story, can you use the author's writing style to come up with a description of Savvy by using your own similes?

Below is the Wordle that we created for the novel. You may want to click on it to get a bigger view of it. The words that are biggest are those that you felt were the most important. Is there any thing about the Wordle that surprises you?