Reader's Journal #22 Knucklehead by Jon Scieszka

Dear Mrs. Zrihen,

                I have been reading the book Knucklehead by Jon Scieszka.  It is an autobiography.  Here is a passage that I really enjoyed on pages 51 through 53:

                “Dad, look at this,” I said.  “One hundred toy soldiers for just $1.25!”

                My dad looked over the ad.  “That looks great,” he said.  “But sometimes you have to be careful.  They design those ads to make the toys look better that they really are.”

                “Oh, sure,” I said.  “And look – you get four tanks and four jeeps and four battleships and eight jet planes and a ton of army men, and it’s only a dollar and a quarter.”

                “How much do you have?” asked Dad.

                “Um…nothing,” I said.

                “Well,” said Dad, “save your allowance and give it a try.”

                So I saved my allowance for two weeks.  That was a dollar.  I popped a quarter out of one of Jim’s coin-collecting books.  And I had my $1.25.  I promised god I would let Jim play with my hundred piece army a couple of times so He wouldn’t have to kill me with an earthquake for stealing.

                I filled out the order form.  I checked the box marked “Rush the TOY SOLDIER SET TO ME!”  And I mailed off my money to:

                LUCKY PRODUCTS, INC.

                Somewhere in N.Y.

                HERE’S MY $1.25!

               

Then I waited.  And waited.  And waited.

                I kept looking at the as I had saved on my desk.  Eight machine gunners, eight sharpshooters, four bombers.  The whole army was even “PACKED IN THIS FOOTLOCKER.”

                Then one day when I came home from school, there was a brown-paper-wrapped package on the dining-room table.  It was addressed to me.  Yes!

                I scooped it up and ran upstairs to my room.

                I ripped open the paper and pulled out a little box.  It seemed a bit small.  About the size of a deck of cards.  I figured maybe they packed each division in a separate box.  Army guys in one.  Navy guys in another.  Jets and tanks and battle cruisers in another.

                I opened the cardboard box, which was marked sort of like a footlocker.

                Tiny little bits of dark green plastic spilled out.  Each piece was thin as a dime, and about that tall.  For one horrible second I thought the mailman had broken my hundred piece army.  Then I looked more closely at the pieces, and discovered that the truth was even worse – the little pieces were my hundred-piece army.

                I picked up one skinny bazookaman.  He was too skinny even to stand on his base.  Four skinny riflemen, eight very skinny machine gunners.  All worthless.

                I chose this passage because I thought it was very funny to watch someone else get ripped off and now I don’t feel alone.   This passage helps the book in showing how Jon Scieszka had a weird life.

                My two before reading strategies were one, to skim and scan for text features and to read the synopsis.  My two during reading strategies were one, to understand any vocabulary I didn’t know and two, to relate the story to everyday life.  My two after reading strategies were one, to review what I had read that day and two to prepare for Reader’s Journal.

                The genre of the book is autobiography.  It is characterized by the author telling stories about his life.  Some characteristics of the book are funny and shocking.  The topic of the book is Jon Scieszka’s life growing up. The main idea of this book his life and how he acted with his brothers and is stated.  Two supporting details would be that he had five brothers and he was one of the oldest brothers.

                One cause and effect I found in this was that he played a rough called Slaughterball and effect was that he broke his brother’s collarbone four times.  Some text features I saw in the book were a lot of photographs, illustrations, and different font types and sizes for the titles of the chapters.

                The author’s purpose is to inform people about his wacky life.  The author’s perspective is definitely subjective because everything in the book is what he experienced. 

                I would this book a nine out of ten because the book was very good and very funny, but I hate autobiographies.  I would recommend this book to any middle schooler who likes to read funny biographies.

                Sincerely,

                Michael Heskiel

Current Events #6

Date:  1/23/2012

Name: Michael Heskiel

Current Events Journal

Title: I HAVE A DREAM                                                                                                                                                     

Author: Dr. Martin Luther king Jr.

Source: PBS.org

The topic of the article is Racism and color

The main idea of the article is:  Racism and how much Martin Luther king, Jr. wanted equal rights      (implied/stated)

The author’s purpose for writing this article is to record that speech that Dr. King gave that was his most famous and most moving.

The author’s perspective in this article is subjective (biased) because it is just a retelling of the speech.

The pattern of organization of the article is cause and effect because the cause is Dr. King giving his speech and saying if you do this, you’ll get that/

The reason the author chose this pattern for the article is not chosen, it was just a recording of the speech.

The text features included in the article are none

This article is about (a summary in your own words) how important to Dr. King equal rights were and how we should all be treated the same no matter what color skin we are and no matter what religion we follow.

The significance (importance) of this article is re-emphasizing the importance of what Dr. King said.

What I learned from this article is how Dr. King gave his speech and how long it was.

What I liked about this article is the fact that it supports my religion.

What I did not like about it is the wording of the article and how he used a lot of weird stuff; I did not understand some of the wording he used.

Who should read this article and why:  The Klu Klux Klan because they may realize that what they are doing is not right and everyone has their own rights in the matter of religion and everyone is equal in color.

This article reminds me of (text-to-self) the movie I saw, “Remember the Titans” and how the coaches were different skin colors but in the end, worked together to win the championship.

(text-to-text) This reminds me of the book Eldridge Cleaver, Thin Ice.

(text-to-world) This reminds me of all those people who kill each other because they have different religions.

New vocabulary I learned

Word Context Clues Meaning

1. Languished “is still languished in the corners of American society.”  It means suffered.

2.  Invigorating “there is an invigorating autumn of freedom.”  It means refreshing.

3.  Interposition “having his lips dripping with the words of ‘’…”  It means interrupting.

Reader's Journal #21 The Top 10 of Everything 2011 by Russell Ash

Dear Mrs. Zrihen,

                I have read the book, The Top 10 of Everything 2011, by Russell Ash.  It is an informational book that gives lists of the top ten of a variety of subjects.  Here was a Top 10 list I really enjoyed:

                Top 10 Superhero Movies

1.        The Dark Knight

2.       Spider-Man 3

3.       Spider-Man

4.       Spider-Man 2

5.       The Incredibles

6.       Hancock

7.       Iron Man

8.       X-Men:  The Last Stand

9.       Batman

10.   X2:  X Men United

My two before reading strategies were to one, look at the front cover and two, read the synopsis.  My two during reading strategies were observe all text features in the book and two, skim and scan to find the most interesting lists to read, like the 10 Most Common Crimes in the USA.

The genre of this book is informational.  It is characterized by having no plot structure, characters, setting, foils, moral, or anything like a fiction book.  All the book is is a book about lists and presenting information.

The tone of this book is imaginative and amusing.  The author’s purpose is to inform the reader of the top ten of everything, including the Top 10 Garbage Producers.  The author wanted to inform the reader in humorous way.  The author’s perspective is probably agreeing with all these facts he was just collecting the lists.

There were a lot of things I enjoyed in the book, and I lot I didn’t know before.  I learned that there was such a thing as underwater hockey, and I learned that the black widow wasn’t the deadliest spider in the world.  In fact, I learned that I’ve been introduced to and seen the deadliest spider; it is the banana spider.    I learned that Shrek 2 was worth seeing by the American public because it grossed $441,226,247 (I never did like it).  I learned that Finding Nemo still makes it onto the Top 10 List of Animated Movies (it’s number 3).  Ratatouille also made onto the list at number 10 (Just made it!).

I enjoyed many of the lists in the book such as the Top 10 List of Criminals Longest on the FBI’s Top 10 Most Wanted list (Osama bin Laden was only number 8 on the list).  And, I liked the Top 10 List of Largest Jewish Populations (Israel is only number 2 on the list). 

I would rate this book 10 out 10 (Get it? Because it’s is The Top 10.)  I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the Top 10 of anything.

Sincerely,

Michael Heskiel

Reader's Journal #20, Nerds by Michael Buckley

Dear Mrs. Zrihen,

                I just finished reading the book Nerds by Michael Buckley.  It is a science fiction book that is definitely the best book I’ve read.  Here is a passage from the story I really enjoyed:

                “Jackson met Flinch in the parking lot of the school.  The nerd’s face was covered in caramel, and there were a dozen or so candy bar wrappers lying at his feet.  He had a cup of convenience store soda in his hand that was bigger than his own head.  He was also trembling with caffeinated joy.

                “So, I suppose you’re going to beat me up too,” Jackson said.  He could still feel the burning laser stings on his behind, the bruises from the back scratcher, and the place where the kindergartener’s lunch box had hit him in the skull.

                Flinch shook his head wildly.  It seemed everything he did was over the top.  “No way!  We’re going to play a game of catch, bro.”

                “Catch?  OK, that’s something I’m very good at,” Jackson said.

                “But you’re going to have to use your superbraces to do it,” Flinch said.  “All that technology in your mouth is awesome!  We have to teach you how to use it.  Luckily, a lot of it is responsive to what‘s going on around you.  Here, I’ll show you.”

                Jackson watched Flinch step over to a teacher’s car.  He turned the dial on his harness and then, in one swift motion, leaned down and picked the car up off the ground.  He held it over his head like it was a feather pillow.  Then he tossed it at Jackson.

                Jackson screamed and instinctively ducked, though he knew it would do much good to prevent his impending death.  What he couldn’t have imagined was the braces in his mouth springing to life.  The forced his mouth open and several strands of metal caught the car in midair.

                “Hombre, that is awesome,” Flinch shouted.  “Throw it back.”

                Jackson didn’t have time to think before his braces hefted the car back at the little boy.  Flinch snatched it out of the air and set it back down in it parking space.

                “You just threw a car at me!” Jackson yelled.

                “Fun, isn’t it?”  Flinch shouted as he tossed another of the teacher’s cars at him.  This time the braces seemed ready and stopped it long before it closed in on his head. Still, the experience was heart-attack inducing.  Jackson set the car down just in time to spot another sailing through the air at him.

                “Cut it out!” Jackson shouted as he caught it and set it back on its four wheels.

                “I’m strong like bull!” Flinch shouted, oblivious to Jackson’s complaints.  “Let’s make this interesting.”

                He snatched a car tossed it, the snatched another, then tossed it, and on and on and on.  The cars sailed through the air fast and furious.  Jackson’s braces spun around in his mouth like a blender as the attempted to catch them all, but there were too many.  The best he could do was try to swat them away.  His efforts did little, and soon one of the cars crashed to the ground next to him.  Then another landed right behind.  Soon the cars were piling up around him, locking him inside an automotive pyramid.  He was safe and unharmed, but he was trapped.

                “You are supposed to catch them,” Flinch shouted.

                Jackson stewed with anger.  “Get me out of here, you freak!”

                I chose this passage because it’s one of the funniest passages in the book.  The significance of this passage is that without this passage they would have been excluding one of the special abilities in the book.

                My two before reading strategies were one, to skim and scan the book for text features, and two, to read the synopsis of the book.  My two during reading strategies were to one, image a picture of the story and to look at the vocabulary that I didn’t know and figure out their meaning with context clues.  My two after reading strategies are to one, review what and comprehend what I’ve read, and two, to prepare for a Reader’s Journal.

                The genre of this book is science fiction.  It is characterized by fantastic things or events that involve science or technology. 

                The characters in the book were the following:  Jackson, Duncan, Matilda, Ruby, Heathcliff, and Flinch.  There were also Agent Brad, Miss Holiday, Doctor Jigsaw, and the Hyena.  All of the characters are flat until the end of the book when they get very static.  The protagonists of the book are every one of the characters except for Dr. Jigsaw who is the antagonist.  The foil is the Hyena.  The setting is in many places, but one of the main places is the North Pole.

                The exposition is when Jackson is a cool kid and one of the most popular in school.  One day he goes to the dentist and he finds out that he needs to get braces.  Once he gets braces every one treats him like he’s a nerd.  One day he was spying on the nerdiest kids in school and gets caught falling through a hole in a locker.  When he gets to the bottom a bunch of scientists try to capture him.  And exactly at the same time this is happening, the Hyena waits for her boss to picker her up because she is a professional assassin.    The rising action is when Jackson goes into this strange place where the scientists were chasing him and gets locked in one of the rooms.  He starts clicking randomly on the buttons that are in this room.  Somehow he manages access technology that should only have been used by the scientists.  That technology that he accesses turns his braces into robotic defense claws.  At the same time, the Hyena is introduced to Dr. Jigsaw’s Doomsday Device.  It has the power to move any land mass to another part of the world which would kill millions of people.  The climax is when the team gets captured and then Jackson saves the day.  Jackson goes to save his teammates and ends up killing the villain.  The falling action is when the Hyena turns to the good side and becomes an agent.  The conclusion is when Jackson moves on to sixth grade.

                The conflict is man vs. man because the team is going against Dr. Jigsaw.  The tone of the story is exciting and the mood of the story is thrilling.  The theme of the story is finding different ways to do things.  The moral of the story is don’t judge a book by its cover.  The point of view of the story is third person, because the author uses words like “he”, “she”, and “they”.  The pattern of organization is cause and effect.  The author’s purpose of the story is probably to entertain.  The author’s perspective is in agreement with this book because he probably enjoys science fiction. 

                I would rate this book ten out of ten because everything in it was amazing.  It was very understandable and was a good cliffhanger.  I would recommend this book to everyone from middle school because there are words in there that you could understand even if they sound hard and it’s very entertaining.

                Sincerely,

                Michael

Current event # 4

Date: 1/8/12

Name: Michael Heskiel

Current Events Journal

Title: Booking a flight with a space travel agent

Author: Kenneth Chang 

Source: Miami Herald

The topic of the article is space travel

The main idea of the article is about Virgin and how they’re going to allow tourist to see the brim of the world.

(Implied / stated) Stated.

The author’s purpose for writing this article is to inform the world how this will be a great experience to all mankind.

The author’s perspective in this article is probably agreeing with this due to the fact that there is a happy tone.

objective/subjective (biased) Subjective because he probably agrees with it he is writing it in such a happy tone.

The pattern of organization of the article is cause and effect.  

The reason the author chose this pattern for the article is because when everybody would read the effect, they would get more involved in the article and get more excited about the program.

The text features included in the article are: there are no text features in this article

This article is about (a summary in your own words) a company called Virgin and how they’re going to make it possible to go to space. They also have people talk about the convenience of purchasing a ticket on their space ship. They explain how it will feel on this space ship, how far they will travel, and how much it will cost.

The significance (importance) of this article is probably to inform the public of this new opportunity to go into space.

What I learned from this article is that they are letting any average person go into space with a ticket.

What I liked about this article is that it is not a lie, it’s coming out soon, and I would to either try and get a ticket or watch it go into space.

What I did not like about it was nothing; I liked everything about the article.  I felt it was the best current events article so far.

Who should read this article and why.  People who like studying space and going to the Kennedy Space Center would probably book a ticket when reading this article.  This article is very persuasive.

This article reminds me of (text-to-self) of the first time I went to the Kennedy Space Center and how was I amazed at most of the displays.

(text-to-text) This reminds me of a book I read, My Teacher Fried My Brains by Bruce Coville because when they got into space they found a bunch of aliens and we don’t know if aliens exist.

(text-to-world) It reminds me of the time that they didn’t have the Space Shuttle only rockets and only astronauts could go into space.  Now, any tourist who is willing to pay money can go into space

New vocabulary I learned

Word Context Clues Meaning

1. Culminate “..the ride to space will culminate a three day trip…” It means come to an end.

2. Albeit.  “..will fulfill a dream, albeit an expensive one.”  It means exception.

3. Jaunts “…”suborbital” jaunts…” It means short trips.

Reader's Journal #19 Young Monsters, edited by Isaac Asimov, martin H. Greenberg, and Charles Waugh

Dear Mrs. Zrihen,

                I have been reading a collection of short stories titled Young Monsters edited Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg, and Charles G. Waugh.  It is a collection of short stories about kids who are also monsters.  Here is a quote from the book.  It is from the story, “One for the Road” by Steven King.  It appears on pages 205 and 206:

                “She held out her arms at me and smiled.  “Pick me up, mister,” she said softly.  “I want to give you a kiss.  Then you can take me to my mommy.”

                I didn’t want to, but there was nothing I could do.  I was leaning forward, my arms outstretched.  I could see her mouth opening.  I could see little fangs inside the pink ring of her lips.  Something slipped down her chin, bright and silvery, and with a dim, distant faraway horror, I realized she was drooling.

                Her small hands clasped themselves around my neck and I was thinking:  Well, maybe it won’t be so bad, not so bad, maybe it won’t be so awful after a while – when something black flew out of the Scout and struck her on the chest.  There was a puff of strange-smelling smoke, a flashing glow that was gone and instant later, and then she was backing away, hissing.  Her face was twisted into a vulpine mask of rage, hate, and pain.  She turned sideways and then…then she was gone.  One moment she was there and the next there was a twisting knot of snow that looked a little bit like a human shape.  Then the wind tattered it away across the fields.

                “Booth!”  Tookey whispered.  “Be quick, now!”

                And I was.  But not so quick that I didn’t have time to pick up what he had thrown at that little girl from hell.  His mother’s Douay Bible.”

                I picked this passage because it is the only part of the story that gets good.  The significance of the passage is to probably get the reader interested at some point.

                The two before reading strategies I used were to skim and scan and two to read the synopsis.  The two during reading strategies I used were to understand the words in the story and to review what I had read every time I finished a story.  My two after reading strategies were to review everything I read after the reading session and to prepare for Reader’s Journal.

                The genre of this book science fiction and the characteristics are boring.  As you can see, I did not enjoy this book because each of the stories had a lame plot structure.  I never found one of the stories that were good.  There are multiple characters in each story and most of them were round.  There were multiple places in each story.  The plot structure varied from story to story.  The conflict in every story was man vs. the supernatural because many of the characters had problems with monsters.  The tone of the stories was spooky.  The moods changed from story to story.  The theme of all of these stories is that monsters come in all shapes and sizes and you never know when one will jump out at you.  There was no moral in any of the stories.  The point of view of every story was third person except for “One for the Road”, which was first person.  The pattern of organization is cause and effect because the cause is a character does something wrong and the effect is they run into a monster.  The authors’ purposes were to get money, which they didn’t.  The authors’ perspectives are definitely not agreeing with this book because they know that monsters don’t really exist.

                I would rate this book a zero out of ten because it was horrible.  I barely noticed any creative hooks that got me interested.  I would not recommend this book to anyone, period.

                Sincerely,

 Michael

RJ #18 Homework Pass