Book Trailer

The Surrender Tree is a great book written in free verse which is a form of poetry. It is about the wars of independence fought in Cuba in the late 1800s. Check out this book trailer to see if the book interests you!

Can you think of a book that you could make a good trailer out of? Give it a try and post the links below!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hklcIf_qos0

Haha

Book Reviews

Have you read any good books lately? Please leave your book reviews here or drop them off in the library. Each week we will feature a student book review, help encourage your classmates to read a new book!

Strategies

This week is all about strategies. Have you ever wondered if there was a better way to take notes? Maybe you are looking for some help with your comprehension or recall? This week we will feature some of strategies to help you do better in school!

Check your vocabulary?

Do you really pay attention to the words in a text that you are reading? What do you do when you come to a word you don’t recognize or don’t know the meaning of? Here is a great way to become more aware of some of the vocabulary you may encounter when reading for homework or just for pleasure.

First, your teacher may provide you with a list of vocabulary words for the lesson or for that unit which you should take note of. Grab a piece of paper and separate into 6 columns, one for the word, one for a +, one for a √, one for a --, then a column for an example, and a column for the definition. Place the words given to you in the word column, then evaluate it, if you know the word and are comfortable with it put a +, if you think you know but are unsure use a √, and if the word is new put a --. Now, when you come across a word while you are reading that you are unsure of you can add them to the chart. This way you can continue to add more information and go back to see what a word might mean if it appears again.

Cornell Notes

Have trouble taking good notes in class? Having trouble decoding what you wrote? Maybe you have never taken notes before and want to start? Cornell notes are and easy and effective way to take notes in class no matter the level. Check out this website that explains how to use Cornell notes, it is quick and easy to read!

http://coe.jmu.edu/LearningToolbox/cornellnotes.html

Book Talks

Are you looking for a new book to read? Below are some book talks that might interest you. Please feel free to comment or leave your opinion on the book if you have read it before!

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

“Winning means fame and fortune. Losing means certain death. The Hunger Games have begun…”

Katniss is a teenager living in harsh times. She lives with her younger sister and her mother who has had problems ever since the death of her father. Every year there is a fight to the death called “The Hunger Games.” Each district must select two people between the ages of 12 and 18 to attend the games, one boy and one girl. When Primrose, Katniss’s sister, is the girl chosen at the reaping, Katniss steps forward and volunteers herself as tribute to take her sister’s place. This novel is so much better than the book that it is worth reading even after seeing the movie!

“Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor!” ~ Effie Trinket

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

“Sometimes you make choices in life and sometimes choices make you.”

“It's okay,' he tells me.” If you want to go. Everyone wants you to stay. I want you to stay more than I've ever wanted anything in my life.' His voice cracks with emotion. He stops, clears his throat, takes a breath, and continues. 'But that's what I want and I could see why it might not be what you want. So I just wanted to tell you that I understand if you go. It's okay if you have to leave us. It's okay if you want to stop fighting.'

For the first time since I realized that Teddy was gone, too, I feel something unclench. I feel myself breathe. I know that Gramps can't be that late-inning pinch hitter I'd hoped for. He won't unplug my breathing tube or overdoes me with morphine or anything like that. But this is the first time today that anyone has acknowledged what I have lost. I know that the social worker warned Gran and Gramps not to upset me, but Gramps's recognition, and the permission he just offered me--it feels like a gift.

Gramps doesn't leave me. He slumps back into the chair. It's quiet now. So quiet you can almost hear other people's dreams. So quiet that you can almost hear me tell Gramps, 'Thank you.”

“I realize now that dying is easy. Living is hard.”

Incognegro by Mat Johnson

“Race is a strategy. The rest is just people acting. Playing roles. That’s what white folks never get. They don’t think they have accents. They don’t think that they eat ethnic foods. Their music is classical. They think they’re just normal. That they are the universal and that everyone else is an odd deviation from form. That’s what makes them so easy to infiltrate.”

 A graphic novel set in the 1930s. Zane Pinchback is a reporter for a newspaper in New York City who investigates lynchings in the South. Zane is a black man who is light skinned enough to pass as a white man. Zane is able to infiltrate white society to gather important information about the lynchings. When Zane’s twin brother gets himself into trouble Zane must go back home to try to rescue him. While there Zane goes on a crazy adventure meeting up with some past acquaintances.