The BFG part 2

       There are so many quotable moments in the BFG. One of my favorites is, “Giants is also making rules. Their rules is not suiting the human beans. Everybody is making is making his own rules to suit himself.” This is a great line that can lead into a great lesson. You can talk to students about respect and selfishness. There are so many different character traits that lessens can be designed around like bullying, and you talk about the BFG getting bullied by the other Giants.

     Another character trait that you can talk about is courage. Sophie wanted to tell someone about the giants so they could not hurt or kill any more children. It took a lot of courage for the BFG to trust Sophie with her plan to tell the Queen of England about the giants. The Queen and the people of England could have turned against the BFG. Other people besides Sophie, don’t know that he can be trusted to not eat anyone. Trust is another big character trait because Sophie had to trust the BFG to not harm her, and the BFG had to trust everyone else.

      Besides character traits, I love the imagination and creativity not only from the author, but from the characters he created in this book. When the BFG and Sophie went to England to talk to the Queen and the Queen invited them to eat breakfast the butler, Mr. Tibbs, used his imagination. Mr. Tibbs used a grand piano, four clocks, and a ping pong table to create a table for the BFG. I think that it would be a great lesson for students to use their imagination to create a structure for a giant. This would include math to figure out measurement, like “how tall would a table have to be for a giant to eat at?”

       For a teacher there are great lessons, but for students it is a great book. The book would keep students interested, some parts would make them laugh. While other parts will make them upset with the consent bullying. There are so many great parts of this book that many students would want to pick this book up again and again.

The BFG part 1

     Oh how I love this book it gives so many great lessons for kids. This book is sweet and engaging, not only for me, but could be for students. Form the title of the book you know that the big friendly giant was going to be friendly, but when he showed up to take Sophie, I thought maybe he was mean. That idea of figuring out what might happen in the book based off of the title is a good exercise for students.

    I liked the relationship between the BFG and Sophie, they talked about themselves and the conflicts they have encountered. It is a true best friend relationship, well at least after Sophie realized that the BFG was not going to eat her.

      One thing I noticed right away was the language that was used. On page 28 the author writes, “make the giant cross.” I know that the language is different because the book is based in England and the author is from there as well. I think the language or word choice needs to be explained to students. The teacher can also use this as a way to introduce geography and culture to the class. I also think that the way the giant talks needs to be addressed or even use it as a launching point to talk about people learning English and how it can be difficult. The BFG explains his language the best on page 53, he states, “Words, he said, is oh such a twitch-tickling problem to me all my life. So you must simply try to be patient and stop squibbling. As I am telling you before, I know exactly what words I am wanting to say, but somehow or other they is always getting squiff-squiddled around.”

     Another thing I loved, is the author’s use of words to draw up images. The author uses great imagery on page 33, “The sun was up now and shining fiery-hot over the great yellow wasteland with its blue rocks and dead trees.” Doesn’t that put just a great image in your mind. Also, a great way to show students that they can put this style and images into their writing.

     There is so much I love about this book. I love the funky words because they are funny and remind me of Dr.Seuss. I love that the BFG captures dreams and gives them to kids, and that the dreams the author describes are descriptive. I love the BFG’s big heart.   

      The BFG also has some great lessons that he teaches Sophie. One that I like is on pg. 48 where he says, “Just because we happen not to have actually seen something with our own two little winkles, we think it is not existing.” Such a great line and I think that you can use this sentence for a great lesson on imagination and write something great.

How to Steal a Dog Part 2

      Having a conscious is sometimes a hard thing because you so desperately want to do one thing, but your conscious tells you not too. Georgina had that same conscious when she stole Willy from his owner. She knew she did a bad thing, but really wanted the reward money. Georgina felt even more guilty about stealing Willy when she meets with Willy’s owner, and saw how much she loved Willy. When Georgina thought that she would get reward money, but found out that Willy’s owner was not rich like she thought, was a very sad part of the book. That part of the book was a good lesson for Georgina, and even students, that even though people look like they have a lot of money or even look like they have a good life, does not mean that it is the truth. Georgina had that same situation with the students at her school, she wanted them to think that she still lived in her house, and still had a loving family with a dad, but that was not the truth.    

      I thought that adding in Mookie to the book was great because he was teaching her without actually saying anything. He was like her conscious, and when he started talking about Willy not being at home, you could tell that Georgina was upset about what she had done. Mookie also showed Georgina that even if you do not have a lot, you can still be happy and help others along the way. Even though the book never stated that Mookie fixed Georgina’s mom’s car, you could figure it out from the context clues. Which is something that students should be taught about.  Teachers can use the context clues to help figure out different scenarios in this book and many others.  I also thought it was funny that Mookie would share food with Willy because it was horrible sounding food like liver, but Willy still at the food. Mookie had such a good heart to help Georgina, her mom, and Willy, when he did not have to.

      The one part of the book that I did not like was the way Georgina treated her little brother, Toby. Georgina stated in the book that toby was dumb for being in third grade, but he was actually the smart one. Toby wanted to return Willy from the beginning, he also kept on asking the questions that Georgina never thought about, and questions the reader could be asking.

      This is a great book for students to get an understanding of homelessness, and stealing. It also teaches students to help others even when you do not get the recognition, like when Mookie fixed the car. I hope that students like this book like I did because this book has heart, and great lessons.

How to Steal a Dog Part 1

We all go through tough times and some people face tougher times than others. But would those tough times lead you to do something you never thought you would? Do kids do things that they believe was for the best, but wasn’t? Does someone wanting to do good, but is actually bad, make the bad thing okay? Well these are all questions that I would ask my students while the read How to Steal a Dog by Barbara Connor.

     I have never been in a situation like Georgina and her family were placed in. Georgina, her mother, and brother lived in their car after their dad left and their mom could no longer pay for rent. This situation made Georgina feel like she did not belong at school and embarrassed. I would feel just like Georgina. Nothing makes you feel less adequate then not having the latest toy or feeling left out.

    It is hard to think that there are students that will be facing the same problems that Georgina has. Georgina was so desperate to do something to help her family that she ended up stealing a dog. To some people. They may see this just see this as a bad situation, but to Georgina she was desperate to help her family. Did Georgina do something bad? Yes. Did Georgina have good intentions in mind when she stole the dog? Yes.

    The problem I have with this book is that there may be students that are in situations like Georgina. It would be a good idea that teachers know students background, and know the home situation because you do not want to put students in a tough situation or feel embarrassed while reading this book.

     What I do like about this book, is that it has heart, and makes you go through different emotions. As I was reading this book, I was sad, confused, mad, and many more emotions. I think that teachers can use this book as a way to explain to students that there are people that cannot afford everything, and that stealing is bad.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid part 2

           Adults always tell children or teens to never give up, keep on trying, or try new things.  Greg Heffley took never give up and try new things to the extreme. Throughout the book, Greg was always wanting to try something new. Greg went from wanting to gain muscle for wrestling by working out (he got bored), to wanting to be a cartoonist for the school newspaper (did not work out). You can never say that Greg never tried. In one of his classes Greg wanted to build a robot, but the idea did not turn out as planed, and well, he got kicked out of the class. Students could take away from Greg's mistakes that he tried something  new even if it did not go as planned.
         Greg lets his friend take the blame for something bad he did, and never said anything. This is when I would step in and say something to my students, and explain to them that lying is bad. That is part of the book I did not like, Greg was mean to people especially his best friend. His best friend always stuck by his side until Greg did not step in and said he was the one who chased the kids with the worm on the stick. I also found it weird how he said that other students were dumb or mean, when he did really dumb things like let his friend take the fall for his mistake.
       There is so much humor in this book that it almost makes you miss a good underlying subject that a student can take away from reading this book. But the humor only adds to reasons why students would love to read this book. The underlying subjects like bullying, lying, and never giving up, are great teaching points for parents and teachers. I think that even though the character in the story has some faults, I believe this book will encourage students to read more.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid part 1

           As you get older, do you ever reflect on what elementary, middle, or high school were like? I reflect on my old school days all the time, especially now that I am going into teaching. Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney, brought back memories of when I was in middle school, and not all of them were that great. Okay, the truth is that I have been trying to forget about my memories of middle school (not my fondest memories).

            In the book Greg Heffley wanted to be popular, so he thought that if he wrote in his “journal” (his mom bought him a diary) about his life in middle school, he could be famous. Don’t we all want to be popular or famous when we are young (oh how life changes). I remember just wanting to get through middle school without any trouble. Greg thought that being popular was the best way to get all the girls. Greg also thought that being the best at wrestling would make him popular. The problem Greg with that idea is that he did not have any muscle. At least he was participating in activities at school.

         Greg has two brothers and a best friend that sometimes embarrass him. Such a typical life situation. I think siblings were made to embarrass each other, I know I can come up with a thousand stories of my brother embarrassing me. The thing that I noticed was that Greg was the one people should have been embarrassed of because he had not filter when he said or did things. Greg did not think before he acted, and I think most people can relate to that.

        As someone who has been through middle school, I can make a connection to the book. But elementary students have not been to middle school, so how would they know middle school is a stupid idea? Elementary students can relate to a friend or siblings embarrassing them because it happens to the best of us. When you can relate to a book, I think it makes it more personal and fun. I can see this book being something students love and get a kick out of it. But there is one think that should be at the beginning of the book, and that would be a warning for parents or teachers when they have a student or child reading this book. Why should there be a warning you may ask, well I can see students trying some of the same things Greg did, like throw a football at people or finding food on the play ground and play "cheese finger". I would defiantly let my students read this book because it just makes you smile.