Reading+Response

March 3,2008 Dear Mr. Currinder, I'm currently reading the book called, “Heads or Tails” by Jack Gantos. It takes place at his house where he lives. The main character of this novel is Jack Henry. The story is about this boy named Jack Henry who is in sixth grade and he goes to school. In school all he does all day is copy what is teacher is writing on the board. Jack writes very slowly and messy. So, everyday his teacher has blackboards all around the room and the kids have to copy what she is writing. Jack never catches up to her. So one day he goes home. Jack likes to copy his older sister a lot. One day, she is doing homework and he sees her sisters and writing and he copies it. This new style of hand writing is much faster for Jack. The next day he goes to school and copies the teachers writing and finishes and is happy. Well, the next day his teacher thinks that he is cheating and gives him an F on the paper. Also, Jake thinks that his life isn’t fair because he has to do all the chores around the house like mowing the lawn, cleaning the garage, and his brother just sits around all day an watches him. I have a lot of likes about this story and I don’t really have any dislikes. I like this book because it is like a story about the author’s life growing up. I like that because I like to know about people lives when they were growing up. Another reason is because the story is very interesting. Jack Gantos writes with a lot of details and he explains what is happening. I like the way he writes and the stories he tells. I really like the Jack Gantos books.

This is a much better review, Tess. I continue to encourage you to be more specific. Tell me EXACTLY what sections of the novel you really liked. Describe them in detail so I have a better idea why you like (or dislike) that section of the book. Just out of curiosity, why did you choose this novel? Have you read Jerry Spinelli before. The part about the boy going out for the cheerleading squad sounds like it might be potentially interesting. What did you think? 17/20

February 8, 2008 Dear Mr. Currinder, The book I am currently reading is called //__Crash__// by //__Jerry Spinelli__//. This novel takes place in a lot of different places, some are, on the football field, outside, at Crashes house and at school. The main idea of this story is that there is a kid named John Coogan but, they call him crash because he always runs or crashes into things. He is a kid that plays football and he loves it. He and his friend named Mike, both play football together but there is this new kid on the block and his name is Penn Webb, they call him just Webb. Anyway, he is trying out for cheerleading and he is the only boy. Mike and Crash tease him about it and they make fun of him. Also in the story Crashes grandfather comes over. Crash and his little sister just love their grandfather. But, later his grandfather goes into the hospital because something bad happens. There are a lot of different problems in the story but that is the main one. I have some dislikes and likes about the story. I like the story because it tells you a lot about the characters and how they act and their personality. Also, I like how the author wrote the book. I like the way it is written and the ideas. Jerry Spinelli’s ideas are great. I like how he thinks of his ideas and how he writes them into a story. The bad things about the story are that sometimes the story is very confusing or it is boring. I think that in the parts that it is confusing he can tell you a little more about what is happening and what the main characters are thinking and doing. In addition when the story isn’t very exciting he can add more details and he can also make the characters do things that are either challenging or that are not very good, that are bad.

November 24: I'm glad that you've found a novel that you're enjoying Tess. You've done a nice job summarizing the story thus far. I do want you to try to give me a rough estimate of the number of pages and amount of time you're reading -- do remember to include that next time. Regarding your questions, I'd bet that ol' Andrew Clements probably draws a lot of his material from life experience -- perhaps he shot a rubber band, or had a friend that did so. I think it would be great if you include a passage or quote from the novel to show specifically what you like about his writing style. Better yet, try to notice what you think is his effective writing style in your own writing. Keep up the good work! 9/10

November 18, 2007 Dear Mr. Currinder, Right now I am reading the book called __The Last Holiday Concert__ by Andrew Clements. This novel takes place at a school called Palmer Intermediate School. The main character in this story is Hart Evans who is in 6th grade. This story is about when Hart Evans and the whole 6th grade are in the chorus room getting ready for the next holiday concert and hart gets really board so he just remembered that he has some rubber bands in his pocket. So, he reached in at and pulled one out and was aiming at Mr. Meirnert’s (the chorus teachers) music stand and launched the rubber band. Well, it didn’t just directly hit him, it hit the music stand and then just touched Mr. Meirnert’s sweeter that it stuck on. He didn’t notice. Hart thought that was funny so he took another one out of him pocket and shot it. This time it was bad. It had hit Mr. Meirnert on the neck and he had a red mark. He had to go to the principal’s office. He had a big talk with him and he had to stay two days in a row after school. That is as far as I have gotten in the book so far.

I like this book a lot because, I like the way Andrew Clements writes his books. I like the way that Andrew sets his stories up. Also, he paints a really clear picture in my head about what is happening and what the characters look like. Also, he tells you a lot about what is happening and what the characters are like. I have a few questions about the book, where does Andrew Clements get his ideas from? Like where does he get the idea of shooting a rubber band and hitting his music teacher in the neck or where does he get the name if the book __The Last Holiday Concert?__ I have always wondered that. I think that Andrew Clements is one of my favorite authors. He writes the kind of stories that I like to read and I also like the way he writes.