War of the Words

This podcast is on the book, Roxie and the Hooligans, by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.  The book was written in 2006.  My name is Samantha and I am a student at Rummel Creek Elementary School participating in Battle of the Books. The main characters are Roxie and the Hooligans.  The setting is on an island. Here is a summary:  Roxie has a problem.  The Hooligans are after her!  Roxie and the Hooligans are in the dumpster, then on an island.  There are two men, Snake Eyes and Rat.  Roxie makes friends with the Hooligans.  Then her Uncle Dangerfoot and Lord Thisslebottom rescue her.  Snake eyes and Rat are robbers and they get caught. Questions I would ask about this book:  In which book is there a main character with the name “Uncle Dangerfoot?” 

 

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This podcast is on the book, The Boy Who Saved Baseball, by John Ritter.  The book was written in 2003.  My name is Andrew and I am a student at Rummel Creek Elementary School participating in Battle of the Books.  The main characters are Cruz de la Cruz and Tom Gallagher.  The setting is Dillontown at the baseball field and library.  Here is a summary:  Tom and Doc are trying to save the town’s baseball field from the developers.  Doc sets up a baseball game between another town’s team and Tom’s team in order to decide whether or not he will sell the land.  Nobody else thinks that Tom’s team will win.  A stranger named Cruz de la Cruz rides into town on his horse and helps the team by showing them his online baseball game.  Cruz de la Cruz also helps them get Dante del Gato, a former professional baseball player, to coach them.   The night before the big game, Cruz de la Cruz leaves.  They figure out that even though he isn’t there for the game, he still helped them get ready for it.  They end up winning the game, but during their celebration they find out that Doc died during the game.  In Doc’s will he leaves the baseball park to Tom and his family.  Questions I would ask about this book:  In which book was there a horse named Screwball?  In which book did a character die unexpectedly?  In which book does the person that is needed the most leave at the time that they need him the most? 

 

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This podcast is on the book, Help!  I’m a Prisoner in the Library by Eth Clifford.  The book was written in 1979.  My name is Yash and I am a student at Rummel Creek Elementary School participating in Battle of the Books. The main characters are Jo Beth and Mary Rose.  The setting is at the library in the middle of a blizzard. Here is a summary:  Jo Beth and Mary Rose are in a car with their Dad and Mom.  Their mom has a baby.  They drop their mom at the hospital.  Their dad is going to drop them at their aunt’s house.  Their car run’s out of gas.  Their dad gets a gas tank and runs to a gas station.  Jo Beth needs to go to the bathroom.  Jo Beth and Mary Rose looked for a bathroom.  They found a library.  They went inside the library.  The librarian locks the library while they’re inside.  They find out the library is locked.  They meet the librarian’s pet bird.  Jo Beth puts a sign on the window saying “Help!  I’m a prisoner in the library.”  They meet the librarian.  The blizzard ends.  Mary Rose and Jo Beth’s dad picks them up.  They have a new little brother named, Harry. Questions I would ask about this book:  In which book is there a parrot? 

 

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This podcast is on the book, House of Dies Drear, by Virginia Hamilton.  The book was written in 1968.  My name is Erin and I am a student at Rummel Creek Elementary School participating in Battle of the Books. The main characters are Thomas, his family and Pluto.  The setting is a house that was once a stop on the Underground Railroad. Here is a summary:  Thomas and his family moved to their new house and weird things were happening.  Thomas met Mac Darrow who is a troublemaker and Mac plays pranks on the family.  Thomas falls into a maze of tunnels and becomes scared once he drops his flashlight and it goes out.  Later the family, Pluto and his son play a trick on the Darrows which makes them stop playing pranks.   The house was a historical part of the Underground Railroad.  The tunnels were said to be haunted. Questions I would ask about this book:  In which book is there a man named after a planet?

 

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This podcast is on the book, A Dog Called Kitty, by Bill Wallace.  The book was written in 1992.  My name is Erin and I am a student at Rummel Creek Elementary School participating in Battle of the Books. The main characters are Ricky, Sammy and Brad.  The setting is St. Louis, Missouri and Oklahoma. Here is a summary:  Ricky’s father moves the family to an Oklahoma farm with 160 acres of land.  His mama gets mad and there is a big fight.  A stray dog comes and Ricky says, “Get lost!”  Then he gets in a fight on a football field and tells his best friend his story.  Eventually Ricky feeds the dog and teaches him not eat coyote traps.  The dog becomes his and they have adventures.  Then the dad’s family gets hurt so he leaves.  Ricky helps around the farm and yells at Kitty when he can’t herd cattle.  Then they go out again and get attacked by dogs.  They are found and receive medical care.  The dad comes home and is scared.  Ricky and Kitty are in newspapers.  One day they go to the oil place and Kitty is killed by falling pipes.  Ricky has a party and meets a new stray dog. Questions I would ask about this book:  In which book is there a horse named Beauty?  In which book is there a bully named Sammy? 

 

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The recording is now working.  You can hear Chloe read her podcast!  We will record more students the rest of this week and next.  YEAH!  I am so excited to get this program going.   Your permission slips must be turned in to be able to record!  Permission slips are on the Battle of the Books cart in the library.  Look in the box labeled “Student handouts.”

I am very proud of the students and how well they are prepared each week.  The journals are beginning to fill up and when we battle each week, I am amazed at how well the students recall the facts from each book.  We are currently trying to schedule a battle for students at Rummel Creek to watch.  That will be exciting!

What we need to happen in the next two weeks:  Students keep reading and writing in your journals.  Bring back your permission slips to be published and recorded on the podcasts.  If you need another copy, please drop by the library.  Your first name will only be used, NO last names.  If you left your journal in the library, it will be ready for pick up by Friday, unless your teacher gives it to you before then.

This podcast is on the book Be a Perfect Person in just Three days by Stephen Manes.  The book was written in 1982.  My name is Chloe and I am a student at Rummel Creek Elementary participating in battle of the books.

The main character in this book is Milo.  There are two settings, one at school and one at home.

Here is a summary:  Milo was looking for a monster book when a book fell on his head.  He felt he should read it.  The book alive and can see what Milo is doing.  It told him to do a bunch of goofy things.  On the last task he fell asleep.  We was disappointed.  But the book told him it was no fun to be perfect anyway.  The point of the story is:  It is not possible to be perfect.

Questions I would ask about this book:  In which book does Milo have to go without food and water for a day?

 

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Yes!  We are meeting for Battle of the Books on Tuesday, January 15th.  Students will be in the library until 4:00 discussing the books.  Bring your journals.

Students will be given a permission slip to share their journal entries on this podcast/blog.  We will only allow those students who return the permission slip to record on the podcast.  We will start recordings sometime this week.

 Look for questions to be posted later this week.

Dear Battle of the Books member,

Yesterday was a great day.  It was wonderful to see so many 4^th and 5^th grade students.  Thank you to the students who shared their summaries from their journals!

Just to recap what we talked about.

            Our next meeting will be Tuesday, December 18^th at 3:00 – 4:00

            Try to finish the current book you are currently reading.

            Write in your journal any books you have read.

            Write questions that we could use for our first battle.

            Podcasting will begin in January – this will be from your journal.

Parents,

            Thank you for being prompt in your pick up.  It really helps.  We will continue to meet on the First and Third Tuesdays of each month.   It is so exciting to see so many students attend and participate.

            We are in need of help with snacks.  Our group has grown to about 40 students….so to make snacks easy…we will standardize – a box drink or a capri sun and a small individualized snack bag of goldfish, pretzels, cookies or similar.  If you would donate a few of these, I will store them in the library on the Battle of the Books cart and we will have them for each meeting.   We’ll let you know when we need more. 

Update on the book list –

As a result of the conversations from yesterday….we will add the following title:

            Year of the Dog by Grace Lin

 Sample Questions for some of the books –   In your journal you can write your own questions. Year of the Dog

1.      In what book is the main character Grace (also known as Pacy) family from Tawain?

2.      In what book is the story of the author told in a fictionalized form?

3.      In what book do we learn about the Taiwanese culture?

4.      In what book is the old book title “Seven Chinese Brothers” mentioned?

Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days

1.      In what book does a boy do strange things to improve himself?

2.      In what book does Milo try to improve his self-esteem?

3.      In what book does the main character learn to accept himself just as he is?

FireGirl

1.      In what book do the students in a class learn to accept others that have been disfigured through tragedy?

2.      In what book does Tom learn to be compassionate?

3.      In what book is the story told in first person, where you understand how the main character changes his beliefs in accepting others?

A Dog Called Kitty

            1.  In which book does a dog eat chili and regret it?

            2.  In which book does a dog have a strange or unexpected name?

            3.  In what book does the family move from St. Louis to Oklahoma?

Look for more sample questions in the next posting.

See you on December 18^th in the library or KIVA!  Keep reading!!!!!

After looking at the student’s lists of books read and interested in, I have narrowed the LONG list to only 16 books for our first Battle in February.  I will see if I can still get additional copies for students to have over the long holiday in December/January.

Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days^

Help! I’m a Prisoner in the Library^

A Dog Called Kitty

The Boy Who Saved Baseball

The House of Dies Drear

Blue Ghost^

Earth Dragon Awakes

FireGirl

Down Girl and Sit^

Original Adventures of Hank the Cow Dog

Roxie and the Hooligans^

Caps for Sale *

Bravo Amelia Bedelia*

Frog and Toad are Friends*

Frederick*

The books with asterisks (*) have been added particularly for the younger readers.  The books are pulled and on the Battle of the Books cart in the library.

The books marked with ^ are short chapter books and can be read aloud to students in a short amount of time.

Hopefully, with these changes we can be ready for some discussions of books in January.

My next posting will have some sample questions that the students should begin to look at as they read and discuss the titles.

Thanks so much for being part of Battle of the Books.