A Long Walk To Water - Great book club!

Book Club: 

 

This week in book club we discussed A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park.  The story follows 11 year-old Salva as he and his classmates run from gunfire during the rebel’s war against the government in Southern Sudan in 1985.  A parallel story is told through the eyes of Nya, an 11 year-old girl in Southern Sudan in 2008.  Nya walks 8 hours each day to fetch water for her family. 

 

 

 

 

The stories follow Nya and Salva through unimaginable conditions and we see through the eyes of these young people the determination, perseverance and hope that allows them to move forward. A Long Walk to Water is based on a true story.  Our book club highly recommends this book.

 

The Lost Boys of Sudan 12 years later. 

60 minutes caught up with the boys.

 

A Long Walk to Water - interview with author Linda Sue Park

 

Salva's story

Water for Sudan - Salva Dut's non-profit organization building wells across Africa

Book Club @ Randerson



Students gathered, food was eaten, great books were discussed, laughter occurred...what more could one ask for in a book club?  Today's book club, discussing Carl Hiaasen's book Hoot, was a great success. The discussion flowed from characters, to events, to setting.  It was non-stop!  The detail and POV from students was tremendous, including Courtney empathising with Roy for moving so often.


Book Club enjoying snacks before discussion

It took no time at all to dive into the story and discuss what we really liked about the book and what might have been a bit of a stretch. 

Stephanie loved how empowering the story was for young people. If three teenagers can save the owls against a conglomerate than we could do something like that too.  Mercedes liked the book but felt Roy's ability to 'take off' for hours at a time without his parents knowing where he was ....was a bit unrealistic. Austin really liked the character development, especially Roy, Mullet Fingers and the teacher who cared enough to bring his whole class to the opening to help. Cassidy enjoyed the book but felt Roy's parents weren't realistic in that they didn't seem as upset as she thought they should have been when he went missing.  Max was intrigued by Mullet Fingers and his ability to live in the Everglades and

catch the very fast mullet fish. Grace has read the book 3x and seen the movie.  She loved the book! 

Everyone had read the book and seen the movie and felt the movie was a close actualization of the book. Hannah felt the movie accurately portrayed the characters and the story and though the teacher role played by Jimmy Buffett, was a little more developed I the movie.  Annika enjoyed both the book and the movie, especially Beatrice the Bear, a strong female character.  Austin thought is was very cool that Beatrice took on and beat, the school bully Dana. 

We had so much fun discussing Hoot that we jumped into talking about other books we are currently reading or have read and loved.  Titles include; Mango Shaped Space by Wendy Mass, Sisters 8 by Lauren Baratz-Logsted,  Dear Jo by Christina Kilbourne (all the kids that had read this one...loved it!), Diary of a Wimpy Kid - Long Haul, Fault in our Stars (some loved it, while others thought it was way too sad) and Spirit Animals. 

Our next book club book is A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park.  You have 7 weeks to read up.  All students in Gr. 5-7 are welcome.  Your only ticket in the door is that you have read the book.  See you in March. 

April Book Club - A Big Success!

Gr. 5, 6 & 7 students joined me for a long recess of snacks and discussion in this months book club.

Running Dream by Wendelin van Draanen was our April book club chosen book.  Due to the popularity of this book we had to postpone book club a few weeks to ensure all students who wanted to, could read it.  Book Club was worth the wait.  The students loved the book!  We had great character discussions about Jessica, Rosa, Fiona and Gavin. Students felt Jessica's story was portrayed realistically with some set backs and triumphs.  We talked about Jessica's strength and determination, along with her frustration.  The discussion was lead by the students and boy did they have some great insights.  One discussion was around the important role Jessica's dad played when taking away the pain killers. Students spoke of how easily she could have become addicted to the pain killers and by taking them away, her dad was helping her.  One student mentioned that she probably had to go through pain in order to heal.

Students really liked Gavin as he was genuine and honest to Jessica about his feelings.  Rosie was also a favourite among students as was Jess' supportive friend Fiona.  One thing that hit a cord with students was when _______ mom sat with Jessica at the track meet and apologized at first for her daughter and then (paraphrasing) "no I apologize for myself for raising her that way".  This admission really resonated with the book clubers, feeling it was the right and brave thing for that mother to do. 

All and all we had a very enjoyable long recess discussing Running Dream.  The food was yummy, the discussion in-depth and the students were eager to take part.

Life as a TL doesn't get any better than that :) !

Gr. 6 & 7 Book Club The Seven Series

It was a full house for our book club today as we discussed The Series 7 by 7 great Canadian authors. Normally we have one book to discuss but with author John Wilson visiting us last May and author Eric Walters visiting us last month we opted for The Series 7.  Your ticket in the door was to have read one of the seven books.  Not surprisingly many of the students had read at least two from the series and some had read more. 

All seven books were enjoyed by at least one of our book clubbers. We discussed the series as a whole and each book individually.  We looked at connections and differences between the books and the authors' writing styles.  We discussed how each authors' style brought out different aspects of the seven cousins.

Here's reviews by two students:

                                                               Review on 7 series
I read Close to The Heel and Between Haven and Earth!  It was very well thought of, of how there were 7 different authors and they all connect in some way.  I liked Close to the Heel more because it was funny and got interesting really quick!  I highly recommend the whole series and I definitely want to read them all!
 Jacob Grade 7

                                                          Review on Devil's Pass
It is an awesome engaging book with intense scenes.  I would highly recommend this to a friend. I would say this book is for kids with a grade level and maturity of about 5-7.  This is the boss book
and you have to read it if you enjoy funny stories with some combat scenes. Read more reviews for more information. 

Branden (B Dog) Gr. 7

 

 

I was really proud of the depth of discussion our Gr. 6/7 students demonstrated. Their character knowledge, connections and inferences were excellent.

Thank you to our Gr. 6/7 students who took part in book club.  It was a dream discussion.

Author Eric Walters visits Randerson

Randerson Gr. 4-7 students and staff enjoyed a visit from Canadian author Eric Walters. Author of more than 90 books, Eric took us on a journey from his teaching days in the Peel School District of Toronto, where he penned his first novel, to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, where Between Heaven and Earth sprung to life.  Eric's enthusiasm for life, social justice, and the power of reading was prominent in his presentation.  Student's learned of how his books come to life through ideas, research, experiences, and involvement in his community. We saw pictures of Eric with two Siberian tigers at a school, walking/running the Sahara Dessert in an ultra marathon and fending off poisonous snakes, elephants and lions in Africa.  Eric brought us into his stories through his tales of adventure, his great visuals and his dynamic mannerism.

Creation of Hope is an orphanage in Kenya that Eric and his wife Anita began after a chance meeting with a young boy in Kikima, Kenya. He spoke of the important role we all play in becoming global citizens. He talked about how small acts of kindness go a long way and how respect begets respect.  

Thank you Eric Walters for visiting Randerson. 

* Remember our next book club is on October 30th where we will be discussing the Series 7 created by Eric Walters and written by Eric and six other Canadian authors. 

June Book Club ~ Great Discussion, reflection, connections and of course yummy treats

An excited group of Gr. 5 and 6's gathered in the library at long recess today to discuss our book club choice of the month 'Out of My Mind' by Sharon Draper.  The conversation started with one student voicing her dislike of the ending, especially when Penny was injured in the car accident.  We all thought it was a surprising twist, that added hardship to a family that had been through so much. Of course the drama in these details kept us reading and wanting more.        

Ayden said she has never read a book so fast and was sad when it was over as she still wanted more. Many agreed.  Everyone felt Melody was brave, smart and funny.  One student felt that Mr. Dimming was not the teacher that she would want because he didn't stand up to the meanies Claire and Molly, he didn't phone Melody's family when the plane was early and he was really mean saying "the test must be easy if Melody did well on it" .  We all didn't think he behaved well as a teacher nor as an adult. 

Catherine and Mrs. V really began creating life-changing opportunities for Melody and found ways she could have a voice. We all loved these characters.

My favourite thing about today's book club was the non-stop chatter among the students about characters, feelings and comparisons to other characters in other stories.  I loved the empathy each student spoke of and the attention to detail they showed in their conversations.  Mercedes spoke of how she could relate to Melody's use of songs for inspiration and telling a story, even creating moods and describing songs as colours and temperatures. The discussion led to connections with Rules by Cynthia Lord and Wonder by R.J.Palacio.

I thank all our students who attended the book clubs throughout the year. I get so much out of our discussions. I look forward to many more book club discussions.  Remember if you want to discuss books this summer e-mail me or blog.

Happy Reading
Mrs. Martineau

Book Club Reflections - Guest Blogger

Tales Dark and Grimm was the best book I'v ever rad but I only recomend it to grade five and up.  It is about Hansil and Gretil but with a lot more to the story.  It is full of action adventure and comedy.  It is really gory and has ltos of funny coments from the auther/ narrator.  I highly recomend it for ten years and up.

Jacob grade 6!!!!!

Tale Dark and Grimm Reveiw- Guest

This is an Awesome book.  It has lots of gore, so I wouldn't read if I was under grade 5.  It has big turns and a seperate story in each chapter except the last 2.  It is on the story of Hansel and Gretel in more detail with many different veiws and funny notes from the Author, Adam Gidwitz.  I would highly recomend for people 11 and older. 

Branden- Grade 6