Wednesday, May 13, 2015

April Grades 3-4 Book Club: Regarding the Fountain by Kate and M. Sarah Klise


For April's Book Club, we read Regarding the Fountain by Kate and M. Sarah Klise. Spencer was present. This is what we talked about:


It is important to be honest at all times :This novel deals a lot with honesty. Sally Mander and Dee Eel have not been honest for the past thirty years and it has ruined their community. Their dishonesty is negative. The students are also dishonest when they write the letters to Florence when they are told not to.  These letters help Florence to understand what is going on with the situation. These are two different types of dishonesty. Should you always tell the truth?

-Yes. If you don't tell the truth, you might lie yourself into a corner and then you might have to show what you were lying about. That would be worse than the original lie. The students writing Florence was kind of in the middle. They told her that they weren't supposed to write her but they felt they had to. 

(We then had a conversation about white lies and how you might even get out of telling white lies by using language in an effective way. Instead of lying to a friend to say that their new shoes are great (when they are clearly horrible), you can just say "they totally suit you." That gets you out of any lying and maintains your polite demeanor.)




Giving is better than receiving :Often we think the best thing is to receive a gift. In this novel, Florence Waters gives without ever receiving anything in return. She gives everything to these students without expecting to be paid. Her “pay” is in the joy of the students. Which do you prefer and why?

-Receiving makes me feel happy. But giving makes me feel better. What you are giving might have sentimental value. You might realize that the person you are giving an item to will like it more than you.




It is important to be an active member of the community :The students in this novel are the people who discover what happened to their community. It is because they were involved in their community that they now have more water than they know what to do with, and the whole town is a better place. Describe your place as a member of your family or of your community.

-I am the youngest in my family and since I'm the youngest, sometimes people outside of the family treat me like I'm two. My brother gets treated like he's actually there. My mom was the youngest in her family. It's hard to leave your friends from the school community when you are part of a military community. You move every three years. I try to keep in contact with my good friends from my past schools. 



If you do something wrong you will always get caught : Sally Mander and Delbert Eel have gotten away with their crime for nearly thirty years, but they eventually get caught. Will they be caught if they do bad things? It might not be immediate consequence, but a consequence in some way or another is likely to come; it could just be a guilty conscience. 

-In my mom's old school, a lot of kids didn't get caught for all the years that they were there. They probably had a guilty conscience.




Things are not always what they seem : Sally Mander and Delbert Eel appear to be profitable, charitable people. However, they turn out to be criminals. Florence Waters at first, appears to be a spacy lady that does not understand the rules of the school. She however, turns out to be an important character in that she is the one who helps the students figure out the secret, and helps bring the community back to the way it was.




A gift is always free for the receiver : According to this novel, a gift is free for the receiver. The students receive several gifts from Flo, but do not give anything back to her.However, because they received the gifts, they were able to give the community the gift of restoring back to its previous (and improved) state. Gifts can be considered free, but oftentimes we do something in return‐not necessarily for the giver of the gift, but for someone. 

-After a further discussion on gifts, Spencer pointed out...If the kids only eat cotton candy and corn dogs, how are they still alive? (I think that they only eat that on Dry Creek Days).




Adults are always right - In this novel adults are not always right. Sally Mander and Delbert Eel obviously lie about who they really are. Mr. Walter Russ also is incorrect about his dealing with Florence and the fountain, and perhaps even with how he treats Goldie Fisch.Would you try to tell an adult if they were doing something wrong?



-It depends on what an adult is wrong about. If what they are wrong about is going to be a big deal, I might say something.



What would you rate this book, between 1 and 5?

I would rate this book a 4.

In May, we will be meeting on Wednesday, May 6 at 3:00 p.m. to discuss the book The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks. 
A nine-year-old boy receives a plastic Indian, a cupboard, and a little key for his birthday and finds himself involved in adventure when the Indian comes to life in the cupboard and befriends him.
As always, we will have snacks and discussion along with our chatting and blogging session.

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

May Grades 3-4 Book Club: The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks

For May's Book Club, we read The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks. Owen and Spencer were present. This is what we discussed.

Spencer noted that his book cover isn't accurate to the portrayal of the Indian in the book.

1. Why doesn't Omri want Patrick to have the little men? 

-Omri didn't want Patrick to go overboard. Patrick was prone to being immature. Omri didn't want Patrick to turn more figures to life.
-Omri hesitated because Little Bear was kind of bossy and he was worried that Patrick might do something to him.
-Patrick would not like being bossed around.

2. Why is Mr. Yapp so suspicious of Omri?

-Since Omri took Little Bear and Boone out to see the women and then put them in his pockket, Mr. Yapp thought that Omri stole them. Patrick and Omri had actually purchased them before.
-Mr. Yapp had a lot of shoplifters.

3. How does Patrick save Omri from Mr. Yapp?
-He says that he had paid for them before and could describe them. Plus, Mr. Yapp knew Patrick's family and was less likely to think that he would steal.
-Patrick worked hard to get Omri out of trouble. It was important that the figures not be taken away by Mr. Yapp because they'd be nearly impossible to get back.

4. Why does Little Bear shoot Boone?

-Boone was making remarks about the TV show.
-Little Bear was making more remarks about cowboys (and Boone). If Boone had ammo, he might have shot Little Bear earlier.

5. Why does Omri think it's fun when the art teacher sees Boone's drawing?

-Because the art teacher thinks Omri did the drawing and no human hand could have drawn what he did.

6. Why is Omri surprised that Boone and Little Bear Want to go back to their own worlds?

-Because they don't like it there. They are used to their own worlds where people are their own size.
-They want to go back because the humans are like giants, lumbering around.

7. How does Little Bear show his concern about Boone?

-After meeting, Little Bear doesn't want Boone on his land. And then he shot Boone's hat off. But then he felt bad.
-He also goes under the floorboards to get the key in order to bring the medic to life to save Boone's life.

8. How do Omri and Patrick resolve their conflict?

-I think they resolve their conflict because Patrick gets Boone for a certain amount of time, and sharing them.

9. How do you feel about the way Mr. Johnson reacts to Little Bear and Boone? How would you have reacted?

-He stuttered and got faint. He couldn't believe his eyes. And then he left work. 
-I would have yelled at Patrick and tried to get the figures back
-I wouldn't have been able to believe my eyes either.

We had a nice discussion about what happens to their bodies when they are in the current world.


10. Do you think Omri and Patrick are right to send Little Bear and Boone back to their own time?

-Yes.
-Maybe. I don't know.

11. If you could live in another time, when would it be?

-World War II
-pre-colonization of America
-Native American time period

13. What did you learn from this book about being responsible for other people?

-You shouldn't boss people around (from Little Bear's perspective).
-Omri didn't want to put more figures in the cupboard because he didn't want to take all of his time taking care of others. He had to do a lot to keep Little Bear and Boone okay.


13. Rank

3
4.9999

We will be meeting sometime in July (date to determined) and be reading The Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein. This book will count toward Summer Reading! Copies will be available in early May and again in early-mid June to read (reread).

May Grades 3 & 4 Book Suggestions

One-Third Nerd by Gennifer Choldenko "Fifth grade is not for amateurs, according to Liam. Luckily, he knows that being more than one-t...