November Grades 3-4 Book Club: Frindle

For the November's Grades 3-4 Book Club, we read the book Frindle by Andrew Clements. Luna was present. Here's what we discussed. 

What is Mrs. Granger’s famous “battle cry” that all her former students remember? 

What question does Nick ask Mrs. Granger on the first day of class to stall the lesson? How does she outsmart him? 

List the three important events that lead to Nick's big idea: renaming a pen “a frindle.” 

What exactly does Mrs. Granger mean when she says that “dog” means dog because we all agree it does? 

Why do those students want to stay after school and be punished by Mrs. Granger? Why do they consider it a “badge of honor”? 

If “ain’t” is not a proper word, how can it be in the dictionary, as Nick points out? What is Nick trying to prove when he brings this point up with Mrs. Chatham, the principal? 

Imagine that you are the reporter from the Wakefield Gazette, trying to get the scoop on the new word "frindle." What questions would you ask Mrs. Granger? How would you convince the principal to give you the real story? 

Bud Lawrence wants to own the copyright for the word "frindle." What does he plan to do with it? How can someone own the rights to a word? Explain how this is different from owning a bike or a pair of sneakers, or even a pet dog. 

When the reporter from the TV station asks Nick “What’s next for you and your new word?” Nick replies that “frindle belongs to everyone now.” How can a word belong to everyone? What does someone “do” with a word that belongs to them? 

How does the experience of inventing a new word and becoming a celebrity affect Nick? Why does he think twice about testing out his new idea: protesting the poor food in the cafeteria? 

In her letter to Nick (which he opens years later, after he’s in college), Mrs. Granger says: “A person can watch the sunset, but he cannot slow it down or stop it or make it go backward.” What do you think this observation has to do with Nick’s word? 

Why does Mrs. Granger “expect to hear remarkable things” about Nick in the future? Can you predict — based on his creativity and his restless challenging of rules and conventions — what kind of remarkable things he might go on to do? 

Can you recall the early parts of the story and Mrs. Granger’s “war” against Nick and his new word? Now that you know what her real intentions were — to intentionally make herself “the bad guy” — try to imagine what she was thinking when she posted her angry notice, or when day after day she kept all those students after school. 

Do you think Nick really knew what he was getting into when he started spreading the word “frindle”? How did Mrs. Granger — who tried to make obstacles for Nick — realize the possibility of Nick’s new word?

Please rate this book between 1 and 5, with 1 being the worst and 5 the best.

-A 3

Book Club will be meeting on Wednesday, December 9 at 3:00 p.m. We will be meeting via Zoom. Books will be available behind the Circulation Desk within a week. Please be sure to register so that I can email you the Zoom password!

For December's Book Club, we will be reading Clean Getaway by Nic Stone. 

For the life of him, William "Scoob" Lamar can't seem to stay out of trouble--and now the run-ins at school have led to lockdown at home. So when G'ma, Scoob's favorite person on Earth, asks him to go on an impromptu road trip, he's in the RV faster than he can say FREEDOM. With G'ma's old maps and a strange pamphlet called the 'Travelers' Green Book' at their side, the pair takes off on a journey down G'ma's memory lane. But adventure quickly turns to uncertainty: G'ma keeps changing the license plate, dodging Scoob's questions, and refusing to check Dad's voice mails. And the farther they go, the more Scoob realizes that the world hasn't always been a welcoming place for kids like him, and things aren't always what they seem--G'ma included.

Please be sure to register for Book Club so I know to send you the Zoom password!

December Grades 3-4 Book Club Suggestions

Clean Getaway by Nic Stone

How to Go on an Unplanned Road Trip with Your Grandma:
    Grab a Suitcase: Prepacked from the big spring break trip that got CANCELLED.
    Fasten Your Seatbelt: G'ma's never conventional, so this trip won't be either.
    Use the Green Book: G'ma's most treasured possession. It holds history, memories, and most important, the way home.

What Not to Bring:
    A Cell Phone: Avoid contact with Dad at all costs. Even when G'ma starts acting stranger than usual.

Take a trip with an eleven-year-old boy who is about to discover that the world hasn't always been a welcoming place for kids like him, and things aren't always what they seem--his G'ma included.

Front Desk by Kelly Yang

Recent immigrants from China and desperate for work and money, ten-year-old Mia Tang's parents take a job managing a rundown motel in Southern California, even though the owner, Mr. Yao is a nasty skinflint who exploits them; while her mother (who was an engineer in China) does the cleaning, Mia works the front desk and tries to cope with demanding customers and other recent immigrants--not to mention being only one of two Chinese in her fifth grade class, the other being Mr. Yao's son, Jason.

Wish by Barbara O'Connor

Eleven-year-old Charlie Reese has been making the same secret wish every day since fourth grade. She even has a list of all the ways there are to make the wish, such as cutting off the pointed end of a slice of pie and wishing on it as she takes the last bite.

But when she is sent to the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina to live with family she barely knows, it seems unlikely that her wish will ever come true. That is, until she meets Wishbone, a skinny stray dog who captures her heart, and Howard, a neighbor boy who proves surprising in lots of ways. Suddenly Charlie is in serious danger of discovering that what she thought she wanted may not be what she needs at all.

October Grades 3-4 Book Club: The Friendship War

 

For the October's Grades 3-4 Book Club, we read the book The Friendship War by Andrew Clements. Cameron, Chase and Kaylee were present. Here's what we discussed. 

What is Grace’s relationship like with Grampa? How would you describe Grace’s family?

 -They get along really well. Sometimes she and Ben don't get along.

On page 20, Grace says her room is like a museum of her life. Why does she collect things? What value do they hold for her? Would they hold the same value for someone else?

 -Her things hold memories.

-Because her grandpa does it.

 

Buttons become valuable at Grace’s school. What makes the buttons valuable to other students? What gives something value?

-Prettiness

-How much they cost

-Something that you like is valuable

What are some ways that Grace’s and Ellie’s personalities are different? What experiences may have made them this way?

-They don't always have the same teachers

-Ellie always gets her way

-Grace lets Ellie gets her way

 

In the beginning of the story, Grace questions how Ellie can be her best friend if Ellie makes her so upset. What are some important qualities in a friendship? Does Ellie have these qualities at the beginning of the book? Does she by the end? What causes the change?

 -everyone has to cut down trees to save the environment (make new houses for homeless people)

-people should agree with each other most of the time but not all time

-Ellie changes a little bit. 

 

What lessons do Grace and Ellie learn? How do they learn these lessons? Who do you think changes the most?

-Social studies

-How to be a better friend

-Ellie changes more because she gets meaner and meaner but then nicer and nicer 

 

Discuss: Have you ever struggled in a friendship or had conflict over a fad or trend at school? Explain.

 -I have struggled with a friend

-I struggle with friends as well. One friend always wants to do what he wants to do. And he always interrupts.  

-Last year, Pokemon cards were a fad at school. People traded them all the time.

-The buttons broke friendships, just like the broken pinwheel button. 

Who is the meanest character in the book? How are they mean? The nicest? What makes them nice?

 Ellie is the meanest. Hank is the nicest. Grace is in between.

 

Do you think events like those in the book could ever happen? Why or why not?

 -Yeah, every day.

 

Would you call the end of the book a happy one? Why or why not?

 -Happy because they are all friends again.

 Please rank this book from 1-5, with 5 being the best.

-4 across the board

For Book Club in November, we will be reading Frindle by Andrew Clements.

When he decides to turn his fifth grade teacher's love of the dictionary around on her, clever Nick Allen invents a new word and begins a chain of events that quickly moves beyond his control.

Book Club will be meeting on Wednesday, November 18 at 3:00 p.m. Please note the later date due to the Veteran's Day Wednesday holiday the week before. Books will be available behind the Circulation Desk within a week. As always, snacks and good conversation will be provided at Book Club!