Morgan

On The Far Side of the Mountain

In class we have chossen books to read in our Lit Groups. The book I am reading is called On the Far Side of the Mountain sequel to My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George.  It is about Sam Gribley and his sister Alice who live on their own in the mountains. Sam has a peregrine falcon named Frightful. But, when a Conservation officer confiscates Frightful and Alice suddenly disapears what will Sam do?

So far, my group has only read chapters 1-4 and had one meeting.  I can see why Sam is so upset that Frightful is gone. If someone took someone special away from me I would miss them dearly especially if we were really good friends.  

Sam Gribley used to live in New York so, how can he live on his own in the mountains? From what the book is saying Sam and his friends who live in the mountains have made a waterwheel, a plumping mill for Alice, and a saw and forge that is powered by the water wheel. He has also made himself clothes, rugs, furniture and more. I am curious, where did Sam learn all of this stuff?

Sam and Alice seem pretty relaxed and calm out in the mountains compared to the crazy lifestyle you can get in the city (although life in the country can be very busy as well). Not to mention the noise and chemicals. They don’t seem to worry about much except making sure that there is enough food for winter, as well as blankets, clothes, nessecities… etc.  I can imagine the preperation it would take to get ready for winter in the mountains. If all of a sudden a freak snowstorm came you would want to be prepared, right? 

If this story were from Alices’ point of veiw it would be much different then what Sams’ is. You would probably follow Alice on her adventure to where ever she went, and hear about the pig she talks to (yes, Alice does talk to a pig)

 I think the story is more unrealistic then it is realistic. How can 2 city kids survive in the mountains with no help except from Sams’ friend Bando and Mrs. Strawberry( OK i can see how they could).  Sam’s lived up here for more then a year, Alice has been up here for a year, but even I couldn’t survrive up there. 

I don’t know, that’s just my opinion, what’s yours? Post a comment please!

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My grade 8 class has just finished reading the novel The Outsiders by S.E.Hinton. It was a very interesting book filled with surprises. It was about the rivalry between the Greasers and Socs in Oklahoma during the 1960’s.

The author S.E.Hinton told this story based on the two gangs in her high school: the Greasers and Socs. She has 14 million copies in print and it was made into a movie in 1983 staring Tom Cruise.

I thought this book was quite interesting and good for middle school kids and up. This book told the readers what goes on ‘behind the scenes ‘ from a Greasers point of view.

I wish S.E.Hinton would make another book about the Greasers and Socs but from a Socs point of view. It would be interesting to have another point of view.

I think the author’s message is for everyone to know what is going on back in the 1960’s up to today and to do something about it.

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Hey, here is a blog of 2 schools communicating with each other. One is in Snow Lake, Manitoba ( up north) and i think the other one is in California. They have joined together to make a blog and share their ideas with each other on this blog. I think this would be a great idea if we found another school that we could join up with. It would be a great learning experience. Leave yor ideas, comments etc… if you think this is a cool idea. The site is… thinwalls…. you know the rest.

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1.       No Home work. Some of us have chores to do after school, and things like 4-H and company etc. How many people want to do school work after school anyways?

2.       School hours. Some schools have school only in the morning or only in the afternoon. I think  our hours should be 10:00- 3:00.

3.       People who misbehave should be punished more intensely.

4.       The benches by the baseball diamonds should be repaired. They are falling apart and rotting.

5.       A bigger band room. We are always really squished, and what happens if we get more and more band students?

6.       That every class gets a field trip. Not just every now and then. The grade 9 class gets them and the grades at the other school go on field trips. The rest of us might get to go.

7.       More ski trips to Thunder hill, maybe one to a different ski park.

8.       Laptops. It would be easier to take our assignments home and all we would do is carry them from class to class. Everything would be saved on them.  The only downside is the cost.

9.       More freedom to email. We are only supposed to use them for educational purposes, why can’t we us them to email friends that don’t live here, or our parents that aren’t home for weeks at a time.

10.   Drink machine. Some of the time it won’t your money back or won’t give you a drink. The selection should be better as well.

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We All Fall Down By Eric Walters

Book Response

         In language arts we just finished reading a novel called We All Fall Down. It is a book about the disaster that shook the world an September 11, 2001, also known as the 9/11. Will is a grade nine student who isn’t looking forward to going to work with his dad, at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. Little does he know that tomorrow will change his life.

        I noticed the author Eric Walters created suspense at the end of each chapter that made us keep wanting to read. For example When Will looks out the window just after the first plane crashes and sees 2 people jump from the building hand in hand. They must have been around the 85^th-90^th floor.

        The big ideas in this book were:

09/11:

The first plane hit the North tower at approximately 8:45 am on September 11, 2001. The second plane hit the South tower at approximately 9:03 am 18 minutes after the first on hit. The second plane hit the 79^th to 83^rd floors on the South tower.

Relationships:

Will and His dad John:

Will and John do not have a very good relationship as a father-son. John tells Will he means more than everything in the world to him. Will thinks that his dad was never there for him and that his work comes before his family.

Will and Himself:

Will doesn’t trust himself to make the right choices. He doesn’t know if she should go to The World Trade Center with is dad or stay home and play “sick”.

After we finished reading this book I felt:

I felt grateful that I have never had to face a situation like that in my life so far. I felt sorry for every one that had to live through 09/11 or lost someone they loved. I felt angry and mad at who ever planed this attack.

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