Never Let Go

Watch the following music video of Bryan Adam's song, Never Let Go.

Now, listen to the song again while reading the lyrics:

Can you lay your life down, so a stranger can live?
Can you take what you need but take less than you give?
Could you close everyday without the glory and fame?
Could you hold your head high when no one knows your name?
That's how legends are made, at least that's what they say

We say goodbye but never let go
We live, we die 'cause you can't save every soul
Gotta take every chance to show that you're the kinda man
Who will never look back, never look down and never let go

Can you lose everything, you ever had planned?
Can you sit down again and play another hand?
Could you risk everything for the chance of being alone?
Under pressure find the grace or would you come undone?
That's how legends are made, at least that's what they say?

We say goodbye, but never let go
We live, we die 'cause you can't save every soul
Gotta take every chance to show that you're the kinda man
Who will never look back, never look down and never let go

Never let go, never let go, never let go
Gotta take every chance to show that you're the kinda man
Who will never look back, never look down and never let go

We say goodbye but never let go
We live, we die but you can't save every soul
Gotta take every chance to, show that you're the kinda man
Who will never look back, never look down and never let go

Will never look back, never look down and never let go
Never let go, never let go, never let go

Respond to this video in the comment section below.  Include thoughts to the following two ideas:

• Read the first line of the first Stanza. Do you have what it takes? Why or why not?

• What do you think is the meaning of “Never Let Go”?

One for the Murphy's - Describing Characters

Write a minimum of 2 paragraphs describing one of the characters we've encountered so far in the novel One for the Murphy's.  Your post should be a minimum of 10 sentences; however, you may need more than 10 sentences to complete this!


Your first paragraph should include ideas such as:

• describe what we know about the biographical information of the character (age, family relationships, location, etc.)
• describe how the character is feeling.  Support your ideas with proof from the text.
• describe the personality traits of the character.  Support your ideas with proof from the text.
• describe how the character has changed as we've been reading. What makes you think this?
• do you have any predictions about this character?  What makes you think this?

Your second paragraph should focus on answering the following question:

• How does Carley's life compare/contrast (compare = things that are the same, contrast = things that are different) to your own life?  

Remember, effective writers go through each step of the writing process.

1. PLAN out your ideas.  Use your character template.  Talk to people.  Jot down ideas.
2. ORGANIZE your ideas.  What order makes sense?  What should go in each paragraph?
3. WRITE your first draft
4. EDIT for spelling, capitalization, run-on sentences.
5. REVISE by adding more information, removing ideas that are off topic, move around ideas into a new order

Your blog post must be completed and published by Wednesday, October 22.  

Chat with Us While We Read!

We are curious to hear what you have to say!  Here are our ideas along with others who are reading the same book as us.  Look at the places all over the world that are participating in the Global Read Aloud with us!

https://mapsengine.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=zfq7xf-XR45I.kdGIhwdw9dg0

Please post where you are from!

Created with Padlet

An intro to One for the Murphy's

Before we start reading One for the Murphy's on Monday, watch the video below of Jacob Curlee, a contestant on America's Got Talent.  Respond to at least one of the questions below:

• Explain what Jacob means when he he felt like he was just somebody's luggage.
• What significance did Jacob's song have with his life story?  How do you think he used music as a way of coping with his life?
• Everyone needs healthy ways to cope with their lives.  What things do you do that help you when life gets overwhelming?  
• What are some aspects of self expression that you connect to? How does it help you?

Reading Tweets...round 2

This week, you will once again be using the format of Twitter to compose "Tweets" to share your thoughts on your book as you read.  Your reading tweets must follow the rules of Twitter and contain 140 characters or less - including spaces and punctuation. 

In total you will create 5 "tweets":

• MONDAY: An intro tweet that gives the title of the book, the page that you are currently on, and your current reaction to the book. #intro
• TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY:  Your second, third, and fourth tweets will include 3 of the following ideas: 
• discuss a question (?) you had while reading. #question
• discuss a comment you have had while reading. #comment
• discuss a prediction (!) you have had while reading. #prediction
• include a connection you have made while reading. #connection
• FRIDAY: Your final tweet will ask others an open-ended question or introduce a topic up for discussion for your classmates (either for readers or non-readers of your specific book). #discuss

Your 5 reading tweets will be handed in on Friday.

You will be assessed on including all 5 tweets and the fact that all 5 tweets follow the format/guidelines of Twitter and the assigned topics/hashtags.  Ideas should be insightful and thorough...even though they are concise!  

A biopoem for Terry Fox

To learn a bit about the writing process, our class began by watching a documentary of Terry Fox.  As we viewed, we recorded our ideas of things Terry needed, wanted, loved, shared, and felt as well as character traits he demonstrated using post-it notes.  Once we finished the documentary, we worked in groups to write a draft of a biopoem about Terry Fox.  Next, we shared our drafts with the class and selected the lines and descriptive words we liked the best from each version shared.  We combined them to create a class poem, made up of the best words of the group drafts.  Even then, we still read the poem over to make many improvements.  We took some words out that we found redundant, and we switched the words around in a few sentences that didn't flow well.  Then, we added a picture, changed the font, and centered the text.  Here is our final product:

Speak Up!

A basic book review is made up of 2 parts:  a section that introduces the book and provides a brief summary, and a section that discusses/evaluates the book's strengths and weaknesses in your opinion.  It is a personal opinion piece, so it should reflect your own voice!

Writing the first paragraph:

Who is your audience?  Remember, your audience hasn't necessarily read your book. What could you tell them about the story so that your audience has a basic understanding? 

Keep your summary brief.  Only choose the most important details.

• Mention the genre of the book.
• Introduce the characters.
• Mention the setting, both time and place.
• Summarize the plot.
• Discuss the basic conflict.

Writing your evaluation of the book:
Choose to discuss two or three main points in this section and give your opinion.  Your opinion should be well supported with reasons and examples.  You should use concrete examples from the book, such as describing a scene or using a couple of short quotes. Some ideas you may wish to consider discussing could include:

• What themes did the author convey? Were they effectively conveyed? Did you agree with them? 
• Did the book appeal to you either emotionally or logically? 
• How did this book compare to other books you have read in the same genre, or other books the author has written? 
• What was the author’s style like? Did you like the author’s style? Do you like the way the author uses his/her words to tell the story?  Describe.
• Does the author do a good job of making you feel like you are there?  How?
• Did you enjoy the plot of the story?  How could it be improved? What makes it interesting?
• Are the main characters believable?  How does the author describe them or make you believe in them?
• Did you like the ending of the story?  Why or why not?

Concluding your review:

Design a clever rating system for your book and give your book a rating.  Describe who should read this story and whether you recommend it overall!  

Where could you publish your review?