Sam

Sam's Wiki Page
Welcome to your personal page! It is here that you will keep track of what you are reading. You will need to click on the EDIT button to make changes and you will need to click on SAVE when you are done. To begin we are going to add book titles, author's and other information to the chart below:


 * < **TITLE OF BOOK AUTHOR'S LAST NAME** ||< **DATE STARTED** ||< **DATE FINISHED** ||< **RECOMMEND?** ||< **E, JR, C or A** ||
 * < Mixed Up Files Konigsbrug ||< 9-1-17 ||< 10-20-17 ||< Yes ||< E ||
 * < Roller Girl Jamieson ||< 8-30-17 ||< 9-9-17 ||< Yes ||< E ||
 * < The Truth of Me ||< 9-12-17 ||< 9-14-17 ||< No ||< A ||
 * < Another Day As Emily Spinelli ||< 9-12-17 ||< 9-27-17 ||< Yes ||< JR ||
 * < Blubber Blume ||< 9-29-17 ||< 11-6-17 ||< Yes ||< E ||
 * < The Report Card Clements ||< 11-12-17 ||< 11-20-17 ||< No ||< A ||
 * < Diary of a Wimpy Kid Kinney ||< 11-20-17 ||< 11- 31-17 ||< Yes ||< E ||
 * President of the Whole Sixth Grade Winston || 1-1-17 || 2-5-18 || Yes || JR ||
 * Are You There God It's Me Margret? Blume || 2-6-18 || 2-20-18 || Yes || JR ||
 * It Take Two Belle Payton ||  ||   ||   ||   ||

It is your responsibility to keep this log up-to-date. You fill in any time you start a new book or any time you finish. You must spell the title and author's name correctly and both should be capitalized. Our first entry will be done in class and then you need to add your at-home reading books as needed. When you need more lines, let me know!

September 24, 2017 Dear Sam, This week's wiki assignment is to write a letter back to me about the book you are reading at home. You can write about __Another Day As Emily__ or your next book (remember to put it on the log!). Tell me if you like the book and why or why not. Please give two examples to support your opinion, (examples of sentence starters for your example: "I liked this book because... I also thought that....".) Your letter should be at least 3 complete sentences long. It should include the 5 parts of a friendly letter, date, greeting, body, closing, and your name. You can write more, but that's up to you! Post your letter right below mine. I'm looking forward to reading your letter! Best Wishes, Mrs. McGinnity..

September 25, 2017 Dear Mrs. McGinnity, The book that I'm reading right now is Another Day As Emily. I do like it! One of the reasons I like it is because there are mini sketches to help you understand what's going on in the story and so you can also picture the moment better with the sketches. The second reason why I like the book Another Day As Emily is it is realistic fiction which I like because its whats happening in the world now but didn't actually happen. The last reason why I like Another Day As Emily is there are lots of funny scenes which make the book more enjoyable.These are the reasons why I'm enjoying this book! Your student, Sam Hardy 6.11

October 23, 2017 Dear Sam, Hello! I hope your week is off to a great start. This week's assignment is to use the Venn Diagram we made in class and write me a letter that compares and contrasts the book, __ The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler __, with the movie version. (In your letter you can just call it __ **The Mixed Up Files** __ .) You should give an example of one major way they are the same, and one major way they are different. Your final sentence should explain to me which one you liked better and WHY (that means use ,EVIDENCE). Remember, you must include the 5 parts of a friendly letter: date, greeting, body, closing and your name. You must also post your letter right below this one. ** Proofread too ** ! I look forward to reading your letter. Love, Mrs. McGinnity

October 23, 2017 Dear Mrs. McGinnity, I loved both the book and the movie of __The Mixed Up Files Of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.__ I did notice some major reasons why the book and movie were the same but, also different. One major reason why the book and movie are the same is the angel mystery. Both the book and the movie have Claudia and Jamie trying to solve the mystery of whether or not the angel was carved by Michelangelo or was it a rumor? One reason why the book and the movie are different is in the book when Claudia and Jamie are at Mrs. Frankweiler's house Jamie by accident spills the beans about where he and Claudia have been staying for the past week and, in the movie Mrs. Frakweiler never finds out where they were staying before they went to her house. Finally, I liked the book better than the movie because the book has more details. For example, in the book Claudia takes a bath in Mrs. Frankweiler's marble bath and in the movie she doesn't. That's only one of many details that the book has and the movie doesn't. Can't wait till our next read out loud book. Love, Sam Hardy 6.11

November 6, 2017 Dear Sam, Thank you for your amazing letter. You provided excellent examples when your compared and contrasted the book and the movie. I also loved the scene in the marble bath at Mrs. Frankweiler's house. I would have loved that part to be in the movie! I hope you are liking our new read-aloud, __The Turtle of Oman__. In class we are reading __Pictures of Hollis Woods__. What do you think is important to know about Hollis's character? What is an important character trait that you think describes her and WHY? What are your predictions for what will happen next to Hollis in the story and why do you think that? Your letter should answer the 3 questions above and should include the 5 parts of the friendly letter. I look forward to reading your letter! Love, Mrs. McGinnity

November 7, 2017 Dear Mrs. McGinnity, I am very interested in our reading group book, Pictures of Hollis Woods. An important fact to know about Hollis is she is a foster child and every time she gets a new foster family she runs away from them. I think there are are many ways to describe Hollis but the trait that really jumped out at me is creativity. In the book, Hollis is always sketching and drawing, and frankly, she is pretty good at it. She likes to draw many things such as the places and people around her. I have many predictions for this book.One of them is I think that Hollis and Josie will get into more trouble with the mustard lady for not going to school and not following the rules. Can't wait to read more of this lovely book. Your student, Sam Hardy 6.11

December 3, 2017 Dear Sam, Thank you for your last letter about __Pictures of Hollis Woods__. Now that you have reached the end of the book I'd like you to think about Hollis' character at the beginning of the story and at the end. What important life-lesson do you think Hollis learned from her experiences in the story? What did ** __you__ ** learn by reading this book? This is sometimes called the author's message or theme. Be sure to answer both questions, even if you think both you and the character learned the same thing. Don't forget all 5 parts of the friendly letter! Post your letter below mine. Love, Mrs. McGinnity

December 5, 2017 Dear Mrs. McGinnity I think that Hollis learned many things in this book, but the lesson I think is most important is Hollis learns that she belongs with a family.For example in the beginning of the book Hollis runs away from every family she meets because she thought she doesn't belong, but when she meets the Reagan's she doesn't run away because she knows she belongs. The only reason she ever left them is because she thought it was her fault that Steven got hurt. She also doesn't run away later on in the story when she meets her new foster "mother" Josie. The lesson I learned from reading this book would probably be that now matter what your family will always love you. For example after the accident with Steven and Hollis, Hollis decides to run away because she thought it was her fault, but the old man comes to the adoption center where Hollis is and the old man asks if Hollis is willing come back home with him. Can't wait to read our next reading group book. Your student, Samantha Hardy 6.11

January 16, 2018 Happy New Year! For your first wiki letter of the new year, please make sure your book log is up-to-date. You should be reading a good fit chapter book 20 minutes each night. Next, we are working on monitoring our comprehension as we read to make sure we really understand what we are reading. Think about your at-home reading book. Answer two of the monitoring questions about your book in your friendly letter back to me. Make sure you include all 5 parts of a friendly letter. Love, Mrs. McGinnity


 * Monitoring for Comprehension Questions (pick 2) **
 * 1. What is happening in the story? **
 * 2. What is happening to the characters? **
 * 3. Is the character changing? **
 * 4. What do I think will happen next? **
 * 5. What is the problem? **

January 17, 2018 Dear Mrs. McGinnity, I'm reading the book __President Of The Whole Sixth__ __Grade__ and the main character is a girl named Brianna. She is definitely changing in this book. For example she used to go running after her friends asking if they would do something with her, but then she realized that them being in sixth grade was different then them in fifth grade. Her friends now run off with there other friends and she doesn't follow. She try's to let it not bother her. The problem in the beginning of the book was Brianna running to be the president of the whole sixth grade, but in order to be the president of the whole sixth grade she had to come up with a fund raiser idea so she can raise money to send her grade to D.C. If she didn't raise the money in time the grade wouldn't be able to go to D.C. So the problem was finding a idea and getting people to help, and donate. Can't wait to read more!! Your student, Sam Hardy 6.11

February 5, 2018 Dear Sam, We have been working on cause and effect in reading. Cause is the reason something happens and effect is the result, what actually does happen due to the cause. We sometimes call it reason & result. Think about your at-home reading book. Identify **an important example** of cause and effect. It should be important because it some how impacts the character or the story's plot. Think of it this way, if it DIDN'T happen, the action or the story would be completely different. EXPLAIN why this cause and effect example is important to the narrative. I look forward to reading your letter! Love, Mrs. McGinnity

Dear Mrs. McGinnity, My at home reading book is President Of The Whole Sixth Grade by, Sherri Winston. There is a lot of cause and effect in this book, but I think the most important cause and effect is in the beginning of the story when Brianna started sixth grade. Brianna starting sixth grade caused her and her two best friends, Becks and Sara to become distant. This is important because later on in the story Becks and Sara don't wan't to hang out with Brianna instead they want to hang out with their new friends "the peas." This is a problem for a majority of the book because Brianna kept trying to get her two friends back, but then she realized that she's in a new grade and a new school which means her friends changed and so did she. This definitly is the most important cause and effect in this book. Your student,Sam Hardy 6.11

3-5-18 Dear Sam, As we saw in class, when we read we can learn from and teach our characters. This week here is what you need to do: Introduce me to your main character and tell me two or three important character traits. (one sentence.) Then tell me about a time when your main character interacted with another character in the story (this should only be about one sentence.) Finally you can decide to share with me the advice you would want to give your character OR you can tell me what you learned from your character's behavior. I look forward to understanding what you INFERRED from your character's behavior. Love, Mrs. McGinnity
 * MAKE SURE YOUR BOOK LOG IS UP-TO-DATE**

3-5-18 Dear Mrs. McGinnity, I'm reading the book, Are You There God Its Me Margret. The main character is Margret, some traits to describe her is nervous, confused, and jealous. One character Margret interacts with is god, she likes talking to him, she asks him a lot of questions, she feels open to talk to him when times are hard or when she is just not having the best day. Some advice I would give to Margret is you don't have to be so nervous and jealous when other people are growing up faster then you, everyone matures at a different pace, but don't let worrying about being behind stop you from doing fun and amazing things with your friends. Can't wait to read more of this amazing book! You beloved student, Samantha Hardy 6.11

May 7,2018 Dear Sam, Please use your Storyworks magazine and choose a side about our recent discussion on texting and walking. Should it be banned? Make sure you have three reasons to support your opinion. Your letter is due Friday. Love Mrs. McGinnity (p.s. sorry the picture is sideways! I saved it vertically and it keeps putting it like this on the sight!)



Dear Mrs McGinnity, I think texting and walking should be illegal. My first reason is if your looking at a text you could wounder off into a intersection and get hit by a car. For example, in the text it states "between 2000 and 2011, distracted walking led to more then 11,000 injuries in the U.S." And that's just in the U.S imagine how much more injuries and or lives would be saved if there was a law against texting and walking. My second reason texting and walking should be illegal is it could cause other people to get hurt too, not just the person who is looking at their phone. For example if someone is looking at their phone and walks into the street unexpectedly, the person who is driving then has to swerve or stop short which could cause a car accident. My last reason why texting and walking should be illegal is you could wonder and get lost. For example the article states, "studies show your brain cannot focus on both our phones and whats happening around us." All of that evidence and reasons show why texting and walking should be illegal. Can't wait to read our next article!! Sincerely, Samantha Hardy 6.11 .

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