Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Tortilla Sun by Jennifer Cervantes

I just got back from vacation and am so happy to see so many students posting to the blog.  Great job everyone! 
Well, I grabbed this book because it looked like a good book to read at the beach.  I absolutely loved it.  It was funny in some parts, and sad in others.  But what I liked most was how Izzy finds amazing ways to tell her story, all while learning about her father she never knew, and making special friends along the way.  I couldn't put it down.  Tortilla Sun was a magical adventure of a book.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Burrillville Students are Reading Non-fiction!


Our students have been reading A LOT of fiction books and chapter books, but summer is also a wonderful time to learn some new facts about topics that interest you.  Here are a few great responses we've gotten from students reading non-fiction books:


Ethan, Grade 3, WLC read Bears: Life in the Wild by Monica Kulling.

He writes: I read BEARS, Life in the Wild. It was a non-fiction book about bears. My favorite part of this book was reading that bears sleep in dens and they don't have to drink because they make their own water while they sleep through the winter. This was my favorite part because it was a new fact that I didn't know and I think that is cool that they can do that. My least favorite part of the book was reading about how father bears try to eat cubs. I didn't like this part because it was a sad fact and I feel bad for the cubs.





Daniel, Grade 3, SFE read Spacebusters: Race to the Moon by Phillip Wilkinson

He writes: I liked learning what the astronauts wear on the moon. The helmet gives oxygen to the astronaut. The gloves help them grip the ladder on the shuttle and help protect hands. Their special shoes help them walk on the moon.

There was no part of the book that I did not like. The whole book had a lot of facts about space that I learned. This book was about three important people in USA history.




Reid, Grade 4, SFE read Ocean Animals by Toppers

He writes:  This is a non-fiction book with facts about ocean animals. There are four types of animal groups in the ocean. A shark is a fish, a squid is a mollusk, a seal is a mammal, and a crab is a crustacean. My favorite animal in the book is a cuttlefish because it stands out to me. He has THREE HEARTS!!! Its blood is not red, it is BLUE-GREEN!!! It is a mollusk and he's the color of sand, has eight legs, and eats crabs and fish.

{Ms. Baffoni would like to add that I went to the New England Aquarium this summer and the cuttlefish was one of the coolest animals I have ever seen!)

Timothy, Grade 5, WLC read Who Was Babe Ruth? by Joan Holub



He writes: My favorite parts were when Babe Ruth hit his first homerun and when he hit his farthest homerun ever. In 1915, Babe Ruth hit his first homerun in the majors for the Boston Red Sox against the Yankees. He cracked his bat that is how hard he hit the ball. His biggest homerun was a grand slam out of the park.Those were my favorite part because I want to be like him.  My least favorite part is when Babe Ruth's dad took him away somewhere and when Babe Ruth would gamble, drink and stay up really late. There is no reason to get drunk or stay up late when you have practice or games. These are coaches' rules you should obey, even when you are Babe Ruth. A parent should tell their children where they are taken to. It is just mean to take a child to a refom school and just leave them there. I felt sorry for Babe. These were my least favorite parts.

Ms. Baffoni, Teacher, SFE read Just My Type: A Book About Fonts by Simon Garfield

 My favorite thing about the book Just My Type is that I have learned interested facts about something I use in my everyday life but did not really know much about.  This book has taught me all about the history of how fonts changed from the early days of printing to the computer age.  The book explains how fonts are designed, what they are used for and even all about the people who created them.  My least favorite thing about this book is that it's written for adults, so it isn't really a good choice for students.  Still, I am saving up all the cool font-facts I have learned so I can share them with my technology classes in the fall!