The Diary of Anne Frank

For my fourth post I decided to do the book: The Diary of Anne Frank. The diary of Anne Frank follows the story a girl who was in hiding during the Holocaust. This book is for older children, I read this book in the seventh grade. This book is not happy, but it depicts the true story of a girl who lived in a horrible time. I think all students need to read this book, so we will not forget this strong girl.             

This books starts out by explaining how they had to go into hiding, and how her family lived in the attic of a local store. Anne lives in this attic for about two years. During these two years, Anne Frank really grows up. Inside her little attic, she can only read the books that are there, and be silent. During the day they have to be incredibly quiet so that no one hears them. During this time, Anne starts to have feelings for Peter. Peter is another boy who is being hidden with her family and is two years older than her. Peter becomes a friend for Anne and someone she can talk to during their time in hiding. As the war begins to end, Anne starts to feel very alone. She believes that her family would have been better off at a concentration camp. Unfortunately, this is where the diary ends. A few days later the attic is raided and everyone who was in hiding is sent to a concentration camp. Anne’s father was the only person who survived.  This book belongs in the genre of biography. Anne’s story was real and the diary was written by her. All of the events that occurred in her diary were real and true.  Anne’s story does not have a happy ending, but it was her life. The pictures that are included in this book are also real pictures of Anne and her family. This story can be seen as very inspiring because Anne Frank was such a strong girl. Most biographies give readers the sense of hope, and this diary is no different. A famous quote from Anne Frank is "Despite everything, I believe that people are really good at heart." I think that this quote really explains the kind of person Anne was. She was in this horrible situation with war right outside her window. All of her people were being killed because of their religion, just because they were different, and yet she still believes people are good at heart. I believe that this should be the message of the entire book. I believe that if Anne had survived she would have been a bright light in our world. Even though she is gone, her diary lives on to inspire others.           

 The first project that I would have go along with this story is to have my students write a reflection paper about the story. Since the students reading this are a little older, this type of project would be appropriate. In this reflection paper I would have the students write about how they felt about the diary, and how they would feel if this happened to them. The next project I would have my students to is to write their own diaries. I would ask the students to pretend they were with Anne Frank in the attic.  In this project,  the students would kind of be placing themselves in the diary of Anne Frank.

Frank, Anne, and B. M. Doubleday. Anne Frank: the diary of a young girl. New York: Washington Square Press :, 1972. Print.

Holes

  Holes

For my third post, I decided to choose Holes. Holes was written by Louis Sachar, and is an award winning book that every child should read. This is one of those books that can be read over and over again, and it still would not be boring. This book is about a boy named Stanley, who is framed for a crime he did not commit. Stanley is blamed for stealing a pair of very expensive sneakers. Stanley is given two choices at his court hearing by the judge. He can either go to jail, or go to Camp Green Lake. Stanley decides that the camp sounds a lot better. At this camp, the counselors make the boys digs holes all day long. The holes have to be a certain amount deep and round before they are allowed to go back to camp for the night. Throughout the story, it is told many times that the real reason Stanley is at the camp is due to a family curse. By the end of the story Stanley finally has the story unraveled, and the curse broken. Stanley also finds out why the boys have to dig the holes in the end too.

            This story falls under the genre of realistic fiction. This is the type of story that could really happen. The people could all be real, and the places look real. This book is set in modern times, and everything in the book looks real and genuine. If you did not know it was fiction, it would be very hard to figure it out. The only way to tell that this is fiction is the family curse story. Family curses do not really exist. This story also belongs in realistic fiction because it deals with feelings that are real. All of the things that Stanley goes through could happen to someone else.

            The first project I would do with this story would be for the students to make up their own family curse. After reading the story, I would encourage the students to create a curse of their that they think could be added to the story. After all the students make their curses, I would have them share it with the class. The second project I would have the students do is a timeline of events. This could be done using a graphic organizer. Since there are a lot of events that occur in this story, it might help the students stay on track for a quiz or test.

            I really love this story. I have probably read this book 3 or 4 times and have seen the movie countless times. I think this book is great for children who think reading is boring. This book has lots of adventure and mystery in it and would encourage any person to want to continue reading.

Sachar, Louis. Holes. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1998. Print.

The BFG

                                                                             The BFG

            For my second book, I chose a book that I read when I was in third grade. This book gave me nightmares for months, and honestly scared me to death. The book is called The Big Friendly Giant by Ronald Dahl.  You would think by the name that this book would be a great children’s book, and for many children it is. I am that exception, I hated reading this story because I was so scared of the content of this book. This book is about a little girl named Sophie who finds out about the giants by accident. Sophie is taken by the BFG to keep the giants a secret. No one in the human world knows about the giants, so she is taken to be kept quiet. The BFG stands for the big friendly giant. While all of the other giants eat children, the BFG does not. The BFG eats snozzcucumbers even though he thinks they taste very bad. While the other giants are out eating children, the BFG spends his nights blowing dreams into the children’s ears.  After finding out that the giants are going to England to eat the children, Sophie decides that they must be stopped. Together, Sophie and the BFG come up with a plan to stop the giants from eating any more people.            This book falls into the genre of fantasy. This book belongs in this genre for many reasons. The main reason that this book belongs in the genre of fantasy is because giants are not real. Some other reasons are that the giants eat children, the BFG collects dreams and nightmares in a bottle, and that humans and giants live in separate worlds. The author does an amazing job at creating this different world. He creates these giants to get into the minds of children, and also the BFG to show they aren't all bad.
            The first project that I would have to go along with this book would be to have the students write a story. I would have the students pick a certain point in the book and they would have to expand the scene or add something entirely of their own.  I think this would be a great way for the children to practice their writing skills, and to get their imaginations working. The second project I would have the students do is to create their own giant. In this story there are 9 giants. All of the giants have their own name and personality. I would have the students create their own giant including a name, personality, and what they would look like.            This is a great story for kids to read. It is one of the classics that all kids should read because it is good. When I first read this book, I was terrified. I thought giants were going to come into my room and eat my bones. Ronald Dahl described a world so well that I was terrified. After reading the book again, I realize it is a good book to read and hope all students get the chance.

Dahl, Roald, and Quentin Blake. The BFG. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1982. Print.

Multicultural Literature

For my first literature collection, I am adding the book: How my parents learned to eat. This book is written by Ina Friedman and illustrated by Allen Say. I chose this book because I remember reading it in elementary school. This book really helped me to see how other cultures loved. It may be a children's book, but it is a story that really stuck with me for some reason. This book may be a little old, but I think it would be great to have in the classrooms. This story is about a little girl who is describing her family. She talks about how she uses chopsticks and also a fork and knife. She also explains that her mother is Japanese, and her father is an American sailor. The little girl then talks about how her parents met, and the timeline of their relationship. This story is in the genre of historical fiction. The characters could have been real and the events also could have been real. The sailor in the story is deployed on a ship in Japan, which is a true fact. The illustrations in this story are also very good. The colors are really warm, and as true to the real thing as possible. You can see all the illustrations of this book on Youtube. They have a video of the book being read. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPtSl_kUrPc&noredirect=1. An activity that I would do to go along with this book is to have the children interview a grandparent, and find out their background. Then the students would have to tell the class what they learned and how it related to this story.

                Some questions I would ask to go along with this book would be:

                                1.  What country is the girl’s mother’s from?

                                2. Why was John afraid to ask out Aiko?

                                3. What is sukiyaki made from?

                                4. Why did Aiko go to see great uncle?

                                5? Why do the people in Japan bow and Americans shake hands?