Showing posts with label Book Review. Show all posts

Saturday, June 6, 2020

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

William Kamkwamba · Inventor

To power his family's home, young William Kamkwamba built an electricity-producing windmill from spare parts and scrap -- starting him on a journey detailed in the book and film "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind."

William Kamkwamba was born in Malawi, a country where magic ruled and modern science was mystery. It was also a land withered by drought and hunger. But William had read about windmills, and he dreamed of building one that would bring to his small village a set of luxuries that only 2 percent of Malawians could enjoy: electricity and running water. His neighbors called him misala—crazy—but William refused to let go of his dreams. With a small pile of once-forgotten science textbooks; some scrap metal, tractor parts, and bicycle halves; and an armory of curiosity and determination, he embarked on a daring plan to forge an unlikely contraption and small miracle that would change the lives around him.

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind is a remarkable true story about human inventiveness and its power to overcome crippling adversity. It will inspire anyone who doubts the power of one individual's ability to change his community and better the lives of those around him.

https://www.ted.com/talks/william_kamkwamba_how_i_built_a_windmill

Saturday, July 20, 2019

Due October 4 (BOOK REVIEW FORM)

BOOK REVIEW FORM

Name: ___________________________________________ Date: _________________________

STAR RATING: 1⭐ 2⭐⭐ 3⭐⭐⭐ 4⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Title of Book:

______________________________________________________________________________

Author: ______________________________ Illustrator: _______________________________

Year of publication: __________________ Awards: ___________________________________

Main Character(s) and brief description(s):

________________________________________________________________________________________

Main Setting(s):

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________

Time Period(s):

________________________________________________________________________________________

What main events occurred in history at the time of this story?

________________________________________________________________________________________

VOCABULARY

1) ____________________________ part of speech: _________________ page number: ___________

Sentence from your book: ________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________

Definition: ________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________

Your sentence: ________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________

2) ____________________________ part of speech: _________________ page number: ___________

________________________________________________________________________________________

Definition: ________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________

Your sentence: ________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________

3) ____________________________ part of speech: _________________ page number: ___________

________________________________________________________________________________________

Definition: ________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________

Your sentence: ________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________

4) ____________________________ part of speech: _________________ page number: ___________

________________________________________________________________________________________

Definition: ________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________

Your sentence: ________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)

OPENERS

(1) Because (bc)

(2) Prepositional (prep)

(3) ly adverb (ly)

(4) ing

(5) www asia

(6) very short sentence (vss)

(7) ed

Examples

(1) Because the forecast called for rain, I took my umbrella.

(2) Under the leafy branches of an old oak tree, we found the perfect place for our picnic.

(3) Silently, the cat stalked its prey.

(4) Embracing his mom, the boy told her he was happy she was home.

(5) When the clock struck twelve, the carriage turned back into a pumpkin.

(5) While the teacher taught the lesson, the students remained attentive.

(5) Where there is smoke, there is fire.

(5) As the campfire was lit, the children ran to find the marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers.

(5) Since the last rehearsal, the understudy has been perfecting his lines just in case he has to take the stage.

(5) If anyone knocks on the door, be sure to call a parent to answer it.

(5) Although the Bible was the more difficult King James version, the little boy read it every day.

(6) Never swim alone.

(7) Excited about attending Mass, the child bounded out of bed on Sunday morning.

M3 EXAMPLES

(M3-adj) The rolling, tumbling, cascading river took him, and he worked hard to stay afloat. (This could also be indicated as M3-ing)

(M3-adj) The sky was a beautiful, bright, blue dome dotted with fluffy white clouds.

(This could also be indicated as an ALLIT)

(M3-ing) Standing, balancing, and grinning, my ten month old brother gleefully reached for my outstretched hands.

(M3-ly) My dance teacher told me to move gracefully, confidently, and joyfully.

(M3-vb) He walked across the bridge, looked out over the edge, and smiled with happiness.

(M3-n) The boys visited shelters, orphanages, and retirement homes in their mission to bring Christmas joy to those who might be lonely.

(M3-n) She won the accolades of her peers, the admiration of her siblings, and the approval of her parents when her book hit the bestseller list. (noun phrases)

(M3 intj) And just like that . . . pow, zap, bang, she disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

(M3 vss) Rain pounded on the windows. Thunder violently boomed and crashed. Lightning streaked the sky.

OWLs

• Anaphora: Repeats a word or phrase at the start of every line or passage. (I Have a Dream - MLK)

• Anthimeria: Uses one part of speech in place of another. BEWARE! It can easily become silly and is often overused.

• Antiphrasis: uses a word with an opposite meaning for ironic or humorous effect. "We named our chihuahua Goliath."

• Appositive: places a noun or noun phrase next to another noun for descriptive purposes.

• Chiasmus: reverses of the order of words in the second of two parallel phrases or sentences. A chiasmus reverses grammatical structure, not necessarily w/ the exact same words.

* Antimetabole: reverses the EXACT SAME words in the sentence

• Epanalepsis: repeats a similar grouping of words at the beginning of a sentence and at the end. The repeated words act as "bookends.

• Epistrophe (AKA: Epiphora): repeats ending words (Gettysburg Address)

• Epizeuxis: repeats one word for emphasis

• Hyperbole: greatly exaggerates something for emphasis

• Metanoia: corrects or qualifies a statement to strengthen it or soften it in some way.

• Personification: is figurative.

It projects characteristics that normally belong only to humans onto inanimate objects, animals, deities, or forces of nature. Personification is figurative.

• Anthropomorphism is literal.

With anthropomorphism the non-human entities actually do human things. (Thomas the Tank Engine, Winnie the Pooh, Peter Rabbit)

Thomas Pain - Common Man Quote

“THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated”

https://www.ushistory.org/paine/commonsense/

What is IEW's Excellence in Writing?

Excellence in Writing successfully equips students with tools to significantly improve their writing skills. Its methods not only build written and oral communication skills, but also improve critical thinking.

Excellence in Writing methods can also be used across the curriculum to reinforce content area. Students learn to write as they write to learn. With diligent and consistent effort there is a wonderful transformation from immature or even reluctant writers to competent, confident communicators. It is possible to teach students with very high writing aptitude alongside those with undeveloped writing aptitude, and the system works magnificently at both ends of that spectrum.

Lessons in our class are carefully planned to be steps toward more sophisticated writing. Lessons build from week to week and each lesson is prepared with differing levels of challenge in order to accommodate expertise levels.

The Story Sequence Chart

This outline format is different from the ones you have learned so far. In Units I & II you took notes for each sentence in the source text, and in Unit IV you took notes from facts. In Unit III, you will use The Story Sequence Chart to ask yourself questions about the story. Put the answers in a three paragraph outline format.

Section I introduces the reader to the main characters and setting. Stories usually begin by introducing their readers to the time and place of the story. This is called the setting. Also at their beginnings, stories must introduce their readers to the main people (or animals) of the story- the characters.

Section II contains the conflict and plot. For a story to be interesting, it must move into the next crucial element – theconflict. This is the problem, want or need of the main character(s). Stories without some sort of problem to overcome, or need to be met, are not very interesting. Most of the action of the story is simply how the conflict is dealt with- what the characters do, say, think or feel with respect to the conflict. This is the plot.

Section III concludes with the climax, resolution and theme and this is usually the most interesting part of the story. If there is a conflict or a problem, there must be a way to solve it! We call the event that leads to the problem being solved the climax. Then come the results. The resolution shows what happens after the climax. By the end of the story, the characters and the reader have learned a lesson. What is the last line of a fable always named? Yes, the moral. Another word for moral is the theme of the story.

Here is the chart about the sequence of stories:

The Story Sequence Chart

Who is in the story?

What are they like?

Where did they live, go?

When did they live?

What was their situation?

II.

What was the problem?

-happened?

-did they think?

-did they say?

-did they do?
III.

Climax

How was the problem solved?

What was the moral or message?
*Title Repeats Key Words of Last Sentence

A parent review from Curriculum Choice

Writing with Their Own Voice

It has always been important to me to have my children develop their own voice in their writing, to have the paper sound like it is from their own thoughts and reasoning. IEW has helped my boys use the IEW tools in a way that makes writing in their own words easier. At first the checklists provided with the lessons seemed cumbersome and awkward. They did not enjoy all the “box checking.” For instance, as the sentence openers are introduced they had to go back and rewrite a lot of their sentences to make sure they had used each sentence opener tool. At first, the editing process was tedious and we all loathed that time of the week when we would review the writing and the checklist together. Progressively, each time we used the sentence opener tools in our writing, it became more natural. Now as the boys write an essay they can easily insert the sentence openers as they go along, they are on their mind. By incorporating the various style tools taught in the program, they have found their writing voice.

Literature Component of Class

Books We Have Read Through the Years:

The Incredible Journey, by Sheila Burnford

The Red Pony, by John Steinbeck (short story)

Kisses from Kate (excerpts), by Katie Davis

The Underneath, by Kathi Appelt

Snow Treasure, by Marie McSwigan

The Ransom of Red Chief, by O. Henry (short story)

The Secret Garden, by Francis Hodgeson Burnett

The Witch of Blackbird Pond, by Elizabeth George Speare

The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster

The Cask of Amontillado, by Edgar Allan Poe

The Indian in the Cupboard, by Lynne Reid Banks

The Magician's Nephew, By C.S. Lewis

The Giver, by Lois Lowry

Holes, by Louis Sachar

Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L'Engle (4-14)

~~~> Qs for Wrinkle in Time

~~~> Lagniappe for A Wrinkle in Time

The Sign of the Beaver, by Elizabeth George Speare

Alex O'Donnell and the 40 Cyberthieves, by Regina Doman

Caldecott Winners

2018: Wolf in the Snow, by Matthew Cordell (Feiwel and Friends/Macmillan)
2017: Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat by Javaka Steptoe (Little, Brown and Company, a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.)
2016: Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear, illustrated by Sophie Blackall, written by Lindsay Mattick (Little, Brown/Hachette)
2015: The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend by Dan Santat (Little, Brown and Company, a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.)
2014: Locomotive by Brian Floca (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing)
2013: This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen (Candlewick Press)
2012: A Ball for Daisy by Chris Raschka (Schwartz & Wade Books, an imprint of Random House Children's Books, a division of Random House, Inc.)
2011: A Sick Day for Amos McGee, illustrated by Erin E. Stead, written by Philip C. Stead (Neal Porter Books/Roaring Brook Press, an imprint of Macmillan Children's Publishing Group)
2010: The Lion & the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney (Little, Brown and Company)
2009: The House in the Night, illustrated by Beth Krommes, written by Susan Marie Swanson (Houghton Mifflin Company)
2008: The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic)
2007: Flotsam by David Wiesner (Clarion)
2006: The Hello, Goodbye Window, illustrated by Chris Raschka, written by Norton Juster (Michael di Capua/Hyperion)
2005: Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes (Greenwillow Books/HarperCollinsPublishers)
2004: The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein (Roaring Brook Press/Millbrook Press)
2003: My Friend Rabbit by Eric Rohmann (Roaring Brook Press/Millbrook Press)
2002: The Three Pigs by David Wiesner (Clarion/Houghton Mifflin)
2001: So You Want to Be President?, illustrated by David Small, written by Judith St. George (Philomel Books)
2000: Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback (Viking)
1999: Snowflake Bentley, illustrated by Mary Azarian, written by Jacqueline Briggs Martin (Houghton)
1998: Rapunzel by Paul O. Zelinsky (Dutton)
1997: Golem by David Wisniewski (Clarion)
1996: Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann (Putnam)
1995: Smoky Night, illustrated by David Diaz; text: Eve Bunting (Harcourt)
1994: Grandfather's Journey, illustrated by Allen Say; text: edited by Walter Lorraine (Houghton)
1993: Mirette on the High Wire by Emily Arnold McCully (Putnam)
1992: Tuesday by David Wiesner (Clarion Books)
1991: Black and White by David Macaulay (Houghton)
1990: Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China by Ed Young (Philomel)
1989: Song and Dance Man, illustrated by Stephen Gammell; text: Karen Ackerman (Knopf)
1988: Owl Moon, illustrated by John Schoenherr; text: Jane Yolen (Philomel)
1987: Hey, Al, illustrated by Richard Egielski; text: Arthur Yorinks (Farrar)
1986: The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg (Houghton)
1985: Saint George and the Dragon, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman; text: retold by Margaret Hodges (Little, Brown)
1984: The Glorious Flight: Across the Channel with Louis Bleriot by Alice & Martin Provensen (Viking)
1983: Shadow, translated and illustrated by Marcia Brown; original text in French: Blaise Cendrars (Scribner)
1982: Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg (Houghton)
1981: Fables by Arnold Lobel (Harper)
1980: Ox-Cart Man, illustrated by Barbara Cooney; text: Donald Hall (Viking)
1979: The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses by Paul Goble (Bradbury)
1978: Noah's Ark by Peter Spier (Doubleday)
1977: Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions, illustrated by Leo & Diane Dillon; text: Margaret Musgrove (Dial)
1976: Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears, illustrated by Leo & Diane Dillon; text: retold by Verna Aardema (Dial)
1975: Arrow to the Sun by Gerald McDermott (Viking)
1974: Duffy and the Devil, illustrated by Margot Zemach; retold by Harve Zemach (Farrar)
1973: The Funny Little Woman, illustrated by Blair Lent; text: retold by Arlene Mosel (Dutton)
1972: One Fine Day, retold and illustrated by Nonny Hogrogian (Macmillan)
1971: A Story A Story, retold and illustrated by Gail E. Haley (Atheneum)
1970: Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig (Windmill Books)
1969: The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship, illustrated by Uri Shulevitz; text: retold by Arthur Ransome (Farrar)
1968: Drummer Hoff, illustrated by Ed Emberley; text: adapted by Barbara Emberley (Prentice-Hall)
1967: Sam, Bangs & Moonshine by Evaline Ness (Holt)

1966: Always Room for One More, illustrated by Nonny Hogrogian; text: Sorche Nic Leodhas, pseud. [Leclair Alger] (Holt)
1965: May I Bring a Friend?, illustrated by Beni Montresor; text: Beatrice Schenk de Regniers (Atheneum)
1964: Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak (Harper)
1963: The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats (Viking)
1962: Once a Mouse, retold and illustrated by Marcia Brown (Scribner)
1961: Baboushka and the Three Kings, illustrated by Nicolas Sidjakov; text: Ruth Robbins (Parnassus)
1960: Nine Days to Christmas, illustrated by Marie Hall Ets; text: Marie Hall Ets and Aurora Labastida (Viking)
1959: Chanticleer and the Fox, illustrated by Barbara Cooney; text: adapted from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales by Barbara Cooney (Crowell)
1958: Time of Wonder by Robert McCloskey (Viking)
1957: A Tree Is Nice, illustrated by Marc Simont; text: Janice Udry (Harper)
1956: Frog Went A-Courtin', illustrated by Feodor Rojankovsky; text: retold by John Langstaff) (Harcourt)
1955: Cinderella, or the Little Glass Slipper, illustrated by Marcia Brown; text: translated from Charles Perrault by Marcia Brown (Scribner)
1954: Madeline's Rescue by Ludwig Bemelmans (Viking)
1953: The Biggest Bear by Lynd Ward (Houghton)
1952: Finders Keepers, illustrated by Nicolas, pseud. (Nicholas Mordvinoff); text: Will, pseud. [William Lipkind] (Harcourt)
1951: The Egg Tree by Katherine Milhous (Scribner)
1950: Song of the Swallows by Leo Politi (Scribner)
1949: The Big Snow by Berta & Elmer Hader (Macmillan)
1948: White Snow, Bright Snow, illustrated by Roger Duvoisin; text: Alvin Tresselt (Lothrop)
1947: The Little Island, illustrated by Leonard Weisgard; text: Golden MacDonald, pseud. [Margaret Wise Brown] (Doubleday)
1946: The Rooster Crows by Maud & Miska Petersham (Macmillan)
1945: Prayer for a Child, illustrated by Elizabeth Orton Jones; text: Rachel Field (Macmillan)
1944: Many Moons, illustrated by Louis Slobodkin; text: James Thurber (Harcourt)
1943: The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton (Houghton)
1942: Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey (Viking)
1941: They Were Strong and Good , by Robert Lawson (Viking)
1940: Abraham Lincoln by Ingri & Edgar Parin d'Aulaire (Doubleday)
1939: Mei Li by Thomas Handforth (Doubleday)
1938: Animals of the Bible, A Picture Book, illustrated by Dorothy P. Lathrop; text: selected by Helen Dean Fish (Lippincott)

Vocabulary List 2018-19

accosted - boldly addressed or confronted

accounts - reasons

adroitly - skillfully and nimbly

affronted - offended, embarrassed

blithely - in a joyous, merry manner

buck - a male deer

capital - serious, punishable by death

carefree - without anxiety or worry

champion - first among contestants

composedly - calmly

convivial - fond of feasting and merry company

dauntless - without fear

despoiled -

displaced - lacking a home; removed from proper place

earnestly -

expertise - expert skill or knowledge

famished - extremely hungry

fanciful - led by imagination & feeling not reason

glades - open spaces in a forest

hastened - hurried; moved with haste

hot-blooded - excitable and quick to act

impulsively - quickly and rashly

insatiable -

lavishly - lavishly

narrowly - with little room to spare

opponent - person on the opposing side

oppression -

plundered -

rambled - wandered in a leisurely manner

readily - quickly and easily

reigned - ruled with sole authority

reserved - saved for future use

retorted - replied in similar manner

seethed - burned with anger

shoddy - of poor quality

succor -

taunted - ridiculed, made fun of

top-notch - outstanding; superior

toppled - fell or tumbled down

vendetta - a vengeful blood feud

vowed -

wager - bet

wrath - fierce anger

yeomen -

2016-17 Vocabulary List

2016 (set of 15 words)

peculiar

irrepressible

adjacent

somber

famished

idly

vigorously

bewildered

derision

malicious

engrossed

wistfully

fastidiously

debonair

briskly

2017 (second set of 15 words)

jovial

disparaging

rambunctious

colander

gnarled

rebuked (verb)

nonchalant

docile

conscientious

unprecedented

prestige

arrogant

ominous

judicious

currycomb

2017 (third set of 15 words)

chiasmus

personification

anthropomorphism

metaphor

simile

analogy

alliteration

assonance

hyperbole

oxymoron

poetic justice

bildungsroman

ad hominem

foreshadowing

haiku

March 2017 (fourth set of words) in progress

fathom

aquatic

pliant

amber

diadem

nurturance

comely

palatial

bequeathed

singular

rendering

venerable

sanction

luminous

impending

yearned

2015-16 Vocabulary List

ad hominem

ambiguity

anagram

anecdote

anthropomorphism

antithesis

assonance

bildungsroman

cacophony

cadence

caricature

catharsis

cliche

colloquialism

conflict

corroborate

disparate

doppelganger

ellipsis

epilogue

epiphany

extrapolate

fallacy

flashback

foreshadowing

genre

homophone

hyperbole

idiom

innuendo

juxtaposition

laconic

mood

motif

nemesis

non sequitur

onomatopoeia

oxymoron

parody

pedantic

plot

poetic justice

point of view

pragmatic

protagonist

quintessential

refutation

rhetorical question

salient

sarcasm

satire

self fulfilling prophecy

spurious

symbolism

syntax