CE 9

Date: 2/11/12

Name:

Current Events Journal

Title:  Education gap grows between rich and poor

Author: Sabrina Tavernise

Source: New York Times

The topic of the article is education

The main idea of the article is: The main idea of this article is that the gap for the type of education between high income and low income people has been wider.

(Stated)

The author’s purpose for writing this article is to The author wrote this article to inform the reader of the education imbalance that has been happening due to the cause of the economy.

The author’s perspective in this article is objective because the author is giving facts about how the high income kids have a better education than the lower income, for example the high income kids spend 400 hours more outside out of their homes than lower income kids, maybe to daycare, museums.

The pattern of organization of the article is argument and support because the author talks about how the gap between high income and low income families and supports it with statistics from different people.

The reason the author chose this pattern for the article is to better state the article as a facts and statistics and not as a story.

The text features included in the article are:  Dashes to look at in between comments or additional information. Also that it could mean that it is giving the meaning of a word or phrase.

This article is about (a summary in your own words) this article is about how the people are now being divided because of their economy, for example the high income and low income, and before it was before race and that gap has gotten shorter while the economy problem gap has widened.

The significance (importance) of this article is that education is a really important factor in the American country, so if kids don’t get education their chances of success in the future will look slim.

What I learned from this article is the economy now is actually affecting the imbalance in education to the people in middle class and lower class.

What I liked about this article  that it included education for the topic and it usually doesn’t .

What I did not like about it was that it didn’t really hook me because it had boring tone of voice.

Who should read this article and why I think people in the middle class or low incomers should read this because it will give them a hint of the outside world of their class.  

This article reminds me of (text-to-self) how when I was a little kid my mom used to put me in swimming lessons and soccer.

(Text-to-text) I don’t remember a book or text that relates to this.

(Text-to-world)  The U.S is in a real big crisis  with the economy so this might be the cause of the effect of the education gaps between rich and poot.

New vocabulary I learned

Word Context Clues Meaning

1. Brackets ““With income declines more severe in the lower brackets, there’s a good chance the recession may have widened the gap,” a support

2. Aggravated “Researchers said that based on experiences during past recessions, the recent downturn was likely to have aggravated the trend.” Make worse

3. Trend “Researchers said that based on experiences during past recessions, the recent downturn was likely to have aggravated the trend.” style

RJ#24

Dear Mrs.Zrihen,


I am reading the book called The Nick of time: the Adventure Through Time by Ted Bell. This has been a pretty interesting book in my own opinion. A passage that I thought was interesting was on page 43: "The interior of the Cave was plunged into darkness. And that burst from Katie's throat filled the darkness with her terror." i picked this passage because it made me go into suspense of questions, because I didn't know if Nick, the protagonist and Kate's  big brother, had left Kate, a protagonist, alone or he got captured or something.Some strategies that used before reading this book was make a prediction based on the details I have been given.  Another strategy was to skim and scan for text features, I found only the picture in the title of each chapter and the table of contents. The genre is fiction and the sub-genre is historical fiction because this was based on the Nazi war in World War II. The characters are Nick and Kate who are the protagonists. The antagonist is a red bird based on what I have read. The foil is Nick's parents. 
The setting is on an island in the English channel named Greybeard island, this is taken during day and night. At the beginning of the story it was a rush during a tremendous thunderstorm. The conflict is that Nick and Kate have found a chest that contains a time machine and he has to go back in time to help is ancestor. The tone is adventurous. The mood is interested. I don;t know the moral. The point of view is third person. The pattern of organization is time order. The author is biased in this story and was to entertain the reader. 


I would rate this book 9/10 because it is good but needs some adjustments.


                Sincerely, Juan Diaz

CE #8

Date: 2/4/12

Name: Juan Diaz 702

Current Events Journal

Title:  Warm and Furry, but They Pack a Toxic Punch

Author:  Natalie Angier

Source: The New York Times.

The topic of the article is Animals

The main idea of the article is:  The main idea of this article is that there is an animal in Africa called the African Crested Rat which is rare because its most used defense is to use venom, so it is explained how scientists think the animal could have acquired such traits.

 (Implied)

The author’s purpose for writing this article is to Inform of the defenses of this new animal named the African crested rat, and while the author wrote it he included other defenses of the animals that use the similar defense as the animal for example, the skunks or Capuchin monkeys.

The author’s perspective in this article is objective because in the story many examples of animals with similar defenses are given to the reader, and also there’s the reason that the author is describing a subject not arguing about a topic.

The pattern of organization of the article is Compare and Contrast

The reason the author chose this pattern for the article is to give the topic in this article which is the African Crested Rat and it started giving examples and comparing them to the African Crested Rat, for instance the snakes with the venom.

The text features included in the article are:  The text features in this article are the title which is mostly used to give the main idea and in this case it doesn’t it just gives the description of the animal. Another is that in the text the author is inferring phrases the animals might say when in a situation.

This article is about (a summary in your own words) this article is about how the African crested Rat is a species that is rare because with one little bite to his skin there is enough venom to kill a predator or get him sick. Also those scientists think that an earlier version of this animal might have rubbed their skin on venomous trees, hence the venom got trapped there for later use.

The significance (importance) of this article is this article is important because it is mentioning the defense of an animal that isn’t commonly mentioned and how it might have a similar defense that most animals use like snakes or frogs; however the African Crested Rat’s only defense is venom while snakes are teeth and frogs are their legs. This could have been a sign of evolution in the species.

What I learned from this article is  The topic that I learned in this article was that Capuchin Monkeys go through excruciating pain just to have parasites be prevented from entering their body. Also that the most common reason that skunks are beginning to be seen as road kills are because they have thought that cars are predators so they defend themselves.

What I liked about this article What I liked about this article was that most articles I have read for current events are mostly about politics or other humanly issues while this article is more for science then the others are.

What I did not like about it What I didn’t like about this article is that when I saw the article and read the beginning paragraph I inferred that this article was going to be about the African Crested Rat while most of it was just describing other defenses of a variety of different animals.

Who should read this article and why  I think anyone who is interested in exotic animals would read this because they can be informed of it and become even more interested I in it.

This article reminds me of (text-to-self) I would relate this book to myself because in my opinion if there is a conflict that I know is way out of hand I would run instead of stay and win a losing fight.

This article relates to me because (Text-to-text) this article reminds me of a book I once read about how some dogs react to specific moments like being frightened or being in an action moment.

(Text-to-world) This article reminds of how we humans have our own way of defending ourselves for example the hormone of adrenaline and the Fight or flight response in which to run away or stay and fight.

New vocabulary I learned

Word Context Clues Meaning

1. Wrests   “And from bark wrests such bite it makes lions fall over”   To Twist

2. Anoxic “Skunks and zorilles mimic the sulfurous, anoxic stink of a swamp.”    Toxic, low O2

3.  Thiol “at the heart of skunk spray is thiol, the signature of high hydrogen and low O2…”high in lethal hydrogen and low on oxygen

RJ #23

Dear Mrs.Zrihen,

I just finished the book called Isaac Newton: The greatest scientist of all time. By Margaret J. Anderson. This was actually a pretty good book for a biography. I would recommend this book to Mikey Rogatinsky because since he wants to grow up as a scientist he should learn from past people to know how they became scientists. Overcoming every obstacle and not caring what people said about him he kept on going.

This is a mix of sentences from different paragraphs from page 1 and 2:

“She named him Isaac Newton after his father, but there was no father... Isaac Newton died in October.

Hannah's boy was born early. He was so small she could have fitted him inside a quart jug. He was so weak that she had to fix a little pillow around his neck to hold his head. On the day he was born, two women who were helping Hannah went over to the neighbor's house to fetch some medicine. They saw no need to hurry. They were so sure that little Isaac would not live until they got back that they rested on the wall"

Even though this was a pretty long paragraph I think this was a very important passage because it told that Isaac Newton was very weak when his was born, but look at him now! He's one of the world's most famous scientists. I think this is a very important passage to the reader because it makes you see how awful most of the lives of great scientists began. 

Some strategies I used before I read this book was to see the cover and the synopsis to see what the story might be about to confirm it later on in the story. The prediction I made was that this story was going to be about Isaac Newton and his harsh journey to becoming a scientist. Another strategy I used before reading this book was to skim and scan for text features that help the reader understand what's going on in the story. I mostly found illustrations about places in the story. Some strategies I used during reading were to make predictions about what was going to happen next in the story. The other strategy I used was to look for vocabulary that I didn't know, but I can't name any right now. Some after reading strategies I used were to confirm any other predictions I did and to reread parts I didn't understand.

The genre of this book is biography nonfiction because it's talking about Isaac Newton, but not himself. The topic of this story is to think because since Isaac Newton thought about many things he was able to solve more problems. The main idea of this book was that Isaac's childhoods was bad, but he was able to go forward to inventing new things and explaining others with other scientist's work. This main idea is both stated and implied because at the beginning of the book it states that his childhood was hard, but when you go far more into the story it tells you that he invented stuff. Another title I would give this book is " Isaac Newton: the world's thought man," because he thought a lot in his office and when he was a child. 

Some supporting details of this story was that once it said that Isaac Newton invented the telescope with two mirrors to see better this detail is factual, another one is that in the beginning Isaac had a rough childhood where he didn't have many friends and wasn't that liked this detail was sensory, it also states that his father was killed and his mother had left him with his grandma, but he was able to move forward when he went to grammar school where he learned Latin, finally this detail is factual.  

The essential message of this story is that you should never give up on you dreams and that if you have a problem keep it in the back of your mind and think about it when you can. 

Once Isaac Newton was very good at thinking most of his time into problems and curiosities that were sometimes lethal, and to the effect  he was able to know the travel of light and color, the laws of gravity, make a telescope, and how the moon was attracted to the Earth. I would compare Aristotle with Copernicus because they both studied outer space, but I would contrast them because Aristotle thought that Earth was the center of the universe but Copernicus disagreed and theorized that the Earth was actually going around the sun. 

Some text features I found in the story were some illustrations of places, like London where Isaac stayed most of his time and joined the social society. Also illustrations of people who were certain people the book was talking about at that time. Another one was italic writing to emphasize on words like book titles, names, ETC.The other text feature were that in the end of the book there were experiments that Isaac Newton did, which helped the reader understand his creativity. The last text feature was that in the end there was a glossary for certain words.

The pattern of organization of this story is Chronological order because it was time order from when he was born to when he died. The author's purpose was to inform the reader about Isaac Newton. There was no author's perspective. The P.O.V is third person. I couldn't find any figurative language.

I went to the library to look about Isaac Newton and it was related to the book. Also the internet and I tried not to go on Wikipedia. Finally, I looked at pictures of the places where Isaac was to see if they match with the ones in the book.

I didn't really see any unknown words in the book. 

I could compare this book to me because I always think about what is happening around the world and about problems. I could compare this book to another book " Alexander Fleming: the founder of penicillin." I would compare this book to real life because some people have to think about problems about the world and improving real life, for example the new cars of 2012 and the inventing of people that are rich actually going to space as a tour not a mission. The real life and the scientists have evolved a lot 

I would rate this book 8/10 because it was really good, however the author could have gone better when writing it.

Sincerely, JUAN 702

CE #6

CE #7

Date: 1/28/12

Name: Juan Diaz 702

Current Events Journal

Title: Should driving age is raised to 18: Alarmed by car accidents involving teenagers, a number of states are considering raising the age for getting a license.

Author:  Alex Koroknay-Palicz and Representative John D’ Amico

Source:  New York Times

The topic of the article is Driver’s License

The main idea of the article is: that because there have been many car accidents that include mostly teenagers, so many states have been debating in which to rise the age allowed to have a driver’s license. Also the people in each article are giving a strong argument using strong facts to why either yes or No.

(Stated)

The author’s purpose for writing this article is to Share with the reader the opinions of people corresponding to rising age to 18 to drive.

The author’s perspective in this article is objective because the author gave the opinion of both sides of the matter.

The pattern of organization of the article is Argument and support

The reason the author chose this pattern for the article is to just give the argument given and support it with facts.

The text features included in the article are: The big subheadings that say “yes” and “no.” Also in the end it said of where the author worked for which was National Youth Rights Association. Under the title there’s a subtitle that goes in more with the main idea. The person who sided with the Yes also said that he is a democrat from Illinois.

This article is about (a summary in your own words) how in the United States of America gives permission anyone to get their driver license at the age of 16, however many people in the states have seen that many of the car accidents include a teenagers driving, hence they want to raise the driving age to 18, but other people are debating why not to. For example Alex and Representative John.

The significance (importance) of this article is that for any teenager that wants to earn their driver’s license or anyone less than age that is looking forward to that moment should know that these events could be happening because of the problems with talking or texting while driving the causes these accidents. 

What I learned from this article is that 77 percent of people of all ages more likely kill someone while driving are men. Also that on Dec. 29, 05 four kids went on a night drive and got into an accident. In 1995-2004 30917 people died between 15-17 years old.

What I liked about this article the author gave the opinions of both sides of the story.

What I did not like about it  is that the person who went with the No said that Women should be the only ones who drive and at the beginning it said to be fair, so how is that fair.

Who should read this article and why: any teenager that wants to earn their driver’s license or anyone less than age that is looking forward to that moment should then understand to take driving seriously or the opportunity of driving at 16 will disappear and kids will have to wait 2 more years until then. 

  

This article reminds me of (text-to-self) me being able to do certain things until I am old enough.

(Text-to-text) The amendments that give all laws that can’t be changed.

(Text-to-world) of being able to vote until you’re 18 because people in the country give a certain amount of time before being able to vote.  

New vocabulary I learned

Word Context Clues Meaning

1. Legislation    “That’s why I introduced legislation to raise the driving age….”   A law

2. Controversial “I realize the idea is not controversial, but I could not stand and watch one more person die”                                                                                                               Not everyone agrees to it.

3.  Burdensome   “Raising age may see burdensome to parents and busy teens, but we have to remember that this is a proposal about safety, not convenience”   unfair

Bill Peet: An autobiography

Dear Mrs.Zrihen, 


I finished the book called Bill Peet: An Autobiography. To start this off I would like to say that this is a nonfiction, meaning that it's real, it is an autobiography so the person who wrote this was Bill Peet himself. The topic of this story is Bill Peet, a good artist that worked with Walt Disney in the 1900s, in which he also helped in the making of Dumbo, Pinocchio, and Snow White.


This paragraph that can be found on page 110 made me realize something that I never knew:
"Artists need an atmosphere of poverty, a degree of shabbiness to get into a creative mood."


This quote really made think during my 30 minutes, while I was thinking that I used the during reading strategy of visualizing the text, in which I think that what he meant is that in poverty you can imagine a better life, hence the drawing. This could be important to the reader because it lets the reader know what the author thinks of drawing, to which in my opinion he feels excited, as in a enjoyable mood.
The main idea is that Bill Peet grew up at a decent childhood, however during high school his classes were failed until he went to art school and went for the opportunity for Disney art. This is implied. I think I would this story the title of " The Life of a Disney Artist: Bill Peet."


An example of a chain of events happening for one cause are because a friend of Bill Peet from grade school that made him realize his true purpose... to an ARTIST, the effect of that moment is that he went to art school in which later one went to Disney to draw for famous movies. I would compare Bill Peet to Albert Einstein because they much potential that was able to go by people who made them realize. I would contrast Bill with Dave Gill because Bill likes to sleep early to wake up early, while Dave parties all night.


Some strategies I used before reading this book  was to skim and scan for text features which I mostly found illustrations made by Bill Peet, and quotations from a dialogue, also the title page, publication page, and the opinions from companies.
This story is organized by chronological order because it was obvious because it gave the dates of the times in his life.
Another strategy I used before reading was to make a prediction.


During reading I have already told you one, but the other one is to confirm my predictions. After reading I asked myself what had happened in the story, and do a reader's journal. The author wrote this book to share the story of Bill Peet to the reader in a first person point of view. The essential message is that if you have a talent or you love to do something don't give up on it, but to enlarge that talent for the better being. Some resources I used to check that this story was true was to go online to Disney website to find out for employees. Another was the library and read more books about him. The last was to check credits at the end of movies he drew in.


Some new vocab I learned was shabbiness which means like used or old. I would relate this to my life because I had to research about Walt Disney and found some info on Bill Peet. This is related to another book called Alexander the founder of penicillin because he traveled to get to his destination where he would work. I would compare this to the world because people are misusing their talents and don't take advantage of it.
Some supporting details in this book were that his dad was a mean person who always went home just to take money from his mother, this is both factual because it happened and that he could be a mean person. Another was that when he went to his grandparents house he would always play with his cousins and their dog that needed happiness, this is factual. Another is that he worked with Disney Annex to work on drawing Donald duck, which is factual. The author only gave his point of view of the story and not other people that helped like Dave and his wife Margaret. I really liked how he resisted his teachers that really annoyed him and yelled at him for drawing things that shouldn't be drawn, for example monsters and such.


I would rate this book 9/10 because when I stopped reading I was excited to read more.
                                                          Sincerely,
                                                                 Juan Diaz 702

1001 Things You didn't know You Wanted To Know Rj#20

Dear, Mrs.Zrihen,






I just finished reading the book called 1001 Things You didn't know You Wanted To Know by Anna Mantzaris. Strategy I used to pick this was to figure out why I wasnted to read it, so I read the title and figured out that since it was things most normal wouldn't, but maybe want to know then maybe it is about learn new information internationally. Another strategy I use was the 5 finger rule which means to go to a random page and then look for 3-4 words that I didn't know to figure out if it was right for me and I was able to count 3 words that I didn't understand and I was right that this book was right for me. The mood that I felt with this book is curious because every time I wanted to learn more about a certain topic and the tone of this story was kind of like to teach something to the reader to get in with what is happening in the modern world.

The point of view of this story is third person because of the clue words you might normally find in a third person book. The perspective of the book is unbias because it is not supporting a  certain topic, but talking the same ammount of information to each side of what they are writing. The topic in this story is informative because you get to know what has happened in history, and the theme is informative books help you "updatea' to what's happening.

The strategy I used while reading this book was to look for text features like organizational aids, illustrations, subeheadings ETC. What  I found in the book was a lot of illustrations and some of them with subheadings that explain what is happening. Another strategy is to use context clues for the words that I found while using the 5 finger rule.
Some after reading strategies that I used were to identify the author's purpose into writing the book which I can figure out by using the acronym PIE + T, and the one that I think is it's to inform. Another strategy I used was to make connections of different books that you think re related to this book; I would connect this book to an encyclopedia because it informs you, but the encyclopedia is more specific. The supporting details in the story were factual details. If I would have to rate this book I would rate it 4 out of 5 because of its info. 
  
                                                                      Sincerely,
                                                                          Juan Diaz

Current event # 5

Date: 1/14/12

Name: Juan Diaz

Current Events Journal

Title:  To Preserve History on the Moon, Visitors Are Asked to Tread Lightly

Author:  Kenneth Chang

Source:  New York Times

The topic of the article is space territories

The main idea of the article is: that Dr. O’ Leary and other people are trying to tell the world that if they keep sending rovers or humans up into space they could ruin the footsteps or hardware of the first people who went up into space. (Stated)

The author’s purpose for writing this article is to inform the reader of that U.S and other countries are sending rovers up to the moon and destroying important sites of the Apollo missions.

The author’s perspective in this article is biased because it is giving the positives of not telling the reader the moon and not how it might affect in a bad way.

The pattern of organization of the article is argument and support  

The reason the author chose this pattern for the article is to give the argument

The text features included in the article are:  dashes and quotes to give meanings and the opinions of the people included in the argument.

This article is about (a summary in your own words) how there are countries in the world that are sending people and machines over to the moon and they are stepping through where the first people who went up into space stepped, Neil A. Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, so Dr. O’ Leary is trying to make people not step there.

The significance (importance) of this article is it tells the reader of the countries that could have been stepping on important ground.

What I learned from this article is there where actually more than one Apollo site in the moon. Also that California has artifacts of boots, bags, and an American flag.

What I liked about this article is not only is there important territories here on Earth, but up in space too. 

What I did not like about it was that the author only gave what was good about it; however there could be worse things.

Who should read this article and why any person who thought that the first people that went into space left nothing should read because there are still footprints of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin?

This article reminds me of (text-to-self) my cousin who wants to be in NASA when he is older so he might learn about what is going on.

 (Text-to-text) This reminds me of a book about the stars in outer space and about the forms of it.

 (Text-to-world) the people in this story have regions on the moon that shouldn’t be touch and that’s a national park here on Earth.

New vocabulary I learned

Word Context Clues Meaning

1. Prospect            “Suddenly, the prospect of a new little rover rolling over …”          idea

2. Tranquility         “Lunar X team that declared that it was going to tranquility base” a place on the moon

3. Ruse                  “ … to the Apollo sites as a ruse by the U.S …”        a trick    

The lambkins Rj #20

Dear Mrs.Zrihen,


Now I have finished the book called The Lambkins by Eve Bunting. I have never seen a book so interesting that I wish everybody would read. This is a science fiction book in the fiction genre. I really liked the passage on page 180, the same as last time, it is just that I skipped to the ending:
""I felt in my pocket for John's stone and thought of the angel, flying away from us, flying upward from Earth to heaven.’Thank you,' I whispered.

'You can go home now.'

'We all can go home.'"
This really interested me because it told the reader that the book was over and that the characters were finally safe. 
Some strategies I used before, during and after were to predict based on the first pages, cover and synopsis and to skim and scan for text features. During reading I confirmed my prediction and reread passages that I didn't understand. IN the end I recommended it to someone and asked myself questions.


The problem was that Mrs.Shepherd had captured the kids from the normal world and they have to try to escape. This is character Vs. character. The characters are Kyle,Tanya, Mac, Lulu, and Pippy who are the protagonists. The antagonist is Mrs.Shepherd.
The way the author organized this text was chronological order. The author wrote this to entertain and was biased because it gave the thoughts of only the Lambkins.
The book was kind of suspense in whether the kids will get out. I felt interested all the time.


I would rate this book 10/10 because it was a cliffhanger every second.


 Sincerely, Juan 702

Current event # 4

Date: 1/7/12

Name: Juan Diaz 702

Current Events Journal

Title: Booking a flight to space.

Author: Kenneth Chang

Source: Miami Herald

The topic of the article is traveling to space 

The main idea of the article is: that in this year 2012, the company Virgin Galactic, and other companies is giving the opportunity for people to actually fly up into space. (Stated)

The author’s purpose for writing this article is to inform the reader of the opportunity that is to travel to space like if it was a regular flight.

The author’s perspective in this article is biased because it would only give the pros of going into space not the cons like how the high prices and other problems.

The pattern of organization of the article is argument and support because the author gave the topic of going to outer space and supported it with details.

The reason the author chose this pattern for the article is to give the reader a topic and then start giving information about.

The text features included in the article are: dashes which help give maybe side comments or meanings. Quotes that help state opinions of the people.

This article is about (a summary in your own words) this article is about Virgin galactic and other companies giving the opportunity of going to space.

The significance (importance) of this article is that it lets people know about how new tourism in space.

What I learned from this article is that finally the chance of going up into space is now for normal people.

What I liked about this article is that it explained that people in companies are letting tourists get the chance to go up into space.

What I did not like about it is that it made people pay a lot of money from 10 years before and they can’t go yet.

Who should read this article and why. Maybe people who want to go into space should read this article, so they could be informed. Also people with resistance because there will be sudden changes in gravity.

This article reminds me of (text-to-self) my mom who wanted to be an astronaut, so she can go up into space.

 (Text-to-text) This could be related to the book called “The Great Scientists” by John Fardon because scientists discovered space and so there was research to go there.

 (Text-to-world)I would compare this to the world because normal everyday people payed to go up into space.

New vocabulary I learned

Word Context Clues Meaning

1. Prominent       ‘… Virgin Galactic, the most prominent of the new space tourism…” most known

2. Hefty        “… or go to a travel agent and put down a hefty deposit.”   Expensive, a lot.

3. Allianz     “Allianz, a big insurer, will introduce a new insurance product in 2012”an insurance company

The lambkins Rj #19

Dear Mrs.Zrihen,

I am reading the book called The Lambkins by Eve Bunting. First of all I can tell you that it was really a cliffhanger. I was so consumed with it that I finished it in about 5 hours; I couldn't stop reading. This why I would recommend this book to everyone I know. The passage that I really liked was on page 180: 

"I felt in my pocket for John's stone and thought of the angel, flying away from us, flying upward from Earth to heaven.’Thank you,' I whispered.

'You can go home now.'

'We all can go home.'"

I think that this passage is important to the reader because it tells of how Kyle, the protagonist, believed that the person before him, John, was protecting him and the others( Tanya,Lulu,Mac, and Pippy, a dog) which were all protagonists. Also I picked this passage because it made the ending sound that there was supposed to be more to it, however no.

Some strategies I used before reading were to skim and scan for text features and to predict what was going to happen in the story. During reading I confirmed my predictions and reread. When I finished I recommended it to someone and asked myself questions about the book. 

The genre is science because it has stuff that is science related that will never happen. The characters are mentioned above and the antagonist is Mrs. Shepherd, the foils are really Kyle's teacher and nobody else. The setting was at Mrs. Shepherd’s house day and night with sunny conditions. The conflict is that Mrs. Shepherd injected the people into tiny people and they have to get out before she keeps them there. This is a Man vs. Man conflict and it's external.

The tone the author had was like being trapped because of the characters being captured. I felt pretty excited during reading this book. The moral is not to trust everybody at the exact moment. Theme is companionship because the tiny people stayed together. This book was first person because I read the words I, me, myself, mine. This story was organized by chronological/ time order.

Eve Bunting wrote this book to entertain the reader and she was only one-sided.

I would rate this book 10/10 because it was very exciting.

Sincerely, Juan 702  

Ridiculous knock knocks RJ# 18

Dear Mrs.Zrihen,

I just finished reading the book called Ridiculous Knock Knocks by Chris Tait. It is a pretty short, humor book that I think should be recommended to little kids because of the silly, yet classic, knock knock jokes. To start off the book was actually organized as a listing book, hence the different knock jokes with different topics. A joke/passage that I want to share with you is on page 69.

“Knock-Knock. Who's there? Plane! Plane who? Plane dumb won't help you now!"

This passage interested me because I just wanted to show you a joke from the book. This could be important to the reader because it shows that the jokes won't be funny, however it makes you get the feeling of how silly it is.

Some strategies I used before reading this book were to look for text features, for example the chapters led alphabetically from A-Z. Another was to predict what would happen in the book and my prediction was in general, that I would be about random topics each joke and I was right. During reading the book I actually reread some parts because I needed to understand the joke. Another one was to confirm my prediction which was correct.

There is no main character because it is just jokes, also no setting, conflict, and plot structure. The author's purpose is to entertain the reader. The author didn't take sides, so there is no perspective. The theme is funny, and the tone is hilarious. I felt funny in the book.

After reading the book I recommended it to someone and asked the jokes in the book to my friends.

I would rate this book 6/10 because it wasn't all that funny just silly.

                               Sincerely, Juan 702

Real Classy: silly school jokes RJ#17

Dear Mrs.Zrihen,




I am now reading the book called Real Classy: Silly School Jokes by Rick and Ann Walton. This a humor book because it really tells jokes about things in school and other subjects. The author organized this book with question and answer  because it asked a question then answered it with a twist.


I couldn't find a passage because there is only questions and answers for this. Before reading this book I first looked at the front cover to see if this book was actually humor, and it was. Also I looked for text features in the book, for example there are illustrations for some jokes. During reading I actually reread the jokes that I liked the most. Also I asked myself the joke question before reading the answer. After I was done with the book I thought about what were some things that happened in the book AND to recommend it to everyone. I would recommend this book because it is really funny so people can enjoy.


This book is in the angle of second person because the author is talking to the reader. There are no main settings and characters just question and answer. I felt outstanding while reading this book because it made me happy. I think the author felt funny when writing the jokes.
Since this book is question and answer than there is no conflict involved, the author wrote this book to entertain people with the jokes he made. The author's perspective is unknown for it is only question and answer.


I would rate this book 8/10 because some of the jokes weren't that funny.


sincerely, Juan 702 

Kingdom keepers: Disney after dark RJ 16

Dear Mrs.Zrihen,

Today I finished the book called Kingdom Keepers: Disney after dark by Ridley Pearson. Just so you know this reader's journal might be sort of short because most of the information that needs to be included is in the last one.

Just like before, OUTSTANDING book, it made me go from action/adventure to suspense and mystery. It really made me feel in the case of mystery and a problem coming on. This is a fantasy book because it really is not real in any way except for the certain parts of the real world, for example, light made humans when they got to sleep?! I mean this author really had an expansive imagination. I already told you my before reading strategies, however I decided to use some other ones, for instance to define new vocabulary, which at this moment I haven't remembered any yet. In addition to that is that I revised each chapter with caution just in case I missed anything. In the end I actually told my dad to test me about the book and to give him a summary about it, also to recommend it to the perfect person.

Last time I did a passage on the first page and now the last page, 325. "As they spun in celebration, Wayne returned to the coffee table. There he picked up the black remote. And he pressed the button."

That was it, just that sentence, when I finished, I was asking myself, " why is this happening? It can't finish like this? Did they end like this?" It's like those stories that you want that happy ending that wraps everything up, nevertheless this gave the mystery to want to keep reading the books.

I remember telling you the characters on the last RJ, the conflict again is that the Overtakers are conquering Disney and the DHIs, Disney host interactive and Daylight hologram imaging, have to stop them before it's too late. This story is Man, vs supernatural because the DHIs are kind of ghosts and you see maleficent, the witch from "Sleeping Beauty." This a story that's is used in chronological order, since it has the specific days and chronological words, like next, after, Etc.

Th real main setting in the story is at Disney's Magic kingdom, with the time being mostly night, barely in the day because the kids turn into DHIs  when they go to sleep. The moral of the story is to tell your parents about what might be happening that you might think it's strange,hence tell your parents to solve it. 

This author did an incredibly, amazing job writing this amusing book to entertain the reader. Based on the book I can infer that the author wrote the book in a one-sided way, biased, because he didn't inflict the Overtakers opinion to this conflict.

In the end just in case you know some of the information you might need is in the last reader's journal. I would give this book a ten out of ten because it was a cliffhanger all the way.

                     sincerely, Juan 702

Current event #3 12/10/11

Date:12/10/11
Name:Juan Diaz 702
Current Events Journal

Title: Animal shelter's behavior experts face life and death decisions
Author: John Owens
Source: Miami herald
The topic of the article is animal shelters
The main idea of the article is: (stated)that at the anti-cruelty society shelter in Chicago, where Karen Okura does the Asses-A-Pet method to figure out the dog's behavior.
The author’s purpose for writing this article is to teach the reader how the Asses-A-Pet method works and why some people don't think it's the best idea.
The author’s perspective in this article is unbiased because it gives the cons and pros of the asses-a-pet method.
The pattern of organization of the article is argument and support
The reason the author chose this pattern for the article is to give an argument about the Asses-A-Pet method and support it.
The text features included in the article are:Capitalization helps by  letting the author know if that's a specific name, quotation helps by letting the author know a sarcastic way of the action, and the URL helps by givng the website where the info was found.
This article is about (a summary in your own words) Karen Okura, boss of the Anti-Cruelty society in Chicago, explains what the Asses-A-Pet is and how it helps, however some scientists think it is more subjective.
The significance (importance) of this article is to let people know how people at shelters know the kind of dog they receive and to match it with someone else.
What I learned from this article is that the Asses-A-Pet method is a dog being checked by a behavioral scientist.
What I liked about this article is that it gave both the perspective of the cons and pros.
What I did not like about it is nothing.
Who should read this article and why? People who want to know how lost dogs get checked and all of that before the adoption, or even be adoption.
This article reminds me of (text-to-self) a dog that my family lost for leaving the door open and it become a stray, so maybe a shelter found it.
(text-to-text) This reminds me of a book called Pet trouble: runaway retriever by T.T Sutherland.
(text-to-world) In Moscow there are a lot of stray dogs everywhere that they have been cooperating with people on the street.
New vocabulary I learned
Word                Context Clues                                                                             Meaning
1. euthanize         " those who pass move on, but those who fail get euthanize"         To put to death.
2.condemns       "is now a weapons that condemns the average dog"                      to put in punishment
3.welfare             "Okura was paying attention to the advances in animal welfare"      health

Kingdom keepers: Disney after dark RJ 15

Dear Mrs.Zrihen,


 I am reading the book called Kingdom Keepers: Disney after dark by Ridley Pearson. I have read this book over the summer and since I plan to read "kingdom keepers II" I first have to know the plot from the first one to understand the second... well that's what I think I should do.

I picked this book to read because of the cover and how it was all gloomy yet colors that make stand out, also Eitan recommended it because he had already read this one, the second, and the third, so I asked him if he liked, and he did, he told me some of the parts in the second book and it sounded so interesting. The genre of the book was Fiction and the subgenre was fantasy because in the cover page there’s a castle and I inferred that since it is about Disney, then it is fantasy. The topic of the book is Mystery, and the theme of the story is friendship. A before reading strategy that I used was to preview the text – or skim and scan- for text features such as the title, illustrations, headings, how the writing is made, graphic aids, or anything that can help me understand the story I am reading, in this case I saw the table of contents, and I confirmed that I was going to read a book about things happening in the Disney park after it closes. Another strategy I used before starting to read the book was to identify text features such as print features; organization aids, ETC. what I found were some italic writing, and dialogue between the characters.

The conflict in the story was that the DHI have to protect the Disney Park from the overtakers led by Maleficent. The story is Man vs. supernatural because the DHI have to take on pirates, witches, ETC. when they are in Disney. The main characters in this story are: Finn, Charlene, Maybeck, Philby, and Willa are the protagonists, while the antagonist is Maleficent. The foils in the story are the other over takers, the mom and the dad of Finn, and the people at Disney. The point of view of this story is third person because of the clue words like he, she, they, it, ETC. The pattern of organization is chronological order because you see the clue words of next, later, after. The author’s purpose in writing this book is to entertain because of the genre( which is fiction) and how everything is not real and I enjoyed it. If I was in the character’s shoes I would have to tell my mom and dad about the secret of becoming a hologram every time I go to sleep, so they could help with my problem and solve it out. The author was very descriptive in scenes where the characters are all alone for example Finn Whitman alone near a lamppost near the castle in central Disney, also there were certain scenes where I felt the book come alive.

A strategy I use while I was reading the story was to predict and confirm which is used to make an inference and see if you were correct, I predicted that Maleficent wasn’t going to be defeated because the DHI were new at this I also predicted that Jez was going to be a fake friends and betray the DHIs in the end,. Another strategy I used was to reread  for confusing parts in the story.

A strategy I used when I was done with the book was to confirm my predictions while I was reading  like the first one; I was correct and the second I was wrong. The next strategy I used was to interpret a text feature that I found at the beginning of each chapter: a brush, which could the author writing the story, maybe.

A passage that really standed out was the first page, I am in chapter 20 page 172, but this one interested me the most:

"He found himself standing next to town square, in the heart of magic kingdom. In his pajamas. How'd he gotten here, he had no idea. His last memory was climbing into bed-- it felt like only minutes earlier."

This passage is important to the reader because it gives the setting and some description of the main character, Finn. I was interested because this was where all the mystery began, when I first read it it hooked me instantly.

I would recommend this book to everyone because of its hook and entertainment. I would rate this book 10/10.

                                                                                                              Sincerely,                                                                                                        Juan Diaz

A dark brown dog RJ 14

Dear Mrs.Zrihen,


I just finished the story called A dark brown dog by Stephen Crane. This was actually a pretty good story to read and I would actually recommend this book to everyone, and that includes anyone who reads this journal. I found a good paragraph on the last page: "So the dog prospered. He developed a large bark, which came wondrously from such a small rug of a dog. He ceased to howl persistently at night. Sometimes, indeed, in his sleep, he would utter little yells, as from pain, but that occurred, no doubt, when in his dreams he encountered huge flaming dogs who threatened him dire fully."
Before I read this book the cover page took my attention from the start and it was many people crowding around one kid (which was actually holding a dog, as it said in the story,) therefore I inferred that this book would include a kid who must have done a great deed to the town, I was DEAD wrong. I also thought about the title" a dark brown dog" it interested me because it could have been about anything, so it gave the mystery. While I was reading I SO had to reread many parts in the books to actually understand it. I also learned new vocabulary like the word erect which means to stand upright.
After I finished I asked myself questions on what happened in the story AND who to recommend this book to.
I was pretty tired last week, nevertheless I picked a short story, fiction. It's a short story because it only has like two characters and not that many information. There were two main characters the child, which didn't have that much info about him, and the dog, a tiny brown dog. They are the protagonists and the antagonist is the dad who starts kicking the dog. The dog changed throughout the story by changing from a tiny dog to a full grown dog. The king had to live with the dog. This story is Man vs. society because the conflict is about the kid trying to protect the dog from getting stepped on or kicked. The setting is in both time and day, however the place is usually the house. I felt kind of sad to hear that a defenseless dog is getting beat up. The author also felt sad. The moral of the story is to protect the ones you love until they can get back on their feet.
This story is third person for its angle to the characters not the author herself. The story was organized into time order, because of the different time changes of the book. The author wrote the book to entertain because she is talking about a nonliving person, made-up. The author was biased because it didn't give the perspective of both the kid and the dog.


I would rate this book 9/10 for its interesting words.


sincerely, Juan 702

Richard Peck Anonymously yours RJ # 13

Dear Mrs.Zrihen,


I just finished the book called Richard Peck: anonymously yours by Richard Peck. First of all I would like to begin by explaining that the genre of this book is memoir, I found that out because first this is the author talking about himself and since it's not his whole life, it's memoir; therefore, the point of view is first person. The central point the author is trying to make( main idea) is that Richard Peck is explaining the moment in his life where he began to become an author and he is also explaining the different books he has written. I have also found  some ways to support this main idea and most of them are factual, except the last one; he wrote the book called Monster's night at grandma's house, he went to England to the university Depauw. His neighborhood was safer than the ones today. This main idea is implied.
Before I read this I had to look if the book was a memoir in the first place, it was stated at the front of the book so it was easy to find. Also I read the synopsis to see if the book might be interesting to read or just a dull book. When I started the book I saw that some of the words were getting mixed up, therefore I had to reread that part all over again. In addition, I also figured out some new vocabulary, for example the word Chandelier, which is a glass lamp that is on top of a dinner table, fancy. In the end I asked the  5W, so I could know that I understand everything. I would also figure out who to recommend this book to and I think everyone. 


This book is compared to my life because first Richard Peck quit teaching to writing books, and when I was a little kid, I wanted to be a soccer player, however now I want to be a doctor. Even though this book is a nonfiction, this reminds me of the book the tale of desperaux by Kate Dicamillo in which Desperaux has to change his normal living mouse life to a savior. Maybe the people in the army didn't want to be a soldier in their later years, but when they saw what could have done, they join to help their country.
The essential message of this book is that if you see that there's a change needed to be in the world try to change it. In the book there were a chain of events that led to another like because Richard saw that novels needed entertaining and the celebration of an individual, he became an author in which books became awarded. The different books that he has written have been on real people in life, but on the other hand they have made up traits. Some text features I found were:
Italics- emphasize on a subject  
Quotes- give meaning to the chapter of what it is about.
Dashes- give the meaning of word.
Big spaces- change in time or different subject.
This is a book that is based on a time/memory of a person, so then the way the author should have put this book in is time order. The author wrote the book to share the experiences he had when he became an author. The author was biased because he gave the perspective of himself not other close people that were with him. There was some evidence in this book( validity and accuracy) like the author gave the exact dates for which each event happened. He gave the names of the books he used certain people in. Names of people were given. 


I would rate this book 7/10 because it was interesting but on certain parts.


Sincerely, Juan 702

The ender's hotel a memoir Rj #12

Dear Mrs.Zrihen,

I just finished the book called The Ender's Hotel: a memoir by Brandon R. Scherand. I more or less admired this book because it didn't really hook me into the story nor take me in the story. It kind described the hotel in one of the passages in the book, at the beginning. I can declare to you that this was a vulgar book, because it included the awful word translation of a donkey's behind, and the word dam. A passage that I found pretty appealing to me, found on page 20-21 was:

"I tried to shake loose but my mother's nails dug deep into my wrist, puncturing my skin until small crescent blood-moons emerged. Then in one clamorous motion she and I spilled through the cafe and out the doorway onto the sidewalk, straight into the clearest kind of daylight. She secured her grip on my wrist and started dragging me toward the Ender's bar, one door down. I fought and cried, and for the first time in my life, I hit back. The bar was open and I stayed myself in the doorway..."

My interest of this passage was great because it really showed the rough childhood that Brandon had in his early ages.  It would significant for the reader because it gave them a taste of what his childhood was like.

I, of course, had to use some strategies or I wouldn't be able to do this reader's journal or even understand the book better. I made a prediction before I read this book, based on the title. I would have seen if this book was awarded by a publisher or a company to see its value. When I began the book I had some troubles during the journey, for example the mixture words that made it seem like something else was happening, so to solve the problem I reread it many times until I got it right. After sometime I used another strategy, which was to find any word that I couldn't understand, so I used context clues. At the moment that I realized that I was done with the book I began asking I questions about the book, the 5W. Then when I was done I started thinking what kind of book this is for anyone, so I could recommend it. 

I had to figure out the genre of this book and since at the cover page it said memoir, so it's nonfiction because it happened in real life and it's just one memory of his life. The topic of this book is life problems. The main idea of this book is that when Brandon's grandparents bought the ender's hotel they thought it was going to be a place to have newer lives, but it turned out wrong. This main idea is implied because it is not really giving it right at the beginning. I would give another title to this book which is "Where to fit in?" Some supporting details of this book were that Brandon's childhood was rough, this is sensory. He had to live with his grandparents, this detail is factual. His mother was divorced many times and she was an alcoholic person, factual.

 The essential message of this story is to try to find out who you are, so you know what you are. The was a cause and an effect in this story that interested me like that because Brandon's mother was divorced many times and she had problems with her husband, Brandon ended up with his grandparents. I found some text features like the italics to emphasize the word so the reader can notice. Also there are the spaces between paragraphs that represent that a few days were passed or a subject is changed. There's the chapter title which give a conclusion of the chapter. At the end there's other books selected by the award for this book. Finally there are places where readers know other books for this author.

The pattern of organization is time order because it was actually the time between the beginning of the memory and the end. The author wrote this book to share an experience with the reader. The author's perspective is biased because it is giving Brandon's point of view. The angle in which the story was told was in first person for its saying "I, me, and I" and it is talking about himself. I couldn't find any figurative language in this story. The resources I used to know that his information was true were:

http://redroom.com/member/brandon-r-schrand/bio

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/schrand-brandon-r

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Enders-Hotel/Brandon-R-Schrand/e/9780803217690

I really knew the entire vocab in this story so I can't find that out. This story could be compared to my everyday life because sometimes there are rough times that I go through in my life when I was a kid. I would compare this book to Isaac Newton because he started his life in a hard terrain without a father. This book could be compared to real life because many children don't have the privileges that I have and grow up rough and tough. I would rate this book 2 out of five because it was quite boring most of the time.

Hope this reader's journal fits your needs.

                                           Sincerely, JUAN 702