Reading Reflection (2)

I am going to try this again since I left out some information on the last reading reflection post. I think my reading has extremely increased by reading at least 90 minutes per week. Well, my reading interest has greatly increased at least. I used to view myself as a strong reader - way ahead of my age group. However, I kind of stopped reading when it was no longer "cool" to be a good reader towards the end of 4th grade. This assignment has helped me find the interest to read again, even more so than last semester. I did not read as much before because I always felt like I had enough work to do and activities; therefore, I felt like I did not have the time to read. Fortunately, I found that you can always make time to read, especially when it is a really great book. I think it is great to continue reading new texts and even old texts that you used to love reading. As far as reading in the future, I definitely see myself reading next semester, next year, and even in 5 years. I am now reading books with the focus that students may ask me what particular books are about, and I do not want to appear dumb and a "non-reader" to them. Maintaining an active reading life SHOULD be easy since I like to read again, but I need to keep pushing myself to read as well. Overall, I liked being "forced" to read for a grade since it made me have to do it. However, this is something I am glad I had to do now. Great job of helping me find enjoyment in reading again!! :)

Reading Blog Reflection

I wrote down in my planner that I needed to include a reflection for my reading blog. I don't know if I am supposed to or not, but I am including one anyways just in case. The reading blog was ten times better than writing out our weekly reflections for reading. It also made me more accountable on keeping up with my blogging each week since the computer cannot lie about the date the new post was added. This made reading reflections much easier to do and keep track of doing. Also, I feel that I write more when I can type things up since writing things out on paper takes FOREVER sometimes. Therefore, I think I was able to add more detail and feelings into my blogs this time. I have noticed that I really enjoyed reading this semester a lot more than last semester. This may be just because I pushed myself to read more this time around. I have really gotten into a lot of the 4th-6th grade reading level books since I am wanting to broaden my knowledge of these books to be able to capably recommend books to the students. I still need to read a lot more, but I really am planning on reading about the same amount during the summer that I am now. I just really need to keep pushing myself to make time to do this because I always seem to enjoy it once I get into the story. Overall, I am very glad we switched to electronic blogging rather than paper-pencil writing reflections. I think this will definitely benefit students in the future as well since we are a technological-based world now. I am looking forward to summer reading without HOMEWORK to worry about. Now I can just focus on reading books I want to read. This makes me feel good!! :)

The Sign of the Beaver (2)

I read 90 minutes today in this story and found that I really, really like this book a lot. I am already fascinated about anything with Indians (my room used to be decorated with all Indian stuff and I even had a tepee in one corner). It was thanks to the movie Dances With Wolves that I got hooked on Indians and believed I was one since I get really dark in the summer. Now back to the story... Matt has been learning TONS from Attean about the way of the Indians. He wanted a bow and arrow and tried several times to make one, but they were all failures since Matt did not know what kind of wood was the best for making bows. Attean helped him make a good bow and the two ended up meeting a bear eventually. This was actually really funny because Matt had just caught a rabbit and slung it at the bear's face. I thought this was kind of dumb of him (but funny) until I figured out that it gave Attean enough time to put an arrow in his bow to shoot the bear between the eyes. Therefore, Matt's actions weren't as dumb as I initially thought. Attean told him he moved swift like an Indian, which was really cool because Matt had been longing for some type of praise from Attean all this time since he was not as clever as Attean. Matt was then led to the Indian village where Attean lived for the ritual of killing a bear. He learned a lot about this ceremony and found that Indians were actually full of life rather than dull as he originally thought. He slept the night in a tepee and then traveled home the next day to find Attean's dog caught in a white man's trap that the Turtle tribe had set out (Attean's tribe are the Beavers). He goes back to the village to find only the women and children there since the men were gone to hunt. Matt finds Attean's grandmother - who initially did not like Matt since he was white - and tells her of the incident. She sends Marie (Attean's sister) with Matt and they get the dog out of the trap. Attean informs Matt that he is now welcomed to the village any time since his grandmother appreciates what he has done. Everything is getting really good and Matt is learning so much from Attean and the Indians. I still do not know where his family is, but Matt is not as worried since he has the Beaver tribe to watch out for him and learn from. I am suspecting something bad has happened to his family, however, but I will find out more next time.

The Sign of the Beaver

One again, I am glad that I was able to read a book of my choice this week. I read another book that I bought for my future classroom (mainly because I do not want to look dumb if a student asks me what the book is about). The Sign of the Beaver is also another Newbery honor book, so I figured it must be worthy of reading. Plus, it has Indians in it, so I knew it would be interesting at least. I read somewhere between 90-100 minutes in the story and already really like it. Now to the story... Matt and his pa built a nice log house in the Maine country for their family that stayed back in Massachusetts. Matt stayed behind to protect the house and territory as his pa went back to get his ma, sister, and new baby sibling (don't know yet since it was born while they were gone). I think Matt's pa said he would be back in 7 weeks, so Matt has to make a mark in a stick seven times per stick until he uses up 7 sticks. This will allow him to keep count of the days and know when to come find his family if they are not there yet. I thought this was pretty cool because it is a cool way to keep track of time. While his pa is gone, Matt is supposed to tend to the corn and pumpkin patch behind the house and build some more shelving/different things in the house. He was doing fine on his own and shooting with his pa's nice gun (who gave it to him since it was nicer than his old gun). However, he ran into some trouble with a fellow who appeared to be a nice man who just needed a place to stay for the night and a meal. I knew Matt should not have trusted him because this man was constantly complimenting Matt on the place, his gun, the corn, etc. Matt had a bad feeling about this man who passed out on the floor, but he also knew his pa would be upset with him if he did not welcome a good-hearted stranger. Real good-hearted this man happened to be as he stole the gun and disappeared in the wilderness. Therefore, Matt does not have any way now to get food other than picking berries once in a while and fishing. The molasses and salt ran out and made Matt sick of eating his fish plain. I do not think I could eat fish plain either... it kind of made me sick thinking about it. Matt then remembers a beehive and tries to steal a bark of honey from the bees; however, this was a bad idea. The bees swarmed and stung him until he fell in the water and got hung up in weeds. He eventually got withdrawn from a pair of strong hands - Indian hands in fact. He was led back to his house and tended to by this older Indian. Once Matt finally came through, this Indian made a treaty with him to teach his grandson (Attean) to read the words of the white man in exchange for food everyday. At first Attean resented Matt's attempts at helping because Attean did not wish to learn about the white man's ways. However, he knew his grandfather highly recommended it since he could communicate better with the white men as more settlers would establish residence in the area. Matt and Attean had troubles at first with their lessons, but they eventually end up learning from each other. I ended when Attean was teaching Matt how to fish with a spear (which sounds ten times more fun than with a fishing pole). I would have ended up just like Matt probably and embarrass myself by falling in the water. Still, it would be fun to try it some time.

A Single Shard (3)

I read about 2 hours and 40 minutes yesterday and finished this book. The ending was by far the best part of this story. As I mentioned before, Min was trying to perfect the inlay pottery design that his rival Kang had made (who received a commission from the royal emissary). Min had worked hard, slept little, and barely ate during this whole process of perfecting this new pottery. The morning Tree-ear arrived to observe the perfectly detailed inlay pottery, he found all the pots shattered about the yard; he realized the kiln had not produced the fine celadon color that was desired. The royal emissary met with Min and stated that he would love to offer him a commission if he were to produce an inlay design pot to present to him in Songdo (which is several towns away). Min's pride got in the way and did not want to admit his flaw, so he did not mention that he had already attempted the inlay design. I thought this was really cool that he would rather not receive a commission than to admit that he had failed at creating a specific design. Tree-ear chimed in that he would be honored to take the pottery to Songdo, but also felt ashamed for this since he would be leaving his friend Crane-man alone for the first time. Again, I admire how much Tree-ear cares for his friend and others. Crane-man insists he goes on this journey and wishes him to stop at the Rock of Falling Flowers in Puyo. Tree-ear does stop at this destination to admire this site, but is robbed by thieves who throw Min's perfect inlay pots off the cliff. Tree-ear finds one pot completely shattered in ashes, but finds that the other one is shattered in bigger pieces; therefore he selects the biggest shard to present to the royal emissary. He wanted to at least attempt to show the royal emissary the fine works of his master's creation since he did not want to disappoint Min. The royal emissary still found that the single shard was intricately detailed and almost perfection on the design; he approved a commission to be given to Min and arranged for transportation by water for Tree-ear back to his village. Tree-ear was so happy and enthused to tell the news to his master and Crane-man and decided to tell Min first. He found Min at the draining site where he heard the news, but he was not overly excited as Tree-ear had thought. This is where Min drew Tree-ear close and told him about the bridge accident that killed his friend Crane-man. This part crushed me since Tree-ear found himself somewhat responsible for not being there to help his friend. Tree-ear stayed the night with Min and his wife and woke before dawn that morning to remember his friend and walk along the river. When he arrived back at Min's house he was ordered to fetch huge logs this time. This made Tree-ear upset, but Min told him that it takes the biggest logs to make a wheel (meaning Min was going to teach him how to throw pots). Min's wife then asked him if he would live with Min and her and to be called a name similar to their deceased son (which showed resemblance of a sibling). She then told him to be "home" for supper. The ending really got to me since this is what Tree-ear longed for his whole life - wishing to be part of a loving family, have a real name, and throw pots with Min (which could only be handed down from father to son). It was almost too bittersweet how it ended. I was really saddened for the death of his friend Crane-man, but also feel that Crane-man was right when he told Tree-ear once that "whenever the wind blows one door close, there will always be another door that it blows open." I think this is exactly what happened for Tree-ear.

A Single Shard (2)

Well, I was able to read 90 minutes this week. Not as much as I wanted to read, but at least I got further in the story and found out a little more. Tree-ear was noticing something "fishy" about one of Min's rival potters; Kang (the rival) kept sneaking red and white slip into the kiln instead of the regular colored slip that everyone else in the village used. Tree-ear let this bother him for quite a while, but he finally found out after hearing the royal emissary was coming to their village to assign pottery commissions for the palace. I thought it was interesting how Tree-ear would never inform Min about the "secret" pottery that his rival was making. However, I found it very classy of him as well since he felt that he may be stealing from Kang because he has not yet exposed his pottery to the village. Once again, I felt really saddened and yet hopeful when Min and his wife gave Tree-ear a present; he received a coat and pantaloons to help keep him warm. I felt sad for two reasons: (1) I hate thinking that little kids like Tree-ear freeze simply because they cannot afford or acquire a coat and (2) that the coat was originally made for Min and his wife's son (who died when he was about the same age as Tree-ear). However, I still felt hopeful because I love that Min and his wife are providing Tree-ear with opportunities to succeed in life and guiding him down a path that will benefit him for his future. Tree-ear is very gracious and appreciative of his gifts, but he wants to give something to Crane-man because he loves him and knows that Crane-man would do the same for him. Tree-ear decides to give Crane-man the jacket and keep the pantaloons for himself. I just cannot get over how unselfish Tree-ear is and yet being so young as well. I think wanting to give his friend, Crane-man, a present that was originally a present for himself shows true kindness, love, and friendship - all aspects we can all learn from in this situation. Other than this... the royal emissary came to scope out the best potter(s) to be selected for the palace. The crowd was all enthused and bewildered about Kang's new black and white pottery that he calls "inlay" work with chrysanthemums as the decor. Obviously, everybody believes he will be selected for the royal palace; however, the emissary was quite impressed with Min's work and graciously comments on his masterpieces. Now Min is trying to outdo Kang's inlay pottery by doing it himself and perfecting it. Hopefully he can show Kang who is the boss!

A Single Shard

I am glad that I finally got to start reading a book of my own selection (not one for class). I bought several chapter books a while back at a book sale - most of them honor books - for my future classroom; I selected one of these books to read. The one I selected was A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park. I had never read this book before, but it is a Newbery medal book. Therefore, I figured it had to be a great book. I just started reading it yesterday and have read around 90-100 minutes already. It is such a great book and makes me feel very thankful for everything I have in my life. This story begins with a young orphan boy named Tree-ear and his best friend/guardian Crane-man living under their bridge space. I found out that he was given the name Tree-ear because it is a mushroom that does not grow from a parent seed. Crane-man believed this would be a suitable name for the orphan that did not have a name when he was dropped off under the bridge at age 2. He was only supposed to be dropped off temporarily until the monks had gotten rid of their bout of fever, but Tree-ear refused to go with the monks when they came for him and clung to Crane-man's one good leg (the other is twisted and shriveled from birth). This made me feel deeply saddened yet good at the same time because I loved that Tree-ear decided to stay with Crane-man since he is a great guy who was dealt a bad deal of disasters in his life. Crane-man was once somewhat wealthy, but his family died off one by one, leaving him alone and unable to do work due to his handicap. Therefore, Crane-man had to sell everything one by one in order to survive, eventually his home as well. Still, Crane-man is always looking at the positives of life and never once glimpsing at the negatives. He is thankful and appreciative for everything he is blessed with in his life (which is not very much). Tree-ear learns much from Crane-man as well. He is constantly wondering if his actions would be what Crane-man would do. Back to the story... Tree-ear is awed by watching potters during their throwing of pots, especially an older man named Min. Min is one of the best potters in the village - if not one of the best in the country. Tree-ear decides to examine one of his creations and accidentally drops and breaks it when he is startled by Min. He begs to please be able to repay him, and Min allows him to work for him for nine days as his form of repayment. He has to do lots of the dirty work, such as chopping wood all day, gathering clay all day, etc. Once his nine days are up, however, Tree-ear wishes to continue serving Min since he feels that his life has meaning now. Min allows him to continue working for him without pay, but Tree-ear is enthused with the idea of serving such a master potter. He now receives food during mid-day from Min's wife and decides to hide half of his portion because he wants to be able to share the food with Crane-man at the end of the day (which is what Crane-man would do for him). I found this to be inspiring, thoughtful, unselfish, but still sad all at the same time. The entire time I read this book I cannot help but to feel sad for Tree-ear and Crane-man. They are great people who were just unfortunate with their life dealings. I feel that many people can learn from both of these characters' lives. Our world is too caught up in personal indulgence and selfishness (I am many times guilty of this as well). I just really love that these two poverty-stricken people do not beg or moan about anything; they feel gracious for every little thing they are given in life. I especially felt overwhelmed - both with joy and sadness - when Tree-ear discovers his bowl is now being completely refilled when he finds it at the end of the day under his rock. Min and his wife are great people and are helping him out vastly. Tree-ear longs to eat all his food at mid-day meal, but does not want to take advantage of these kind people. There are just too many great aspects to this book, and I am just getting started in it. I cannot wait to see what I will find out next.