happyreader

Check out Emily and Kariana, the original book reporters, in this video as they review The 39 Clues, by Rick Riordan.

If it sounds interesting to you, check out this site:

http://www.the39clues.com/

When Pacy says she was rich at the end of chapter 26, she was not just talking about the $400.00 prize, the money, the moolah. What did she REALLY mean, when she says she was "rich".

In chapter 27, Pacy's mom gives her a "China doll". Why wasn't it the "china doll" that Pacy wanted? What did Pacy want? What did the mom THINK Pacy meant?

In chapter 28, after their mom tells her haircut story, Lissy says to her on page 130, "That's not the kind of different I mean." What is Lissy talking about? What is she worried about. Be specific.

Write a short seed story about a time that YOU cut your OWN hair (if you amazingly never did this, write about a time a sister, brother, or friend cut their hair). Use a simile and be DESCRIPTIVE!

Here is my story:

Every year, from the time I was in 1st to 4th grade, I always thought it was cool to give myself a nice little haircut. Now, was I a barber or hair stylist? No! I was simply a curious kid who always could find her mother's hiding place for the scissors!
Yes, hiding place. You heard me correctly. You see my mom was not very happy with my haircutting abilities, nor was she particularly pleased that I ALWAYS managed to cut my hair the night before, or morning that my school picture was to be taken.
My parents have a whole collection of photos from these years of me looking like a science experiment gone wrong. Let me share a few snapshots with you:
1st grade picture: I was wearing a beautiful red dress, but I had made the unfortunate choice of running into the bathroom, picking up a pair of scissors and....cutting bangs! Yes, bangs, folks. The problem wasn't my mom almost passing out when she saw a giant clump of hair on the floor, or that I was already missing a couple of teeth, the problem was that I had cut a 2 inch section of hair into bangs that were angled like the bumpy VanRaalte Farm sledding hill. Sadly, it was too late to fix my hair before "picture time", so I ended up with a mom in tears, and what would be the beginning of a series of dorky school photos. My mom refers to these years as "The Disaster Years".
So along comes 2nd grade, and a few DIY (Do-it-yourself) haircuts in between. The night before my 2nd grade school pictures, I had that uncontrollable urge--once again--to....cut my hair! Fortunately, I had had more practice. Practice makes perfect, so they say, so I was sure this 2nd grade haircut would be PERFECT for my school pictures. Well, as I am sure you can imagine, that was not the case. This time, I not only added a few more crooked bangs, but I decided to go shorter, much shorter.
My mom was so happy my bangs had grown back and my hair now reached the middle of my back. Little did she predict that a few snips would change all of that. After brushing my teeth, I pulled out those scissors and wham, bam, chop! I had hair as short as a ruler and bangs as straight as the edge of a pie crust. My mom fainted and tried to hide the scissors every year from then on. Sadly, it never worked.

Read chapter 29 and smile.

What do you think of Mayor Charming (AKA: Prince Charming)? Is he like the Prince Charming from Snow White and the 7 dwarves?

Why do you think Mayor Charming wants the Grimm family to "die out"?

So....who is Mr. Canis? From what fairy tale does he come?

Write your best RED HOT and DEEP thought for the group.

Write your best RED HOT and DEEP question for the group. (No yes or no questions, please...)

Chapter 4:
Share your your favorite part of chapter 4 with the group. (Rewrite it here.)
Make a prediction about what will happen to Emma?
What would you do if you were her?

Chapter 5:
What do you think about Eadric's reaction to what happened to Emma? Is he being understanding about Emma's situation? Why or why not?

What is so important about Emma's bracelet?

What do you think about Eadric's plan?

Make a prediction.

Chapter 6:
Explain the complex feelings that Emma feels about Eadric. Why does she both like him and dislike him? What characteristics do you like about Eadric, what ones do you dislike about him?

Here are a few of our 4th graders who didn't have to leave for P.E. (we'll get the rest of you guys later! And our 5th grader blog experts, too!):

Read chapters 24-26

Chapter 24:
Mom's story about Uncle Shin reminds me a little bit of Bruce Bogtrotter (in Matilda) and the cake Mrs. Trunchbull made him eat. I think they both regretted their choices.

Can you make any text connections in this chapter?


Chapter 25:
List any similes.
Write a quick story about your BEST Halloween costume, if you celebrate Halloween. If you don't write about a cool costume just for fun.
My favorite Halloween costume was when I was in 4th grade. I was Carmen Miranda a famous singer and dancer. I really didn't even know who she was, but my way-cool mom always made our Halloween costumes and my mom was VERY creative. She showed me a picture of Carmen Miranda and I loved her red and yellow and purple colorful dress and all of the fruit piled on top of her head. I was geeked to be her, even though none of the kids at my school would know who I was either. (The teachers and the old people appreciated me though.) At the top of this blog posting, there is the picture of the REAL Carmen Miranda:


So tell us about your costume.

Chapter 26:
Read this chapter and write a response. How does this chapter fit into the BIG IDEA of what this whole book is really about. What is the BIG IDEA, i.e.: What is so significant about "The Year of the Dog" for Pacy?

Pages 28-37

In the beginning of this chapter we learn of some of the girls' other foster families and their clever and daring escapes on pages 31-32.

Why do you think Daphne sabotaged their escape (p. 34)?

Who are you most-like personality-wise: Sabrina or Daphne? Explain why? Think about what you would do in the book if you were in it and which character would you most act like?

Make a prediction after you read the last line on page 37. What's going on with these bugs?