Sign of the Beaver Discussion Board

The Book Club discussion board for The Sign of the Beaver has been created and is waiting for your questions and answers.  Follow the directions at the top of the page.  Here is a link to that page, and a link will remain at the top of this page over to the right.  Enjoy the book!

Book Club To-Do List for January 13 & 14

Book Club members, I will be gone on Wednesday and Thursday, but there are a couple things that I would like to you to do while I'm gone.  You have the normal Book Club time, and you also have your Daily Five time to get these things done.  Please follow the directions carefully.

MUST DO
1. Go to Renaissance Place and take the Reading Practice Quiz for The Watsons Go To Birmingham - 1963.
2. Go to Renaissance Place and take the Vocabulary Practice Quiz for The Watsons Go To Birmingham - 1963.
3. Print BOTH Tops Reports and put them on my desk.

If you have time - and you should - take the time to read about the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham on September 15, 1963 in the post below.  There are four links with summaries of the bombing.  Some are pretty short.  I am going to ask your opinions and feelings about the bombing and the events afterward, so be prepared on Friday.

Alvin Ho - Your Opinion

Hey, kiddos.  I have a job for you.  At the bottom of this post is a link that says "0 Comments."  Click that and answer both of these questions in the "Post a Comment" box.

1. Opinion - Does Alvin do the right thing with Pinky and Flea?  Why?

2. Would you like to read the second Alvin Ho book, Alvin Ho: Allergic to Camping, Hiking, and Other Natural Disasters?  Why or why not?

Once you are finished typing your answers, click the drop down menu next to "Comment as..."  Choose "Name/URL."  Insert your first name only and leave the URL space blank.  Then it will ask you to type in some letters or numbers.  Go ahead and do that.  Your message will be sent to me!

UPDATE: I received all of the comments, printed them out, and they will be inserted into your Reading Journals.  Nice work!  Since some of you said you would not like your comments to be published on the site, I decided not to publish any of them.  I am working on another way for you to use the website to send answers to me.  Thanks for giving this new idea a shot today!

Baseball Cards

Here are the cards Alvin gives to Pinky, a Hank Aaron rookie card and a Carl Yastremski rookie card.  The Hank Aaron can be purchased for $499.95 and the Carl Yastrzemski can be bought for $119.99, just in case you would like your own.

Also in Chapter Fourteen, after Flea tells Pinky that "Cheaters are losers," Pinky says "Cyclops are losers," to Flea.  Why makes that such a mean thing to say to Flea?

Who Was William Shakespeare and Why Did He Curse So Much?

Okay, so he really didn't curse all that much, and his curses are more funny today than they are insulting, but here is a picture of the man in case you were curious.

William Shakespeare was born in England in 1564 and died in 1616.  He wrote 38 plays (including Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, and Hamlet), 154 sonnets (which are poems), and a bunch of other poems.

Here is a link to a computer program that creates Shakespeare curses.  Alvin and his father would love it.  Click here.