Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Wonder - Pages 133-157

Jack says the first time he saw August was in front of the Carvel on Amesfort Avenue. That would be like us seeing someone in line at Culver's or Dairy Queen. Carvel is an ice cream store. The two closest Carvel stores to us are near St. Louis and Detroit. The one in the picture is in the Bronx, New York.

Carvel Ice Cream Store, Edenwald, Bronx, New York City

And now, a side note from Mr. W: The fourth chapter in Part Four is titled "Four Things." In that chapter both cheating and lying are mentioned. Now, you know I'm a teacher and all, so you probably expect this, but I want to go on record and say this: I condone neither cheating nor lying. (But I do think it says a lot about Auggie and Jack's relationship.)

That is all. Back to the cool stuff. ;-)

The two Maxes got Auggie playing Dungeons & Dragons a couple of times at recess. Dungeons & Dragons is a role playing game where players take the role of a fantasy character and then progress through a story engaging in battles, traveling, gathering treasure, and learning things. Players make decisions based on the story, and their success is determined by rolling dice. The game was first published in 1974 and played (gasp!) without the Internet.


Snow flies just before Thanksgiving, and Jack and his dad go sledding. On the way home Jack finds a wooden sled with metal runners that someone left as garbage, but he takes it and fixes it up. It turns out to be tons faster than the plastic sleds most people use.



Later, Julian tells Jack that he got a new sled too, a state of the art sled from Hammacher Schlemmer that cost $800. According to their website, the company has been around for over 165 years. They sell some pretty crazy stuff like a snowball slingshot, a 9 1/2 foot remote controlled bald eagle, and an inflatable backyard log flume. And while I did not find an $800 sled in their online catalog, I did find this awesome snow cycle at the incredible low price of $1950 (now on sale for only $1200!). 


When Jack learns about Ms. Rubin's science fair project, he says he makes a face like Oh noooooo! like that kid in Home Alone


Seeing that image in his mind leads Jack down a rabbit trail of thoughts that eventually leads him to understand what Summer meant when she told him, "Bleeding Scream." Once he realizes what happened, he can't concentrate on school. (Could you? Remember what he said?) Jack says that Ms. Rubin just starts sounding like the grown-ups on Charlie Brown movies. And what do grown-ups sound like in Charlie Brown movies? Well, I'm glad you asked.



Continue to pages 158-185.

19 comments:

  1. I am a teacher in Western Australia. Most of my students have not seen snow and they were blown away by the snow toys from the Hammacher Schlemmer website. Thank you for making your website freely available.

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  2. When I was a kid I had both the red plastic sled and the wooden one, but that second sled, the one with the red, metal runners on the bottom, was awesome. I'm not sure how parents think those are a good idea. :-) Once the snow gets packed down a bit, almost like ice, those sleds fly down the hill. We had a big hill by my house growing up and by the time you'd get to the bottom your eyes would be watering and you could barely see where you were going. So fun.

    Now that I'm a parent, you'd think I'd be more cautious. Probably I should be. But I'd still take that sled down any hill, and I'd encourage all three of my kids to do the same! Hopefully one day you all get to try it.

    Brian

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    1. do you know a place were I could get a wooden sled

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    2. you can get a sled at a store or at a winter store.

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  3. We have been pointed to your blog, while we read this book by our English teacher. This resource is great and helps me with further understanding this book. Have you affiliated with anyone in Australia lately?
    Thanks for writing out this blog, love this resource :)

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    1. Thanks for taking the time to share you thoughts, and I'm glad the resources have been helpful to you.

      I've received numerous emails and comments from teachers and students in Australia if that's what you mean, but I live in Wisconsin in the United States which is about as far from Australia as a person can get, I think. :-)

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  4. Thank you for posting this information on your website. We live outside Philadelphia and are reading Wonder in a fourth grade class! Thank you!

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  5. Thanks for posting this. I can't find the videos that go with the chapters, though. Anyone have any idea where to find them?

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  6. i love this book!

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  7. what is home alone

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    1. It's just a movie - the poster is up above. The look on that kid's face in the poster is all you really need to know for Wonder.

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  8. anybody ever heard of the book frindle its about a boy named nick allen and he makes a word called frindle it means pen and he got that from his teacher because he asked who says dog means dog and she said we do nicholas we do. im barely in it but so far so good.

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  9. My page is missing a picture of the wooden sled.

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    1. It should be fixed. Thanks for the heads up.

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  10. 01000111 01110010 01100101 01100001 01110100 00100000 01100001 01110010 01110100 01101001 01100011 01101100 01100101 00100001
    -In binary
    Great Article!
    -In English

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  11. I have been studying this book with Year 5 students for the last 3 years and have only JUST found your website! (Must have been hiding under a rock!) The ideas, comments and resources are fantastic! I have a new perspective on how to share the book and all of it's 'wonders' with my students!
    Thank you!
    (from N.S.W., Australia)

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    1. Comments like this never cease to amaze me - that a teacher on the other side of the world is using materials I created for my students in a small, country school. Wow.

      I'm so glad you found the site and that is has been useful for you and your students.

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  12. Hello i love this book

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  13. I am a teacher in Florida and my students were blown away when they saw the snow toys!!!

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