What are all the different types of materials people read through the course of a day or  week?

facebook, books, text messages, emails, and anything online 

What magazines or newspapers match your interests?  How can you get access to them?

I do not really have any interest in magazines but if I would need to access them I would go to the library. 

What reading do you do online–texting, Facebook, MySpace, blogs or websites?

I do youtube lyrics for music and Facebook. 

What books, genres, authors do you enjoy or want to explore?

I enjoy comedy books and action books. I enjoy any author that writes these. 

How can you connect with other readers–through the library summer reading program, my blog, Good Reads or Shelfari?

I guess I can do it through Mrs. McGriff’s blog. 

How many hours did you read this year?

150 Hours

How many books did you read this year?

Over 13 books. 

What other materials did you read this year?

Books and lyrics in cd covers.

Words of Wisdom

Mrs. McGriff’s class is not like any other English class you will take. She has many specific rules if you want to succeed in her class. Instead of carrying a heavy textbook to class everyday, you will have to bring a novel that you have chosen, or that is assigned to you. Mrs. McGriff has many bookshelves in the back to check out books and a wall to keep track on how much you and your classmates have been reading. There are some rules that if you do not follow, then you will not pass her class. Some tips to survive in her class are:

• Always Double Space: Mrs. McGriff wants you to double space so you can go back and revise your work easier. She counts the pages you write for a grade. On a normal week, you need to write at least five pages by Friday. If you single space the paper, then it will take more lines to write and it will put more effort into the pages and you will write more. Also, Mrs. McGriff will take points off your draft if you do not double space.

• Do More Reading on Your Reading Log: Say that you have done terrible on writing assignment and now your grade is low. The best way to raise your grade is to read an extra thirty minutes on your reading log. You will get a grade of 110% instead of 100% and this will sure enough raise you grade up to an A.

• Keep Your Mouth Shut: It is not a very wise idea to talk consistently in Mrs. McGriff’s class or it will not be a very fun time. If you get into the talking habit, then if you whisper a single word, no matter if anybody else is talking, she give you the death stare and you do NOT want to get to that stage.

• Get Your Reading Log Signed: The reading log is a big thing of your grade. If you do not get it signed, your grade will drop. If everybody in your class gets their reading log signed, then she will get out a bucket of candy and you get to choose one piece. My advice for your is to write yourself notes for yourself to get it signed on Wednesday in case you forget to get it signed, you still have another day.

• Stay Organized: My best advice for you is to keep your two inch binder that you will need for her class organized, or you will never find what you are looking for. Instead of just putting an assignment you get back in the pocket of the binder, put it in the draft section. This way you will be able to find it later when she asks for it in the future for a reference. Do not throw out any assignments or papers she gives you because you never know when you might need it in the future. STAY ORGANIZED!

 

These words of wisdom will help you pass Mrs. McGriff’s English class. These are just five main things to remember to pass this class. Do remember that if you only do these tips, you are not guaranteed to pass. You have to do everything else that is assigned also. Mrs. McGriff will also tell you things that are important that you need to remember to pass, and not to fail.

Neal Shusterman,The Storyman

Neal Shusterman graduated from the college of UC Irvine where he swam on his school team and wrote his successful humor column which was found by the Syndicated Writers Group ( Storyman, Sfbookcase). Soon after he graduated, Neal got the job offer of a lifetime to write a movie script, which will lead on to his brilliance as a successful screenwriter and probably one of the best authors of all time ( Storyman).

Neal Shusterman started his career when he wrote a movie script after he graduated college (Storyman). After the big movie script, he started to direct and write scripts for TV shows and movies such as Goosebumps, Animorphus, and the Disney Channel movie Pixel Perfect ( Storyman, Sfbookcase). In between being a big director, Neal also became an author of many books. Some of his books are Everlost, Unwind, and The Schwa was Here ( Storyman). He has won many awards such as the International Reading Association, the American Library Association and the Boston Globe- Han Book ( HarperCollins, Storyman). He also has made such games as The How to Host a Mystery and Murder series (Storyman).

Neal Shusterman has written over thirty books, but does not stick to a single genre ( HarperCollins). He writes his books for the enjoyment of the teens and so he can “ amuse” teenagers. When Neal is writing his books, he tries to throw the readers off balance so they do not get bored with the book, and they crave more of his books( Storyman). That is how he became such a genius author. When he plans to write a book he sits down and thinks, “ What is this book adding to the world? Why is it WORTH writing,” says Neal Shusterman (Storyman). That is how Neal keeps his books new with switching genres every once in a while and thinking if people will actually enjoy what he writes..

Neal Shusterman was born and raised partially in Brooklyn, New York, on November 12, 1962. Over the years of growing up, he went to a camp where later on in life, he became a camp counselor. At camp, he would always tell the kids stories. The kids thought he was an absolutely great storyteller so they gave him the nickname “ Storyman” which is what he calls his website. Whenever he finished his sophomore year in Brooklyn, his family moved to Mexico City where he spent his last two years at “ the American School of Mexico City.” After high school, he went to UC Irvine college where he swam for his school team and wrote a very successful humor column. After college he started his career for a successful author ( Storyman).

Neal got his influence to be an author by a ninth grade English teacher. When Neal was a freshman, his English grade was not doing very good. His English teacher told him he could get extra credit if he wrote a novel for his class. When he actually wrote his novel, his teacher enjoyed it very much and Neal realized he wanted the same reaction with more people, so he decided to be an author. Another influence would be the books he read as a child. A major influence was Roald Dohl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Neal says that he loved the imagination and he wanted to create something just as imaginative and great. Currently, Neal’s four children give him the crazy, brilliant ideas to write his current novels ( Storyman).

Neal currently lives in “ the madhouse” he calls his home with his four kids in South Carolina. “ Of course our home is quite often a madhouse, but that’s okay, because life is all about finding wondrous moments in the mayhem. And the same can be said for writing!” says Neal Shusterman (Storyman). Even though Neal has settled down with a family and it has been years since he graduated college and got his first writing assignment, Neal Shusterman is still at the top of the game, still telling great stories, winning many awards, and writing great books.

Works Cited

“About Author.” SFBookcase. Web. 9 Mar. 2011. <http://sfbookcase.com/author.asp?author=Neal+Shusterman>.

“About Neal Shusterman, A Word from the Author.” Storyman. Web. 8 Mar. 2011. <http://www.storyman.com/bio/>.

“Neal Shusterman.” Harper Collins Publishers. Web. 9 Mar. 2011. <http://www.harpercollins.com/authors/12726/Neal_Shusterman/index.aspx>.

School Year Round?

 

“ It is assured that the shorter breaks help students retain information- therefore less time needs to be spent on review. Actually, not only do teachers have to review at the beginning of each school year, but they must also review each time students return from a break because students forget what they learned before the break.” Kathryn L. Branch, teacher in year round school.

 

To some students, school year round means having school everyday of the year. That is not entirely true. School year round means that students still get 180 days of school, just not a 2 month summer break. In school year round (SYR) you actually get a longer spring break, fall break, etc. If the school board accepts SYR, it will also help students get better grades on tests, and test scores will go up.

 

I believe that there should be SYR because it would help a school get better test grades. Over a long summer break, students usually forget what they learned last school year, and teachers have to spend a long time reviewing what students already learned last year. Then, students will not learn as much for tests such as Acuity and Istep. If there is SYR, then students will not forget what they learn, and they will spend more time learning new things and their test grades will get higher.

 

It is also very unnecessary to have a very long two month summer vacation. Usually, families take a vacation for a week or two. Mostly during the two month vacation, students are hanging out at home, the park, and in town doing nothing but loitering, vandalizing property, and more illegal stuff, causing a bunch of crimes. But, if there was SYR, and say students only had a half-month summer vacation, students would not be hanging out in public that much and the likelihood of crimes would go down.

 

SYR can give students more time to learn new things, and less time relearning what they have already learned. This will help a schools test grades go up, and possibly give them five stars. If SYR does not take order, students will spend a lot of time learning old stuff, and less with new stuff, seriously affecting test grades. It’s clear that SYR can benefit in many ways to save a school from low test grades.

     ” ‘ Who cares what you believe!’ It was as if she was looking at a different boy. She had taken him into her confidence- she had trusted him. They were going to be a team, benevolently leading the Afterlights of Everlost forever and ever. This wasn’t supposed to happen!

     Then Nick’s Expression changed, and for the first time his calm took a turn toward anger, and accusation.

     ‘ How long have you known?’ Nick demanded.

     Mary refused to answer him.

     ‘ Did you know about the coins form the beginning? How long have you been robbing them from the children who come for you for help?'”

 

This passage proved and made readers think that Mary was actually the Sky Witch. This proves that Mary is not actually the nice person who she really is, but a person who steals from kids. All she ever wanted was a bunch of minions of Afterlights. And this is the passage where Nick discovers she is actaully not nice. This brings on Mary to leave Nick and then when she meets new children and takes their coin and warns them about the ” Chocolate Ogre” who is actually Nick, trying to be the good guy, but Mary tricks them into thinking he is the bad guy, but in actuality Mary is the bad guy.

This image is called:’Frankfurt skyscraper‘  found at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/65448940@N00/4876705128 with a

Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License

SWAGGER  walked in to the room with his head high and swaying his hands back and forth. He wore the new converse shoes and a pair of new aeropostle pants. He knew that everybody was looking at him because he was the man. He was the boss. He was on top of the world. He sits down in his seat and in a slunched down postition. He looks at the book he was supposed to be reading and threw it across the room. Reading was too cool for this dude. He gets up and throws the rest of his stuff on the floor. SWAGGER did not need school. He was confident with power and didn’t need anything except his fly clothes. He boast out of the room and walks out of the school. He gets on his bike and rides down the road. He didn’t care what anybody thought about him, cause he was SWAGGER, and he was on top of the world.

If there is a word that I can describe myself as, but only on a good day, it would by SINCERE. First of all, I like to help my little sister with her math homework and on her english. Even though I sometimes I cannot stand my sister, I still help her with her homework. Another reason why I am sincere is I do not make fun of people who are different. I do like to joke around, but I would always say that I was kidding around and I did not mean it. For the last reason why I am sincere, is that I help people feel better when they are sad. If somebody was crying, I would try my best to make them feel better. If you do these these things, that that means that you are sincere.

Mr. Green really did not like to give students suspensions, after schools, and saturday schools. He loved to be rational with some people so he would not ruin somebodys weekend or day. He would rather give the student an acountability lunch for two weeks straight than ruin their day. Or, if they would rather just get a saturday school than take the nice offer, than that is fine with him

Reading

My main challenge for reading this year is to read a total 120 hours this entire school year. To achieve the goal, I am going to try to read at least 45 minutes each day, or an hour.  Whenever I do not get to 45 minutes on the day, the next day I will read 45 minutes and the remainder of time that I had to read yesterday. Once I reach 120 minutes, the next goal is to get 150 hours. My other goal is to finish reading one of the selection of ghost books I have laying around my house.  I will try to read this book after I finish the series I am on right now.

Writing

The really big goal I am trying to finish right now is to finish righting all the novels and short stories I am currently working on. To achieve this goal, I am going to try to write a chapter or a half a chapter in each book a day. Once I have finished writing all two of the current books, novel and short story, I am going to write the sequel for both of the short stories I have finished, one completed and one uncompleted. Another goal is to write another book similar to the novel I am writing about Led Zeppelin, but with The Beatles and the story line based on their songs. After I finish the Led Zeppelin book, The Adventures of Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, I plan to write a book of the Beatles. I will try to do this goal after I finish writing my current band book.