Reader’s Journal #14: The Boy In The Striped Pajama’s

Dear Mrs. Zrihen,
          I had just finished reading the book “ The Boy In The Striped Pajamas “ by John Boyne. The reason I picked this passage because I have had some recommendation on it and also heard a lot about it. The significants of this passage is that it is a fable in time of the holocaust. I had done 6 reading strategies before, during, and after reading this book (2 of each). First I did two things before reading this book. The first thing I did was I read the back telling it is a great book and once it is in my hands I wont put it down until I finished plus the synopsis. The second thing I did before reading this book is I noticed the picture on the front of the book which was blue and even lighter blue stripes. There was 2 things I did during reading this book. First I imagined every single thing that was happening in this book. Second thing I did during reading this book is I stopped after every single chapter, I went to the first page, and tried to remember what happen on every single page one bye one. There were 2 things I did after reading this book. First I asked my brother about it after I heard he watched the movie and discussed it. Second I just reminded myself every single thing that happened from chapter 1 to chapter 20.
          This book is a fable. The main characters were Bruno (protagonist), Gretel (protagonist), mother (foil), and father (antagonist). The places were Berlin and Germany. The time was 1942. The weather conditions were sunny and some rainy. (exposition) It started out as Bruno coming up stairs and sees his waitress maria packing is belongings. He did not understand what was happening. He later on found out that he had to move to place for his dads work. (rising action) When Bruno had moved with Gretel (his sister) mother and father. When he got to his room he looked out the window and saw all these people in striped pajamas behind a fence pretty far away from his house. Bruno hated his house all he wanted to do was leave back to his normal home in Berlin with all of his friends, in the house with 5 floors and a banister where he would be able to slide down. (climax) Bruno was the exploring kind of guy, he liked to do a lot of traveling. he would usually explore his old house but, his new house was only 2 floors therefore there is nothing to find. One day Bruno got out of his house and started walking towards a gate and right when he was going to turn back he saw a dot, then the dot became a speck, then the speck became a blob, then the blob became a figure, then the figure became a boy. This boys name was Shmuel and then they started to talk. This boy became Brunos best friend even though he was on the other side of the fence. (falling action) Its been  a year the Bruno and Shmuel has been talking and every time Bruno met him he would bring him some bread and sometimes he would bring some chocolate. Brunos grandma died therefore he had to go back to Berlin for the funeral. They had slept for a night or two in there old 5 floor house although Bruno did not like it much anymore over there. He just wanted to go back to his new house stay there and talk to his best friend. (resolution) Brunos mom was not able to take it at all in there new house and she just wanted to go back to the old house. the final decision was that Bruno, his mom. and sister go back to Berlin in the old house. 2 days before Bruno went to the fence and started talking to Shmuel. He told him that it will be his last day tomorrow. Shmuels grandfather was lost and he need help looking for him. since they both look the same Bruno said to meet him tomorrow at the same time and to bring a set of the striped pajamas to make him look like the rest. As they walked and walked and saw no sign and right when Bruno was going to say goodbye the soldiers came and led every one to some sort of room. The room got dark and no matter what Bruno was still holding Shmuels hand not expecting to let go. People were crowded all over and after that it was the end of Bruno and Shmuel.
          The main problem is that Bruno must leave his new home leaving behind shmuel (external). character vs self. The tone of this story is unpleasant throughout the whole story. The mood is very sad at the end and was just unbelievable. The theme of this story is to appreciate every single thing you get, because you have more then what others do. The moral of this story is when you love something just let it go. The point of view in this book is first person. The POO of this story is cause and effect. The authors purpose of writing this book is to entertain.
          This book took some time for it to get to the main point. I liked it a lot because it gave me a better meaning on what happened in the holocaust. This is the second book I have ever read in my whole life about the holocaust. They are one of my favorite books I have ever read.
          If I was to rate this book out of 10 I would rate it a 9 because the rising action was not so clear until the end.
                                                           sincerely,
                                                                   ofek peer

readers journal #13 When I Was Your Age

Dear Mrs. Zrihen,

            I have just finished reading a great book called “when I was your age”. This book was edited Amy Ehrlich. The significance of this book is that it is written by a couple of people from when they were very young. I picked this book because I am curious on how other people lived when they were very young. There were six things I did before, while, and after reading this book. First there were 2 things I did before reading this book. One thing I did before reading this book is that I skimmed and scanned through the whole of the book to see what it will or might look like. Another thing I did before reading this is I focused on the cover page on the front and noticed the list of people written at bottom half part of the book. Second there were two things I did while reading this book. One thing I did while reading this book is I imagined every scene in the book according to what I remember. Another thing I did while reading this book is after each short story I would stop and memorize everything that happened. Third there were two things I did after reading this book. One thing I did after reading this book is went to every story to memorize what had happened. Another thing I did while reading this book is whatever I forgot or didn’t understand I would go through.

            The genre of this book is non-fiction memoir. A summary statement of this book would be “a book about other people when they were very young” and this is stated another title for this book “would be my life as a child.” The rest of this reader’s journal will be based on one of the six stories. On supporting detail is shrimp and this detail is factual. Another supporting detail is small and this is also factual. The third supporting detail was large and this too is factual. The essential message of this book is that size really doesn’t matter. A cause and effect in this story is the size of Paul is the cause and him getting bullied is the effect.one way I can compare Paul to my life is that we are both boys. One way I can contrast

Paul to my life is that he was short for his age and I am tall for my age. There were a total of five text features that I found in this book.

1.     Title- helps and gives the reader what the book will look like

2.     Sub-title- helps tell the reader what the following few paragraphs will be about.

3.     Italics- helps tells the reader and important word.

4.     Photographs- this helps the reader get a picture of what character looks like.

There was no other text feature other then theses that I had found the pattern of organization in this book is flashback. The authors purpose of writing this book is to inform the readers of other peoples lives when they were young.  The author’s perspective is that Paul as a little boy didn’t have a lot of fun. The point of view in this book is first person. There weren’t any vocabulary in this book that I didn’t understand.

            (text-to-self) This book reminds me of other boys in my class that are very short.

            (text-to-text) This book reminds me of the book bullies where it is about a bully who always picks on little kids and not people his own size.

            (text-to-world) This book reminds me of all the people in the world who are very short for example my brother who is 15 and my height.

            I would recommend this book to people who curious about adults when they were little kids. If I was in this authors shoes I would never be able to live.

            If I was to rate this book out of ten I would give it a ten out of ten because of the good idea and the valid information of the people. 

Readers journal #12 When I Was Your Age

(This reader’s journal is based on one out ten short stories from this book)

Dear Mrs. Zrihen,

            I have just finished reading the book “When I Was Your Age.” Amy Ehrlich edited this book. The significance of this story Learning To Swim is that it talks about a scene of a person’s life, and then it reflects on her a little bit into the future. The reason I picked this book is because when I look at the title it says when I was your age, which meant it, contain life lessons for people that were my age and already lived through it. There were six things I did before, while and after reading this story. First I did two things before reading this story. One thing I did before reading this story is I skim and scanned for text features. Another thing I did before reading this book is I looked at the picture it showed on the first page and observed it to see what the rest of the story would be like. Second there were two things I did while reading this book. One thing I did while reading this book is I captured every seen as if it were a movie. Another thing I did while reading this book is I thought of how this can relate to my life. Third there were two things I did after reading this book. One thing I did after reading this book is I thought of the whole story and if I would forget something then I would go back and read it again. Another thing I did after reading this book is I asked myself questions like what lesson did I learn from it.

            The genre of this book is short story/ memoir. The reason it is this genre is because it contains memories of people when they were younger. The main idea of this book was that if you love something you must let it go and always face your fears. This statement was implied. Another title for this book would be my mother who taught me bravery. The reason that I would pick this title is because most of this story was kyoko learning how to be brave from her mom. One supporting detail I found in this story was my mom taught me how, and this is factual. Another supporting detail I found in this story was when my mom turned thirty-eight she had became overcome by happiness, which is factual. The last supporting detail I found was she had told me to let go of her, which is too factual. The essential message in this story is always overcome a tragedy or fear in your life. One cause and effect relationship in this story is kyoko went to the beach and the effect is that she learned to swim. One thing that I would have in common with kyoki (comparing) is that we both try hard for something we wish.  There were five text features that I found in this story:

1.     photograph- a picture of what the main characters look like.

2.     Topics- what the whole story will be about

3.     Sub-Topics- a topic of what the following passage will be like.

4.     Italicized- important words.

5.     Bolded- important words.

The pattern of organization of this article is chronological order because it told everything in order.

The authors purpose for writing this book is to explain a issue in her life, and how she overcame it. This story was basically on the others life as a child so there was no authors perspective. The point of view is first person.

(Text-to-self) This story remind me of the time I had to overcome the fear of rollercoasters.

(text-to-text) This book reminds me of the book I read on a boy who had overcome the fear of heights.

(text-to-world) This book reminds me of the time when a couple boys in Israel had drowned in the beach for going to far off the shore.

            I would mainly recommend this book for every one from the age of fifteen and younger. The reason is because this is about life lessons of people when they were about fifteen and younger. If I was in this persons shoes I never would have taken car of it the way she did. I would have died on the beach the way I was especially if I didn’t have the mom with the encouragement. If I was to rate this book out of ten I would give it a ten out of ten. The reason is because it gave accurate information and I couldn’t drop the book for one second.

                                                Sincerely,

                                                            Ofek Peer  

Current Event #2

Date: November 10, 2011

Name: Ofek Peer

Title: A legacy of service: Three generations of pines family have served in military  

Author: Perry Stein

Source: Internet

The main idea of the article is (implied/stated): three generations of pines family have served in the military (stated).

The author’s purpose for writing this article is to inform the readers on what is happening within some of the families who serve in the military

The author’s perspective in this article is biased because he is proud to write about a family who has lived three generations in the military.

The pattern of organization of the article is flashback

The reason the author chose this pattern for the article is because it discusses what happened to Bolivia Perez Rios and a little bit of his life in the military.

The text features included in the article are: photographs. Picturing what author is trying to explain to the reader. Sub-topics help by telling the reader what the next few parts of the article would be about. Captions help by explaining to the readers what is happening in the photograph or picture.

This article is about Bolivar, a soldier who served in the army. It talks about him in 1942 and how he fought in World War II. This article also talks about his family. His family has been living for three generations on after the other each one serving the army.

Current Events Journal

The significance (importance) of this article is that it speaks about how a 92 year old man how served the army for 70 years and how his son, his grandson, and his great grandson are serving the army.

What I learned from this article is who Bolivar Perez was and what he lived and gone though just to serve his country.

What I liked about this article is that it had absolute accurate information and answered every single question I had about it.

What I did not like about it is that there was one part in which it wasn’t accurate on. It didn’t include much information about his kids and how they serve the army.

I think that every person who is not appreciating everything that the military does for them and help them live because then they would probably stat appreciating.

This article reminds of how I always stand up for myself, the book I read about a boys in the military, and how every time I watch the news it talks about the military and what is going on with them

There was no new vocabulary what so ever for me. 

Readers Journal #11 When I Was Your Age

Dear Mrs. Zrihen,

         I have just finished reading the book “When I was Your Age” edited by Amy Ehrlich. The reason that I picked this book is because on the front of the book (cover) it says “original stories about growing up”. This meant that this book isn’t just a bunch of whole stories because below there was all sorts of authors. The significance of this book is that most of the book was sort of interviewing. For example the title of one was “interviewing with a shrimp.”

         There were six things that I did before, while and after reading this book. First I did two things before reading this book. One thing I did before reading this book is I looked and stared at this book cover to see what it would probably be about. Another thing I did before reading this book is I flipped though the book and noticed that before every short story it showed a picture of the author when he was young. Second there were two things I did while reading this book. One thing I did while reading this book is I pictured everything that was happening in my mind. Another thing I did while reading this book is I compared what happened to my childhood. Third there were two things I did after reading this book. One thing I did after reading this book is I compared thee possible mistakes in this book and compared it to possible mistakes that can happen to me. Another thing I did after reading this book is I rethought about it and thought of some lessons that can probably be taught. The genre of this book was short story/ memoir. One characteristic of this book being short story/ memoir is that there are whole lot of stories of different authors life when they were young. The main idea of this book is that some famous people had a regular childhood just like any other kid. This statement was implied. If I was to  give this book another title I would say “My Childhood Memory.” The reason I would choose this title is because when a reader sees this title (about 13 perhaps) he would see the rest of the cover and see famous names and their childhood memories. One supporting detail that describes the main idea would be interview. This detail is factual. Another supporting detail is when because this gives you a hint that the book is a memoir. This detail is sensory. The third supporting detail is bus problems. This is sensory. The essential message in this book is that everyone is able to have the same childhood. In one of the short stories there was one easy seeing cause and effect. One cause of Paul Fleischman was that he was very short in his high school years. And the effect was embarrassing things like he said when he is doing a math problem in class sometimes he wasn’t able to reach to the top. Something that I would compare and contrast from this book to me would be me to Norma Fox Mazer is that she had an annoying friend with the nicest mom and dad that she doesn’t want their relationship to drift away. I have an annoying friend who isn’t really my friend. Five different text features in this book were title, sub-tile, some italicized, photographs, and bolded words. There were a lot off stories so pattern of organization for one of them would be cause and effect because the main character had an annoying friend and the effect is that his parents are really nice and she doesn’t want to ruin the relationship with his parents. The author’s purpose for writing this book is to inform readers on different famous peoples life. The point of view of this book is first person. I was familiar with every single word in this book and if there were some that I heard of before I used obvious context clues to understand. If I was to rate this book out of ten I would give it a ten because it had valid and factual information on each person. I would recommend this book to anyone from 5^th grade and up.

                                    Sincerely,

                                             Ofek Peer

Readers Journal #10 Magicball

Dear Mrs. Zrihen,

         I have just finished reading a short story called “Magicball” by Shelly Morris.  The reason I picked this passage is because it was about sport and I really enjoy sports. The significances of this passage is that it is about a little boy who had is life as a boy changed around all because of one magical ball. There were six things I did before, while, and after reading this book. First there were two things I did before reading this book. One thing I did before reading this story is I skim and scanned through it for words I wouldn’t understand and a little buzz on what it would be about. Another thing I did before reading this story is I thought of some elements like point of view, mood, tone, etc. Second, there were two things I did while reading this story. One thing I did while reading this story is I pictured everything that was happening in my mind scene by scene as if it were a movie. The second thing I did while reading this story is related to my everyday life. Last, there were two things I did after reading this story. On thing I did after reading this story is thought on what I read and if I liked it or not. Another thing I did while reading this story is I wrote about what it is that I have read.

         The genre of this story is fiction- short story. The reason it is fiction is because there were some unnatural events and it was a short story. The characters were mike, his baseball friends, and his mom. The foils were the lady who worked at the baseball card store. The place in this story was at a baseball field. So was the time and social conditions. The weather conditions were probably sunny because most of the story was outside. The exposition was about mike keep striking out on every throw. The rising action was that mike wasn’t close to any ones level at all in baseball. The climax was mike getting a ball that mike thought would be a magical ball from an old man. The falling action was mike hitting a big homerun against the people who were kept screaming at how bad he was. After this everyone felt embarrassed at what had happened. The resolution was mike going back to the store and noticed that the old man that gave him the magical ball was on a poster as a professional baseball in the mid 1900’s. The main problem was that mike had no experience in baseball while it was his only and best sport. This is internal man vs. self. The tone and mood of this story is very sad with mike and his baseball experience. The theme of this story is never to give up on yourself according to what others think of you. The moral of this story would be just like the theme not to give up on yourself according to what others think of you. The point of view is first person. The pattern of organization of this story is argument and support because the other kids thought that mike was bad and the support was that mike came back and proved them all wrong. The author’s purpose for writing this story was to entertain. I would recommend this story to most kids in elementary school or lower. If I were to rate this story I would give it a ten out of ten. The reason that I would give it a ten out ten is because it had nothing wrong with it. The story had every peace of plot structure needed.    

                                    Sincerely,          

                                             Ofek Peer