Include:
- the title of article and the author
- four-five sentence summary of article (you can write more if you need to)
- a response or connection--What did you find interesting? Learn new?
- pose a question to the class (ex: Do you agree with the main idea? What did you think of the article? etc)
Dear Ms. Casassa,
ReplyDeleteIn the SCOPE magazine I read, "The Amazing Powers of Jen Bricker" Jen's life was a tough one, as soon as she was born it was difficult for her. Her parents abandoned her under the impression that they simply didn't want to raise a child with a defect. She went to a foster home and The Brickers adopted her, under the impression that from the moment she looked up at them she was theirs. Jen has performed in gymnastics since she was seven and she's had a natural talent for it. She found out that Olympic Gold Medalist, Dominique Moceanu, was her sister biologically. She contacted her and they have been very close ever since. I found that she had the biggest will to never give up than any person that I have ever met. She just keeps going even though she has a disability, she says she's lucky. A doctor gave her posthetic legs when she was 8 ad she refused to wear them. What did you think of Jen Bricker?
Sincerely,
Sully
Dear Ms. Casassa,
ReplyDeleteI read the story "The Good Deed" by Marion Dane Bauer. This story is about a girl scout, Heather, reading to a woman Miss Benson, who is blind, to get a new badge. A girl across from Miss Benson's apartment, Risa, joined her. Heather didn't like Risa joining her. The next time Heather went to read, the book Heather was reading was gone. Heather went to Risa's apartment and found the book. She thought Risa stole the book and found out Miss Benson gave it to her. They became friends.
At first Heather judged Risa, and then when she found out what Risa's life is really like, she changed her view of her.
I liked the story.
Justin
Dear Ms. Casassa,
ReplyDeleteIn the Scope magazine I read the article "Is it okay to sneak food into the Movies?" This article is about if people should sneak food into the movie theater and why they would. Most movie theaters make most of their money off of snacks, candy, and popcorn. They also make their prices super high. You could buy things that are much less expensive from a regular store than a movie theater. The article was debating whether or not people should sneak food into a movie theater.
-Chloe Molin
Dear Ms. Casassa,
ReplyDeleteI read the article "The Amazing Powers of Jen Bricker" by Kristen Lewis in the scope magazine. The story was about a girl named Jen Bricker and her amazing ability with her defeat. She was born with no legs, yet she does gymnastics and is amazing at it. She was born and her father didn't want to raise a child like his so they left her to be adopted. She had been adopted by Gerald and Sharon who already had three boys. She had joined gymnastics and said that she was going to be in the olympics someday just like her idol Dominique Moceanu. Jens adoptive parents recognized the last name and told her she was related. Jen did a lot of research and finally had written a letter to her and she found out she had another sister. A connection I have with this is that I have also done gymnastics before and also want to go to the olympics, but it will probably never happen. I also thought it was interesting how she could do this with no legs and that she can run and moves herself with her arms around. What do you think of Jen? Do you think this would be hard?
-Sydney Mahoney
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteDear Ms.Casassa.
ReplyDeleteI read the story "The Amazing Powers Of Jen Bricker" by Kristin Lewis. Thsi article was about a girl born with a disability, she was born with no legs. Her biological father thought he couldn't handel raising a child with a disability. So he decided to leave her at the hospital, and insisted Jens mother on not ever seeing her. Then she was adopted by the Bricker family. Jen grew up and was a natural athlete. She even taught herself to rollar scate on her hands. Jen figured out she was a gymnast a pure gymanst. Her idol who was Dominique Moceanu turned out to be her biological sister. She was shocked when she figured this out. but she was amazed that her sister was an olpympic gymnast. She met her sister and they turned out to be really close along with her other biological sister Christina. In this article what I found very interesting was i cant believe how much bpdy strength and strength in general she gained. She turned out to be an amazing gymnast. Another thing I was shocked by was her Idol was her sister. I wish I could even meet my idol nevermind it be my sister. I learned that if you put your mind to something even if it seems impossible you can do it t may be a long shot but you can always achieve you goals. A couple questions I have are is: Whyd didn't her bilogical mother fight to see her daughter? Also how did she not have any emotional times when she was given away by her biological parents? Althogh I know this artcle didnt give the whole story. I really enjoyed reading this article, it was very interesting!
From,
Riley
Dear Ms.Casassa,
ReplyDeleteFor this assignment I have read the article The Fire Breather. What this article is about is a man named Garrett Morgan makes a risk and builds a tool that saves lives of firefighters and the people. The tool that Morgan and his friend made was Safety Hood. Safety Hood was a gas mask of 1912 that helped firefighters save lives while protecting there health. Morgan first job was a job sweeping at a clothing factory. He fixed sewing machines and got himself a promotion. He and his friend later made Safety Hood and it sold really quickly. He read the news papers and he saw the his product was saving lives. After a couple of years when his product sold. A major event happened in the tunnels of Lake Erie Ohio. The workers inside were trapped and toxic fumes in the tunnel were everywhere. Morgan was called to the scene when he and a group of volunteers went in and rescued the workers. Morgan also invented yellow light to tell warning you may crash. His Safety Hood also helped the army in WWI to defend them selves from toxic weapons. I never knew about the story behind Gas Masks. It does seem like a very interesting topic to learn more about. The only question I really have is how did Morgan and his friend come up with the idea of building Safety Hood?
~From Jack
Dear Ms. Casassa,
ReplyDeleteIn the scope magazine this week I read "Failures Of Kindness" By George Saunders. This article is about why you should be kind to one another. In this article it is about these two kids in 7th grade. They were two very different people. The girl was shy and didn’t talk much and the boy would talk and was considered normal. The shy girl got teased a lot for who she was and what she wore. Nobody knew anything about her so one day she moved. Nobody even knew that she was moving. The boy after 42 years later he was bothered because he really never stood up for her, but he never said an unkind word to her. He also never knew why or when she moved away except that she wasn't at school for a while and then he finally found out she moved. This is saying to me that because somebodys different from your friends or you, you treat them differently. Really when you should treat people the way that you would want to be treated. I found it interesting that kids in my grade still remember what happened or what them and others did 42 years from know. Do you think that he should have done something different when he was in 7th grade to help this girl that got teased?
Happy Reading,
Zena
Dear Ms.Casassa,
ReplyDeleteIn the SCOPE magazine I read, "Failures of Kindness" by George Sanders. This article is about how a man that has a memory that has haunted him for his entire life. He remembers this shy girl that went t his school for a little while and she got teased. He said that he mild defended her but he didn't defend her as much as he think he should've. I thought it was interesting that the thing he remembered from elementary school was this little girl. Do you think he should've defended more or did he do enough?
Sincerely,
Sully
Dear Ms. Casassa,
ReplyDeleteIn the SCOPE magazine I read "The Amazing powers of Jen Bricker" by Kristin Lewis. This story was about a girl named Jen Bricker. She was born without legs. Once she was born, her parents immediately left her because they thought it would be to hard to take care of her because she had no legs. So then two people adopted her. Jen started to walk on her hands to get around places. Once she got older she became an aerialist. When she was about 7 years old she started to do gymnastics, and she won many of her competitions, which would be very difficult if you had no legs like her. She could do many things that she wanted to do as long as she put her mind to it.
-Chloe Molin
Dear Ms. Casassa,
ReplyDeleteThis week I read " The Amazing Powers of Jen Bricker" by Kristen Lewis. This girl Jen bricker was born in a pretty tough situation. Her parents had her and noticed that she had a disibility. Jen didn't have any legs which is considered a disability. So the parents thought it would be to hard to take care of her so she was put up for adoption. She was adopted at a young age going into a family with three kids that were boys. Jen grew up wanting to go into the Olympics for gymnastics. Her role model was Dominique Moceanu. Later in life she found out that Dominique was her sister and that she had another sister too. I found it interesting that she had other sisters that probably grew up with her parents but her parents didn't want her because she was different. Why do you think Jen Bricker pushed herself to be the best she can?
Happy Reading,
Zena
Dear Ms.Casassa,
ReplyDeleteI read the SCOPE article "Is It OK to Sneak Food Into the Movies?" by Justin O'Neill. This article has two sides to this story. Some poeple are saying you should be able to because of the expensive prices of the movie theater food like a bag of MnMs is $5 which is crazy for a package of MnMs. While you are paying for those MnMs you are still paying for that expensive ticket. The other side is you shouldn't be allowd because its not allowed, and it's just rude. Also the theaters use the money you pay for those snacks to ive to the employees to get paid, keep the buildings clean, and provide the latest projection equiptment. One other thing is some theaters will kick you out for sneaking food into a movie theater. What I find intesresting is how the price how so much to do with it. They explain how employees need to get paid, but the prices don't need to be as high as they are. Just how much money gets involved in this. Something I agree on though is the employees do have to get paid and we do have to keep the buildings clean but the prices don't have to be as high as they are now. How come this has become such a big deal? Why do people make it such a big deal, when they see someone sneaking something into the theater? Hope you enjoy reading my comment on the Article is It OK to Sneak Food Into the Movies? By Justin O'Neill.
Sincerely,
Riley
Dear Mrs. Casassa,
ReplyDeleteI read the article "Is it OK to Sneak Food Into the Movies, This article is saying people are bringing food into the movies because the snack prices are extremely high, and also the food is mostly junk. One guy sued the movie theater because the prices were way too high. The case never went to court but he made his case. The movie theaters make more money off the snacks than they do paying to get in to the movies. Everyone at one point brings snacks in to the movies. The prices are too high for snacks, and everyone wants to have one during the movie. I feel it's ok to bring snacks into the movie theater. Theaters need to lower their prices and give better snack choices. If they don't, people will still bring in snacks.
Justin
Dear Ms.Casassa,
ReplyDeleteI have read the article Is it ok to Sneak Food Into the Moves. The main point of the article is you have to pick a side on what side of the argument you are on for bring food for the movies or buying the food from the movies. Prices are kind of a little expensive. For example five dollars for a pack of M and M's. So I guess its okay to sneak into theaters and bring food with you right. There is another side to this story. In the state of Michigan they actually banded outside food from movie theaters. Adding onto that if you were to get caught you wouldn't be seeing that movie theater for a long time. What side are you on?
~ From Jack
Dear Ms.Casassa,
ReplyDeleteI read, "Is it ok to sneak food into the movies?" By Justin O'Neil. It's all about the debate whether we should be allowed, or to say is it ok to bring outside food into movie theaters. I think that you should to a certain extent. I think that bringing in that tiny bag of donuts you picked up at CVS shouldn't get you kicked out, but if you bring an entire meal... thats not ok. That's distracting everybody else that wants to watch the movie and it's just disrespect at that point. Most likely if you bring in one snack then you'll buy a drink or an extra snack during the movie. Places like Chunky's serve you meals so why don't you go there? Better yet, why don't you just eat before the movie? Watching movies is about the movie, not about the food that you eat while watching it. What do you think, should people be able to bring snacks into a movie theatre?
SIncerely,
Sully
This is the make up one!
ReplyDeleteDear Ms. Casassa,
Last week I had read in the February edition of the SCOPE magezine, "Is it okay to sneak food into the movies?" by Justin O'Neil. Its about if people should be allowed to sneak food into the movies or not. If people got caught they could get kicked out of the movie theater for that movie or forever. People would sneak food into the movies because movie theater food was expensive and you could buy it for a lot cheaper at a different store. Also it said that movie theaters make most of there money off of the food, not the tickets for the movies. I always do sneak food into the movies and I find that they never really care, ad nit is a lot cheaper. I also find it interesting that you could get kicked out if caught. Do you think you should be allowed to bring food into the movie theater?
-Sydney Mahoney
This week one!
ReplyDeleteDear Ms. Casassa,
I read "The Power of Curses" by Kristin Lewis in the SCOPE magazine for this month. It was about curses and how people believed in them. It mainly talked about famous people and what they do to help them win or so they don't get cursed. Like the baseball team Cubs and how they finally won there first World Series game in 108 because of the curse of Billy goat. Or Serena Williams and she always wears her lucky socks in every tennis match. I find it interesting in how many people have superstitions and things so they don't get jinxed. Do you have any things you believe in that will curse you?
-Sydney Mahoney
Dear Ms.Casassa,
ReplyDeleteThis week I read the SCOPE article "Faliures of Kindness" an excerpt from a graduation speech by George Saunders. This article is about when he was in seventh grade ans there was this girl that would get teased because when she was nervous which was alot, she would chew on her hair. Now, he wasn't the one who would tease her he was actually nice to her and would defend her at times. Although he wrote this because what he regrets most in life are "faliures of kindness." The times where "another human being was there, in front of me, suffering, and I responded...sensibly.Reserved. Mildly." So what I think he is trying to say is he regrets the times where he wasn't so open to defending her and could've said so much more of what he actually said and he regrets it. He is saing how might we be less selfish, and more aware of whats actually happening and being more loving, and open. So I can actaully kind of connect to this. There are moments in my life where I think I could've said more to defend that person or could've been more kind. I actually think about that sometimes. How I could've said more to defend myself and maybe other people and how much I regret not doing it. What I found interesting is how much he remebered of that story and how much he really took it to heart. What could we do in this world to be more kind to people? Why do you think Kindness is so important? I really hope one day everone can learn to be kind to everyone and get along!
From,
Riley
Dear Ms.Casassa,
ReplyDeleteFor this nights article I read was The Power Curses by Kristin Lewis. The article was interesting. It talked about curses and the science also behind curses. For example back when we did not have science people thought that who ever the gods liked were going to be very good in life. Another example would be if the crops are not growing the would make a sacrifice animal or even human to make the crops grow. When what really happened was a drought and it rained the next day. A more recent event curse is about the MBL Cubs. They have not won a game since 1945. The billy goat curse has stopped them from winning until they finally won the world series. Or was it the belief of negative thoughts they way they did not win the game? Do you believe in curses or science?
~From Jack
I read "The Power Curses" by Kristin Lewis in the SCOPE magazine. This article talked about curses that people believe in. The Cubs which is a baseball team won a world series, and they hadn't won one in a really long time. They say it was because of the Billy Goat curse. Also Serene Williams wears her lucky socks in every tennis match that she played in. This helps her win. It is very strange how many people believe in them and how some things can prevent you from losing a game, or from something bad.
ReplyDelete-Chloe Molin
Dear Ms. Casassa,
ReplyDeleteThis week in the scope article I read about "The Fire- Breather" By Tod Olson. This article was about how this man Garret Morgan created amazing things in life to help us out or keep us alive. The thing is with Morgan he only got tough sixth grade and then really learned a lot of things from his knowledge or he learned it . He really changed our life. found it interesting that even though you don't have a lot of education you can still do whatever you want to do. Do you think that Garret Morgan saved a lot of peoples life?
-Zena
I read The Fire-Breather by Tod Olson in the Scope magazine. This article is about Garrett Morgan, a son of former slaves. He knew that "if he wanted to work with his mind he would have to leave Kentucky." He left Kentucky and went to Cleveland, Ohio. When he arrived he was sweeping floors at a factory. He invented a way to keep sewing machines from breaking down, he received a promotion. He had is own tailoring shop, and worked at inventing a gas mask. He invented the mask, but people didn't want to do work with him because he was black. One day the fire department needed his masks because natural gas was hit and poisonous gas went through the tunnel. The masks worked and lives were saved. Garrett Morgan's life was hard because he dropped out of school in sixth grade, but didn't let that stop him. He also invented the traffic light. He is impressive because he invented things we still use today. Do you think it's more important to have experience or eduction?
ReplyDeleteDear Ms.Casassa,
ReplyDeleteIn the SCOPE article I read "The Fire-Breather by Tod Olson. This article is about a man that was born 12 years after the Civil War had ended. Prejudice and discrimination was still high and he was born to two used-to-be slaves. Growing up he liked to tinker with things such as little mechanics and he would take them apart and out them back together just to see how they worked. He moved out of his family home at eighteen and he moved to Cleveland, Ohio. He worked in a clothes factory sweeping the floors and such. On his spare time he would tinker with the sewing machines and he eventually made it so the sewing machines didn't break down anymore. After that he got a 150$ bonus and he started his own clothing company. He invented a hair straightening tonic which made him more money than his own business. After a while he invented the mask we see on firemen today, tubes went to the ground to get the freshest air possible due to the toxic fumes rising. He went around showing everybody how it worked with a white man to appear as his boss so people would actually pay attention to it. Eventually he got to try it out in a real situation and it worked. He saved two men when there was a gas leak under a lake. I think that it's interesting how he had to get a white man so people would pay attention to his life saving product.
Sincerely,
Sully
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteDear Ms. Casassa,
ReplyDeleteThis week I had read "Failures of Kindness" by George Saunders. It was about George and there had been a new girl in there 7th grade class. She was shy didn't really talk that much, and was basically always nervous. The kids would tease her. Make fun of her, but George never really did. He felt that he would defend her sometimes when the other kids said mean comments to her. She was nervous she would take a strand of hair and chew on it. The kids would make fun of her and say mean things to her. She would walk away still chewing her hair. George would see her out in her front yard like she was afraid to leave it. Then one day she had just left. George says he regrets the times of when he had failures of kindness. The times when there was a kid lonely and he didn't make fun of them, but didn't be there friend. When he couldn't chose a side. George says the ones you remember the most in life are the ones who were kindest to you. He says as a goal in life, you could do worse than, trying to be a kinder person. George says that each of us is born with built-in confusions that are, 1) we're central to the universe, meaning it is our personal main story that is the only one, 2) we're separate from the universe, meaning that there is us and then a bunch of other stuff like dogs, pineapples, and swing sets. I found it interesting that this girl never said anything back to them or her parents didn't do anything about it. The article did say she was shy, and maybe she did try to say something back, or George just didn't put it in the article. What would you have done if you were this girl? What would you have done if you were in Georges position picking a side? Which side would you pick?
-Sydney Mahoney
Dear Ms.Casassa,
ReplyDeleteFor this blog post have read the article The Amazing Powers of Jen Bricker. It is indeed an amazing true event. She was born without legs and got adopted by new parents after her father though she could not take care of this child with no legs. She admired a Olympian who was truly shocking her sister. When she decided to join the circus for awhile she blew away the audience with her aerial act. Which she was whirled by a roped around in circles. Really over all Jen is a amazing person she has done all of this with no legs. However she does have fake legs know. But still she was great. Do you think anyone with enough practice can do what she did?
~Jack
Dear Ms.Casassa,
ReplyDeleteIn the SCOPE magazine I read "Failures of Kindness" by George Saunders. This article is about a new seventh grader girl that joined a class. She was very small and she was shy. Most of the time this girl was nervous and she usually decided to take a strand of hair and put it into her mouth, and she chewed on it. People teased her about this. Although, he thought that sometimes he would defend her. He never said anything mean to her. He said "what I regret most in life are failures of kindness." He thought that sometimes he could do more, or be nicer to people. Being kind is a very important thing in life and it would be great if everyone could get along and people were nice to each other.
-Chloe
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteDear Ms.Casassa,
ReplyDeleteI read the scope article "The Fire Breather" by Rod Olson. This article was about a boy named Morgan who lived in Kentucky at the great time of change in America. Across the south where he lived laws forced African Americans into segregated schools, theaters, bus stations, and train cars. That was one of the reasons he quit school after sixth grade, and the main reason was to help support his family. Morgan wanted to help the world, and wanted to do something successful. At 18 Morgan went to Cleveland, Ohio, he knew if he wanted to be successful he had to leave Kentucky. He got a job in a factory to sweep floors at the factory he taught himself to fix the factory's sewing machines and got a promotion of one hundred fifty dollars. Back then that was a lot of money. Later on he became successful and made a hair straightening tonic. Although what he really wanted to make is something that could help people breathe and stay alive when there are very bad fumes, and fires. In 1912, he had accomplished that. He called his invention a safety hood. He had a great product by very unfortunately he was going to have some trouble selling them because of his race. So he hired white salesman, and used them for demonstrations around the country. They tested it in manure, and things like toxic burning tar, but he wanted to know if it worked in a real rescue situation, and it did. He tested it in an actual fire and saved people from dieing. He achieved all of that and he had no Ph.D. " Morgan knew that life is never easy."(He Knew) you have to take the gifts your given and use them to your best."" This goes to show that if you put your mind to anything, you will achieve it. It may take a very long time but you can't give up you have to keep going. Morgan went through a rough time in his life where he was separated because of his race, but he pushed through that to. He was strong. One connection I have is I knew that making this soccer team I try'd out for was going to be very hard to make it on but I played super hard and I made it. All because I try'd hard even though it might've taken me awhile to get there I did it. I learned that if Morgan can achieve something that big so can I. Why do you think Morgan had so much confidence in everything he did? Hope you enjoyed my response on the article!
From,
Riley
Dear Ms. Casassa,
ReplyDeleteThis week in the scope article I read about "Is it ok to sneak Food into the movies?" by Justin O'Neill. What this article is about is should people be able to sneak food into the movies or not. A thing said from the YES side of the article is "Why pay $5 for M&M's when you can get them for several dollars cheaper at the corner store? Remember, you're already forking over big bucks for your ticket." What this is trying to say is why should I need to pay cheaper at a store than at the movies and that the ticket still cost a pretty big amount of money to see a movie. An example from the article about saying NO to food in the movie theaters is " If moviegoers were to stop purchasing food, theater owners would have to raise ticket prices even higher." So what this part if the article was saying is if people keep on bringing food to the movies how is the theater going to pay people money. So if people stop buying food they will raise the prices so that they can profit and pay people. I found it interesting that the movie theater profits from the money made from the food and that's also what I learned from this article. Do you think that people should or should not be able to bring food to the movies?
Happy Reading,
Zena
Dear Ms. Casassa,
ReplyDeleteEarlier today I read "The Fire Breather", by Tod Olsen. The article follows an american success story, Garret Morgan, the man who invented the gas mask. He invented the gas mask as a way to breath in fires, a tool very useful for firefighters. Later, his invention was used during WW1, as the military gas mask, used to keep soldiers alive when hit by mustard gas. He also invented the 3-light traffic stop, an invaluable piece of infrastructure which prevents many accidents today.
I learned here who invented the gas mask- it's pretty cool, considering the gas mask is my favorite hat.
-Lachlain
Dear Ms. Casassa,
ReplyDeleteEarlier today I read "Is It OK to sneak food into the movies?", by Justin O'Neill. Now, before I even start, this should be allows. as stated in the article, food prices at the movies are wallet-killers, but I learned something- they mark up prices by 900% on popcorn?! That's insane, and a bit of a jerk move. I understand why movie theaters don't want to let outside food in, but come on. You could buy a box of nachos down the road from most movie theaters for like four or five bucks. Also, it makes it much more... enjoyable, to not be walking out of the movie theater half-sick because you downed an entire bag of swedish fish in five minutes (Trust me, I know from personal experience), and go home and forget all about the movie because you're stuck in bed with a headache and a nausea problem. Just lemme bring in my burritos dangit!
Dear Mrs. Casassa,
ReplyDeleteI read the story “The Amazing Powers” by Jen Bricker. This story is about a girl born without legs. She overcame her disability of not having legs, because she was determined and a hard worker. In elementary school she played softball, snowboarded, fished and rode horses. She became a gymnast and competed. At age 11 she took home a gold medal at the state gymnast championship.
She is inspiring because she didn’t let her disability hold her back. She showed me that by working hard you can do anything.
Justin