engpunk77's review
5.0
Some of the books in this pile by my bed are there by the sweet serendipity of New Hartford Public Library's "discard" pile. Because they're ten cents, I buy them with my grandfather's Great Depression mentality that is his legacy. Someday, I think, I may have no books at all, and anything with printed words on a page may be useful for my classroom whether as a tool to teach grammar, sentence structure, personal narrative organization & style, etc. or even as a way to look at bad writing to see how it could be improved. Ten cents, what is there to lose?
Sometimes, I find something amazing and I experience conflicting feelings of pity for the library's poor choice in making something trash, but thrilled that it's now my treasure. I almost want to take this back and bring it their attention, "No, you see, this was a mistake!"
This is one of those. I can't believe it's mine for 10 cents.
A perfect example of a short personal narrative (what we teach to be a personal narrative in the middle school, anyway) about a country boy way back (seems like it could be the GD, but I'm really not sure) who saves his quarters for chores in a cigar box, saving up for a baseball glove. The conflict and its touching resolution choked me up and had me crying this Sunday morning.
"Discard" brands several pages, and I think I'm going to white each one out. I love it that much.
For teachers: Would make an excellent companion to Where the Red Fern Grows, A Day No Pigs Would Die, or f any elementary classroom to use for comparing and contrasting. The mother put coffee and sugar in the boy's cereal. The kid's ability to "go on a train ride" was the most exciting experience, they listen to the ball game on the radio and attend one, so comparing things like that to our modern society and customs would be a valuable experience (definitely enough details to explore and connect to). And finally, I'm going to use it for my personal narrative unit, and it wouldn't bother me at all if my students had read it twenty times at the elementary level, so HP teachers, go for it!
Sometimes, I find something amazing and I experience conflicting feelings of pity for the library's poor choice in making something trash, but thrilled that it's now my treasure. I almost want to take this back and bring it their attention, "No, you see, this was a mistake!"
This is one of those. I can't believe it's mine for 10 cents.
A perfect example of a short personal narrative (what we teach to be a personal narrative in the middle school, anyway) about a country boy way back (seems like it could be the GD, but I'm really not sure) who saves his quarters for chores in a cigar box, saving up for a baseball glove. The conflict and its touching resolution choked me up and had me crying this Sunday morning.
"Discard" brands several pages, and I think I'm going to white each one out. I love it that much.
For teachers: Would make an excellent companion to Where the Red Fern Grows, A Day No Pigs Would Die, or f any elementary classroom to use for comparing and contrasting. The mother put coffee and sugar in the boy's cereal. The kid's ability to "go on a train ride" was the most exciting experience, they listen to the ball game on the radio and attend one, so comparing things like that to our modern society and customs would be a valuable experience (definitely enough details to explore and connect to). And finally, I'm going to use it for my personal narrative unit, and it wouldn't bother me at all if my students had read it twenty times at the elementary level, so HP teachers, go for it!
More...