Of course, I think that The Offspring might have been referring to gang violence, but the phrase still works for my purposes. Just roll with it.

To hopefully cut down on confusion, 6th and 8th graders will have separate posts for their weekly assignments. PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT YOU ARE WRITING YOUR COMMENTS ON THE CORRECT POST OR THEY WILL BE DELETED. With that out of the way, on with the topic.

This is a two-part question.

• Name and describe the main character of your first project book. Include info such as the character’s age, physical features, and aspects of their personality.

AND

• Describe how you feel about the main character of your book. Do you like them? Dislike them? Do you think that you would want to interact with the character if he/she/it was a real person? Make sure that you tell us WHY you feel the way that you do.

Clear as mud? I hope so. If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to ask in person or email me.

Take it away, 8th graders!

To learn how to use this nifty tool myself, I decided to create a video that would perhaps give you some ideas for what to read AFTER Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight or its sequels. I know that quite a few of you really enjoyed that book and there’s no reason to stop reading just because you finished that one!

SO, check out my video and let me know which ones of these look the coolest! Or if YOU have read some of these books, then share with other readers which ones they should go for FIRST!

I’m Mrs, Northcutt, and I approved this message…   

I hope you enjoyed reading The Outsiders as much as I did.  This is such a great book about social cliques and how those cliques can affect society and change people’s lives.  It amazes me that S.E. Hinton was only in high school when she wrote and published it!  Later, we will watch the movie version of the book, and I will get to hear what you think about it, but in the meantime, I’d like to hear your thoughts and interpretations on the book itself. 

Choose one or more of the following quotes from the book.  Interpret and explain what you think the quote means and why the character may have said it. 

Ponyboy: “I lie to myself all the time. But I never believe me” – pg. 18

Pony to Cherry: “It’s okay… We aren’t in the same class. Just don’t forget that some of us watch the sunset too.” – pg. 46

My POINT, dear readers, is that WE are also thundering toward the finish line! Twilight will be in theaters on FRIDAY and a mere four days later we will load our buses and invade the cinema en masse! Well, at least the Hart County crew will be!

I do apologize for the tardiness of getting this week’s post up, but I’ve been feeling rather under the weather. Incredibly cruddy, as a matter of fact. I think that I may be on the mend now, though. Just in time, huh?

Before I present our topic for your commenting pleasure, I feel some explanation is in order…

Did you read Twilight during our Book Club journey and now you want to read the read of the Saga? Have you read ALL the books and now are depressed that there’s not any more vampire goodness for you to devour? Well, either way you should definitely pay a visit to http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/ to have a read through Midnight Sun (from the main page, choose the “Twilight Series” tab at the top and then the “Midnight Sun” option from the choices on the left of that page to get to the right place).

It was to be a 5th book in the Saga and was going to re-tell the events of Twilight from Edward’s point of view. Stephenie Meyer had been working on it and had given drafts to some people she trusted to get feedback. One of those individuals leaked it to the Internet and Meyer felt so betrayed and hurt that she stopped writing the book. I can’t say that I blame her because I’d be devastated, too, but I do hope that as time heals her wounds that she will change her mind and go back to the project. There’s a good lesson in here about copyright that she details in her introduction to the draft. My students should not be surprised that I’m pointing THAT out.

I’d like you to do one of two things this week.

• Read all or part of the partial draft of Midnight Sun that Stephenie Meyer posted on her site and comment on what you think about how she has portrayed the events of Twilight from Edward’s perspective rather than the original version from Bella’s POV. Some questions you might consider include: Do you like what she created? Does it seem to fit with what you imagine Edward might think? Do you think she’s totally off the mark? Do you even want to know both sides of this story or is it better to just leave it alone?

OR

• Describe at least one challenge that you think exists in getting Twilight to the big screen without messing it up. What moment did you love while reading that worries you when you consider that the movie might get it all wrong? Where do you think the danger zones are? Almost anything can look good in a movie trailer, but putting together a solid 1.5 to 2 hour experience that stays true to the source material tends to be VERY difficult. Stephen King is my favorite author for adults and movies based on his books almost NEVER turn out well for readers. There are some notable exceptions, but that’s not the topic right now. 

Have at it, gang, and don’t forget to make this a DISCUSSION! Talk to each other! It makes the comment board a MUCH better reading experience.

-Mrs. N

In the interest of fairness, I wanted to make sure that EVERYONE got to freely express themselves on the subject of the Twilight Saga. Sometimes it’s really difficult to keep readers from getting ahead of themselves and unintentionally giving away crucial plot details that they’re just postive that everyone already knows about!

That’s why there are two posts this week. Think of it as a blogging cafeteria. You officially have options! Choose which item you want and leave the other behind. If you’re really ambitious and want to consume both, though, you are certainly welcome to do that as well! Comment away!

For the long-term Twilight Saga fans, here’s your query of the week…

I’d like to take a closer look at character development over the course of the Twilight Saga. By that, I mean the way particular characters change throughout the four books. Actually, we can also look at how characters don’t change, as well. That would be the main distinction between characters who are round/dynamic and flat/static, after all.

Whose character develpment (or lack thereof) do you feel to be significant through that books that you have read? Are there characters whom you now like more or less than you did at the beginning of the saga?

Though this thread takes into account that you have read at least through Twilight and possibly a bit beyond, still try to be conscious of the spoiler factor. At the very least, typing the words SPOILER ALERT in capital letters at the beginning of your comment will cause those who haven’t made it to the end of New Moon a reason to scroll away from your post.

Let’s keep up the excellent discussion vibe that we’ve had going lately. I LOVE all the back-and-forth conversation between everyone!

And make sure you still look at the regular post, there’s a nifty link there.

Later…

Mrs. N

I AM!    

Check out the new widget on the left sidebar. Cool, isn’t it?

Seriously though, I think that we’re all gearing up for the movie premiere. And speaking of gear, you might want to check out the outstanding selection of merchandise HERE! I’ve heard that there are a bunch of students and teachers at Hart County High School who have been loading up on Twilight stuff so that they can see the movie IN STYLE.

I’m very torn. I just love so many of them, that I don’t know what to buy!

ANYWAY, I should get to what YOU need to be commenting on this week, shouldn’t I?

I would like you, dear readers of Twilight who have not finished the book, to make a prediction. What do you think WILL happen to our characters by the end of this first book of four? Then, on the other side of things, tell me what you think SHOULD happen by the end of the book.

What you think WILL and SHOULD happen most of the time will not be the same. Sometimes they are, but in real life what you believe will happen occasionally not identical to what does. One of my family’s favorite jokes is that every time my brother would get in trouble, the first thing out of his mouth was always, “Well, I didn’t think THAT would happen.” I think that illustrates my point. Characters in books make choices, just like people. Tell us where you think the characters’ choices in Twilight will lead them and where those choices would take them if it were a “perfect” world. 

And with that, I turn the floor over to you!

- Mrs. N.

Apparently I am very good at interrupting Twilight bloggers and I also have a thing for books that are made into movies.  So, I would like to interrupt for a moment to let you in on another book/movie combination.  The Boy in the Striped Pajamas based on the book by the same name, written by John Boyne, comes out in theaters Friday November 7th.  The book is about a boy, Bruno, who is the son of a Nazi officer.  When his father’s job relocates them to a much more secluded area, he finds that there is little to do and no one to play with.  Since he enjoys exploring new things, Bruno decides to explore the property where they live, and discovers a fenced in area, where many, many people live, and all wear the same striped pajamas.  He meets a boy his age, Shmuel, who lives on the other side of the fence, and they become secret friends. 

I am near the end of the book and am anxious, though nervous, to find out how it all comes to an end.  I have really enjoyed the book so far.  After finishing the book, I of course, plan to see the movie and will do my usual comparisons.  I hope it is a book that sounds like a good read to you and if so, I encourage you to read it.  FYI-Mrs. Northcutt has it on audio in the LGES library!  Check out http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809863912/info to see the movie trailor.  Enjoy and thanks for allowing my interruption! 

Some of you did some NICE work on commenting and discussing last week’s post! Bravo!

I’m keeping this week’s assignment short and sweet and to the point (much like a mini-bag of Halloween candy). Here it is:

1. Last week we discussed your favorite characters. This week we’ll tackle the flip side. Who is your LEAST favorite character? Why? Tell us all about it!

2. YOU MUST EITHER DO TWO SEPERATE COMMENTS OR IN YOUR COMMENT YOU MUST REFER TO SOMETHING THAT SOMEONE ELSE HAS SAID.

Got it? This is supposed to be a discussion, people. If you don’t converse with one another it’s just a bunch of random unconnected thoughts.

Have at it, my dears, and have a spooktacular Halloween!

- Mrs. N

This week you have a two-part question to answer for me…

1. You’ve had your books for at least a week at this point. What page are you on or have you already read the whole book? I’ve heard that some of you have simply devoured it and are ready for New Moon already! So tell us, what’s your status?
2. Do you have a favorite character so far? If so, who? It can be a main or secondary character in the book. Describe at least one way that you identify with this (or any other) character. For example, do you understand how a character feels in a certain situation or about a particular topic? Do you empathize with something going on in that character’s life? How are you and that character alike in some way?

 And Finally…

So many of you seemed to enjoy the movie trailer last week, that I thought I’d throw in some multimedia goodness for you this time, as well. Click on this link to go to the awesome Borders bookstore site for Twilght. It features links to such marvelous stuff as:

• More trailers and movie clips!
• Soundtrack previews!
• Interviews with movie cast members!
• Interviews with author Stephenie Meyer!
• Lists of other “Books with Bite” that you can read!

Check it out my chickadees and I’ll be anxiously awaiting your responses!

-Mrs. N.

Most of you are receiving your books from me today and may not have read ANYTHING yet, so here’s the plan…

1. Watch the trailer below…

Twilight – Final Trailer

2. NOW, answer one of the following questions.

• If you have been reading (or have already read the book), tell us about your favorite part. Please try to avoid spoilers, however. It’s just not very nice to ruin the story for the newbies.

OR

• Based on the trailer that you just watched, tell us about what you are looking forward to reading about in the book. For example, what characters are you interested in learning about and why? What scenes looked like they were going to be super-cool (especially when you read them and get to use YOUR imagination)?

I’m looking forward to your comments! Now get to typing!

-Mrs. N.