Positive Thoughts about Eve

Positive Thoughts About Brian

Question for August Pages 215-234

Why do you think Mr. Davenport paused when he Via introduced August?  Surely he had already seen him standing there.

Positive Thoughts About Michelle

Interactive Periodic Table Games- Please No More Singing :)

After you guys sang me the the Periodic Song, I figured I would find some interesting sites to help you along the way.
Interactive Periodic Table
Periodic Table Info
Periodic Game
Periodic Table Games
Setting the Periodic Table

August Question from pages 205-215

"The ocean just wasn't leaving inside my head anymore." Do you think other kids may have gotten teased about their hearing aids?  Why do you think it isn't a big deal that August got them?  Was Via right about this? Do you think these new hearing aids will have a positive effect on August's life?

Positive thoughts about ANKIT!!! Sorry!

Positive Thoughts about Julian

Wonder- Pages 186-204

Pages 186-204

Take a look at the first pages of Justin's part. Notice anything interesting? Why do you think it is written like that?

At the end of Part Four, Justin tells Auggie and Jack that he is the fiddler in a zydeco band. He describes zydeco as a type of music, like Creole music that began in Louisiana. Now at the beginning of Part Five, Justin mentions zydeco again. I'm not too familiar with zydeco, but I do know Sesame Street has been teaching kids for over 40 years.

Justin talks about how cool it is that Olivia makes things like earrings our of pieces of circuit boards or dresses out of t-shirts, or bags out of old jeans. For Valentine's Day she gets him a messenger bag made out of old floppy disks.

Justin explains how he traded his baroque violin for an eight-string hardanger fiddle. They look pretty similar, but do you notice the biggest difference?

Baroque Violin

Hardanger Fiddle

We learn that Olivia and Justin are trying out for a role in the play Our Town. We also learn that, according to the grapevine, the drama teacher had been planning to do The Elephant Man, but at the last minute he changed his mind. Wonder why...? (Skip ahead to the 0:55 mark for quick look at the play. Keep watching for more details.)

Justin walks with Jack to the bus stop. He says Jack's "got a gravelly voice, like a little tough guy. he kind of looks like one of those little-rascal kids in old black-and-white movies, like he should be wearing a newsboy cap and knickers."

When Justin is on stage he sometimes forgets his lines. When that happens he plays a little "Soldier's Joy" which relaxes him and gives him a few moments to remember his lines. It might have sounded something like this fiddle player.

At the end of his part, Justin says his mind is full of thoughts that won't turn off. One of them is the elements of the periodic table which he's supposed to be memorizing. Each box on the Periodic Table shows one element.

Eventually, calmer thoughts soothe Justin "like a flatted third on a major chord." That's basically the difference between a major chord and a minor chord (or so I'm told). I looked and looked for a short video clip that would show the slight difference, but instead we'll visit the music room and hear the difference.

So with that ... off to the music room!

*All images linked to their sources.

Part Five: Justin

Justin's part is introduced with a quote from The Elephant Man, a play written by Bernard Pomerance that is based on the life of Joseph (sometimes called John) Merrick. John Merrick was a real person who lived in the 1800s. When he was two years old, growths began to appear on his face. As he grew older, his appearance continued to change until, according to Wikipedia, "His skin appeared thick and lumpy, he developed an enlargement of his lips, and a bony lump grew on his forehead. One of his arms and both feet became enlarged." His head grew to be 36 inches around.

The name "The Elephant Man" comes from John Merrick's time in a carnival freak show where people paid to look at "freaks." He was advertised at "The Elephant Man." He eventually did leave the freak show, but died in a hospital at the age of 27.

In one line of the play, John Merrick says the words quoted at the beginning of Justin's section.

"Sometimes I think my head is so

big because it is so full of dreams."

*All photos linked to their source.

Positive Thoughts about Nicholas

Wonder - Pages 158-185

Photoshop is a computer program that allows users to easily edit photos, including removing someone completely from an image. The name of the program has become a verb - to Photoshop is to edit a digital image. Here are some example of what can be done with Photoshop.

In an email to Mr. Tushman, Julian's mom reminds him that Beecher Prep is not an inclusion school. An inclusion school allows and encourages students with special educational needs to be included in the general education classrooms. What Julian's mom is saying is that Auggie has special education needs. Does Auggie have a disability, or does he just look different from other students? Here are some images that illustrate ways students with disabilities can be included with all students.

Charlotte tells Jack about Julian's plan and shares a list of the students in the class and what group they fall into. One of the groups is the "Neutrals." To be neutral simply means to not take sides in a dispute. Many times it is used to describe countries that refuse to take sides in a war.

When Jack goes to Auggie's house to work on their science project, he comments that Auggie has a cool iMac. He also says that his family has an "ancient Dell that's practically dead."

The title "Darth" in Star Wars is given to Sith Lords. The Sith are the people who use the dark side of the force, and Sith Lords are their leaders. Or, as quoted on Wookieepedia,

"The Darth title was more than just a symbol of power; it was a claim of supremacy. It was used by those Dark Lords who have sought to enforce their will on the other Masters. It was a challenge — a warning to bow down or be destroyed."

In the simplest terms, in the Star Wars world, people named "Darth Someone" are bad, bad dudes.

So now, think about Daisy the dog's official name: Darth Daisy. This evil Sith Lord was a shabby mutt bought from a homeless person. I actually Googled "Darth Daisy" and this is what I found.

Jack and Auggie are partners for their science project. After suggesting a sun clock, a volcano, and growing crystal spikes, the partners settle on an organic battery made out of potatoes. Auggie reads that they can power a lamp with it and says, "We could call it the Spud Lamp or something."

*All images linked to their source.

Positive Thoughts about Addison

Positive Thoughts about Sophie

Positive Thoughts about Ben

Wonder - Pages 133-157

Jack says the first time he saw August was in front of the Carvel on Amesfort Avenue. That would be like us seeing someone in line at  Dairy Queen. Carvel is an ice cream store. We used to have a Carvel in downtown Nashua.

And now, a side note from Mrs. Ackerman: The fourth chapter in Part Four is titled "Four Things." In that chapter both cheating and lying are mentioned. Now, you know I'm a teacher and all, so you probably expect this, but I want to go on record and say this: I condone neither cheating nor lying. (But I do think it says a lot about Auggie and Jack's relationship.)

That is all. Back to the cool stuff. ;-)

The two Maxes got Auggie playing Dungeons & Dragons a couple of times at recess. Dungeons & Dragons is a role playing game where players take the role of a fantasy character and then progress through a story engaging in battles, traveling, gathering treasure, and learning things. Players make decisions based on the story, and their success is determined by rolling dice. The game was first published in 1974 and played (gasp!) without the Internet.

Snow flies just before Thanksgiving, and Jack and his dad go sledding. On the way home Jack finds a wooden sled with metal runners that someone left as garbage, but he takes it and fixes it up. It turns out to be tons faster than the plastic sleds most people use.

Later, Julian tells Jack that he got a new sled too, a state of the art sled from Hammacher Schlemmer that cost $800. According to their website, the company has been around for 164 years. They sell some pretty crazy stuff like a snowball slingshot, a 9 1/2 foot remote controlled bald eagle, and an inflatable backyard log flume. And while I did not find an $800 sled in their online catalog, I did find this awesome snow cycleat the incredible low price of $1950 (now on sale for only $1200!). 

When Jack learns about Ms. Rubin's science fair project, he says he makes a face like Oh noooooo! like that kid in Home Alone. 

Seeing that image in his mind leads Jack down a rabbit trail of thoughts that eventually leads him to understand what Summer meant when she told him, "Bleeding Scream." Once he realizes what happened, he can't concentrate on school. (Could you? Remember what he said?) Jack says that Ms. Rubin just starts sounding like the grown-ups on Charlie Brown movies. And what do grown-ups sound like in Charlie Brown movies? Well, I'm glad you asked.

*All images linked to their source.

Wonder - Part Four: Jack

At the end of Part One, we read about what happened on Halloween at school. Most of you had some very strong opinions about Jack. Think about how you felt when the Bleeding Scream walked into class and heard the conversation between Darth Sidious and the two mummies. Got that feeling? Remember it?

Now consider the quote that begins Part Four, Jack's part:

"Now here is my secret. It is very simple. It is only with one's heart that one can see clearly. What is essential is invisible to the eye."

Seeing with the heart? What is essential, or most important, is invisible to the eye? Does that match what we read at the end of Part One?

That quote is from The Little Prince, a short novel originally published in France in 1943, written by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. A preview is available in Google Books where you can read the first few chapters.

Wonder - Pages 118-132

Auggie mentioned the Cheese Touch back in Part One and said, "At Beecher Prep, I'm the old moldy cheese." Now we learn that the game (and I use that term loosely) is called The Plague. Are you familiar with that term? There have been several outbreaks of the plague, one of which was called the Black Death. Here's a description of what one outbreak did in the 1300's.

The trend of recent research is pointing to a figure more like 45 percent to 50 percent of the European population dying during a four-year period. There is a fair amount of geographic variation. In Mediterranean Europe, areas such as Italy, the south of France and Spain, where plague ran for about four years consecutively, it was probably closer to 75 percent to 80 percent of the population. In Germany and England ... it was probably closer to 20 percent. (quote from Wikipedia, further cited on that site.)

Can you imagine? In places where the death rate was lower, still 20% of the entire population died. In our class that would be six people. In other areas it was from 45-50% all the way up to 75-80%. In our class that's anywhere from fourteen to twenty-four people dying from the plague. 

And THIS is what kids say can happen if they touch Auggie. Do you think they realize the historical significance of the plague? Do you think they realize how horrible it was and that's why the named their game The Plague, or do you think they just used the term because they thought it was funny? How funny is it?

This painting is by Pieter Bruegel the Elder and was painted in 1562. The title of the painting is The Triumph of Death. Remember, it's a painting not a photograph, and it shows a lot of stuff in one image. What parts of the picture show real things from the plague? What parts are symbolic of the time?

Summer and Auggie share what their topics are for Egyptian Museum Day. Auggie gets the Step Pyramids of Sakkara and Summer gets Anubis, god of the afterlife.

Oh, by the way, more shoes. This time they are Summer's UGGs. 

All the students from the school dressed up in Egyptian costumes for museum day. Summer and Auggie dressed as mummies. I'm not sure what exactly they looked like, but here are a couple of ideas.

Boris Karloff from the classic 1932 film.

Homemade toilet paper mummy.

Something silly Mr. W found.

*All images linked to their source.

Positive Thoughts About Sriya

Positive Thoughts About Nitsa

Part III: Summer

Beautiful by Christina Aguilera

Every day is so wonderful

Then suddenly, it's hard to breathe

Now and then, I get insecure

From all the pain, I'm so ashamed

I am beautiful no matter what they say

Words can't bring me down

I am beautiful in every single way

Yes, words can't bring me down

So don't you bring me down today

To all your friends you're delirious

So consumed in all your doom

Trying hard to fill the emptiness

The pieces gone, left the puzzle undone

That's the way it is

You are beautiful no matter what they say

Words can't bring you down

You are beautiful in every single way

Yes, words can't bring you down

So don't you bring me down today...

No matter what we do 

(no matter what we do)

No matter what we say 

(no matter what we say)

We're the song inside the tune

Full of beautiful mistakes

And everywhere we go 

(and everywhere we go)

The sun will always shine 

(sun will always shine)

And tomorrow we might wake on the other side 

All the other times

We are beautiful no matter what they say

Yes, words won't bring us down

We are beautiful in every single way

Yes, words can't bring us down

So don't you bring me down today

Don't you bring me down today

Don't you bring me down today

Pages 81-117 Via

Via says, "August is the Sun. Me and Mom and Dad are planets orbiting the sun. The rest of our family and friends are asteroids and comets floating around the planets orbiting the sun." What does she mean? Why is Auggie the one in the middle? Why is everyone else moving around him?

In the last section, Auggie said he sometimes hears people call him E. T. Now Via confirms it. She says that she and her friends used to dress Auggie up in feather boas and big hats and a Hannah Montana wig. There's a scene in the movie where E. T. gets dressed up by a little girl, and Via says Auggie is a dead ringer for E. T. in that scene.

+

=

Auggie?

Out of the three friends - Via, Ella, and Miranda - Miranda was always the sweetest to Auggie. She included him in the things they were doing or she would talk to him about stuff he liked, things like Bone or Avatar or Star Wars. We'll skip the Star Wars image, but here is an image of Bone andAvatar.

 

I Googled crafts stores in Soho, a neighborhood in Manhattan, where Auggie picked out the beads for his Padawan brain. I have been there and  this is  a good example of what the store and the neighborhood are like. (And if anyone from the class has ever been to Manhattan and can give me a better example, that would be great.)

Via is reading War and Peace, a classic novel written by Leo Tolstoy in 1869. To some people, it is best known for its size. According to Wikipedia, it is the seventeenth longest novel ever written. (And I am assigning it to all fifth and sixth graders over spring break.)

And lucky for you, it's available online: War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy.

When Via says she wants to take the subway home, her mom asks if she even has a MetroCard. A MetroCard looks like a credit card but it is used to pay tolls on the subway in New York City. Passengers run their MetroCard through a card reader to make a payment.

Via tells how she looked at all kinds of pictures of here relatives from both sides of her family to see if anyone, anywhere ever looked anything like Auggie. She says her Dad's side of the family comes from Russia and Poland and her Mom's side of the family is from Brazil. 

Doctors say August has a "previously unknown type of mandibulofacial dysostosis caused by an autosomal recessive mutation in the TCOF1 gene, which is located on chromosome 5, complicated by a hemifacial microsomia characteristic of OAV spectum." That is waaaay too complicated for me. However, Via explains that Punnett Squares are used by doctors to show the chances that a child will have a certain characteristic. This is much easier to show. Here's an example with a short explanation.

And finally, on Halloween Via and her mom were going to sit down and watch The Ghost and Mrs. Muir together, one of their all-time favorite black-and-white movies. Does this look like one of the greatest black-and-white movies of all time? Here's the trailer, you decide:

All images linked to their source.