Citation:Potter, E. (2009). SLOB. New York: The Penguin Group.
Summary:Basically, the main character, Owen who is considered the fattest kid in school and is tormented on a daily basis by most of the other kids and even the coach seems to have it out for him. What makes matter worse is that the one thing that brings joy to him is his snack of three Oreo cookies that his mother allows him to have even though she wants him to stay on a low-fat diet; someone is stealing them from his lunch and he makes it his mission to find out who it is. There is another mystery that he tries to solve, one that is more important and personal to him, one that he has been trying to solve for the past two years.
Review:
Booklist (June 1, 2009 (Vol. 105, No. 19))
“Grades 4-7. Twelve-year-old Owen and his sister attend a progressive New York City school where there are no desks, “Just workstations. Which are basically desks.” Despite the school motto, “Compassion, Not Competition,” overweight Owen is victimized by his sadistic gym teacher as well as by many fellow students. In his spare time, he attempts to construct a video playback time machine in order to discover who murdered his parents two years earlier. Slowly, Owen realizes whom he can trust and what matters to him now. Self-aware and ironic, Owen makes a sympathetic narrator. Readers will also enjoy the portrayals of his younger sister Caitlin, who insists that her name is Jeremy now that she’s joined GWAB (Girls Who Are Boys), and transfer student/outcast Mason Rigg, who, rumor has it, carries a switchblade tucked into his sock. Loose ends that appear in the narrative early on are tied up a little too neatly by the end, but the vividly drawn characters offer plenty to enjoy along the way” (Booklist 2009).
Impression:
In the book, Owen talks about how he wasn’t always fat; he began to gain weight after the murder of his parents. He was always hungry and felt empty inside and he tried to fill that void with food which led to his weight gain. Everyone deals with tragedy differently. In the end he comes to terms with his parents murder and that the murderer will probably never be found. He begins to lose weight and feels better about himself and he realizes that life goes on and to stop living in the past.
Lesson: Give students a lesson on bullying and signs of bullying and ways to prevent it. Show videos from websites about bullying and have students write about a time they may have been bullied or know someone who has. Librarian could also have students write about the death of a loved one and how they coped or are coping with it. Students will learn importance of writing things down and how much better they will feel once the get things off their chest.
Booklist. (2009). [Review of the book Slob by Ellen Porter]. Retrieved from http://www.titlewave.com/search?SID=d41baf9cdd2ce197aeb65463a994f74b
Mod 7 Because of Winn-Dixie
Citation:DiCamillo, K. (2000). Because of Winn-Dixie. Maine: Thorndike Press.
Summary:
This is a story of a little girl running a simple errand who runs into a stray dog that will change her life forever. India Opal is new to town and does not have many friends so when she finds a stray at the local grocery store she takes it upon herself to take it home and become its owner. She needs a friend and he needs an owner; it’s a match made in heaven.
Review:
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review“Because of Winn-Dixie, a big, ugly, happy dog, 10-year-old Opal learns 10 things about her long gone mother from her preacher father. Because of Winn-Dixie, Opal makes new friends among the somewhat unusual residents of her new hometown, Naomi, Florida. Because of Winn-Dixie, Opal begins to find her place in the world and let go of some of the sadness left by her mother's abandonment seven years earlier.
With her newly adopted, goofy pooch at her side, Opal explores her bittersweet world and learns to listen to other people's lives. This warm and winning book hosts an unforgettable cast of characters, including a librarian who fought off a bear with a copy of War and Peace, an ex-con pet-store clerk who plays sweet music to his animal charges, and the neighborhood "witch," a nearly blind woman who sees with her heart. Part Frankie (
The Member of the Wedding), part Scout (To Kill a Mockingbird), Opal brings her own unique and wonderful voice to a story of friendship, loneliness, and acceptance. Opal's down-home charm and dead-on honesty will earn her friends and fans far beyond the confines of Naomi, Florida” (Ages 9 and older) --Emilie Coulter…(as cited on Amazon).
From Publishers Weekly
“DiCamillo's debut novel, a 2001 Newbery Honor Book, percolates with heartfelt emotion and eccentric Southern color as superbly performed by Tony Award-winning actress Jones. Ten-year-old Opal, lonely in the Florida town where she has just moved with her preacher father, instantly takes a shine to a scraggly stray dog she encounters in the local Winn-Dixie supermarket. The pooch, named for their meeting place, becomes a trusted companion with whom Opal can share her thoughts and fears, and her hurt, confused feelings about the mother who left the family when Opal was three. Winn-Dixie is soon helping Opal in other ways, too. The dog's "smile" and sweet temperament act as ice breakers that allow Opal to meet a whole new group of friends who grow to be an unusual extended family. Jones imbues her depiction of Opal with a tone of youthful, hopeful wonder and skillfully transforms her voice to distinguish the other older, life-weathered characters. A Tennessee native, she never sounds hokey as she adopts a Southern accent, and she effortlessly slips into a compelling storytelling rhythm. This is a top-notch treatment of an award-winning tale. Ages 8-up”…(as cited in Amazon).
Lesson:
Students read the book Because of Winn Dixie and then create a personal decalogue, which is a list of 10 personal beliefs. In this decalogue lesson plan, students then write a decalogue of a fictional character and write a story based on it.
Lesson Planet. (2011). Lesson Planet A Search Engine for Teachers. Retrieved from http://www.lessonplanet.com/search?keywords=Winn+Dixie&media=lesson&utm_campaign=Literature+%28Both%29&utm_content=Because+of+Winn+Dixie&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=adcenter&utm_term=activities+for+because+of+winn+dixie
Amazon. (2001). [A review of the book Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo]. Retrieved from
http://www.amazon.com/Because-of-Winn-Dixie-ebook/dp/B002NC7330
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