Blog Post #2

Title: Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly pgs. 27-62
Summary: This week my book talked more about the relationship between Josie and Hollis. At first Hollis wasn't happy about living with a new foster mother. However, the more time that Hollis spends with Josie she is staring to really enjoy her company. Josie is not like any other foster mother, she likes to have fun. She does not give Hollis rules or regulations. They do a lot of spur of the moment activities. pg. 30 "Hollis tonight we are going to go to the movies Josie said." "That was alright with me, but I had never been allowed to hang out on a school night before thought Hollis." Pg. 35 "This morning Hollis we will go down to visit the river that I own Rosie said." Being that Josie always takes Hollis on these spur of the moment adventures, Hollis never goes to school. Hollis is still flashing back to the old family that she had but I still don't have a clear understanding of why she had to leave her old family. When she flashes back she only thinks about the good times that she had with her old family (The Regans). During this weeks reading I was introduced to a new character named Beatrice. Beatrice is Josie's cousin. Until Josie got Hollis Beatrice was the individual that was looking after Josie. You probably wonder why I say was looking after Josie. The most important thing that I learned in my reading this week was that Josie is very forgetful. That is why it never dawns on her that Hollis is missing school. Hollis learns that Josie really needs Hollis more than Hollis needs Josie. This is so important because it makes Hollis for once feel good about herself. She went from wanting someone to take care of her to being the one that enjoys taking care of someone else.

Opinion: This week I struggled a little to read my book. It started dragging to me. Around page 50 it picked back up though! I really can't wait to see why Hollis had to leave the Regans. I love that Hollis is becoming more mature. My father says that all things work together for our good. I feel like that is the case for Hollis. She had so many problems when the book first started. The household that she was placed in, is really changing her personality. She had a reputation for running away from foster homes in the past. Now she knows that Josie is forgetful and if the agency finds out how forgetful she is they will take her away from Josie. Hollis doesn't want that and works very hard to protect and take care of Josie. I am really enjoying this book. I like the way the author keeps you making predictions about what will happen next!

Prompt: How did your first book club meeting go? Today we had our first official book club meeting. Most groups did very well in 808. In 807 it was a little more difficult because some kids get pulled out for ESL, and it is hard to have a productive meeting without all members of the group.
What went well? As I looked around the rooms and sat and met with groups, most students were on task. I heard accountable talk going on within the groups and I saw most students following the guidelines for a good book club meeting.
What didn't go so well? For some groups it was hard to have a book club meeting because everyone was in a different place in the book. Some groups didn't prepare properly for the meeting and that made it hard to discuss what was going on in the book.
What were two things that you heard in your club meeting that you agreed with? Who said it? What were two things that you heard that you didn't agree with? Who said it? What do you think is going to happen in next weeks reading? I predict that next week as I read.....Hollis is going to explain why she could not stay with the Regans. I also have a feeling that Hollis is going to try to do whatever she has to do to make sure that she stays with Josie. Tune in next week to see what else happens in my book.......

Book Club Post #1

Book Club book: Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reily
pgs:1-26

Summary: My book is about a a young 12 year old girl named Hollis Woods. The main character of my book was abandoned by her family as an infant. For 12 years she has been transferred from one foster home to another. The agency that finds her the new homes refer to her as a "mountain of trouble" (pg 6) because she likes to cut school and she runs away from the foster homes that she is placed in. According to Hollis she just wakes up some mornings and feels like she can't take any more of the place or the foster family that she has been placed with so she grabs her knap sack and runs away. (pg. 12). When the book opens up it tells you that Hollis was being dropped off at a new foster family. Of course she is not happy about this but has no choice but to go where they take her. Her new Foster mother is a lady named Josie Kale. Josie is an older retired woman that use to be an art teacher. Hollis likes to draw so she finds that her and Josie have something in common. In the second chapter of my book Hollis flashes back to an old foster family that she had. So far I can't tell why she left their house but the book leads you to believe that she liked that family and that is why she can't get them "The Regans" out of her thoughts or her dreams!

Opinion: I had seen this particular book in the class library for quite some time and I never read it. The moment that I saw that it was about a child in foster care trying to find someone to love her, I wanted to read it. I personally think that it is really sad that people have children and then have no desire to love and nurture them like good parents should! As soon as I started reading the book I was intrigued by it (it got my attention) because it doesn't actually tell you everything in the first chapter, but the author just keeps on making hints and leaving clues so you keep reading to see what is going to happen next. For example on pg. 18 Hollis flashes back to the days when she felt what is was like to have a brother named Steven. The book doesn't just come right out and tell you what happened to Steven. You know that she is not with Steven or that family anymore because she now lives with Josie. I am so excited that I just want to keep reading to see what the book is going to reveal about this Steven character.

Prompt:How do you feel about this new unit of Study? How did your book Club group perform this week? What role did you get the chance to play this week and how did that go for you? Tell me at least two new words that you learned this week as you read your book.
So far I love this new unit of study! One reason that I like this unit of study is because I like to read. Another reason that I am excited about this unit of study is that I worked hard to find books that fit the needs of the students and that is helping them stay committed to reading them faithfully. They all have books that are interesting to them. During Independent reading time everyone is usually engaged in their books and you could hear a pin drop in our class! This week most groups cooperated really well to make sure that they could all meet their reading goal and finish their As You Read worksheets! This week everyone worked on learning the role of the Deep Thinker and the Historian. Two words that I learned this week were hermanita (pg 18) which means little sister in Spanish and whittling (pg 20)which is kind of like carving.