Movie Link

Zach, this movie is nearly impossible to get my hands on! It played on Nickelodeon a few times, but they never made it into a video or a DVD. Luckily, I was able to find a place where you can watch it online. It is a bit grainy, but I think it will do the trick. Congratulations on making it through the book!

http://www.nick.com/videos/clip/NTV_Maniac_Magee_full.html

Teaching Adults to Read

In Chapter 27, Maniac teaches Grayson how to read. Many adults in our society have never learned to read, There are a lot of reasons why a person might never have learned to read. Why do you think a person may not have learned how to read? How would you begin teaching an adult how to read?

Adventure

Some readers might say that Maniac has a strong spirit of adventure. What does this expression mean?

Narrative Writing

Maniac Magee is written as a narrative, because the author is telling a story. For your next big assignment, you will be writing a narrative essay. Rather than writing about something fictional (not true, like Maniac Magee), you will be writing about something that has happened to you (non-fiction narrative).

You will be working with Mr. Ney to write an essay that I can read that is written as a non-fiction narrative. You will:

1. Brainstorm
2. Use an organizer (either the Time for Kids one below, or the hamburger organizer from earlier this quarter)
3. Create a rough draft
4. Edit the rough draft
5. Submit a final draft

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Here is some information from Time for Kids that might be helpful. The organizers will help you to think about your work and should be completed as you work on your essay.

Nonfiction narrative writing tells a true story about an event or a series of events. It can be about a personal experience or something that happened to somebody else, such as a parent or friend.

To write a personal narrative, follow the steps below:

Think about an experience that happened to you or someone you know that you think others would be interested in.

Choose an experience you want to write about. Think about what you saw, heard and felt. Use an idea organizer to help sort out your thoughts.

As you write, use “I” throughout your story. Most narratives are told using the first-person point of view.

Write an introduction that gets your reader’s attention and tells him or her what your story will be about.

Write about the events in the order in which they happened. What happened first, second, third?

Be sure to add sensory details, such as how something tasted or what something looked like. This will help your reader feel like he or she was there, too. Draw the reader into the experience.

Write a conclusion that ends your story. Tell the reader why this experience was important to you and what you learned from it.

Once you have finished your personal narrative, be sure to review your work.

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Do you have any questions? I know that is a lot of information! Ask any questions here.

Part 1: In Chapter 12 of Maniac Magee, Maniac is willing to say "Hi" to people as he passes them. Even though he does not know these people, he is willing to take a chance to see how they will respond. Have you ever said "Hi" to someone you did not know, or have a conversation in class with someone you do not usually talk to? How did this go for you and how did you feel afterward?

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Part 2: Draft a friendly letter using Thornton Academy email to send to 10 friends, family members and teachers (NOT Mr. Ney or Ms. Broda!) to say "Hi" to them and ask them to read your blog, become a follower, or post a comment to your work. It might be hard to put yourself out there and ask for feedback, but just like Maniac was able to take a chance, I know you can, too!





Click here for some Friendly Letter Tips

Good Luck!

Good luck tomorrow at the Special Olympics. I know you will be doing some running, just like Maniac Magee! Tell me all about it when you come back.

Onomatopoeia

In class, you should have learned about onomatopoeia and found two places were Jerry Spinelli used onomatopoeia in Maniac Magee. Now, here on the blog, let's look at using onomatopoeia in our own writing.

Make a list of onomatopoeic words (at least 10).

Discuss with Mr. Ney how to put each one into an interesting sentence. Write them here in the blog for me to read.

The World's Best Candy Bar! Part 2

What will you call this candy bar you have designed? In order for it to be popular, it will not only have to taste good, it will need a great name and an eye-catching wrapper. Design the wrapper on your computer and include the name of the candy bar on the wrapper. Upload your design to this blog post.

*** Below is the candy bar design Zach emailed to me to post on the blog for him***

The World's Best Candy Bar!

In Chapter 10 of Maniac Magee, Maniac takes a bite of Mars Bar's candy. Mars Bar is never without a candy bar, probably a situation you would like to be in!

Describe in words the perfect candy bar. What shape will it be - flat and square or round and chunky? What ingredients will it have? Will it be covered with chocolate?

Setting

What is the setting of a story?
The setting is the place the story is taking place. The kitchen, the woods, in a classroom, on a boat, by a campfire; wherever.

What is the setting of Maniac Magee?

Personal Connections

How can the way people in your family act affect the way you feel toward life? How can friends actions affect how you feel toward life?

Who's Who?

Now that you have read a few chapters in the book, you should be able to identify who the characters are. Make a "Who's Who" list (you should remember this from Mr. LePauloue's room!) of the characters you have been introduced to already. This blog post can be a list rather than a paragraph, but you need to explain who each character is in a sentence. One word is not enough to describe a character.

Predictions

At this point in the class, you have already done some background reading. You have read about the author, you have read a summary of the story, and you have read the back of the book. You have also heard the name of the book and seen the front cover. Based on these pieces of information, what do you think this book will be about? What do these clues tell you about Maniac Magee?

Introduction Post

Welcome to the Maniac Magee blog - to respond to blog prompts, click "comment" at the bottom and type your response. Your post will show up as a comment to the prompt.

The first prompt is this: How do you feel about resource room ELA right now? Are there any questions you have that Miss Broda could answer?

Hamburger Paragraphs

Use this graphic organizer to help you decide if what you have written is a "real paragraph." Remembering the layers of the hamburger can help you remember to write complete paragraphs!

Top Bun: Main Idea - What is your paragraph going to be about? This should be one sentence.
Tomatoes: Detail #1 - What is one way you can talk about your main idea?
Lettuce: Detail #2 - What is a second way you can support your main idea?
Burger: Detail #3 - What is a third way you can discuss your main idea?
Bottom Bun: Concluding Sentence - Sum up what you have talked about - make it end smoothly.


You can click on the picture of the burger at the top of this post, and it will make a bigger picture for you. This would be a good thing to print out and put in your folder for you to look at when you make posts.

Blog Expectations

Blog posts will be graded according to the following expectations.

1) All blog posts must be at least one paragraph long.
2) Paragraphs must follow proper punctuation and sentence structure.
3) Blog posts should answer all parts of the question prompt.

Please seek help from Miss Broda or Mr. Ney if you have questions.

Feel free to play around with colors and fonts, just make sure I can read them.

Welcome to the Maniac Magee Blog

Welcome to Miss Broda's Maniac Magee Blog. This Blog will be the way in which you turn in all written assignments for this unit, and the way you communicate with Miss Broda. If you have any questions about using the Blog, please email Miss Broda at jessica.broda@thorntonacademy.org. Good luck, and happy reading!