Audiobooks- Hear Any Good Books Lately?

This morning as I was driving Jeremy to school, I listened to an interview with Neil Gaiman, the author of "Coraline", "The Graveyard Book" and many other stories. Mr. Gaiman was talking about audiobooks, and how much he loved being able to record himself reading his own books for people to listen to.
In the interview, a few other authors and actors are also interviewed. The interview caused us to have an interesting family discussion in the car and it made me think of you all as you are such strong readers and have gotten so good at sharing your thoughts. I am anxious for you to listen to the podcast and share your thoughts with me about audiobooks.

Neil Gaiman interview on NPR

Here are a few discussion points to help you get started after you listen.

Have you ever listened to an audiobook or stories on tape? If not, what about someone reading aloud to you?
Do you prefer to read to yourself or listen to a story? How does the experience change if you are listening and not reading the text?
Do you think reading a text and listening to the same story can be the same experience?
Is reading a book and listening to it the same thing?
How can listening versus reading a book be helpful?
Are you considering listening to any books in the near future? If you are, what ones?

LOGK- Signs and Portents

A portent is a sign of something that is about to happen. Authors often use foreshadowing in books to give the read a sign of what is going to happen. Shakespeare often used foreshadowing in his stories. In "Romeo and Juliet", both characters talk about death.......and they end up dying!
In "Where The Wild Things Are" , the author uses pictures to foreshadow events. There is a picture of a wild thing on Max's wall, and a stuffed wild thing hanging from the clothesline.


In today's chapter of "The Liberation of Gabriel King", Gabe has a dream and wonders if it is a portent or sign of something to come.

Discussion Points:
A. What is an example of foreshadowing that you have noticed in the book you are reading right now, or in a book you have recently read. Did you realize is might be foreshadowing an event or did you realize it later?

B. Have you ever had a dream that made you wonder about something about to happen? Describe it and explain why it made you wonder.

C. Gabe's dream involved many things that he is scared of....spiders.......Duke and his father.....what other parts of Gabe's dream come from his fears and events that have happened so far?

LOGK-Historical Questions

Hi Room 2308 Readers!!
In our read-a-loud, The Liberation of Gabriel King, we are hearing about many things that happened in 1976. We have heard a bit about segregation in the south, Watergate, and many other historical topics. I am creating this post as a place for you to ask about and discuss any topics that come up that you do not understand or want to ask questions about.
Happy Blogging.........

Perspective

Hi Guys!
Today we talked a bit more about perspective. We talked about first person, in which the story is being told by one person's point of view, a person that is in the story. You tend to read a lot of "I did....." "We went"...etc.
Third person is when a story is told by a narrator that is not part of the story.
Some stories that we have read together told in first person are:
Schooled ( each chapter told by a different character's point of view, but all first person)
and
The Liberation of Gabriel King.
Some stories that we have read together told in third person are:
Where the Wild Things Are
and
Chrysanthemum.

Mr. Geranis talks about two different types of third person on his reading blog, Limited and Omniscient. Go on and read about the difference if you are interested.

Discussion Points:

a. What type of perspective does the author of the book you are currently reading use?

b. What type of perspective, First or Third, do you prefer?

c. Why?

d. What might be the advantages or disadvantages of using either First or Third person perspective?

Fear and Terrance-L.O.G.K.

Terrance appears on Gabe's list of fears.Why do you think Gabe is so afraid of Frita's big brother Terrance?

Have you ever been afraid of someone? Why were you afraid of them?

L.O.G.K chapters 7 and 8-Frita's Plan

Frita has hatched her plan......and Gabe is not happy about it.
What are your thoughts on Frita's plan? Do you think it will work? Why or why not?

While reading this part of the book, I thought about my own fears. I started to make a list in my head. I am scared of falling from high places. I am scared of fast cars and driving on the highway. I am scared of my kids getting hurt. When I was a kid, I was scared of walking up my driveway in the dark. However, I use to make myself walk up the driveway anyway. Now I am not that scared, although if I think about being scared........I end up getting a bit scared.
What kinds of things are you scared of? Is it easy for you to make a list? Do you have more than 18 fears like Gabe?
Do you think facing your fears can help you get over them? Have you ever faced a fear? What happened?

L.O.G.K. -chapters 2-4

Hello Readers!
I am so enjoying reading this book with you! Thank you Candace for suggesting it as our next read-a-loud! I am posting some discussion points for you below from our reading of chapters 2 to 4. You do not have to answer all questions, these are just to get you thinking to help you post. You can also read your classmate's posts to get you thinking as well. If you agree or disagree with someone, remember to be polite, and to back up your thoughts with examples and explanations. Happy blogging...........


In chapters 3 and 4 we read about a lot of uncomfortable events. There seem to be quite a few bullies in Gabe and Frita's town! There also seem to be a lot of people that pretend not to see what is happening.
1. What do you think is worse, bullying behavior or ignoring behavior? Why?

Frita stands up for Gabe and tries to help the situation with the 6th grade boys. Gabe feels she has made the situation worse.
2. Do you think she made it worse? What do you think she could have done differently, or do you think she did the right thing?

In chapter 4 Gabe is in an uncomfortable position. He wants to tell his mother what happened, but he does not want the situation worse.
3. What would you do if you were Gabe?

4. Allie mentioned during our class discussion that this book reminds her a bit of Winn-Dixie. Do you make any other connections so far with this book, either with other books, movies, or stories from your own life?

The Liberation of Gabriel King by K.L. Going

We started our new read-a-loud today, a realistic fiction book called
" The Liberation of Gabriel King" by K.L.Going.
In the first chapter the author really sets up the story by giving you much information on the setting as well. She also introduces you to the two main characters, Gabe and his best friend Frita. My discussion questions for you are the following:

1.Which character interests you the most after just one chapter and why?
2. Tell me what you learned about the setting and why or how you think this setting might be important to the story?