Literary Terms

What are all the literary terms?

Great dictionary of Literary Terms...

Even greater dictionary of Literary Terms!

How do I read this?

Decoding Tips:

"Ge" makes a different sound than "G" - check this list out.

Remember the rule: Change the "Y" to "I" and add "ED". Practice reading this list.

Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry - Prior Knowledge

1. Explanation of Sharecropping

How is sharecropping similar to slavery? It was a labor for land trade. When the slave practice was ended, landowners had no way to find cheap labor to work his vast acreages and the former slaves and many poor white southerners had no land of their own on which to live or to farm. A contracted trade off was made, where, for a share of the designated crop, land was provided to the sharecropper. It was a system that provided mutual benefit to both parties but was easily corrupted (landowners often cheated or took advantage of the sharecroppers lack of education) and often led to a new kind of economic ($$$- it created poverty) slavery.

2. Summary of the book - Wikipedia, 1 page summary,

3. Themes or topics to consider: family, quiet (or silence), and racism.

4. Explore some GREAT QUOTES worth thinking about more fully!

Cite: "BookRags Book Notes on ." 23 March 2010.

More about Skeleton Creek

Check out this link about the book and author from Scholastic.

More about the author, Patrick Carman.

Poetry

Poetry Pairings - Poems paired with other genres!  VERY COOL - from NY Times.

Writing poetry:

I am poem - online format!

Let's find some mentor texts - great poems to read and ponder!

Space Poetry

Love Poems

Advice Blog!

Need some advice?

Want to know what 8th graders have learned during their time at JHMS?

Check out their blog!

You'll find poetry and advice about friends. Trust me, it's worth the visit!!

Teton Science School

"I'm scared to go alone," I said.
"Don't worry! You'll have fun," she replied, "and you'll meet new friends."

"OK," I said,"I'll try".
My trip to Teton Science School was about to begin.


At the beginning of the canoe trip, I felt really excited to race, play games and many other activities. We were going to String Lake. We got out of the van. Then, we had to wait for the van with the canoes. "How much longer do we have to wait?" I asked Cat, who was one of my instructors.
The canoes finally came, we had to carry them down to the water.

"Wow! These are really heavy," Emily said, a friend who I had just met.
"They're green," I announced to Lexy when I saw the canoes coming. I knew that Lexy liked green and would be excited about the canoes being green.
"I know," Lexy said excited. Green canoes could only mean one thing, we were going to have fun.
After we put the canoe in the rippling water, we had our first lesson. We put our life jackets on and got into the canoe. I felt excited and strange. I was in the back of the canoe, so I had a hard time paddling. I had to switch seats with Hunter. I sat in the middle, and Hunter sat in the back. We finally caught up with our teammates, and we started playing a game. It was canoe basketball. We were divided into two teams. There were three canoes on each team. The hoops were behind each of instructors. We had to pass the ball after we had it for five seconds. We got really wet, especially when we got the ball because it usually landed in the water and was soaking wet. Being wet was refreshing on a hot day. My team scored, but we didn't win.

After the basketball game, we got to race to the bridge. The first canoe to reach it won. Some of us got stuck on the rocks, but we got loose. We used our paddles to move the canoe off the rocks.

Finally, we got a break. We were supposed to chase a coyote or the bear. Do you wonder what this means? Well, this is how the teachers at T.S.S. say, "Go to the bathroom." Chase a coyote means to go pee. And, chase the bear means...well, you know!

I asked Cat, "Can we can get into the water and swim?"

I thought she was going to say no, but she answered, "Yes, but only up to you knees."

After swimming, we got back into the canoes; I knew it was going to be tricky. We had a race up to the boulder in the center of the lake. The boulder was like a soldier standing at attention. It seemed solid out there with waves crashing into it. "GO!" yelled Cat.

Once we got there, we joined up with three canoes. Together, we had to come back to the shore. We connected by holding onto the side of the canoe. The people in the middle canoe had to hold on, while the people in the outside canoes paddled. It was hard, but I knew we could do it. We went far; I was proud. We learned a lot about teamwork that day.

our next trip was to Yellowstone. I felt excited to see the geysers. When we got to Old Faithful, we ate lunch. My stomach's growl was an earthquake rumbling. Old Faithful only blew steam, just like a hot cup of tea. Luke said, "Old Faithful won't explode for an hour." I didn't want to wait; I wanted it to explode now.

"Then let's go see the other geysers while we wait," Cat said. While we walked around, we saw other geysers. The geysers were full of water, drops of water scattered and rained down everywhere. I saw little rainbows everywhere. Now I knew what to expect once Old Faithful exploded. We saw Cat and the others sitting on benches waiting for Old Faithful to explode. They were all sitting in a single file like a shelf with stuff animals.We sat with them and finally Old Faithful exploded.
Old Faithful looked like a big drinking fountain. It looked like it was going to hit an airplane. It feel like we were 2 feet away, and the hot steam blew in your face ) I wished my mom could see it. The hours past as quickly as at school. I was really happy to see the geyser, and I wished this could last.

The next day we went to hike the mountain. The mountain looked like a giant looking down at me. I thought the hike would be easy, but it wasn't. I was the first in the lead, just like the leader of a wolf pack.

"Wait for the others, Janet," Luke said.

"OK," I answered. While I waited, I . All of my friends caught up, and we were half way up. The trees were starting to leave the move we walk. Every thing looked like in was dead.that's what I thought. Once we were half way, I was in the middle of the pack, not in the lead any more. My body was begging to go back down. I was really tired, yet I tried to keep up with them, and every step I took it got harder. I wanted my feet to stop moving at once. Finally, we were at the top.
Once I was at the top the air blew through my soggy hair. My back was crying for help. I could feel my lungs every time I took a deep breath. Then I was going back down. While I was going down, I found a rock and stared to carve a wolf out of it. I also lost my water bottle. Once we were down, my friend Lexy and I were going to the bathroom. She asked a weird question, "What is that weird looking rock over there?"

I looked, confused about what she asked. I thought I was talking to a crazy person. I said, "That is not a rock; its a bear!" My eyes were shining with excitement and shock. It was small with brown hair trying to find some food. when it stood up i see the tummy of the bear all all full of hair I jumped to make sure it was true.

I was really excited and scared to see a bear. I ran towards Luke, almost tripping. I was yelling, "Bear! Bear!!"
He told us to startle or yell or talk to the bear to get it to leave, and I did want the bear to leave. When the bear left, he looked annoyed, and we got in the van and left for camp.


A couple of days past, and then it was the last night. I ran towards the fire excited and with a weird feeling in my gut. We told stories, ate s'mores, and sang songs. I was sad of not been able to tell scary stories luke thought we will have nightmares. The smores tasted like a really sugary piece of candy.We weren't allowed to eat more than two s'mores, and at the end we sang a song. Only three of my friends who knew the Sponge Bob song. Then we finished we went to sleep. My tent was dark as a cave. I was so sad and excited that it was the last night. I just wished TSS could last longer. Once we woke up we packed our luggage, got on the van, and left. I ran toward the van to be the first one in. Instead of taking two hours to get home, it took four. I didn't care because I was so happy that I had two extra hours to be with my friends.

Once we were back, we took everything out of the trailer and the van. I found lots of clothes, a water bottle, and a backpack under my seat. "Whose is this?" I asked.
Emily said, embarrassed, "That's mine."

We got all our belongs out and cleaned the van. We have to clean the windows,vacuum the inside, and wash the outside. All of the extra food was sent to kitchen and the cooler were washed. Our tents were cleaned. When we finished, we waited for our parents to come. All my friends' parents didn't come so we sat together. We went into a meeting room. Betsy introduced the camping groups. Then the slideshow started. One by one the pictures came out: every time I saw my picture I was embarrassed. We laughed at the ones that were funny. At the end of the slide show we went to find our parents. I saw my mom. I felt lots of happiness of seeing her again. I said, "Ma."

She answered, "Te gusto."

I replied, "Si mucho."

Emily, Kayla, Lexy, Regan and Emma came to say good-bye and I introduced them to my parents. Before we left, I went to say good-bye to Luke and Cat. "Are you coming back to T.S.S.?" Luke asked.

I answered, enthusiastically, "Yes, I am."

"Then I will see you next time," Cat said. I left with my bag of clothes and my hiking backpack. I was sad to be leaving.

by ~ Janet

I learned that I can go do the same activities many times and still learn more. I discovered that being so close to a grizzly is exciting and scary at the same time. I never realized leaving my parents for a week would make me miss them so much. I was proud when my successful journey ended.