Laura the Beautiful, my true friend, makes me feel great. -- by Andrea Vela
Aunt Polly - Tom's Aunt Polly, she is - and Mary, and the Widow Douglas is all told about in that book, which is mostly a true book, with some stretchers, as I said before. -- From The Aventures of Huckleberry Finn --submitted by Asne
Miss Small, the gym teacher, is teaching A.J., Andrea, and the gang to juggle scarves, balance feathers, and do the Chicken Dance. -- My Weird School, Miss Small is Off the Wall -- submitted by Sooji
And she did not want to sit next to Frank Pearl, who ate paste, in class. --Judy Moody --submitted by Laura
Daniella, the soccer girl who rocks and rolls, went to her house. --by Mabel Garcia
Fudge, my annoying younger brother, just walked into the room. -- Fudge-a-mania -- submitted by Claire Griffiths
Samantha and I, the new students of the class, got lost on campus. -- Daniella
Jack, the gold-greedy pirate, yielded.-- Pirates Past Noon -- submitted by Daniel
Carly, who's nice, is my classmate. -- by Ricky
Mike, the horrible kid, was at the party.-- by Carlos Javier
Friday, December 5, 2008
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Sentences from my recent reading
From Sister Spider Knows All by Adrian Fogelin -- a well-written story about an unusual family that has a booth at a flea market:
Mimi says our family may not be a greetingcard, but the three of us together - John Martin, her, and me - are family enough for anyone.
Just after the sun goes down it seems as if the light comes from inside of things.
From Rocket Boys by Homer H. Hickam, Jr. -- this is a re-read for me. It's a memoir of a boy, a family, a group of friends, and a town:
Great Lead: Until I began to build and launch rockets, I didn't know my hometown was at war with itself over its children and that my parents were locked in a kind of bloodless combat over how my brother and I would live our lives. I didn't know that if a girl broke your heart, another girl, virtuous at least in spirit, could mend it on the same night. And I didn't know that the enthalpy decrease in a converging passage could be transformed into jet kinetic energy if a divergent passage was added. The other boys discovered their own truths when we buil our rockets, but those were mine.
I got on my bicycle in the morning with a big white canvas bag strapped over my shoulder and delivered the Bluefield Daily Telegraph down this valley, pedaling past the Coalwood School and the rows of houses that were set along a little creek and up on the sides of the facing mountains.
It was a decision that I believed she often regretted, but still would not have changed.
My mother took no pity on me and scrubbed the coal dirt off me with a stiff brush and Lava soap.
He was wearing his green and white football letter jacket and also a nnew button-down pink andblack shirt (collar turned up).
"Sonny's small," Coach Tom Morgan told my Uncle Clarence at practice one day,"but he makes up for it by being slow."
"There are two things every woman really wants: one, she wants to know that a man really loves her, and two, that he isn't going to stop. . . . "
The night air was so clearn that when I looked up, the stars seemed to form a glowing blue-white bridge that arched from mountain to mountain.
All I've done is give you a book. You have to have the courage to learn what's inside it. - Miss Freida Joy Riley
Mimi says our family may not be a greetingcard, but the three of us together - John Martin, her, and me - are family enough for anyone.
Just after the sun goes down it seems as if the light comes from inside of things.
From Rocket Boys by Homer H. Hickam, Jr. -- this is a re-read for me. It's a memoir of a boy, a family, a group of friends, and a town:
Great Lead: Until I began to build and launch rockets, I didn't know my hometown was at war with itself over its children and that my parents were locked in a kind of bloodless combat over how my brother and I would live our lives. I didn't know that if a girl broke your heart, another girl, virtuous at least in spirit, could mend it on the same night. And I didn't know that the enthalpy decrease in a converging passage could be transformed into jet kinetic energy if a divergent passage was added. The other boys discovered their own truths when we buil our rockets, but those were mine.
I got on my bicycle in the morning with a big white canvas bag strapped over my shoulder and delivered the Bluefield Daily Telegraph down this valley, pedaling past the Coalwood School and the rows of houses that were set along a little creek and up on the sides of the facing mountains.
It was a decision that I believed she often regretted, but still would not have changed.
My mother took no pity on me and scrubbed the coal dirt off me with a stiff brush and Lava soap.
He was wearing his green and white football letter jacket and also a nnew button-down pink andblack shirt (collar turned up).
"Sonny's small," Coach Tom Morgan told my Uncle Clarence at practice one day,"but he makes up for it by being slow."
"There are two things every woman really wants: one, she wants to know that a man really loves her, and two, that he isn't going to stop. . . . "
The night air was so clearn that when I looked up, the stars seemed to form a glowing blue-white bridge that arched from mountain to mountain.
All I've done is give you a book. You have to have the courage to learn what's inside it. - Miss Freida Joy Riley
Monday, November 24, 2008
Miscellaneous Sentences
Everyone who was present that day could sense that words had a mysterious magical power, that they could reach the heart and make the oldest things new again, over and over, if only one used them with feeling and passion. --The Legend of the Wandering King by Laura Gallego Garcia
I have a crew cut, yes a crew cut, sallow skin, and the kind of mouth that puckers when I breathe. -- Fat Kid Rules the World by K.L. Going
I want to say it with a snarl, but when your cheeks are puffy you don't snarl, you huff. -- Fat Kid Rules the World by K.L. Going
The moment already makes the Awkward Hall of Fame, but as per my life, it has to get worse. -- Fat Kid Rules the World by K.L. Going
I am the Rocky Balboa of obese drummers.-- Fat Kid Rules the World by K.L. Going
She wasn't afraid to live life; I wasn't afraid to take notes. -- The Isabel Factor by Gayle Friesen
She was pretty, popular, poised, polite, occasionally persnickety but never around parents. (And political.) Sorry. Runaway alliteration again. -- The Isabel Factor by Gayle Friesen
I have a crew cut, yes a crew cut, sallow skin, and the kind of mouth that puckers when I breathe. -- Fat Kid Rules the World by K.L. Going
I want to say it with a snarl, but when your cheeks are puffy you don't snarl, you huff. -- Fat Kid Rules the World by K.L. Going
The moment already makes the Awkward Hall of Fame, but as per my life, it has to get worse. -- Fat Kid Rules the World by K.L. Going
I am the Rocky Balboa of obese drummers.-- Fat Kid Rules the World by K.L. Going
She wasn't afraid to live life; I wasn't afraid to take notes. -- The Isabel Factor by Gayle Friesen
She was pretty, popular, poised, polite, occasionally persnickety but never around parents. (And political.) Sorry. Runaway alliteration again. -- The Isabel Factor by Gayle Friesen
Friday, November 21, 2008
Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
Stepan Arkadyich subscribed to and read a liberal newspaper, not an extreme one, but one with the tendency to which the majority held. And though neither science, nor art, nor politics itself interested him, he firmly held the same views on all these subjects as the majority and his newspaper did, and changed them only when the majority did, or, rather, he did not change them, but they themselves changed imperceptibly in him.
To each of them it seemed that the life he led was the only real life, and the one his friend led was a mere illusion.Levin suddenly blushed, but not as grown-up people blush - slightly, unaware of it themselves - but as boys do, feeling that their bashfulness makes them ridiculous, becoming ashamed as a result, and blushing even more, almost to the point of tears.
'So you see,' said Stepan Arkadyich, 'you're a very wholesome man. That is your virtue and your defect. You have a wholesome character, and you want all of life to be made up of wholesome phenomena, but that doesn't happen...'
It was as if a surplus of something so overflowed her being that it expressed itself beyond her will, now in the brightness of her glance, now in her smile.
Stepan Arkadyich subscribed to and read a liberal newspaper, not an extreme one, but one with the tendency to which the majority held. And though neither science, nor art, nor politics itself interested him, he firmly held the same views on all these subjects as the majority and his newspaper did, and changed them only when the majority did, or, rather, he did not change them, but they themselves changed imperceptibly in him.
To each of them it seemed that the life he led was the only real life, and the one his friend led was a mere illusion.Levin suddenly blushed, but not as grown-up people blush - slightly, unaware of it themselves - but as boys do, feeling that their bashfulness makes them ridiculous, becoming ashamed as a result, and blushing even more, almost to the point of tears.
'So you see,' said Stepan Arkadyich, 'you're a very wholesome man. That is your virtue and your defect. You have a wholesome character, and you want all of life to be made up of wholesome phenomena, but that doesn't happen...'
It was as if a surplus of something so overflowed her being that it expressed itself beyond her will, now in the brightness of her glance, now in her smile.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Sentences with capital letters stalked by my students
Antoine Aragon put on his Nike shoes. - written by Luis
From his childhood in the segregated South to his current fight with Parkinson's disease, Ali never backed down. --The Greatest by Walter Dean Myers - submitted by Dylan
Miss Binney stood in front of her class and began to read aloud from Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, a book that was a favorite of Ramona's because, unlike so many books for her age,itwasneither quiet and sleepy nor sweet and pretty. --Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary - submitted by Andrea
Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You, lay atop of his pillow, open to a page on protective devices. --The Spiderwick Chronicles - Book 3 - Lucinda's Secret by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black - submitted by Alejandra.
One of those gathered, a fifth grade student at Dry Creek Middle School, tape recorded the spirited exchange between Mander and the angry mob. --Regarding the Fountain by Kate Klise - submitted by Sooji
Cleaning the attic, Grandma, was a snap, and there was no trick to asking Mrs. Edwards if she wanted me to run any errands for her. --Kid Power by Susan Beth Pfeffer - submitted by Mabel
"Be quiet," Alexandra hissed as Buddy and she crawled into the gap between Target and Walmart, where they saw Chantel, Eric, and Wendy already waiting for them. --written by Claire
Alfonso's brother worked in the United States, so Alfonso always talked about going there someday, but he stayed in Mexico because of his attachment toPapa and El Rancho de las Rosas. --Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan -submitted by Antoine.
And we passed dozens of little triangular signs showing the purple, blobby face of King Jellyjam, smiling out from under his shiny, gold crown. --The Horror at Camp Jellyjam by R.L. Stine - submitted by Salvador
The man from Royal and General was wearing a polyester suit with a Marks and Spencer tie, he looked about thirty. --Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz - submitted by Daniella
Dad riffing on the sax, dancing around like a rockstar, Emily tootling along on the flute. --The Avalon by Rachel Roberts - submitted by Laura
I thought about the wall extending all the way to Lathbury and to Turlock, which were butted up and walled in against The Lonely Sea, where fierce, mist-covered waves break against the soaring cliffs. -- The Dark Hills Divide by Patrick Carman - submitted by Catalina
But if I am not a Christian, why was I wearing a cross?-- When the Soldiers Were Gone by Vera W. Propp - submitted by Asne
From his childhood in the segregated South to his current fight with Parkinson's disease, Ali never backed down. --The Greatest by Walter Dean Myers - submitted by Dylan
Miss Binney stood in front of her class and began to read aloud from Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, a book that was a favorite of Ramona's because, unlike so many books for her age,itwasneither quiet and sleepy nor sweet and pretty. --Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary - submitted by Andrea
Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You, lay atop of his pillow, open to a page on protective devices. --The Spiderwick Chronicles - Book 3 - Lucinda's Secret by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black - submitted by Alejandra.
One of those gathered, a fifth grade student at Dry Creek Middle School, tape recorded the spirited exchange between Mander and the angry mob. --Regarding the Fountain by Kate Klise - submitted by Sooji
Cleaning the attic, Grandma, was a snap, and there was no trick to asking Mrs. Edwards if she wanted me to run any errands for her. --Kid Power by Susan Beth Pfeffer - submitted by Mabel
"Be quiet," Alexandra hissed as Buddy and she crawled into the gap between Target and Walmart, where they saw Chantel, Eric, and Wendy already waiting for them. --written by Claire
Alfonso's brother worked in the United States, so Alfonso always talked about going there someday, but he stayed in Mexico because of his attachment toPapa and El Rancho de las Rosas. --Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan -submitted by Antoine.
And we passed dozens of little triangular signs showing the purple, blobby face of King Jellyjam, smiling out from under his shiny, gold crown. --The Horror at Camp Jellyjam by R.L. Stine - submitted by Salvador
The man from Royal and General was wearing a polyester suit with a Marks and Spencer tie, he looked about thirty. --Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz - submitted by Daniella
Dad riffing on the sax, dancing around like a rockstar, Emily tootling along on the flute. --The Avalon by Rachel Roberts - submitted by Laura
I thought about the wall extending all the way to Lathbury and to Turlock, which were butted up and walled in against The Lonely Sea, where fierce, mist-covered waves break against the soaring cliffs. -- The Dark Hills Divide by Patrick Carman - submitted by Catalina
But if I am not a Christian, why was I wearing a cross?-- When the Soldiers Were Gone by Vera W. Propp - submitted by Asne
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
More Carl Hiaasen - Flush
The deputy told me to empty my pockets: two quarters, a penny, a stick of bubble gum, and a roll of grip tape for my skateboard. (p. 1)
I was actually born in a 1989 Chevrolet Caprice on U.S. Highway One, my dad racing up the eighteen-mile stretch from Key Largo to the mainland. (p. 5)
Over the years Abbey and I developed a pretty good system: She keeps an eye on Mon, and I keep an eye on Dad. (p. 5)
I remember Mom's eyes narrowing when Dad told us the story-- it was the same look I get whenever I tell her I'm done with my homework and she knows better. (p. 15)
Summer mornings are mostly sunny and still, though by midafternoon huge boiling thunderheads start to build over the Everglades, and the weather can get interesting in a hurry. (p. 27)
I remember thinking of something clever to say, but all I could do was squeak like a leaking balloon. (p. 107)
It was one of those bright hazy days with no horizon, when the sea and the sky melt together in a pale blue infinity (p. 136)
She laughed -- one of those tired, what-was-I-thinking laughs. (p. 147)
I was actually born in a 1989 Chevrolet Caprice on U.S. Highway One, my dad racing up the eighteen-mile stretch from Key Largo to the mainland. (p. 5)
Over the years Abbey and I developed a pretty good system: She keeps an eye on Mon, and I keep an eye on Dad. (p. 5)
I remember Mom's eyes narrowing when Dad told us the story-- it was the same look I get whenever I tell her I'm done with my homework and she knows better. (p. 15)
Summer mornings are mostly sunny and still, though by midafternoon huge boiling thunderheads start to build over the Everglades, and the weather can get interesting in a hurry. (p. 27)
I remember thinking of something clever to say, but all I could do was squeak like a leaking balloon. (p. 107)
It was one of those bright hazy days with no horizon, when the sea and the sky melt together in a pale blue infinity (p. 136)
She laughed -- one of those tired, what-was-I-thinking laughs. (p. 147)
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Sentences from my recent reading
Two of the things Benjamin Hunter received for his twelfth birthday took him completely by surprise: a room and a letter. -- The Birthday Room by Kevin Henkes
The cats wove in and out of Lynnie's leg's, purring. If the cats had been trailing rope, Lynnie's ankles would have been bound together in a tangle. -- The Birthday Room by Kevin Henkes
I remember when we first came to Blowfly, Nevada, my dad squinted one eye at the flat countryside and said, "Jake, I believe if you climbed a tree, you could see clear to Mexico. If you could find a tree." -- Jim Ugly by Sid Fleischman
I took a look through the blowing curtain and saw a lot of city clothes. The woman had a thunderhead of copper-colored hair, and she wore gloves to her elbows as if she'd dipped her arms in whitewash. She began to dab at her eyes with a handkerchief as thin and lacy as a handful of air. -- Jim Ugly by Sid Fleischman
The rain came tumbling in, catching some men in the street, and pouring like molten silver off their hats. -- Jim Ugly by Sid Fleischman
When they stopped again to look, they were staring down deep canyon walls where water flowed like a flume, shot up in towers, roared betweeen basalt boulders. -- Biting the Moon by Martha Grimes
I know I'm setting up a problem for later because Dad's always late, but I have rules, too, and one of mine is: Sometimes you've gotta work with what you've got. -- Rules by Cynthia Lord
It follows the ocean's shoreline, and I look for snowy egrets standing stick-still in the salt marshes and osprey circling, hunting fish. --Rules by Cynthia Lord
Jumping in front of the frozen TV picture, he waves the remote in circles, like it's a magic wand. Rules by Cynthia Lord
Fierce, hard -- my sneakers slap the tar --swift, brisk. I take off across the lawn (squishy, springy). but as I round the far corner of the house, my feet slow to a walk. Rules by Cynthia Lord
Someone should tell you not to answer the phone in the principal's office, if that's a rule. Clementine by Sara Pennypacker
"All right, now, Clementine," Principal Rice said in her I'm-trying-to-be-patient-but-it's-getting-harder voice. "Why did you cut off Margaret's hair?" -- Clementine by Sarah Pennypacker
I am lucky that way: great ideas are always popping into my head withoutme having to think them up. Clementine by Sarah Pennypacker
Then he said, "Now Susan, let's just look at this calmly," and then he didn't say anything for another long time. And then he said "I'm sorry" seven times, which is two more times than he said it after he told my mother he thought her overalls were getting a little snug. --Clementine by Sarah Pennypacker
"Did you know the great horned owl is called the tiger of the night?" -- On Call Back Mountain by Eve Bunting
Pale moths swoop like ghosts against our window screen. -- On Call Back Mountain by Eve Bunting
The grass is crunchy under my bare feet. -- On Call Back Mountain by Eve Bunting
Mom looked at me, furious. I thought she would slap me for the first time in my life. She didn't. She stomped away. I stood there, wishing she had slapped me. You're supposed to put an exclamation point at the end of strong feelings. A slap would have felt like that. But instead, her heels clicked out her punctuation, dot dot dot . . . .
I couldn't see where my sentence would end. -- Sahara Special by Esme Raji Codell
I received your letter last week and, my goodness, you sound just like the author of the little book of directions that came with my blender. -- Regarding the Fountain by Kate Klise
Honorable Judge Anne Chovey finds both Mander and Eel GUILTY on charges of fraud, misrepresentation, greed, and in general, weasel-like conduct and slimy business practices. -- Regarding the Fountain by Kate Klise
The cats wove in and out of Lynnie's leg's, purring. If the cats had been trailing rope, Lynnie's ankles would have been bound together in a tangle. -- The Birthday Room by Kevin Henkes
I remember when we first came to Blowfly, Nevada, my dad squinted one eye at the flat countryside and said, "Jake, I believe if you climbed a tree, you could see clear to Mexico. If you could find a tree." -- Jim Ugly by Sid Fleischman
I took a look through the blowing curtain and saw a lot of city clothes. The woman had a thunderhead of copper-colored hair, and she wore gloves to her elbows as if she'd dipped her arms in whitewash. She began to dab at her eyes with a handkerchief as thin and lacy as a handful of air. -- Jim Ugly by Sid Fleischman
The rain came tumbling in, catching some men in the street, and pouring like molten silver off their hats. -- Jim Ugly by Sid Fleischman
When they stopped again to look, they were staring down deep canyon walls where water flowed like a flume, shot up in towers, roared betweeen basalt boulders. -- Biting the Moon by Martha Grimes
I know I'm setting up a problem for later because Dad's always late, but I have rules, too, and one of mine is: Sometimes you've gotta work with what you've got. -- Rules by Cynthia Lord
It follows the ocean's shoreline, and I look for snowy egrets standing stick-still in the salt marshes and osprey circling, hunting fish. --Rules by Cynthia Lord
Jumping in front of the frozen TV picture, he waves the remote in circles, like it's a magic wand. Rules by Cynthia Lord
Fierce, hard -- my sneakers slap the tar --swift, brisk. I take off across the lawn (squishy, springy). but as I round the far corner of the house, my feet slow to a walk. Rules by Cynthia Lord
Someone should tell you not to answer the phone in the principal's office, if that's a rule. Clementine by Sara Pennypacker
"All right, now, Clementine," Principal Rice said in her I'm-trying-to-be-patient-but-it's-getting-harder voice. "Why did you cut off Margaret's hair?" -- Clementine by Sarah Pennypacker
I am lucky that way: great ideas are always popping into my head withoutme having to think them up. Clementine by Sarah Pennypacker
Then he said, "Now Susan, let's just look at this calmly," and then he didn't say anything for another long time. And then he said "I'm sorry" seven times, which is two more times than he said it after he told my mother he thought her overalls were getting a little snug. --Clementine by Sarah Pennypacker
"Did you know the great horned owl is called the tiger of the night?" -- On Call Back Mountain by Eve Bunting
Pale moths swoop like ghosts against our window screen. -- On Call Back Mountain by Eve Bunting
The grass is crunchy under my bare feet. -- On Call Back Mountain by Eve Bunting
Mom looked at me, furious. I thought she would slap me for the first time in my life. She didn't. She stomped away. I stood there, wishing she had slapped me. You're supposed to put an exclamation point at the end of strong feelings. A slap would have felt like that. But instead, her heels clicked out her punctuation, dot dot dot . . . .
I couldn't see where my sentence would end. -- Sahara Special by Esme Raji Codell
I received your letter last week and, my goodness, you sound just like the author of the little book of directions that came with my blender. -- Regarding the Fountain by Kate Klise
Honorable Judge Anne Chovey finds both Mander and Eel GUILTY on charges of fraud, misrepresentation, greed, and in general, weasel-like conduct and slimy business practices. -- Regarding the Fountain by Kate Klise
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