Mrs. Zana’s Class

This book was surprisingly good. The author (Rick Riordan) shoves myth and modern in a blender on the high setting. It is the fantastic quest of a sixth grade boy who is half man and half god. The author reveals who his father (the god) is in chapter eight, so look for clues. (they are everywhere!) Young Percy Jackson sets off to stop a war among the gods and has to travel to the Underworld to speak with Hades. He fights many ferocious monsters from Greek mythology such as, The Minotaur, Medusa, and of course the well known Cerberus; the three headed guard dog of the Underworld. You wouldn’t ever guess where Olympus would be… on the 600th floor of the Empire State Building (not that many floors) And as for the Underworld? D.O.A. (Dead. Or. Alive.) recording studios in Los Angeles, California. But there is a major twist… So, overall I’d give this book a four out of five. The only reason it was not five out of five is because some things were a bit too obvious.

This was a great weekend for books. I took home 2 new books we got for free with the Scholastic book order. The 1st was “Indigo’s Star” by Hillary McKay. I love this author, and not just because of her first name. She has a wonderful tone; she loves her characters, but she knows that they are kind of wacky. It’s as though she’s smiling as she writes about them. This is her 2nd or 3rd book about the same family. The parents, who live separately, are both artists. The mom is very disorganized, spends all her time painting in a shed, and never manages to cook or even grocery shop. But, she’s very loving. The 4 kids are each unique. The 8 yr. old girl beats up the bullies who bother her 12 yr old brother! Highly recommended.

I’ve just started the 2nd book . It’s the 1st in a series. It’s a modern story about Greek mythology. The main character, Percy Jackson, is half god and half mortal, and a normal 12 yr old. You guys are going to LOVE this book. The 1st chapter is entitled, “I accidentally vaporize my pre-algebra teacher” Chapter 15 is, “A God buys us cheeseburgers.” My 7th grade son couldn’t put it down. His name is Michael. His review follows in the next post.

Tonight I finally corrected an assignment that was posted on the blog. I don’t know why I delayed; it was so simple to toggle back and forth between the blog and my electronic gradebook. Much easier than lugging home 70 notebooks, having to find the right page, and trying to read everyone’s handwriting.

I’ve noticed that the chatting has stopped. Have they found another site, somewhere that I can’t access?? My original intent was not to comment on the chat post, but I kept getting asked questions.

I think kids are reading stuff or using the blog to access information without posting comments. Anyone agree or disagree?

There’s so much content here by now that you have to search for some stuff. At the beginning I didn’t realize that would happen. There’s a way to let them be notified if someone posts a comment; we should figure that out. I would also like to know how to add comments to pages, not just posts.