Category: Snippets

 

Matilda is a story of an independent and brilliant young heroine who uses brain power to stand up to the villainous adults in her life.  I chose to feature this book because it reminds readers of the power they gain through knowledge but doesn’t fail to make them laugh along the way.  Roald Dahl is an author I hope to introduce to my future students as his books helped me realize how much I love to read.

Just to give you a taste of what Matilda is all about, here’s a snippet from the first chapter :

“It’s a funny thing about mothers and fathers. Even when their own child is the most disgusting little blister you could ever imagine, they still think that he or she is wonderful.Some parents go further. They become so blinded by adoration they manage to convince themselves their child has qualities of genius.Well, there is nothing very wrong with all this. It’s the way of the world. It is only when the parents begin tellingus about the brilliance of their own revolting offspring, that we start shouting, ‘Bring us a basin! We’re going to be sick!’ Occasionally one comes across parents who take the opposite line, who show no interest at all in their children, and these of course are far worse than the doting ones. Mr and Mrs Wormwood were two such parents. They had a son called Michael and a daughter called Matilda, and the parents looked upon Matilda as nothing more than a scab.  A scab is something you have to put up with until the time comes when you can pick it off and flick it away. Mr and Mrs Wormwood looked forward enormously to the time when they could pick their daughter off and flick her away, preferably into the next county or even further than that.  It is bad enough when parents treat ordinary children as though they were scabs and bunions, but it becomes somehow a lot worse when the child in question is extraordinary, and by that I mean sensitive and brilliant. Matilda was both of these things, but above all she was brilliant.”

 

 

These short stories are loosely based on Rice’s own childhood as a Mexican American in South Texas. I selected this text for my snippet because it takes place in a culture I am not very familiar with. In my future classroom, I want to be able to show children that people like them can be amazing writers too, and this is just one text from a different culture that I plan on sharing one day with my students. This book could easily be used for English/Language Arts or Social Studies.

Here’s a snippet out of the story “She Flies”:

            “I pulled the door open, and the sound of hundreds of singing birds wept away the shouts of my parents. The parakeets flew out, and I felt as if I were floating in a rainbow. They swirled around me, their feathers grazing my face, chest, shoulders, and arms. I wanted to float away with them. I could hear them whispering to me as they darted by. I lifted my arms and stood on the tips of my toes, wondering if I was about to fly. The birds swooped into the trees of Tía’s backyard, singing happily. Pájaro, on his kite string, sang too. And Tía Mana dropped the water hose and put her arms up, as if she were trying to embrace the flying colors. She was laughing, and he laugh was the same pitch as the singing birds. (p79-80)”

 

Sarah Records

Snippet- 8/31
Language Arts
So B. It by Sarah Weeks (2004)

2007 William Allen White Children’s Award
Reading Selection:
You couldn’t really tell about Mama’s brain just from looking at her, but it was obvious as soon as she spoke. She had a very high voice, like a little girl, and she only knew twenty-three words. I know this for a fact, because we kept a list of the things Mama said tacked to the inside of the kitchen cabinet. Most of the words were common ones, like good and more and hot, but there was one word only my mother said, soof.
“What do you think it means when she says it?” I would ask Bernadette.
“Only you mama knows that,” she’d tell me each time I asked.
That word, soof, became like a little burr sticking in my head, pricking me so I couldn’t forget it was there. I found myself thinking about it more and more.
“There must b e some way to find out what it means,” I’d say to Bernie.
“Not necessarily, Heidi.”
“Well, it has to mean something or Mama wouldn’t say it. She knows what it means.”
“Maybe so, but that doesn’t mean that you ever will. Believe me, Heidi, there are some things in life a person just can’t know.”
The thing is, I didn’t believe her, and a lot was going to have to happen before I would.
Why I picked selection:
I chose this book for many different reasons. First I liked that it has a main character that is mentally challenged. I am always looking for books for my classroom library that has physically or mentally challenged persons in them because I know that I will have these students in my inclusive classroom and I want my students to be exposed to literature that mirrors our class. I also liked that the main character, Heidi, is a 12 year old girl who is also the breadwinner in her family, and a courageous girl who sets off on an independent adventure all by herself to solve the mystery of the word soof. I hope that this text will empower girls.
This is a 5th/6th grade level book.

Girls Think of Everything: Stories of Ingenious Inventions by Women (link to book)

By Catherine Thimmesh and Melissa Sweet

This fabulous little book is well written and full of enticing stories. Each little segment, is full of critical information that illustrates how so many women have helped to change the world, for the better. Share this book with students to help with construct powerful and important ideas about gender, science, creativity, and problem solving. These stories illustrate how women used scientific reasoning to discover and create wonderful inventions (TEK connection: A. 3 all grades). These short biographies are worth sharing!

Here is a little snippet to entice you and your students to pick up this book!

“In the beginning. . .

With a push you are free–bursting into the world scrunched up and screaming. ‘It’s a girl!’ the doctor announces. Or ‘It’s a boy! And so your life began. And with those very first breaths, and in those very first moments, your health and well-being were evaluated through the eyes of an ingenious inventor: Dr. Virgina Apgar. Dr. Apgar developed the Newborn Scoring System–or Apgar Score–to measure five crucial aspects of a baby’s health:color, pulse, reflexes, activity, and respiration. She recognized the urgency of identifying the those newborns in need of emergency attention, and because of her innovation, hundreds of thousands of lives have been saved (p4).”

“The horses were tired; they were hungry. Time to grab a bite on the journey from Boston to New Bedford: a little hay, maybe some oats. After all, the busy Toll House on Route 18 in Whitman Massachusetts, was a rest stop for horses. But in time, that would change. Hay and oats would give way to salads and soups and chicken in white house. And as luck would have it, chocolate chip cookies.

It was an accident. A simple mistake. A last minute effort to save time. A just-toss-it-in-and-it-will-work-out sot of gesture that led to Ruth Wakefield’s creation of the crunchy, chewy, oh-so-delicious chocolate chip cookie. (p.8)”

Special thanks to Mrs. Meads, a fabulous seventh grade teacher, who shared the idea of snippets with me!