Ralph FletcherBesprekingen

Family drama that works for a classroom and bedtime read aloud. Inspired my son and I to make stollen.

Do you already keep a notebook where you track things that inspire you? Then you probably won’t learn anything new here. I gave it only two stars because I had high hopes of learning something new. If, however, you don’t keep a notebook, this book could be revolutionary for you.

EDU 565

A growing-up story with humor and tragedy told by the eldest child of a large family.

metaphores

The free verse text in this story shows the transition from day to night and from night to day. The simple text and illustrations reveals the magic in these everday moments. It is a wonderful way to show students the power of descriptive writings.½

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This was helpful! I now want to carry a notebook wherever I go and I feel like now I would know how to use it. I also don’t feel so weird about my desire to write random stuff down. It’s apparently part of the process. Onward!

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Wow. Such unexpected sadness in this book; no hint of it in the back cover. I enjoyed the story of the Abernathy family. A year in their life. It touches on many childhood issues, but in a very subtle way.

Ralph Fletcher tells of twilights coming and going throughout the day in this beautifully descriptive book

Have You Been To The Beach Lately? is a book of narrative poems. When put together the poems tell on big story. They are told through the perspective of an eleven year old boy. He tells of his thoughts and experiences while spending a day at the beach with his family. It was interesting to see how the story progressed from one poem to the next.

This book made me miss my grandpa so much! The book is about a little girl and her visits to his grandparents house. Different seasons bring different activities with grandpa and different conflicts. Her grandpa brings her comfort and joy through the seasons and hard times. Just like my grandpa did for me before I moved away from him. Grandpa's never lie!½

This is more of a collection of memories than a story with chapters. The events are roughly chronological and start when Ralph is elementary school age. He is the oldest of several siblings and it is part of his responsibility to keep tabs on the younger kids. This book reads like a bunch of different tales about his family and childhood that you might hear your Grandpa telling. Interesting…maybe more interesting to me because the author and I are near the same age. Will kids be intrigued? I’m not so sure. This is the second in a series and I have not read the first one, but this is a stand-alone book. I got all the information I needed to know what was going on from this book. Also included is a map of his old neighborhood and a really nice tribute to his Mom.

This book is easy to read and extremely helpful for teachers, young readers, or even adults. It is basically a guide that explains exactly how to write an autobiography or your life story. It is filled with so many good ideas and I felt like even I could benefit from it
.I think it would be good to have it as a read aloud and then the teacher models each ‘chapter’ or lesson so that the students can follow that example and practice on their own. Some of those lessons would brainstorm a list, write about your name, sketch a map of where you live, create a heart map, gather artifacts, and collect family stories. Altogether, this would create a memoir for the students.

Marshfield Dreams is a memoir in which each chapter tells a different tale about Ralph Fletcher's childhood. Some stories are funny, some poignant, and nearly all relatable. Together all the chapters give you a picture of what Ralph's childhood was like, but the book doesn't need to be read from beginning to end in order. Each chapter can be read as its own separate story.

In this short versed story, it gives the descriptions and details of the transitions from day to night and night to day.

This book is about the harvest moon. This moon happens right before the short days in the winter. When people would rely on farming, they would harvest their summer crops on this evening. People throughout history would use the harvest moon for spiritual guidance. This would be the beginning of a harvest. The book tells different points of view during the harvest moon. For example, when a pilot goes out at night, he sees how bright the moon is. It looks like broad daylight. Baby turtles are strong enough to finally head to the ocean.

Beautiful use of words that help the reader to vividly picture what is happening during the transitions in dawn and dusk and how those transitions affect the activities of people. Recommend for grades First through Third.

This book is good for visualizing. Similar to the thought of the books/movie cheaper by the dozen, this story shows the aspects of coping with being in a large family dynamic. This story is for older kids, 3rd grade, due to heavier content and a chapter book.

Great use of descriptive words to paint a picture such as, "dawn erases the stars from the blackboard of night".

I like this book for many reasons. First, I like this book because of the message it conveys. It teaches readers that Poetry does matter and poetry is important. This book broadened my perspective on how powerful of a role poetry can play in everyone's lives. In this book, the main character, Ralph, is a broke college student who doesn't have enough money to buy his whole family amazing gifts for Christmas, so instead of buying them gifts, he writes poems for each of them that fits their personalities. I think writing poems is a lot more meaningful and personal than just giving someone money or another store- bought gift, anyway. In addition, I enjoyed this book because the writing in the individual poems is very organized and flows well with other lines in the same poem. For example, I think the poem, "Divorce" : "Parents together, they love each other, then they split. Like the wrong ends of a magnet put together or like a passenger fleeing from a sinking ship." The lines in this poem sound perfect together when read, and they convey a message that could be understood by any child who has suffered from a divorce.

These poems from Ralph Fletcher feel as if they are from children, and they are strong. These "children" witness life, they write about it. Poetry gives you that special insight into ones heart and soul - to let you know what's on their mind. One particular one that got me tearing up was Memory Loss, on page 7, and Grandma on page 10. It is beautifully blunt with the truth that children feel.