Little House in Brookfield~Section 6

Little House in Brookfield~Maria D. Wilkes
I read from page 250 to page 298 (the end)

This week, I finished Little House in Brookfield and started another book.  Ma had just found out that Martha didn't have her shoes on.  She made her put them on and go into church.  When they got home, Ma said that she would be staying home from church tending Thomas, and that she would need to practice her Bible verses inside in the afternoon.  Then, Carolines first day of school rolls around.  Martha fills her head with all sorts of bad things about school and the schoolmaster.  Caroline doesn't want to go to school, but she must anyway.  They walk to school and find out that there is not schoolmaster, there is a schoolmistress.  Her name was Miss. Morgan and she was nice.  Martha and Caroline meet a new friend named Anna and they let her sit with them.  When lunch time rolls around, they invite her to come eat with them.  She does and Ma says that she is welcome any time.  The book ends with Caroline asking if she can do the dishes so that she could get back to school.
I can't wait to read the next one, but I am taking a break and reading A Season of Gifts by Richard Peck.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0WycpGkqDereniBTyfZpkbzbuVc7zfyae8yk5EEDQNAmvmRuRbBS7XVoVCRawziS_Ttqsap7OWlagu-yixNSZZ_eWr90oeUXXgEs3Kp0GFT9GkPRZndlLg6r9Xfoz0wRGSWhOMwVI1VSZ/s1600/Season+of+Gifts.jpg

On the back of A Season of Gifts, it says that a family moved in next to Mrs. Dowdel and they need help.  The main character is Bob and he has two sisters.  It also says that as Christmas rolls around, they realize that they've found a true home, and a neighbor who has remarkable gifts to share.  I only got to page 11 this week, but want to read more soon.


Key Question:
Last week, we focused on structuring a paragraph.  This week, our key question is that we have to structure a paragraph with our Question, Prediction, and Connection.

Question, Prediction, and Connection Paragraph Outline

Topic Sentence:  This is a paragraph about my question, prediction, and connection for the week.  

Major Supporting Detail #1  Question:  My question this week is will Bob's family, the Barnharts take to liking Mrs. Dowdel or not?

-minor supporting detail #1:  His younger sister, Ruth Ann thinks that she is a witch.  

-minot supporting detail #1:  I think that they will end up liking her.  

Major Supporting Detail #2  Prediction:  I predict that Mrs. Dowdel will be nice and friendly to Bob's family.  

-minor supporting detail #2:  On the back it says that they realize that they have a neighbor with remarkable gifts.

-minot supporting detail #2:  Another reason is by how hard she works.  She works in her garden for the longest time.  

Major Supporting Detail #3  Connection:  This weeks connection is coming one last time from Little House in Brookfield.  It is about when Caroline goes to school for the first time.

-minor supporting detail #3:  When I go to school for the first time of the new year, I get all nervous and everything.

-minor supporting detail #3:  One thing that we get that they didn't get is we find out who is in our class and who our teacher is before we even start the year.  I can understand how scary it would have been to go and not know if you had a nice teacher or a strict teacher.

Concluding Sentence:  I hope that by my prediction, question, and connection, that you will want to read both of those books that I explained!! :)

          Question, Prediction, and Connection Paragraph

             This is a paragraph about my question, prediction, and connection for the week.  My question this week is will Bob's family, the Barnharts take to liking Mrs. Dowdel or not?  Bob's younger sister, Ruth Ann thinks that she is a witch.  I think that they will end up liking her.  I predict that Mrs. Dowdel will be nice and friendly to Bob's family.  One reason is by how hard she works in her garden.  By the description, she works hard and with a purpose.  On the back of the book, it says that they realize that they have a neighbor with remarkable gifts.  This weeks connection is coming one last time from Little House in Brookfield.  It is about when Caroline goes to school for the first time.  When I go to school for the first time of the new year, I get all nervous and everything.  One thing that we get that they didn't get is that we find out who is in our class and who our teacher is before we even start the year.  I can understand how scary it would have been to go and not know if you had a nice teacher or a strict teacher.  I hope that by my prediction, question, and connection, that you will want to read both of these books that I explained!! :)

Little House in Brookfield~Section 5

Little House in Brookfield~Maria D. Wilkes
I read from page 226 to page 250~I didn't have much time to read this week at all.

Eliza gets a dress that was to big for her last year, Caroline gets Martha's old dress, and Martha gets a dress made out of material from a dress that Ma doesn't wear anymore.  Caroline is none too pleased with that.  By Sunday, they all have an outfit of some type that will fit them.  On Sunday morning, Ma gets them up early and they get dressed.  When it comes to putting on their shoes, Caroline just squeezes into hers.  Eliza's shoes fit, but Martha she has a more difficult time.  First of all, there are holes in her shoes right where her big toe goes, so her toe stick right out.  Second, she can barely fit into them.  When the Carpenters arrive, they all get into the wagon and are off to church.  Somewhere along the ride to church, Martha takes off her shoes because she plans to go barefoot to church even though she is not allowed to.  Caroline finds her shoes when she reaches down to get her shawl unstuck.  Ma sees Martha's feet when she goes running to find the boys when it is time to go into the church.

Question:  This weeks question is what was the worst punishment that they would've gotten back in those days.

Prediction:  My prediction is that Martha will be really embarrassed and get in a lot of trouble for not wearing her shoes when Ma told her to.

Connection:  My connection this week is that when we go to church, we always have to wear shoes.  I have never tried to go without shoes, but I am not sure how it would turn out and I am not about to try it either.

Little House in Brookfield~Section 4

Little House in Brookfield~Maria D. Wilkes
I read from page 180 to page 226

The children played Fox and Geese and have a blast.  Caroline's family was out of meat, and a lot of other stuff.  They were going to have turnips again for supper, but they received an unexpected gift from an Indian.  His name was Crooked Bone.  He happened to have been a friend of their father before he died.  He explained how he had seen Joseph and Henry and their empty traps for many days.  Then he motioned for another Indian.  They ended up dragging a huge deer into the house.  Ma was shocked that all of that meat was for them.  The boys helped the Indians slice the meat.  They now had plenty of meat to eat for a long time.  In the next chapter, Caroline looks out of the window and is tired of the rain.  Ma comes in and says that they should have a celebration.  They decide to welcome Spring with a celebration.  Ma and the girls go into the kitchen and they make little cakes.  They then fried them in a pan.  Eliza is unhappy because she didn't get to see.  She starts to go over there.  Ma catches her in time.  She could've gotten burned really bad like their father did.  Martha and Caroline ask mother to tell them the candlestick story.  Ma tells it while they eat dinner.  It is about how Ma was going to get married to their father.  Father worked as a silversmith and handled really hot things.  It was the day of the wedding and he didn't show up.  They waited all day long.  When Ma was going to go home, he was about to open the door.  It happened that he had burned himself so bad that it took hours for the doctor to bandage him up.  He ended up with a really bad scar.  In the chapter that I just started, Mr. Carpenter asks them if they would like to go to Church with them.

Question:  My question this week is a wonder one.  I wonder how many different dresses they had.  If they had one or two everyday dresses and one Sunday dress, or if they had more or less.

Prediction:  I predict that none of their dresses will fit and that Ma will end up sewing them all new ones.

Connection:  My connections this week is from when Ma talks about altering their dresses.  If our clothes don't fit, especially our pants, my grandma will alter them so that they fit.

Little House in Brookfield~Section 3

Little House in Brookfield~Maris D. Wilkes
I read from page 130 to page 180.

In the 50 pages that I read this week, Christmas happened.  Well, before that something else happened. Ma needed flour and the grocer didn't have some, and the miller wanted to sell it by the barrel not by the bag.  That night, a man that they had seen at the grocery store and at the mill came and brought them a sack of flour.  The man brought it the night before Christmas and just in time for Ma to make her Christmas bread with it (which was the same day that all of this happened.)  Caroline, Martha, Joseph, and Henry all saw it happen.  Caroline woke up in the middle of the night and went downstairs.  Ma happened to be there, so Caroline got to help make the Christmas bread.  The next morning they woke up to find packages by their spot on the table.  Everybody got a pair of mittens, and a peppermint stick. The girls got buttons to start a button collection, and the boys each got a carved horse.  Those horses were special because their father had carved them.  Then Mr. Carpenter brought over some plum pudding for them as a special treat.  That ended Christmas.  I am at the part were they want to play Fox and Geese, and they can only play it if they finish their ( the girls) lessons, and if the boys come home before dark, (the boys go to the school house during that day to do their lessons.)  That ends up happening, but they haven't gone out to play it yet.

Question:  My question this week is, why does Joseph go to the school house when he is so old.  I am just wondering because I thought that when you were older you stayed home to tend to the farm and stuff.  I know that they do not go to school in the summer because they are needed to plant the crops and things like that.

Prediction:  My prediction from last week was in a way correct and in a way wrong.  Like I said above in my summary, the man that they saw at the mill came and gave them a sack of flour, but lossing the vegetables didn't influence it at all.  My prediction this week is that they will get to go out and play Fox and Geese and they will have a lot of fun.

Connection:  This weeks connection is from text to self.  I am going to connect to the part about Caroline and Martha wanting to play Fox and Geese.  Sometimes in the winter we play Fox and Geese when there is fresh snow on the ground.  It is a very fun, but very tiring as well.

Key Question:  I would recommend this book to a person who really likes to learn about the past.  The reason why I would recommend it to that person is because there are a lot of historical things in these books, they tell you what life was like.  The author tells you what they did or what their chores were on a day to day basis.  You learn about what they ate, and what they did during their free time.  All in all, you learn a lot about what life was like in the 1800s.

Little House in Brookfield~Section 2

Little House in Brookfield--Maria D. Wilkes
I read from page 76 to page 130.

I left off last time telling you about the grocery store.  While in the grocery stone, they met some friends.  Mr. Carpenter, walks around the store with Caroline and shows her the different things.  When the Carpenter's have to leave, he tells ma that there is going to be some bad weather.  He advises her to pick their vegetables before the storm hits.  Well, they finish their shopping there and start walking home.  Ma is worried about it, but she tries not to show it.  That night, they decide that they will pick their vegetables tomorrow.  But, that night the storm hits.  Caroline, Joseph, and Henry wake up to a door slamming.  It is ma going outside to pick the vegetables before the frost hits.  Joseph decides to go out there and help her when the "torch" she is burning goes out.  Ma acts cheerful about it the next morning.  She says, "We'll go out after breakfast.  Maybe we didn't lose so much to the frost after all."  Caroline is disappointed because this was the first year that she would be able to help pick the vegetables.  They go outside, and find a lot of things like pumpkins, squash, and tomatoes that are covered in frost.  Ma then decides that they will pick everything and pickle it so that nothing goes to waste. 'Whatever a man soweth, so shall he reap'  Then in the next chapter, it is Carolines birthday.  They celebrate her birthday twice because they didn't celebrate it last year.  She got a brand new hair ribbon for her fifth birthday, and a doll for her sixth birthday.  They didn't celebrate her birthday last year because father had just died and they were all to sad for a celebration.

Question:  Here is some back ground that you should know for my question this week.  When she got the ribbon, Ma braided her hair instead of Grandma.  It says that she spun her around to see the ribbon.  My question this week is, I wonder if she held on to the braid while she spun it around, or if she let it go and re-braid the part that fell out.

Prediction:  I predict that something good is going to come out of losing some of their vegetables.  I predict that because the next chapter is titled, A Stranger's Gift.

Connection:  My connection this week is a text to world.  In the story, they get their vegetables from a garden.  We get some of ours from our grandparents garden, but other wise we buy them.  This summer we also got a ton of vegetables from a CSA box from Visser Farms.  That is how we get our vegetables.

Key Question:  Personally, I like the whole book.  There is nothing I would change about it.  I like that Maria is very detailed in her writing, and that she uses good language.  She gets across the characters feelings to you.  A part of the book that I really liked was the part where Ma was so determined to get the vegetables in that she went outside at night in the battering rain and cold to feed her family.  I also like how determined she sounded when she said that they were going to pick every single vegetable.  If Caroline were alive at this point, and were a kid I would definatley be friends with her.  She seems very nice, and friendly.  She would be a great play mate.  To be honest, I would be friends with any of the Little House characters.  I would love to go back in time to live when they did for a day or longer.

Little House in Brookfield~Section 1

Little House in Brookfield---Maria D. Wilkes
I read from the beginning of the book, to page 76.

The book started out with Caroline eating breakfast.  Then it went on to say what some of the chores that they were in charge of were.  One of Carolines chore was to feed the chickens.  Her brothers, Henry and Joseph have to work extra hard with the chores that the father would do because their father died out at sea.  On wash day, Caroline got to help hull water for the first time.  She was really excited to be helping out.  Martha and Caroline had to hull water from the well back to their house so that their mom could do the washing.  Washing clothes took almost a whole day.  You had to get the water hot.  Then scrub each individual piece of clothing until you got all of the dirt out.  Next you had to drop the clothing into a boiling pot of water, and stir it around.  You then put them into a bucket and squeeze the soap out.  Then you have to rinse out the clothes in boiling water.  The last step is that they would put them out on the grass to dry.  That was why washing clothes took almost a full day. :)  In the next chapter, they go into town and Caroline sees a stage coach that was full of people.  They also go to the "grocery store."  That is where I am at right now.

Question:  My question comes from the chapter about Caroline feeding the chickens.  I wonder how many chickens they actually have?  They at least have five because Caroline got five eggs in that chapter.

Prediction:  I predict that Caroline will get to choose something special from the grocery store with the money that they get from the ashes.

Connections:  My connection this week is a text to text.  In other Little House books when they go into town, it is always crowded.  In the chapter about the stage coach, town in busy.  When they are on their way to the grocer, it says that ma had to like "push" past people.  Town always seems to be crowded in the Little House books.  

Focus Question:  I am going to refere back to Hang A Thousand Trees With Ribbons for this weeks focus question.  For the dynamic character, I am going to use Sullie.  Before Phillis goes to London, she tries to be mean to her and hurt her.  She is just out right not nice.  When Phillis gets back from London and Mrs. Wheatley is sick and things are "a mess," she is really glad to see Phillis and she is nice to her.  I would say for a static character, maybe Nathaniel.  When he is teaching Phillis to read, he sometimes could have a temper if she didn't do something right.  Even when they are in London he still has a temper, only maybe a little bit worse.  When they get back home, his temper is still there.  I don't mean to point Nathaniel out, he was nice, but when he had a temper, he had a temper.  Like I said, he was very nice and sweet at points in the book like when Phillis arrived, but that temper was still hidden underneath.

End of One Book, Start of Another

Hang A Thousand Trees With Ribbons~~~Ann Rinaldi
I read from page 162-the end or from chapter 21-the end.

There was a lot that happened towards the end.  Mrs. Wheatley dies and so does Aunt Cumsee.  Phillis gets to meet George Washington because she wrote a poem about him.  Phillis loved the visit with George Washington.  The book says that she didn't walk out of the room, she floated out.  Before that, John Peters asks her to marry him, but Phillis wants time to think about that.  Phillis and Mr. Wheatley move in with Mary for a little bit.  George Washington and Mary convince her a little bit that she should marry John Peters.  Phillis decides to, and they get married.  They lived in a good part of town, but then John Peters loses his job.  A couple of other bad things happen to them.  Phillis had three children, but along the way two die.  Phillis tries to publish a second book of poetry.  It didn't work very well.  Phillis died on the same day that her only living child died.

The next book that I am going to be reading is called Little House in Brookfield.  This book is written by Maria D. Wilkes.  It is about Laura Ingalls mother, Caroline.  Caroline lives in Brookfield Wisconsin and tries to make a living with her mother and siblings because their father dies out at sea.  There are other books about Lauras Grandmother, and great-grandmother.  I haven't started it yet, but look forward to.

Questions:  A question that I had was how long John Peter lived?  Ann Rinaldi leaves you to wonder about that because she never said.

Predictions:  I predict that Little House in Brookfield will be about how Caroline lived, and what her daily life was like.  I predicted that because that is what all of the other books are about.

Connections:  The connection that I am going to make this week, is a text to text.  The book that I am going to compare Little House in Brookfield to is the Caroline series, (the American Girl Doll.)  Caroline, almost loses her dad at sea, and in Little House in Brookfield the other Caroline loses her dad.  In both of those situations life was hard without their fathers.  And het, they have the same names. :)