Monday, May 24, 2010
What did i learn?
The new skills that i have learnt from completing this unit of work are how to summarize chapters and find quotes. We had to summarize every chapter as we read the book and this taught me how to summarize things. i can use this skill in the future when i am telling a story, talking about a book or giving a description. Finding quotes is a very important skill to learn for the future because i need to know how to support my opinion with quotes.
My Opinion
I thought the book was a bit boring. It is not the sort of thing i am interested in. I liked how they didn't really tell you about he got the silver donkey in the first place but you just got to thing about it and make your own decisions. I didn't like how when Pascal thought of the plan they didn't really explain straight away, they only told you us at the end what the plant actually was. To improve the book i think they could of added in another problem because the only problem was that his brother was dying and he couldn't help him. It would of been more interesting if there was more problem in the story. Overall i didn't really enjoy reading the book, though some parts were good.
Summary of The Silver Donkey
The Silver Donkey is about a soldier that has escaped from the war and says that he needs to help his little brother John, that is very sick. John lives across the channel and the soldier needs to find a way to get across, the only problem is, that the soldier is blind and the channel is 240km at the maximum and 40km at the minimum wide. Marcelle and Coco are two little girls that find the soldier asleep next to a tree in the woods. The soldier tells them the situation he is in, he also shows them the silver donkey which is a good luck charm to him. Coco is quite fascinated about this and admires the silver donkey a lot. They bring him food and blankets and try to think of a plan to get him across the channel. They make a promise that they wont tell anyone about him because then he would be forced to go back to war. Marcelle and Coco decide that they are not smart enough to think of a plan, so they ask for help from there older brother Pascal. Pascal thinks of a plan for Fabrice (a older friend) to use his sail boat to sail across the channel. They go ahead with the plan and the soldier arrives safely home to help his brother. Coco goes wondering in the woods and finds the silver donkey buried in the soil she is so happy for him to of passed this onto her.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
my short story....enjoy!
Mount Tall Retreat
It was a cold winter morning and it was the day Zoe, Ashley and their dog Bonnie were going to climb Mount Tall. They left home early in the morning. It had taken them all morning to drive to the base of the mountain, by the time they arrived it was midday. They began to climb the mountain, the first part was easy but as they climbed higher along the track they became very tired. After several hours of walking they had accomplished the mountain, as they pulled themselves up the steep rocks at the peak. “finally we’ve reached the top”, said Ashley.
At the top of the mountain they sat and rested for a moment, admired the amazing view and snacked on an energy bar before getting ready for the walk back down.
By the time they were back down the bottom of the mountain, it was very late in the afternoon. They started to drive home as soon as they could. “I don’t want to be in the middle of nowhere when it’s pitch black,” said Zoe
“Yes lots of scary things come out at night,” Ashley said worriedly.
Just as the dog was about to fall asleep from the long climb, the car broke down. “Ahh what’s happened to the car,” screamed Zoe, after they had thought about it they remembered that they were running low on petrol on there way there and forgot to fill it up. “What are we going to do,” said Ashley.
Now it was pitch black and the girl’s were getting very worried and scared. A loud noise frightened the dog so much that she jumped out of the car and ran away! “Where is Bonnie going?” yelled Zoe.
“We have to follow her,” said Ashley. They ran up and down hills they went through bushes and lots of cobwebs until finally Bonnie stopped outside an old broken down house.
They crept up to the front porch, the house appeared to be deserted. They peered in through the window but there was no sign of anyone. They knocked on the door three times but nobody answered. “Try to open the door,” said Zoe anxiously. Ashley slowly turned the knob and to their amazement, the door was unlocked.
Inside the house did not look bad, the beds were all made up with sheets and blankets. The house was very welcoming and they felt safe. They decided to stay the night because they wouldn’t have been able to find the way back to the car. “It will be easier in the morning to see where were going,” said Zoe.
All through the night they heard sounds like ghosts. This made the girls very scared even the dog. Zoe got up out of bed and had a look around but she couldn’t see anything. The sounds kept them up all night.
In the morning Ashley was looking around the house. She wondered who the house belonged to. Ashley found some old photos of a family she had never seen before, she felt curious, she wanted to know who they were. Meanwhile, Zoe was searching outside the house. She found a door which led to a small barn and in there she found a large tin of petrol, “Ashley guess what I found, petrol!” yelled Zoe.
“Oh that’s great let’s go find the car and fill it up,” said Ashley.
It took the girls some time to find the car but eventually they did. They filled up the car and began the return trip home. On their way back home, Ashley told Zoe about the photographs she had discovered inside. Zoe just could not stop thinking about all the sounds they heard during the night. They really wished they could tell the family how the house had saved them that night. They always felt curious about this mysterious house. Bonnie let out a big sigh, curled up in the back of the car and went to sleep. They decided to call the house Mount Tall Retreat, that’s exactly what it meant to them.
It was a cold winter morning and it was the day Zoe, Ashley and their dog Bonnie were going to climb Mount Tall. They left home early in the morning. It had taken them all morning to drive to the base of the mountain, by the time they arrived it was midday. They began to climb the mountain, the first part was easy but as they climbed higher along the track they became very tired. After several hours of walking they had accomplished the mountain, as they pulled themselves up the steep rocks at the peak. “finally we’ve reached the top”, said Ashley.
At the top of the mountain they sat and rested for a moment, admired the amazing view and snacked on an energy bar before getting ready for the walk back down.
By the time they were back down the bottom of the mountain, it was very late in the afternoon. They started to drive home as soon as they could. “I don’t want to be in the middle of nowhere when it’s pitch black,” said Zoe
“Yes lots of scary things come out at night,” Ashley said worriedly.
Just as the dog was about to fall asleep from the long climb, the car broke down. “Ahh what’s happened to the car,” screamed Zoe, after they had thought about it they remembered that they were running low on petrol on there way there and forgot to fill it up. “What are we going to do,” said Ashley.
Now it was pitch black and the girl’s were getting very worried and scared. A loud noise frightened the dog so much that she jumped out of the car and ran away! “Where is Bonnie going?” yelled Zoe.
“We have to follow her,” said Ashley. They ran up and down hills they went through bushes and lots of cobwebs until finally Bonnie stopped outside an old broken down house.
They crept up to the front porch, the house appeared to be deserted. They peered in through the window but there was no sign of anyone. They knocked on the door three times but nobody answered. “Try to open the door,” said Zoe anxiously. Ashley slowly turned the knob and to their amazement, the door was unlocked.
Inside the house did not look bad, the beds were all made up with sheets and blankets. The house was very welcoming and they felt safe. They decided to stay the night because they wouldn’t have been able to find the way back to the car. “It will be easier in the morning to see where were going,” said Zoe.
All through the night they heard sounds like ghosts. This made the girls very scared even the dog. Zoe got up out of bed and had a look around but she couldn’t see anything. The sounds kept them up all night.
In the morning Ashley was looking around the house. She wondered who the house belonged to. Ashley found some old photos of a family she had never seen before, she felt curious, she wanted to know who they were. Meanwhile, Zoe was searching outside the house. She found a door which led to a small barn and in there she found a large tin of petrol, “Ashley guess what I found, petrol!” yelled Zoe.
“Oh that’s great let’s go find the car and fill it up,” said Ashley.
It took the girls some time to find the car but eventually they did. They filled up the car and began the return trip home. On their way back home, Ashley told Zoe about the photographs she had discovered inside. Zoe just could not stop thinking about all the sounds they heard during the night. They really wished they could tell the family how the house had saved them that night. They always felt curious about this mysterious house. Bonnie let out a big sigh, curled up in the back of the car and went to sleep. They decided to call the house Mount Tall Retreat, that’s exactly what it meant to them.