Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Verse Novels: Text to World Connections

Task: Make a Text to World connection.
1. Find a current event article online that relates to your verse novel. (Do this for each verse novel.)
2. Embed each link to the article in the comments section below. (Do this for each verse novel.)
3. Write roughly a 25-30 word explanation of the connection you made with your verse novel and the article. (Do this for each verse novel.)

 

37 comments:

  1. Alex, Class 4

    http://www.foxnews.com/weather/2013/09/16/colorado-braces-for-more-heavy-rain-deadly-floods/


    This article relates to the book “Three Rivers Rising” by Jame Richards.

    This article relates to the book because in both, people are hurt and flooding destroys homes. People do the best they can to help others who are in more need than they are as well.

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  2. Brooke, class 4

    In the book “Addie on the Inside” it talks about racial acceptance of others. In the world today there are many issues relating to this topic, just like in my book Addie is struggling in school with people being prejudice to her and her friends. The kids that attend her school are racist, they don’t like her because she is white and attends a mostly all African American school. They think she is a loud mouth, and a know it all. They also think that she has everything, but they don’t really know her. Even though some people say that the segregation of whites and African Americans is over, it’s not. Its actually happens a lot these days, a common example would be a white kid might not be friends with a dark skin colored kid just because of the different skin color, not because of the persons personality. In conclusion, we would like to think that the prejudice acts had come to an end in society, but it truly hasn’t.
    http://www.teenink.com/opinion/discrimination/article/288138/Racism-and-Discrimination/

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  3. Katie, Class 4

    My first verse novel, "May B", by Caroline Starr Rose, relates to this story:

    http://www.today.com/news/snowstorm-survivor-made-video-say-goodbye-her-boys-1C7572453

    Whether it was in the mountains or in a cabin, the article and the book both had the story of a girl stuck in the snow. These two girls were both stranded alone in the cold and disconnected from their families.

    My second verse novel, "Out of the Dust", by Karen Hesse, relates to this story:

    http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/10/17/21005002-girl-accused-of-bullying-saddened-by-florida-12-year-olds-suicide

    Rebecca Sedwick and Billie Jo both just want to get out of the dust. Rebecca meant it metaphorically, and took her own life, but Billie meant it literally. Billie just wanted to get out of the dust storms and find somewhere happier.

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  4. Alex, Class 4

    http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/story/23542904/dust-storm-closes-14-mile-stretch-of-arizona-road

    This article relates to “Out of the Dust” by Karen Hesse because in both people suffer through huge dust storms. In this article, the people driving couldn’t see anything, and many of them crashed. At one point in the book, Billie Jo had to walk with one foot on the road and one foot off of it so she could feel the road’s edge to follow it home.

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  5. Brooke, Class 4

    http://gmwilliams.hubpages.com/hub/The-Oldest-Child

    Annie who is the main character in, “Heartbeat” is an example of how many girls who are the oldest in their family feel when their mom is having a baby. Annie feels like she is getting ignored and she feels like she isn’t important anymore to her family. This is typical for an only child to feel when they are soon to be having a new baby sister or brother. Also, she is scared that the baby is going to have a negative influence on the family, but Annie is very wrong. Many girls who are used to being the center of attention get worried and scared when their mom is pregnant, but usually the baby ends up being a miracle to the family.

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  6. http://www.runnersworld.com/running-shoes-gear/barefoot-running

    This link connects to the verse novel “Heartbeat” by Sharon Screech. This is because it explains the benefits of barefoot running, which is how the main characters Annie and Max love to run. The article explains how barefoot running can improve a runner’s time. For Max to improve his time is important to him. This is because, Max was on the running team and winning his race is extremely important to him.

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  7. My book was “True Believer” by Virginia Euwer Wolff

    http://www.bkmag.com/2013/08/15/greenpoint-looks-like-the-worst-neighborhood-in-brooklyn/

    This article relates to ‘True Believer’, because in True Believer the setting is the dangerous neighborhoods. The problem and plot revolve around this setting, and in the article it talks about dangerous neighborhoods in Brooklyn and how it is a terrible place for children to grow up in, just like it says in “True Believer”.

    My second novel was “Love that Dog” by Sharon Creech

    http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/entertainment/2013/10/giant-george-the-worlds-tallest-dog-has-died/

    This article relates to “Love that Dog”, because it talks about how a dog died and how upset the owner was. This is a lot like what happened in “Love that Dog”, because in this book, a ‘yellow’ dog also dies and it crushes the heart of a little boy that writes poems. The emotions in both literary pieces are almost the same.

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  9. Camryn Class 4
    A current event relating to “Witness”, is the Ku Klux Klan is Marylan was granted permission to hold a rally at the site of the battle of Gettysburg. The Klan spoke their thought about Obama being president and about him destroying our country. The Klan also protested against our immigration policies. This relates to “Witness” because KKK in both scenarios is trying to take over a group of citizens. All in all, I believe in freedom of speech but not by forcing people into things like the KKK sometimes does. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/klan-hold-rally-gettysburg-article-1.1469218

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  10. Camryn Class 4
    A current event in the United States relating to “Hidden”, is there was a man in Philadelphia who tried to kidnap a boy and a girl. Just like in the book it was a man who tried this crime on October 10, 2013. This relates to the book because a kidnapping in the book took place, and in Philadelphia an attempt to kidnap was done. However, there is one difference between the two. This is that this man knew he was trying to kidnap them unlike in the book where a car was stolen with a little girl in the back seat. However, the man in Philadelphia did not get away with it and was chased away by local people. In conclusion, I think that kidnapping is an awful thing that needs to be stopped worldwide.http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local&id=9281862

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  14. http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/28/world/meast/saudi-women-drivers/index.html?iref=allsearch
    A text to world connection I can make from the weather to Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse is with storms. According to The Weather Channel, there is a big snowstorm headed for the midwest this week. Snow offered hope in Out of the Dust. Billie Jo was feeling defeated because nothing seemed to be going well for her. Everything was speeding downhill in her world. One day, a few flakes of snow fell from the sky. In the Dust Bowl, where Billie Jo lives, even a few flakes of snow would’ve helped assure Billie Jo. Luckily, a storm followed. The snow was a sign of hope, that maybe this drought and these dust storms might end. Although this snowstorm probably doesn’t hold quite as much meaning, snow definitely held a lot of meaning for Billie Jo.

    http://www.weather.com/news/weather-winter/winter-storm-atlas-your-reports-20131003
    A text to world connection I can make between women’s rights and Crossing Stones by Helen Frost is that women in Saudi Arabia have decided to rebel. Women started to do something that most women take for granted: driving a car. Police have told women that if they were caught driving, they would be arrested and that force would be used if necessary. Some of these women rebelled. The women posted videos online of themselves driving cars. I can relate this to Crossing Stones because the main character, Muriel, was also upset about how limited her rights were because of her gender. She also helped in the rebellion. Muriel was upset that women couldn’t vote, while the Saudi Arabian women are upset that they couldn’t drive. Muriel’s rebellion was successful and hopefully the one in Saudi Arabia will be too.

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  16. Tessa Luzi Class 4- “Witness” by Karen Hesse: Text To World Connection

    http://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/editorial/278850/simple-decision

    People now a days are often are faced with the dilemma of deciding what is morally right and what is not. Human beings are faced with being honesty rather than cheating or stealing. Just as the characters in this book are faced with the moral dilemma of deciding how to handle the KKK, people are faced with their own moral dilemmas. In the article, it discusses Decision-making, and how it can be fraught with difficulties for many of us. “Decisions often involve fine lines, a delicate balance, fairness.” This is pulled directly from the article. The article is summary just states how you should make the simple decision- the moral one. In the novel, Viola is forced to stand up for what she believes in when her husband joins the KKK. She does not believe that the moral thing to do is join the KKK.
    (145 words)


    Tessa Luzi Class 4- Shakespeare Bats Cleanup by Ronald Koertge: Text to World
    http://www.oregonlive.com/beavers/index.ssf/2013/10/oregon_state_football_gavin_an.html

    In the free verse novel, "Shakespeare Bats Cleanup," the author, Ronald Koertage, tells a story in the formative of free verse poems. The main character is diagnosed with mono and is also under house arrest. Both of these circumstances force him to stay home, and he is not able to play baseball. Bummed that he is not able to participate in the sport, he finds himself pick up a journal and begins to write poems. In the article I read titled, Oregon State football: Gavin Andrews discusses 'heartbreaking' mono diagnosis the writer explains how Gavin Andrews seemed poised for a breakout year. Andrews, the sophomore right tackle, figured he would have an exciting football season. But Andrews started having a sore throat during the final week of fall camp. So he visited the doctor and eventually received an upsetting diagnosis of mono. In the story and the article, both athletes are diagnosed with mono and are not able to play the sport they enjoy.
    (164 words)

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  18. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/04/opinion/04iht-edimmig.1.12547175.html?_r=0

    This article connects with “Inside Out and Back Again” it is about the hard lives that many immigrants have to deal with when coming to America. For example, in the article, it talks about how immigrants get low wages, and must work a lot. This is like Hà’s family, because they also face many hardships when coming to America. For example, Hà’s mother must sew clothes, even though her fingers hurt a lot. In addition, Hà’s brother must work hard repairing cars, so they have money to support their family.

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  19. http://www.toledoblade.com/Dogs-for-Adoption/2013/10/30/Lucas-County-Dogs-for-Adoption-October-30-2013.html
    This news article connects with “Love That Dog.” It is about dogs in animal shelters needing owners. This relates to “Love That Dog” because Jack writes a poem about how he got his pet, Sky. He too, went with his dad to an animal shelter, where he saw many dogs that were put up for adoption. They looked around, and finally found one dog, and decided to adopt it. From that day on, he and Sky were best friends.

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  21. Shaye Costello Class 4

    Article: http://abcnews.go.com/International/malala-yousafzai-describes-moment-shot-point-blank-taliban/story?id=20459542


    This article is about a 16 year-old girl who lived in Pakistan and stood up for women’s rights. She was shot in the head, but recovered and is living today. It relates to the verse novel, “Witness” by Karen Hesse because in this novel, the Ku Klux Klan is out to get African Americans and Jewish people. In the article, it tells how Malala was brave and not afraid to get hurt, just like one of the characters in “Witness”. In the verse novel, the character is an African American girl named Leanora Sutter. She is not afraid of what the KKK may do to her and she stands up for herself. Also, in Pakistan, girls are not allowed to go to school, so they are being discriminated against because they are a certain gender. The Ku Klux Klan is discriminating against Jews and African Americans.

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  22. Shaye Costello Class 4

    Article:
    http://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/louisiana-teen-born-cleft-palate-singing-sensation/story?id=20702368


    This article explains how a 13 year-old, Cameron Richard had a birth defect and got surgery on his mouth. Doctors thought he would always have trouble speaking, but he is now singing and putting videos on youtube of him playing guitar and using his vocals. This relates to the verse novel “One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies” because Ruby loses everything, but something good comes out of it and that is a good relationship with her father. In the article, Cameron has no speaking ability and there is no hope, but he takes a risk and gets surgery, and it leads to a possible musical future.

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  23. Julia Cappucci, class 2

    The essential question that relates to my graphic novel, "Laika" by Nick Abadzis is "What are the characteristics of love?". There are many characteristics of love shown throughout this book. The first example being when Laika and Liliana (the daughter of the liter's breeder) falls head over heals for this super little dog. When Laika leaves, Liliana is completely heartbroken. Later in the book, Laika is faced with another person who falls completely in love with her. This is the vet technician at the space central and the woman's name is Yelena Alexandrovna Dubrovsky. Laika leaves yet another human heartbroken, but this time is because she is launched into space and sadly dies. This graphic novels reminds me of another touching canine story, the story of Bolto. Bolto was a heroic Alaskan dog who survived through a vigorous blizzard in his many miles journey to deliver vital medicine to the dying ill. These two dogs, and their stories, relate to me because they were both loved by all and were very loyal animals.
    http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2013/10/22/puppies-with-a-special-mission/?iref=allsearch
    This article relates to the story of Laika because although she herself was not a service dog, she is just as loyal as one. Not only that but also she was a dog that helped develop space aircrafts, so Laika was also very important.

    The second graphic novel that I read, "Bad Island" by Doug TenNapel has the essential question of "What things are important in life?". This novel expresses this question because while the family is on a relaxing vacation they try to get consumed by very strange unheard of creatures. At the beginning, the parents were stressing out because they had to pack so much and make sure that everything was in line. The son, Reese, was also frazzled because he argued that he should stay home and practice football with his friends. The start of their vacation began on a bad note, however, as they started realizing that strange things were happening and that they needed to stick together in order to survive, the situation got better. By the end of the book every family member (mom, dad, son, daughter) realized that family always comes first. This book reminds me of the Kardashians because although they may fight, they are always well aware that family is the most important thing.
    http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/world/2013/08/23/pkg-hancocks-korea-family-reunions.cnn&iref=allsearch&video_referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2Fsearch%2F%3Fquery%3Dreunited%2Bfamilies%26x%3D0%26y%3D0%26primaryType%3Dmixed%26sortBy%3Drelevance%26intl%3Dfalse
    This article/video reminds me of this book because it talks about families wanting to reunite. I make a connection between the two because they both stress how important family is.

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  25. http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20735990,00.html

    In this article, the man relates to the verse novel “Out of the Dust” by Karen Hesse. This is because he plays his piano to help him through the tragic mudslide sweeping through his home. In “Out of the Dust”, the main character Billie Jo plays the piano, once she’s ready, in order to further help her with the tragedy of her mother’s death. Playing the piano is like a treatment of sorts or for some like a religion that helps them seal together their thoughts. The piano is their savior that keeps them sane and keeps them living. The piano is clearly a major part of these two people’s lives, and that is what ties together this verse novel to the article.

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  26. This article relates to the book Out of the Dust because it was a natural disaster. There have been almost 100 deaths so far. Although the Dust bowl took about 7,000 lives they are both still hard hitting natural disasters.
    http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/mexico/130920/mexico-storms-ingrid-manuel-unnatural-disaster

    The verse novel Heartbeat by Sharon Creech related to this article because it is about a runner, Brenda Martinez giving back to her community sort of like how Max dreamed he was going to give back.
    http://blog.pe.com/alumni-report/2013/10/13/track-field-martinez-giving-back-to-running-community/

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  27. Avery Class 4

    Alzheimers is a disease that affects many people world wide. According to Alzheimer's Association Alzheimer's is a type of dementia that causes problems with memory, thinking and behavior. In the book “Heartbeat” the main character Annie must deal with the challenge of having a grandpa with Alzheimers. I found this article that says Danni Lang brought Alzheimers awareness to the city of buffalo. She says she knows how hard it is to have a loved one with Alzheimers. This article relates to the book “Heartbeat” where Annie had to take care of her grandpa with alzheimers.
    worldwide.http://buffalorising.com/2013/10/danni-lang-heaps-to-spread-alzheimers-awareness-in-buffalo/

    In the book “Shakespeare Makes the Playoffs” Kevin’s mom dies of cancer. Kevin and his father are devastate from the loss. Now they must pay expensive medical bills and Kevin is all alone with his dad. Its hard to deal with a loved one who has died from cancer and the six graders at St. Brigid know that. At that school the sixth graders had a fundraiser to raise money for the American Cancer Society. This article shows what happens when people come together to reach a common goal.

    http://www.courant.com/community/west-hartford/hc-west-hartford-st-brigid-pink-1031-20131030,0,4182300.story

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  28. ANDREW DESMARAIR
    Class 5:
    http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-207_162-57602413/pirates-of-the-caribbean-5-release-date-delayed/

    This article for the new movie Pirates Of The Caribbean 5 is related to the book “The Unsinkable Walker Bean”. He is stowed away on a pirate ship with a crazy crew of pirates. Similar to the movie which is about a pirates journey.

    http://www.askmen.com/money/how_to_200/204_how_to.html

    This article talks about how to be a secret agent. In the book “The Hardy Boys”, the two teens in it are some of the best crime fighters in the world. The article talks about how to be a secret agent which is not needed for these boys.

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  29. I read the book "Heartbeat" by Sharon Creech and Annie helps her friend Max even though he is moody and not a great friend. She gets him track shoes when he needs them and can't afford them, even after he said he did not want her too. This relates to an article I read about a girl helping an opponent win a race. She didn't have to, she could go on and do her own thing because the other girl gave up like Max did, yet this track star did the right thing and led the other girl to win the race. Just like Annie went out of her way to help Max, This track star went out of her way to help her opponent. http://theweek.com/article/index/243089/8-inspiring-stories-about-runners

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  30. The book "Shark Girl" reminds me of this girl that I read about. The main character Jane has troubles with her image after the shark attack. She thinks it is ugly and believes she is ugly and just wants her arm back. I read an article about this amazing girl named Kristie. She was born with a rare syndrome called Rothmund -Thomson syndrome and she looks different than everybody else, and had trouble with her self image. Over time, she was able to accept herself and look past the fact that she is different, which is just what Jane did. http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1rkvj95

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  31. Grace, Class 4

    The book "Out of the Dust" takes place during the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression. The whole book is based off of the problem of the Dust Bowl which all of the conflict revolve around. This article suggests that if we don't better take care of our farm land there may be another Dust Bowl coming for us. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/17/dust-bowl-2013_n_3454412.html.

    The book Make Lemonade has a mother that is 17 of 2 kids that both have late development of talking just like this article. Both the kids Jeremy and Jilly are late on learning how to speak because they have a underage, single mother. This situation is similar to this following article. http://health.usnews.com/health-news/news/articles/2013/10/17/children-of-teen-mothers-dont-have-mental-disadvantage-study-suggests.

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  32. Samantha, Class 4:

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1142208/

    In the verse novel, “Locomotion,” Lonnie turns to poetry to help him heal. The recent article by Robert Carroll connects to Lonnie’s experience by explaining the healing powers of poetry. For example, the article states, “Many people have an intuitive sense that voice in general and poetry in particular can be healing. Also, “Finding the words to articulate a traumatic experience can bring relief. People are frequently moved to write a poem in times of extremity.” Lonnie used this technique throughout the novel to help him get out his feelings, instead of bottling them up. Carroll explains that poetry actually does help those in times of need and brings them relief.

    http://kidshealth.org/parent/emotions/feelings/death.html

    In “What is Goodbye,” by Nikki Grimes, Jesse must deal with the death of his older brother. Jesse is about eight or nine years old and is curious. This novel connects with the article from kidshealth because this article talks about how children of all different ages deal with losing a loved one. For example, it says, “Avoid using euphemisms, such as telling kids that the loved one "went away" or "went to sleep" or even that your family "lost" the person.” This comes up multiple times throughout the story when Jesse asks why so many people try to keep from saying what it really is. For example, in the story it says:
    “I wander through this
    silly crowd, wondering why
    no one tells the truth.
    Dead is dead.
    Not “gone away.”
    Not “lost.”
    Not “on a journey.”
    Not “passed”-as if
    my brother’s life
    were some test
    he got a good grade on
    and now he’s gone.
    No! Call it what it is:
    His body’s in a grave.
    There is no journey
    he’ll be coming
    back from.”
    This shows that his way of trying to cope with the loss is to accept that he is dead, and not call it something that it isn’t. This relates to the article because the article tells the reader that they need to let whoever is grieving, grieve their own way.

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  34. Thomas Winter Class 4

    All the Broken Pieces

    http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/22/living/boy-bully-wiseman/

    This link relates to the story because they both are related to how bullying can change someone's life. In the story, Matt was often sad and depressed that he was getting bullied. In the article, the boy is bullied so bad that his parents have to move him to another school. All in all, both writing pieces involve bullying’s affect on people.

    Becoming Joe DiMaggio

    http://www.newser.com/story/175452/military-mourns-oldest-medal-of-honor-recipient.html

    Both the article and the novel tell stories of how WW2 changed someone's life. In the article, the story is told about a NJ native who died. He was one of the oldest of the WW2 veterans with a Medal of Honor still alive. In the verse novel, the story is told how Joseph Paul’s father fakes an injury to get out of the armed forces. This makes Joseph Paul realize that his dad is not the man he thought he was. All in all, the two writing pieces explain how certain events can change one’s life.

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  35. Emily
    Class 4

    http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/10/30/21243788-dust-storm-triggers-deadly-19-vehicle-pileup-in-arizona-3-killed-12-hurt

    This article connects to Out of the Dust. In the article, reduced visibility due to blowing dust causes the death of three people; in the novel, the dust storm forces the characters to stop driving and take shelter for fear of an accident.

    http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2013/10/war-afghanistan-12-years-old/70272/

    This article connects with Almost Forever. In both, the United States is in a war. At the end of Almost Forever, the protagonist's father comes home from Vietnam, while the article talks about soldiers coming back from Afghanistan.

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  36. Brian Fischer class 6

    In the book, “Prince of Persia”, a group of people were committed of a crime they did not do. They had received a royal jewel from the prince of persia, and it looked to the king, as if it was stolen. If they were found guilty, they were to be killed that night. Before the decision was made though, they told their own stories on how they had come to receive the jewel. In the end, they were set free, and were not killed. This is similar to today in America, because everyone is innocent until proven guilty. If someone is committed to killing a person, they are allowed to stand trial, argue their case, and then the final decision is made, before they can be sentenced to jail or the death penalty.


    In the book, “Ender’s Shadow”, a boy named Bean is sent to battle school for a war that is going on. When he gets there, the first thing he receives is s tablet with a game, that is monitored to judge the kid’s skill levels. This is similar to the current world today, because many of the electronic devices that we used can or are being monitored by people that have power over us. For Bean, it was the trainers, but for us today, it could be our teachers, parents, etc. In the book it was used to evaluate the skills of the students, but for us, it could be to monitor the amount of time we are allowed, restrictions, to keep track of your searches, and more. Also, it can be watched by people in charge of others, for our use, for learning purposes, such as judging a skill level like done with Bean.

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  37. http://www.progressivepolicy.org/2011/06/the-drop-out-crisis-and-teen-pregnancy/. This article relates to the book Make Lemonade because one of the main characters Jolly is a highschool drop out because of her children and how she can’t support them and go to school at the same
    time.

    http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/10/22/redskins-name-racist-bob-costas-snyder-column/3153693/ This artical is related to the book Who Will Tell My Brother because people just like Evan are fighting to change the name and logo of the Redskins because it is unfair to the Indians.

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