Spud & Charli
Over coming obstacles is a theme in the book. What challenges does Charli face and does it allow her to develop as a person?
The book ‘Spud & Charli’ by Samantha Wheeler is a story about the friendship between a girl and her horse. Throughout the book, the main character, Charli Priestly, faces many challenges such as learning how to ride on a huge retired racehorse. She also tries to help her horse Spud and organise the Gymkhana.
Charli went to camp to learn how to ride a horse, but when the palomino horse, Razz, is taken by the show-off Mikaela, Charli is left with a huge retired racehorse called Spud. Charli thought “Spud looked as useful as a stack if dirty potatoes.” The horse was too big for her but if she wanted to learn how to ride a horse, she would have to ride him. She struggled to clean and groom him, but after some time, she and the horse become friends. “Spud might have been tall, but he was a big softy when it came to having a brush.” By riding Spud, Charli learns not to judge others because of what they look like. Spud might look big and ugly, but he was kind and helped Charli learn how to ride.
Another challenge Charli faced was the bats. They flew around and could give horses the Hendra virus. In the book, Charli finds a dead bat in the stable and suspected that Spud caught the Hendra Virus. “A dead bat in the water? Spud rearing and pedalling? The other horses spooked? Spud had Hendra for sure. She went out in the night and tried to hide Spud so he doesn’t get shot by the neighbour Mr Shearer. She becomes braver as she walked in the night while bats fly around her.
Charli also organised the Gymkhana after Mrs Bacton cancelled it. Even though she couldn’t Spud in it, she planed it with the help of some other people. It allowed her to develop as a person because she made a mistake by trying to hide Spud, but then she tries to help fix it. She becomes wiser and smarter.
After facing these challenges and many more, Charli becomes braver, wiser and smarter. She also learned many valuable lessons that would help her later in her life, such as not judging others because of what they looked like. Charli made mistakes but she learned from them. This helped her develop as a person.
The book I’m reading this term for literature circles is Spud & Charli by Samantha Wheeler. So far, I am enjoying reading the book. It is about a girl called Charli Priestly wanted a palomino horse called Razz, but another girl called Mikaela got it first. All the other horses are taken and Charli is left with a massive retired racehorse called Spud. My favourite part in the story is when Charli walked into a room and saw two girls dressed all in pink. They had pink t-shirts, pink shorts, pink socks and pink sleeping bags. Then Charli says “Eww, pink. Gross.”
Name of Character:
Michael Oher (Big Mike)
Why did you choose them?
I chose him because he is the main character in the book.
A summery of what they did in the text:
He started playing American Football at the school the goes to.
Interesting features/characteristics of the character:
He is from America. He is also really big and tall. He is quite and doesn’t talk a lot.
Describe the most interesting event form the text they were in.
The most interesting part he was in was when he started playing American Football and some other sports. I included this because it is the main thing he does.
Rate the book:
I would rate the book 3/10 because it’s really boring and not interesting. It’s also about American football and I don’t really understand that. Also, the chapters are really long and they just keep talking about what coaches think about him. Each chapter is about something different, like the first one explains the positions in football. The second is about some coaches of different teams watching a video of him playing. Another chapter is about him going to school and a different one is about a coach who keeps choosing different players for his team. Because of this, I don’t understand what happens until Thursday when my group talks about it and Mr Larkins explains the chapter. It’s also a big book with long chapters. I’ve only read until chapter 5 and there is nothing interesting happening so far. It’s just about some coaches and him playing football.
It’s boring.
What book are you reading for literature circles? What did you rate your book? Do you enjoy reading it?
This week, in maths, I have learnt about ramps. I found out if you want to make your ball roll down the ramp and go the furthest distance, you should make the ramp longer and steeper, but not to steep. If it just goes straight down, the ball will bounce, not roll. Also, the faster if goes down the ramp, the further it will go.
When the ball rolled down the ramp my group made, it rolled about 7 meters each time. After rolling it down 10 times, the average was 7.2575.
The distance from each roll was…
1)7.11 m
2)7.195 m
3)6.57 m
4)7.41 m
5)7.7 m
6)7.84 m
7)7.46 m
8)7.13 m
9)7.15 m
10)7.01 m
What was the average from your 10 rolls?
This week at school, I have learnt about economics. I learnt about staying in a budget and paying back the money that was lent to you. I also learnt how to find a good price for our cupcakes. I found out how much it cost to make, then made it a little more expensive so we get a profit. These thing will be needed if I make a stall and sell things. I will need to put a good price that isn’t so cheap that I won’t make a profit, and not too expensive that people don’t want to buy it.
What have you learnt this week?
How will it be useful in your life?
The book I read today was the Blind Side. I read chapter 4. Some of the key points my group discussed was why Big Mike changed his name to Michael. An interesting point we discussed was why he slept on a futon. This is because he never had a bed before he got the futon. The main event in the chapter was when he started football. I think the next chapter will be about Michael playing football.
This morning, our class was learning about the 100 word challenge. As a class, we chose four different prompts:
1. This is how it happened.
2. The troll under the bridge.
3. What if…
4. That’s what happens when…
I chose to use the first prompt.
This is my story…
Ouch, I have the worlds biggest headache. I’m in hospital. My arms, legs and head are bandaged. This is what happened…
It started as a dare. My best friend Jacinta dared me to climb the 100 metre tree in the middle of the park. “Hurry up Hashani, you only need to climb it,” she told me. Easy for her to say. She’s not the one climbing the tree. I started to climb. Higher and higher I went until, yes! Finally I reached the top. I looked down. It was a long way down. Now I just need to climb down. Suddenly I lost my balance. Ahhhhh… I’m falling down.
That’s how it happened. How I ended up in a hospital with broken arms, legs and neck.
What prompt would you have used?
How do you think I can improve my story? Please send your writing as a comment.
In Literature Circles, I have been reading The Blind Side and this week I read chapter 3 which is called ‘Crossing the line’. For the response, I wrote what questions it made me ask and what I found interesting.
•What did you find interesting?
I found it interesting that Michael Oher was bigger than a lot of people and he could not find many clothes that fit him. I also found it interesting that he doesn’t talk much.
• What questions did it make you ask?
It made me ask why doesn’t he talk a lot to others?
-What are some things you have learnt or understand about angles and shapes?I learnt how to make a net for a shape with a different base. I also learnt how to make a net for a 3D shape that has a reflex angle on the bottom.
-Explain the project you have under taken (you can use a picture of the design brief)
Everyone doing this had to make a floor plan of a house. We had to make a scale, find the area, perimeter and measure all the angles. Then we had to make nets for all the rooms and make walls and floors.
-What mathematical skills and thinking did you use when designing the floor plan?
We had to measure angles, area and perimeter.
-What mathematical skills and understandings did you need when constructing your building?
Measurement to make the nets and know how long each part needs to be, like make all the walls the same length and turn the floor plan into a scaled paper building.
-What did you find challenging about the project?
I found making the nets challenging because a lot of my rooms had reflex angles and I had to find a way to make all sides had a wall.
-What was the most difficult room to make and why?
The kitchen was the hardest because it had so many reflex angles and it has to fit in with the dining room.
-Next we are going to use our buildings to learn about money and budgeting- what are your predictions about what we might find out or learn?
I think we might find out how much everything in the house would cost.
-What do you hope to learn?
I would like to find out how much everything in my house would cost altogether.
Floor Plan⬇️
3D one⬇️
I was just looking around the museum and I saw a beautiful painting. It was Van Gogh’s painting of flowers in a vase. There were many flowers in a gold vase. The background was yellow and it had a yellow frame around it. It stood out on the light blue wall. For a few seconds I was distracted by a group of girls, but once they left, I saw a strange man looking at the painting. He had a black beard and hair. He wore a black hat, black gloves and black pants. He also wore a white top that was covered by a long, black trench coat. The man was holding a long, thin suit case. I saw him lean over the lasers and grab the painting. Quickly I took a picture of him. Hearing the click of my camera, he turned around and I hid behind the statue, trying to make the picture appear. Finally it developed and there is a picture of the robber grabbing the painting. I turned around and the painting wasn’t there anymore.
I ran out of the museum and see the thief get into a navy blue car that has M21LJK as the number plate. I jumped into my car and followed him through the city, weaving between cars and doing my best to make sure I didn’t loose him. We traveling to the edge of the country, where a giant boat was parked at the end of the dock. One by one, the cars went into the boat. There was a car between the thief and and my car, so once I got on the boat, I lost the thief.
Finally, the boat stopped and everyone got off. I was driving around, searching for the thief and I finally found him. I chased him in my car, until he stopped in front of the Eiffel Tower. He got out of the car and ran. I also got out and chased him. I chased him up to the top of the Eiffel Tower, and when I finally thought I had caught him, he just jumped off the top, pulled out a parachute and landed safely on the ground. Then he got into his car and drove away.
