Rhyme Schemer
1/22/17
Book: Rhyme Schemer by K.A. Holt
Genre: Poetry, Fiction
Audience: 6-7 graders
Read Alouds:
Page 53 - On this page, we see Kevin (the narrator of the story) talk about a 'jagged rock' and he gives this rock meaning (by saying that it has a heartbeat). When I was reading this page, I thought to myself that when I was his age, I didn't think of a rock as something like that. At this part of the story, we can see that Kevin is sort of transitioning into the person who we see at the end of the story, so this serves as a turning point in the novel. In the beginning of the story (before this page), we see Kevin as someone who has a tough, outer appearance, but now he is someone who has been broken down and is more jagged.
Page 134/5 - While I was reading these pages, I felt very emotional. Up until this point in the story, nothing seemed to click for Kevin. He was constantly getting in trouble in school, getting beat up by his brothers, and getting neglected at home as well. While out to dinner with his family and his mother's boss, Kevin spills a drink all over the boss and gets in trouble for this. Mrs. Little sees Kevin sitting outside of the restaurant and comes up to the parents and tells them how special Kevin is and how gifted he is. At this point, Kevin's family truly saw how gifted Kevin is, and this clearly had a positive impact on Kevin. As a future teacher, I'd like to have that sort of impact on my students.
Summary: Rhyme Schemer is a book about 7th grader Kevin, a kid who is constantly getting in trouble for expressing his feelings through writing poems. When he isn't expecting it, his classmates take control of him and start to bully him and get him into even more trouble. While serving detention after school, he has to organize and shelf books in the school library, where he befriends Mrs. Little, the school librarian. Although he has a troubling past, Mrs. Little has a huge impact on Kevin and turns his world around in a good way because she sees how special he is.
Themes:
1) One of the biggest themes in this novel is family relationship and how that has an impact on Kevin's life. Throughout most of the novel, Kevin is constantly bullying his classmates and is getting bullied at home by his family / brothers. At home, is parents are constantly working, some of his brothers are always messing with him, and his oldest brother is in college. Kevin clearly doesn't have a great home-life. I feel as if classrooms should be a place where children can, sort of, escape from whatever is going on in their life outside of life. Teachers should be shaping the future for students in a positive manner, and they should also have a special bond with each and every one of the students in the class.
2) Another theme that is prevalent in this text is identity. Throughout the novel, we can see Kevin truly express himself through his writing, more specifically poetry. Kevin would often rip out pages from books and circle words and lines in the text to create the poem. I think this is a really good theme because, in middle school, students are starting to find out who they truly are and they figure out what type of person they're going to be. I feel as if Kevin has found something that he is both good at, as well as something that he loves.
Literacy Elements: One literacy element that I saw the most during this text was the use of metaphors, with the biggest one being the jagged rock. Kevin used this metaphor to remind himself that the people around him don't affect what type of person he wants to be. Holt uses other literary elements as well (such as smilies, irony, etc) throughout the story, but the metaphor of the jagged rock is the one that sticks out the most to me.
Connections: Last semester, I wrote a paper on Walt Whitman, an American poet. What Whitman is most known for is his style of writing (he is often known as the father of free verse). In this story, the poems that Kevin writes are in free verse as well, which is surprising since he is only in 7th grade or so and is writing at such a high level. One of my favorite poems by Walt Whitman is "O Captain! My Captain" and that poem is written in free verse, just like this story. I feel as if this text is a great story for students to read because, in one way or another, they can relate to what Kevin is going through or what he is going to go through, which I think is really important for students to understand.
Reader Response: Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book. I was sort of nervous about trying to find a copy, but I was able to snag a copy from the Normal Public Library and I really liked it. As I was reading this, I found it sort of confusing at times, but when I went back and re-read some pages, I had a clearer understanding. I found it kind of hard to keep track of all of the characters as well, but, all in all, I really enjoyed reading this text. Maybe one day in the future I can have the students in my class read this book.
Other's Response: While looking at reviews of this book on Amazon.com, Publishers Weekly said that Rhyme Schemer is a novel for "Bullies, those bullied, and bystanders alike will be left with much to ponder." After reading some other reviews on this website as well as some other ones, a lot of the reviews are positive. As someone who is going to be a teacher in the future, I believe that making connections with my students is going to be real important, and I feel as if this novel does that in a perfect way.
1/22/17
Book: Rhyme Schemer by K.A. Holt
Genre: Poetry, Fiction
Audience: 6-7 graders
Read Alouds:
Page 53 - On this page, we see Kevin (the narrator of the story) talk about a 'jagged rock' and he gives this rock meaning (by saying that it has a heartbeat). When I was reading this page, I thought to myself that when I was his age, I didn't think of a rock as something like that. At this part of the story, we can see that Kevin is sort of transitioning into the person who we see at the end of the story, so this serves as a turning point in the novel. In the beginning of the story (before this page), we see Kevin as someone who has a tough, outer appearance, but now he is someone who has been broken down and is more jagged.
Page 134/5 - While I was reading these pages, I felt very emotional. Up until this point in the story, nothing seemed to click for Kevin. He was constantly getting in trouble in school, getting beat up by his brothers, and getting neglected at home as well. While out to dinner with his family and his mother's boss, Kevin spills a drink all over the boss and gets in trouble for this. Mrs. Little sees Kevin sitting outside of the restaurant and comes up to the parents and tells them how special Kevin is and how gifted he is. At this point, Kevin's family truly saw how gifted Kevin is, and this clearly had a positive impact on Kevin. As a future teacher, I'd like to have that sort of impact on my students.
Summary: Rhyme Schemer is a book about 7th grader Kevin, a kid who is constantly getting in trouble for expressing his feelings through writing poems. When he isn't expecting it, his classmates take control of him and start to bully him and get him into even more trouble. While serving detention after school, he has to organize and shelf books in the school library, where he befriends Mrs. Little, the school librarian. Although he has a troubling past, Mrs. Little has a huge impact on Kevin and turns his world around in a good way because she sees how special he is.
Themes:
1) One of the biggest themes in this novel is family relationship and how that has an impact on Kevin's life. Throughout most of the novel, Kevin is constantly bullying his classmates and is getting bullied at home by his family / brothers. At home, is parents are constantly working, some of his brothers are always messing with him, and his oldest brother is in college. Kevin clearly doesn't have a great home-life. I feel as if classrooms should be a place where children can, sort of, escape from whatever is going on in their life outside of life. Teachers should be shaping the future for students in a positive manner, and they should also have a special bond with each and every one of the students in the class.
2) Another theme that is prevalent in this text is identity. Throughout the novel, we can see Kevin truly express himself through his writing, more specifically poetry. Kevin would often rip out pages from books and circle words and lines in the text to create the poem. I think this is a really good theme because, in middle school, students are starting to find out who they truly are and they figure out what type of person they're going to be. I feel as if Kevin has found something that he is both good at, as well as something that he loves.
Literacy Elements: One literacy element that I saw the most during this text was the use of metaphors, with the biggest one being the jagged rock. Kevin used this metaphor to remind himself that the people around him don't affect what type of person he wants to be. Holt uses other literary elements as well (such as smilies, irony, etc) throughout the story, but the metaphor of the jagged rock is the one that sticks out the most to me.
Connections: Last semester, I wrote a paper on Walt Whitman, an American poet. What Whitman is most known for is his style of writing (he is often known as the father of free verse). In this story, the poems that Kevin writes are in free verse as well, which is surprising since he is only in 7th grade or so and is writing at such a high level. One of my favorite poems by Walt Whitman is "O Captain! My Captain" and that poem is written in free verse, just like this story. I feel as if this text is a great story for students to read because, in one way or another, they can relate to what Kevin is going through or what he is going to go through, which I think is really important for students to understand.
Reader Response: Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book. I was sort of nervous about trying to find a copy, but I was able to snag a copy from the Normal Public Library and I really liked it. As I was reading this, I found it sort of confusing at times, but when I went back and re-read some pages, I had a clearer understanding. I found it kind of hard to keep track of all of the characters as well, but, all in all, I really enjoyed reading this text. Maybe one day in the future I can have the students in my class read this book.
Other's Response: While looking at reviews of this book on Amazon.com, Publishers Weekly said that Rhyme Schemer is a novel for "Bullies, those bullied, and bystanders alike will be left with much to ponder." After reading some other reviews on this website as well as some other ones, a lot of the reviews are positive. As someone who is going to be a teacher in the future, I believe that making connections with my students is going to be real important, and I feel as if this novel does that in a perfect way.