Melody is on her way to compete in Washington DC. As you can imagine there is some prep work involved in getting her packed and her mother is determined not to forget anything!! The morning comes and the family is headed to the airport. The whole family including Miss V. is bubbling with excitement at this amazing accomplishment that Melody has achieved. They arrive at the airport and SMACK, the flight has been cancelled and the team has left without Melody! My heart was just in pieces as I read through Melody's feeling during this awful event. Can you imagine working so hard for something and then your team simply forgetting to call you and tell you the flight had been changed, and leaving you behind. Well the story doesn't end there. Other tragedies occur in the days to come but once things settle down Melody returns to school and faces her teammates and Mr. D. I was so proud of the way she handle this encounter, using her "words". Way to go Melody!!
The story ends with melody writing her account of her life up to the fifth grade using "Elvira" talking about all of her interactions with WORDS. As Melody begins to prepare for the upcoming competition she is starting to learn more about herself and who her classmates really are. She is so committed to doing a great job for the team, she is studying all day and in the evenings with MissV. The day of the competition arrives and she is so excited she can hardly contain herself. She finds herself feeling a bit nervous as she arrives to the competition. As she enters the recording studio she learns that Paul, a man who works at the studio, has created a space perfect for her and her needs. After talking with him she learns that he has a son in a wheelchair so he knew exactly what Melody would need. This calms her nerves and she is back to feeling excited and ready to compete. I think it is so neat how all of these amazing people continue to show up in Melody's life. Melody's team ends up winning the competition and they will be heading to Washington DC for the nationals.
After the big win the team heads off to a celebration dinner. We see here another set of the struggles Melody and her mother face as they arrive at the restaurant. In typical Melody form, she and her mother overcome the obstacles and have dinner with the team. However the meal and the time with her classmates is not as enjoyable for Melody as she had imagined. I wonder how Melody's traveling to Washington DC will go. Do you anticipate her having any issues with the trip? WOW just WOW! I am so excited after reading through these 7 chapters. First off Melody gets her talker, what a game changer. I was so inspired by her determination to not only get the talker, but to learn to use it and to add so many words and phrases into it. Again can we give a shout out to Mrs. V???? She is a rock star and I just adore her commitment to Melody! There are so many great strides for Melody in these chapters, but let's just go to the big one..... WHIZ KIDS! This girl is AHH-MAZING!!! She takes the trial test for the team and misses zero questions. Ok so maybe it was luck, and her classmates are doubtful about what Melody actually knows. There are actually a few of them, including her teacher, that actually make comments to her and about her that are just plain rude. She is pretty crushed by this, but again Mrs. V and Catherine save the day. Melody ends up studying her butt off and trying out to make the Whiz Kids team. SPOILER ALERT: she makes the team!! Way to go Melody!
I think there is a lesson to be learned here by all of us. We can not set limits on ourselves or allow others to do this because we are all capable of so many things that we may not even realize. If we put in the hard work and the dedication we can all achieve the things we have our hearts set on. I simply can not get enough of Melody's stories about her days at her school. My heart breaks for her as she shares all of the things that are in her mind that she simply can not share with the people around her. I truly cannot imagine the frustration she would be feeling when her teachers are treating her basically like a baby! Then enters Mrs. V. What a wonderful addition to Melody's life. This woman sees the potential in Melody and goes above and beyond in order to help Melody be able to share her thoughts, feelings, and most importantly to Melody, ask and answer questions. I cannot wait to see the places Melody is going to go with Mrs. V and her family supporting her, helping her to gain higher levels of communication.
Can you imagine being Melody's age and your teacher treating you the way that some of Melody's teachers did? Did you want to jump up and cheer for Melody's mom when she put that teacher in her place the day Melody had a tornado episode? Have you ever felt that teachers or other students sell you short of the things you know that you can actually do? In these first few chapters we are introduced to our main character, Melody. She is in the 5th grade, loves words, has a photographic memory, and is highly intelligent. However, she can’t speak or use her body the way she would like as a result of having cerebral palsy. The book is written as though she is talking to the reader about her life. I love this and think it is such a unique take on her story. Melody has a wonderful sense of humor and I find myself laughing aloud while reading her words. Especially the part when she talks about Mr. Hugely. When Melody starts school and discusses all of the challenges that school brings for her, I have to wonder how many other kids have ever felt the way she does. Although most of us can talk and use our voices how many times do we find ourselves not being understood by the people we are talking to. As you read on I believe that we can all relate to Melody in more ways than we expected.
Happy Wednesday guys! I wanted to let you know a few things. After doing some research yesterday I was able to figure out that you all can still access books. If you go to the Northwestern Home page:
Then to the libraries tab (located on the left hand side of the home page) Next click catalogues Click on Wayne county public Library......... Once you get to the WCL site you can "borrow" books! The even better news is that you can access an online copy or an audio version for our current read "Out of my Mind" by Sharon Draper You will need your Library Card (the number on the back) and it will ask for a pin. The pin number will be the last four digits of the card holders phone number. *** If you have trouble or don't have a card and want to get books let me know*** Check out this book trailer for a little preview of the book: http://booknook.infohio.org/view/item/out-of-my-mind This is going to be the first book on my reading list. The link above gives you access to a book trailer. The trailer gives you just a small insight as to what this book is going to be about.
Hey guys! I hope you all are doing well, I miss seeing you guys! The good news is that I have been doing a ton of reading and I am looking forward to sharing with you guys all the wonderful stories I have come across from our awesome MS Library! I really want this to be an interactive page so please drop me a comment or just say hello when you stop in! I am going to be talking about the books I am reading on here but wanted to throw out another idea. Libraries in our area are closed so I know your access to books is limited. I wanted to see if you guys would be interested in me reading books on here, then you could access the recordings, similar to an audio book. Let me know what you think! Have a great day!
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AuthorAs most of you know I'm Mrs. Tucker. I am the Middle School Librarian at Northwestern Local Schools in West Salem. Ohio. I have been married to my super hubby Jim for ten years and we have three kiddos. Besides reading books, my favorite hobby is doing CrossFit. I also enjoy traveling and working in my garden in the warmer months. |