This is a series and I am looking forward to reading more. The series teaches kids to look at details and think like a detective. It also relates a moral story, and I hope other books do as well. Books are a great way to allow children to consider model behavior and apply it internally. On to the narrative! Robert decides to sell the toy dinosaurs to his friends at school the next day, who are happy to pay for them.
Free enterprise at its best, right? Cam uses her powers of recall and critical thinking to conclude that Robert has cheated at the game to win! She takes aside Eric, the rightful winner, and challenges Robert about the situation. Thumbs up to Cam for being mature and socially aware enough to confront Robert directly instead of involving adults to do it for her. She tells Eric that he is the true winner of the prize before consulting with the adult hosts of the party, Mr. Bell, which I think is less appropriate.
But this is a short story for second graders, so we won't get off into the weeds with too much criticism on that point. Robert confesses and apologizes and the rightful winner is crowned. Eric demonstrates generosity by distributing the toys evenly with the entire birthday party group for free, no payment required. The story contrasts Robert's selfish and unethical behavior with Eric's generosity, which I think is useful for young readers. But not Cam. She counted them.
As Eric walked past, [Cam] whispered to him, "I have something to show you. Everyone but Eric sat down. He was out of the game. Bell took one chair away and turned on the music again. When Robert walked past Cam whispered to him, "And I have something to show you. Everyone but Robert sat down. Robert was out of the game.
He told Cam. Vigilantism at it's finest, brought to you by Cam Janson! Unfortunately, if the story happened exactly as described, Mr. Bell would have easily determined that something went awry with the dino game at the time the winner was called, and Cam's mental recall would not have been necessary. Consider the facts: Mr. Bell read the guesses. Then he showed it [the slip] to everyone.
Bell read the guesses one by one. Bell looked at the next slip of paper. He read, " Then Mr. Bell held up the last slip of paper and read, " We know this because the illustrations show the slips of paper several times, none with names. Every guess was announced and the children acknowledged whose guess was whose. So who took credit for the 1, dinosaur guess? Wouldn't Mr. Bell realize that someone put in an extra slip of paper when no one claimed it as their guess?
Being an adult, and with the winning guess being right on the money, wouldn't he deduce at that point that some hanky-panky had gone on? There were only seven children present, so it should have been obvious to him. Perhaps Mr. Bell was frazzled by the party. Seven elementary school kids can certainly feel like seventy some days. Nov 05, Jorye Harris Perry added it. Cam is short for Camera.
They call her Cam because of her memory. She has a picture in her head of everything she has seen. In this book, Cam and her friend were invited to a birthday party. On the way there her Dad gets lost and cannot remember the address on the invitation, but luckily he has Cam who remembers the address.
Once the friends arrive at the party they are given a piece of paper to guess how many dinosaurs are in the jar. If their guess is the closest then they win all the dinosaurs in the jar.
Some of the children discuss their guesses among each other to figure out if they won. The dad begins to pull the slips of paper out of the jar and calls out everyone's guess. One child guessed the correct answer and won the jar. Cam soon realizes that one child changed their answer after the correct answer was announced. She brings it to their attention and they confess that they changed their answer.
The child then proceeds to tell the adult that they cheated and to get the prize to the real winner. I would share this mentor text with first and second graders. This is a great mentor text about making a guess, honesty, memory, and sharing. This is a critical age group when it comes to honesty and sharing.
Some children really do not like sharing and some refuse to share. It is also hard for some children to be honest. You do not have to be taught how to tell a lie, it just comes out sometimes. But it takes courage to tell the truth at times. This book could lead to a mini discussion on honesty and consequences when you do not tell the truth. This book could also lead to a mini-lesson on memory. There is a memory game at the end of the book that children can participate in. You could also incorporate different memory games that correspond with different subjects such as math, social studies, and science.
Mar 08, Grace VanKirk rated it it was amazing Shelves: chapter-books. Jennifer Jansen has a photographic memory. That's why people call her Cam. Her special memory helps her dad get her to a birthday party when they forgot the invitation at home and it also helps her solve mysteries. Each chapter tells a different aspect of her friend's birthday party.
They eat cake, play guessing games, and musical chairs. Cam's photographic memory helps make sure the actual winner gets the prize and this leads to sharing.
I gave this book 5 out of 5 stars because it is entertain Jennifer Jansen has a photographic memory. I gave this book 5 out of 5 stars because it is entertaining and it will teach kids a good lesson. Kids will be engaged by Cam's photographic memory because it is unusual.
The solving a mystery aspect is engaging as well, especially because it is a mystery that the audience didn't even realize needed solving. Also, the setting of a friend's birthday party is familiar and relatable to kids. Finally, the story shows kids to tell the truth and that sharing is caring. Sep 30, Amanda Cummings rated it it was amazing Shelves: mystery I gave this book 5 stars because I like how at the end of the book is gives the reader a memory game.
With the memory game, the teacher can ask the students the question to see if they were paying attention. This book is about a girl named Annie who lost her tooth. Her friends go looking for it in different areas of the classroom.
At the end of the story, Annie finds her tooth in her lunch box where she had put it after eating her lunch. Feb 01, Anthony rated it liked it Shelves: mystery , children-chapter-books , picture-book , juvenile. All the guests guessed how many dinosaurs were in a jar, and wrote their guess on a piece of paper. Cam suspects the winner who guessed the exact amount cheated. She follows the clues and proves her suspicions were correct.
Sep 02, Rhyme Owens rated it liked it Shelves: picture-books , summer. I liked this book because, someone was cheating to win the dinosaur game and I like catching my sisters cheating! Feb 21, Erin added it Shelves: n-independent-read. February Aug 19, Michelle rated it liked it Shelves: early-reader. Long sentences, lots of text on page, short chapters, simple dialogue. Not much inferring from picture. Sep 01, Colleen rated it liked it Shelves: childrens , beginning-chapter-books-grades Slightly easier version of the Cam Jansen books.
Nov 27, Checkthebook rated it it was ok Shelves: kkids Had to have "dinosaur" in the title--does this increase sales?? Anyway, good series, and Adler is an author you can trust.
Jan 25, Jolean O'Connell rated it liked it. Shelves: birthday , childrens , math , military , They are great beginning chapter books for young readers and they are fun to read aloud. Our girls enjoyed this one and are eager to read more. Jul 14, Jessica L. A wonderful beginning chapter book that will appeal to all ages.
My first son had been born and I planned to stay home and take care of him while my wife returned to her work as a school psychologist. I had already written a few books, but I wanted to work on a series. I wanted to create a character young readers would want to read about again and again. I remembered a classmate in first and second grade with a great memory. It was rumored he had a photographic memory. The character Cam Jansen began with him.
I also remembered the trouble I had when I first learned to read, the difficulty I had with the books meant to follow the Dick and Jane series. It was too big a leap for me. Even in the late s, when my first son was born, there were still very few books between the easy-to-reads and the eight-to-twelves. Somehow, children were expected to make that leap. For some, it was no problem. For me and many others, it was. The Cam Jansen books not the Young Cam Jansens are transitional readers, books for children "in transit," from easy-to-reads to middle-grade novels.
Why did you make the Cams mysteries? Comprehension is a real problem with beginning readers. One of my sons once asked me about a book he had just read, "What's it about? He was too busy sounding out the words to pay any attention to what he was reading. Mysteries are perfect for beginning readers. In the Cams, the clues Cam remembers at the end of the books, the clues that solve the mysteries, are there for the reader, too.
Cam's readers, hopefully, are alert. They try to find the clues and solve the mystery before Cam does. What makes Cams transtional readers? The Cams are not simply chapter books with easy reading levels. Children who are just begining to read on their own, read slowly. They read every word. But they don't think slowly.
We can't ask them to speed up their reading, so to keep their attention it's necessary to keep the story moving. The Cams move quickly. Something is always happening.
Characters are introduced through dialogue and plot. Scenes are set in just a few words. Why did you decide to make Cam a girl?
I like to write against stereotypes. Cam, as a girl, is curious and assertive, just as many girls really are. But that's not their stereotype. It's my hope that the current generation of readers will be open to treat people as individuals, whatever their gender, race, religion, or age. Did your years as a math teacher influence your writing in any way?
I approach my Cam Jansen mysteries as math problems. First I set up the problem -- to create a mystery that will be solved with visual clues. Then I go about solving it. The only way to get into the water is to jump in. Don't over think the process. Just jump in and write. For longer work? I keep rereading what I've written and that takes me deeper and deeper into my story.
How can there be dry spells in swimming? Being dry can only mean you stepped out of the water. If I get stuck working on one manuscript, I start or continue work on another.
I find it helpful to work on more than one project at a time.
0コメント