Tearing down the classroom walls

Hello everyone,

I wanted to thank Mr. Chamberlain's class in Missouri for not only looking at our blog, but leaving their comments for our students! Any comment you see with a date stamp of 2009 is from Mr. Chamberlain's students.

Thank you!
Mr. Capelle

A Clue?

Teachers and students,

Thank you for all of your hard work contributing to the blog! I'm really impressed with the neat drawings and discussions you have made.

Here is a picture of Mr. Riordan from his visit, standing with Mr. Hershey. But wait! Why is Mr. Riordan holding a copy of The 39 Clues and not The Lightning Thief??? Could this be a Clue...?

-Mr. Capelle

Great job!

I've so enjoyed reading all your blogs. What a neat idea and great way to communicate with each other about Mr. Riordon's books. He was really interesting yesterday when he visited Evans.
Can't wait to read more.
Mrs. Winger

Q and A with Mr. Riordan

We were fortunate enough to have Mr. Riordan visit us and discuss The Lightning Thief. Here are some of the questions we asked, and his answers:

Question: Why did you make Percy the son of Poseidon and not the son of another god?

Answer: I always liked the idea of having water powers. I just thought that’d be so cool to make toilets explode and stuff. Plus Poseidon is really powerful and I didn’t want it to be Zeus because that was too obvious. But I like Poseidon a lot.

Question: Who was favorite author when you were a kid, and how did that author inspire you?

Answer: My favorite author as a kid was probably Roald Dahl, who wrote Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach. And then later, I liked Lord of the Rings, and I got into fantasy books.

Question: Who is your favorite Greek god?

Answer: My favorite Greek god is either Poseidon, or Athena, which is no surprise.

Question: Who is your favorite character from the Lightning Thief?

Answer: My favorite character from The Lightning Thief is Grover, the satyr, because he’s the one that I’m the most like. Percy Jackson would be out in front, fighting monsters. Grover would be hiding in the bushes, saying “Don’t kill me!” That’s sort of what I’m like.

Question: Why did you pick the name “Grover” for Percy’s best friend?

Answer: I guess I watched too much Sesame Street when I was a kid. I thought it was a really good name.

Question: What is your favorite book that you’ve written?

Answer: My favorite book that I’ve written is probably Percy Jackson 5, The Last Olympian. But that’s not really fair because you guys haven’t read it yet—it’s not even out. But you’ll have to let me know when it comes out.

Hi, Evans Elementary!

You guys are doing a great job on your Lightning Thief blog! I really enjoying looking at your artwork and reading your comments. I look forward to meeting you today at school. Keep reading, watch out for Greek monsters, and I'll see you soon!
-- Rick Riordan

Percy and his Friends

Percy and Grover are best friends. Annabeth is a Camp Half-Blood camper. Grover is 28 and in the 6th grade! The reason for this is because satyrs mature very slowly. Percy is about to get a quest.

Answered by: Madeline

Grover Attacks

Draw a picture of Grover using his flying sneakers and attacking Aunty Em (Medusa)

Answered by: Miss Presley's class

Camp Half-Blood

Draw a picture of Percy's bedroom in New York and his bedroom in the Poseidon cabin. Write three sentences describing how his life is different at Camp Half-Blood than it was in New York.

Percy's life is different at Camp Half-Blood then at New York. At Camp Half-Blood, they play a different version of capture the flag. Mostly everyone talks in Greek than English. You put most of your food in the fire for the gods.

Answered by: Miss Presley's class

Mythology

Draw a picture of how the author uses mythology in the story. Write three sentences describing your picture.

This is Chiron, half man, half horse. When Chiron changes, he looks like an old man in a wheelchair. He was known as Percy's second Greek teacher. 

Answered by: Lindsey, Steven, and Colton

Bravery

Grover shows a lot of bravery in the story. Draw a picture to illustrate.

Answered by: Hannah, Niha, Bianca, and Emma

Percy at the Museum

Draw a picture of Percy's field trip to the museum and write three sentences explaining the picture.

The sword in the picture is called Riptide. Percy use Riptide on Mrs. Dodds and then she vanished When Mrs. Dodds vanished, every mortal forgot about her.

Answered by: Cassy, Allison, Colton, and Wendell

Percy and the Furies

Draw a picture of Percy fighting the Furies. Describe how Percy wins the battle.

Percy takes Annabeth's hat so he can go past the Furies without them knowing. Percy grabbed the wheel from the bus driver, and jerked it to the left. So everyone was thrown to the right, and he hoped he heard the sound of the three Furies smashing against the windows. Percy took the ballpoint pen out of his pocket and uncapped it, so Riptide elongated into a shimmery, double-edged sword. Percy took the sword and put it onto her neck and right as it hit her, she screamed and exploded into dust.

Answered by: Marisa, Amy, Hernan, and Evans

Museum Adventure

Why might the author have chosen a museum to show Percy his world is not exactly what he thought it was? What characteristics does a museum have that would lead to discovering information about the world around you?

The author might have chosen a museum to show Percy about how Kronos, the Titan, can be so greedy and evil. He also might have chosen a museum to teach Percy about the Greek gods. A museum has characteristics that would help us discover the world, like discoveries from a long time ago. Also, which experiments were successful and which were not.

Answered by: Olivia, Anastasia, and Jonathon

Differences

How is Percy different from Annabeth?

Percy is different from Annabeth because Percy is the son of Poseidon. Annabeth is the daughter of Athena. Also, Annabeth enjoys doing architecture. Percy enjoys goofing off. Percy's been kicked out of numerous schools. Annabeth's smart and hasn't. These are the reasons how Percy and Annabeth are different.

Answered by: Morgan, Ben, and Connor

Helpful Gift

How does Luke's gift of flying shoes help Grover in his fight with Medusa?

Grover can attack Medusa by hitting her in the head with a tree branch the size of a baseball bat. He attacks Medusa to distract her, so Percy can get his sword out. Grover uses his flying shoes to do all of that.

Answered by: Jonghym, Rachel, and Victoria

Decisions

Why does Annabeth say they have to kill Medusa? Why can't they just run away?

Annabeth says they have to kill Medusa because Medusa tries to turn Annabeth into stone and crush her into pieces of dust. That is why they can't run away. That they can't run away because Medusa will keep turning people into stone.

Answered by: William, Katelyn, and Kautia

I'm not afraid of a bully!

Question: Clarice bullies Piercy in the novel by trying to dunk his head in a latrine. What should you do when you meet a bully? How could you solve a bullying problem?

Noah said:
When I meet a bully I stand up for myself and fight back. I would solve the bullying problem by telling an assistant, teacher, principal, parent, or adult.

Poseidon Vs. Ares

Question: How is the Poseidon House different from the Ares House?
Emily Says:
The Poseidon house is different from the Ares house in that the Poseidon House is long, kind of low, and solid. The outer walls have gray stone with pieces of seashell and coral too. The Ares cabin has a really bad paint job that is blood red. To make it even worse, it has a stuffed boar head above the doorway and the roof is lined with barb wire.
The Poseidon house probably makes you to feel like you are at the beach, because he is the god of the sea. The Ares house has a lot of mean looking stuff like; the red paint, boars head and he barb wire. Ares House is also filled with a lot of bad kids, and they are really tough too. I mean, he is the god of war.

More to come!!

We will have more posts on Monday

Excitement!

What events happen in the beginning of the story to show that something exciting will happen to Percy in the future?

Collin. Heriberto, and Matt said:
The excitement starts with three random events. First, Percy loses control of his temper sending Nancy flying into the huge water fountain. Next, Mrs. Dodds turns into a dragon with leather wings. Mr. Bruner has to save Percy by throwing him a pen that turns into a bronze sword. Finally, while leaving for Montauk, Percy gets super annoyed, slamming the door so hard, that his stepdad, Gabe, flies up the stairs.