Blogs for Book Reports and Summaries

 Below is an example of how a student can use a Blog for a book summary, compliant with RL.4.1 (explain what the text says explicitly and make inferences):

Hatchet (Chapters 1-9 Summary)

Thirteen year old Brian Robeson was in a bad way. His parents divorced because his mother kept a secret from his dad. This divorce left Brian staying with his mother during the school year while his father engineered drill pieces for loggers in Canada.

After the school year ended, Brian was faced with the emotionally arduous trip to his father's new home in a small bush plane carrying supplies. His mother attempted to speak with him on their trip to the plane, but Brian was mostly silent. He received a hatchet from his mother before embarking on the plane at its New York State location. 

In the air, the pilot let Brian take the controls. He learned to accelerate and steer the plane. Unfortunately, the pilot had a coughing fit, clutching at his heart before going unresponsive. Brian kept the plane in the air for a few hours, unsure of what to do. With the fuel level at empty, he plunged the plane through the trees and into an L shaped lake.

He quickly escaped the sinking plane, leaving the pilot inside. He swam to the bank of the lake before passing out and dreaming about The Secret: his mother's affair. He awoke to a throbbing head and a thirst that nearly overwhelmed him. He drank eagerly from the lake before sleeping again.

After 2 days, Brian seemed fit to look for food. He found gut cherries at first, naming the berries such after a terrible diarrhea and vomiting experience after eating the fruits. He later found raspberries and a bear luring through them. He ran away with his fruit and ate to his hearts content.

Later that night, he heard a noise that freaked him out. He flung his hatchet towards what he thought was a bear and kicked his legs out, receiving a batch of pines from a porcupine directly into his leg. His thrown hatchet flew through the air before hitting the cave wall, sending out sparks.

Inferences

I believe that Brian's next step will be making fire. When he through the hatchet into the cave wall, it caused sparks to fly. I think that Brian will take a rock and strike it against his hatchet to make sparks and start a fire. Once Brian makes a fire, I think he might use it to cook some food and use the smoke as a signal.