The Puzzling World of Winston Breen: Student Book Reviews

Our 5th graders have been working through the first Winston Breen novel as a way of connecting our work on codes and ciphers with literature. One of the project options was to create a book review. Elizabeth, Shobha and Michelle from Isbell prepared the first review below, and it is following by a review from Kathryn, also from Isbell.

You can learn more about this book at http://www.winstonbreen.com

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by Elizabeth, Shobha and Michelle

Winston Breen is a boy who loves creating and solving puzzles. He buys a jewelry box at Penrose’s store of random things for his sister’s birthday. When his sister reveals a hidden compartment, a mystery arises involving four baffling wooden strips (with letters on them), a librarian, two strange men- and don’t forget, Winston and his sister, Katie. They go on an adventure to find the hidden treasure that the mysterious strips tell of. Will they find the concealed treasure, or will they fall into the depths of the unsolved mystery?

    

I liked Winston Breen because it involves adventure, a mystery and many puzzles as well. Winston Breen is an enjoyable book, but remember, if you get stuck on one of the puzzles there are answers in the back of the book. If you can help it, try not to look at the answers, use your brain. The mysteriousness of Winston Breen is intriguing. If you have read this book before… Good for you!!!! Keep in mind that The Puzzling world of Winston Breen is a cool book; try to solve all the puzzles too!

I recommend this book to a quieter individual who likes a mystery. To get full pleasure out of this book you should have constant time to read and solve puzzles instead of only 2 hours a week. You can still read this if you have minimal time; it is just not as enjoyable. Winston Breen is a very good book for middle schoolers. I also propose this novel to advanced readers in GT, Quest, LEAP, Pace, or AIM. If you like this book, I advise you read the sequel, “Potato Chip Puzzles”. I adore Winston and hope you do to.

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By Kathryn

The puzzling world of Winston Breen is a novel that starts with an innocent present that spirals in to a full blown treasure hunt with backstabbing and double crossing. As Winston pieces together the puzzle he finds he can trust.

    I believe this book has amazing puzzles and a twisted plot. Though I lost interest in the beginning but it somewhat sets the story up. Overall an amazing story with good content.

    I recommend this book to anyone with a love of puzzles because the plot is based on the puzzles.

All Hail the Newest Code Challenge!

UKBGZ FX T IXGGR YKHF MAX RXTK RHN PXKX UHKG UR FTKVA 30 YHK T LIXVBTE IKBSX. WH GHM MXEE TGRHGX HK BM PBEE LIHBE MAX IKBSX!

"Embrace the Intensity": A Thought-Provoking Article from Dallas Child

A parent alerted me to this pretty direct and even controversial look at "What Do I Do With This (Gifted) Kid?"

I highly recommend it. You will probably be able to empathize and it also includes some useful advice for parents.

"What Is Gifted?"- A Video for Students

Chasing Vermeer Activities

Our 4th graders have been working through the intriguing novel Chasing Vermeer, which is full of unexplained occurences, art history, codes, mystery and a special geometrical problem solving tool called pentominoes. The site below contains several online activities related to the novel which will keep their brains busy on the novel and its intricate pieces even while not in QUEST.

Chasing Vermeer Online Activities

Personality Profiles: True Colors and Myers-Briggs

One of our major focuses since coming back from Winter Break has been on discovering truths about our own personalities and how we relate to the world and others. Different grade levels used different personality tools, and below you'll find a Prezi presentation for both of the profiles we used. Videos are used to highlight characters who demonstrate the discussed personality traits. You can zoom in and out of the Prezi using the controls.

If you have trouble viewing the Prezi's below, you can link to online versions of them here:

• What's Your True Color?
• What's Your Personality Type (Myers-Briggs)?

 

1st through 3rd Grade: What's Your True Color?

What's Your True Color? on Prezi

 

Want to take the True Colors quiz yourself?

 

4th and 5th Grade: Myers-Briggs

What's your personality type? on Prezi

 

Kid-friendly Myers-Briggs Quiz

Adult Myers-Briggs Quiz

Build Verbal Reasoning Skills with Quiddler

I recently posted a link to an excellent online "game" for building non verbal reasoning skills called SET. The same game publishers also have a superb game for building verbal reasoning and fluency called Quiddler. The game sounds simple--build 3 and 4-letter words with available cards to earn points. In practice, though, it's a lot more challenging. In fact, I highly recommend having a dictionary handy!


Just as with SET, there is an online Quiddler puzzle that refreshes daily. The site also includes a printable "worksheet" version of each daily puzzle.