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| Students read the Junior Great Books story, Jack and the Beanstalk. After inquiring and wondering about the incidents in the story which the characters took, our students assumed the role of one of the characters and wrote a letter to another story character. Enjoy these letters! |
| AJ | Alex | Angela | Ashley | Channing |
| Cheyenne | David | Elise | Hanna | Ida |
| Jesse | Josh | Kacie | Kyrsten | Lane |
| Lauryn | Luke | Michael | Miguel | Sam R |
| Shauna | Shelby | The Kid | Tylen | Tyrel |
| Victor | Zach | Zoe |
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Redmond, OR 97756
September 19, 2003 Dear
Brooke,
My class just got done reading Jack and the Beanstalk, but this
time I looked at it differently. I
found out that Jack really murdered and stole from the Ogre.
He had stolen the Ogre's chicken, gold and his golden harp.
How he murdered the Ogre is, Jack ran down the beanstalk at the end
and the Ogre was trying to catch Jack, so the Ogre was going down the
beanstalk when Jack was chopping the beanstalk.
So, the Ogre fell down and died.
Now Jack is rich and he married a princess!
I think Jack should go to jail.
Sincerely,
Your friend AJ
(by AJ) |
|
Dear
Princess Kiera (Jack's future wife),
I don't think you
want to marry Jack. He has
done some bad things in his life. These
are some bad things he has done. He
has stolen a gold hen and a harp. He
has killed an Ogre. He said
to me, "Mother, Mother, bring me an axe."
Well good luck. Sincerely,
Jack's Mom (by Alex ) |
|
Redmond, OR 97756 September 30, 2003 Dear
Princess,
Hi. I'm your future
husband. I was bad when I
was little. I am sorry.
I killed the Ogre. I
am sorry Princess that I said, "Mother! Mother! Bring me an axe."
My mom came. I jumped off the beanstalk to cut it. I know what I did was bad and I won't do it again.
Sincerely,
Jack (by Angela) |
|
Portland, CO 11815 Dear
Princess Elisabella,
How is it going? I'm
doing well. I just noticed you don't know about when Jack was a boy.
Well it all started when Jack and I were very poor.
Jack went in to town, he traded our cow for beans, magical beans. Back
then I was a little mean to Jack if you look at page 83 you will see.
But that night they grew. Jack
climbed up the bean stalk and, well see, all I know is that he got fed
and came back with a huge bag of gold.
Well we spent it and them he tried his luck again. Now this time Jack
brought a chicken that laid gold eggs.
Then, well I admit, we were getting greedy as you see on page 90. But he came back with a harp.
On page 92 you see Jack climbing down as fast as he can he says,
"Mother! Mother! Bring me the axe."
He chops down the beanstalk, the Ogre falls, his wife says, "No!"
Too late though. Then he meets you, he loves you, but now he will be good.
He said, I promise I will be better.
Love,
Jack's Mother, Your New Mother-in-Law
(by Ashley) |
|
Ogre, Cloud
28871 Dear
Jack Naughty,
I am writing to you
to express my disappointing feelings about you. I thought that in the beginning of the story,
Jack and the Beanstalk, on page 84 when you came to my
house that you were a little nice boy asking for food.
So on page 85 I gave you a big chunk of bread and cheese.
I also gave you a jug of milk.
I hid you in the oven two times, on page 85 and 88, so my old man
would not eat you like a lot of other little boys.
You might of got scared on page 85 when my husband said,
"Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman.
Be he alive, or be he dead, I’ll grind his bones to make my
bread." Then for all I
did for you on page 88 when you came back to my house, I said, "Go
away my boy, or else my man will eat you for breakfast.
Aren’t you the youngster who came here before? Do you know, that very day, my man missed one of his bags of
gold?" So you are mean
the way you treat me by stealing my man’s gold, hen, and harp. Then on page 92 when my man was climbing down the beanstalk
you called, "Mother! Mother!
Bring me an axe, bring me and axe!" Then
you cut down the beanstalk, and after two chops my husband died. Then you lived happily ever after.
Your enemy,
The Orge’s Wife
(by Channing) |
|
Arizona Dear
Jack, I am very sorry that I was mean to you and I will never do it again. I am sorry that I abused you and didn't give you any food and if you will let me, I will give you food. By the way, when you threw that bag of gold down it hit the man’s house that has Milky White and he died, so we get Milky White back, and actually we got her when you were coming down the beanstalk and she has been giving milk since. So please come back home. When you do, you can see our new house that we got, it is really big. I think you will be really happy to see it and again I am very sorry! From, Your Mother
(by Cheyenne) |
|
Crime
Court, OR 97756 September
30, 2003 Dear
Jack, Sincerely, Judge
John (by David) |
|
SC
65827 Dear
Jack,
I was a little disappointed in the stuff you did like when you sold
milk for a handful of beans, and when you climbed up the beanstalk without
telling me. By the way, thank
you for the gold and the harp, but it was pretty naughty of you, but
you're my son so I forgive you. I’m
sorry for saying, "Have you been such a fool, such a dolt, such an idiot
as to give away my Milky-White, the best milker in the parish, and prime
beef to boot, for a set of paltry beans."
I'm sorry for saying all that stuff.
Son, when you called out, "Mother! Mother!
Bring me an axe," it scared me, but without thinking, I brought
it to you. I forgive you for
everything you did and it's good you told me everything, or I'd be
disappointed in you. I
forgive you son. I hope you have a good life. Sincerely,
Your Loving Mother
(by Hanna) |
|
Dear
Jack,
Why did you steal me from my master?
I would lay eggs for him to eat for breakfast in the story Jack and
the Beanstalk. Why did you
chop down the bean stalk and kill my master on page seventy-eight when you
said, "Mother, Mother bring me an axe, bring me an axe?"
I was very important to him because I would lay him golden eggs so
he could eat them and sell them. I
think you should say you're sorry.
Love,
Golden Hen (by Ida) |
|
Dear
Old Man,
Thank you for the beans. Like
when you said on page 22, "If you plant them, overnight, by the morning
they grow right up to the sky." How did you know my name?
Are you special? Where
are you off to?
Sincerely,
Jack
(by Jesse) |
|
Redmond, OR 97756 January 8, 2009 Dear
Wife,
Have you read about the beanstalk and me?
If you haven't I just wanted you to know I'm a bad boy and
I'll be like this forever. No
Wait! Don't go Wife!
Wait, let me tell you more. I'm
really not that bad, all I did was steal a bag of gold like on page 86, then
I crept out on tiptoe from the oven, and as I was passing the Ogre I took
one bag of gold. The time I
did it again on page 89, then I crept out of the oven on tiptoe and caught
hold of the golden hen. Still marry me!!!!! Love,
Jack (by Josh) |
|
I am very disappointed with your actions.
Like for example, on page 87 when you said, "Jack made up his mind
to try his luck once more." That
is going to make little kids think it is ok to steal.
Do you think that is safe? Some
little kid can get arrested by doing that.
So I think that you should make your story more appropriate for
kids. Also on page 92 when you said, "Mother! Mother!
Bring me an axe," did you mean to kill the ogre?
The last thing is on page 84, when you said, "Good morning mum," to the ogre’s
wife. Did you think she really was you mom?
(by Kyrsten) |
|
Dear
Fourth Grader, I'm writing to you because I am confessing that I killed the Ogre in self defense and I was greedy for more of his gold. I really needed to kill the Ogre or he would kill me. Well, it had to be one of us. I used self defense when I said, "Mother! Mother! Bring me an axe!" Sincerely,
Jack (by Lane) P.S.
I’m really not that bad. |
|
My class just got done reading Jack and the Beanstalk.
It is a good book but some of it bothered me.
In the story you stole and killed.
On page 87 you stole, this proves it:
"And as he was passing the Ogre he TOOK one of the bags of gold
under his arm." That
proves you stole. On page 92,
you said, "Mother! Mother!
Bring me an axe, bring me an axe!....Then Jack gave another chop
with the axe and the beanstalk was cut in two and began to topple
over."
Sincerely, Lauryn, Fourth Grader
(by Lauryn) |
|
Heaven
June 3, 1885 Dear
My Beloved Wife,
How are you doing? I’m
doing great. I just turned 104. It's
really nice in heaven. No Jack, that's a relief, but I will miss
you. If it were not for Jack
I would still be with you. I
knew was going to kill me when he said, "Mother! Mother!
Bring me an axe." I
have to go.
Sincerely,
Your Husband the Ogre
(by Luke) P.S.
Write back soon! |
|
New
York, NY 9772S Dear
Jack,
I want to tell you a few things that you did wrong.
Two things you did wrong were: you stole from the Ogre and then you
went back and stole some more.
After you stole two times, you went back up the beanstalk and you stole
again. Then, in the book, it
says, "The Ogre swung himself down."
Then you said, "Mother, Mother, bring the axe," and then
you chopped down the beanstalk and killed the Ogre.
Now, what I want to ask you is, why did you kill the Ogre?
Were you defending yourself or did you want to kill him?
Why did you steal from him? I
think this is not a good book for little kids.
Well, what I am saying is, you did a lot of bad stuff.
Well, talk to you later.
Your Friend, Michael, Fourth Grader in Mrs. Renz's Class
(by Michael) |
|
Redmond, OR 27694 September 30, 2003 Dear Jack,
Hello. I am a fourth grader. I
just wanted to tell you that I didn't really like the way you did the
bad things. Here, let's
take a flashback to page 87 where it said, "Jack made up his mind to try
his luck once more up at the top of the beanstalk." That
sounded like you were doing it on purpose.
Well maybe…never mind. Um
well bye.
Sincerely, written by Miguel |
|
Dear
Ogre
What is it like in
heaven? Is it nice or is it
not so nice? Is it hot or
cold? Do you like it in
heaven? Did it hurt when you
fell off the beanstalk? How
is your wife doing? Sincerely, Sam R., Fourth Grader in Mrs. Renz's Class (by Sam R.) |
|
Howie,
HI 97768 Dear
Jack's Future Wife, Did you know that Jack went up to a stranger and traded Milky White for some beans? And the old man said they would grow up to the sky? When he got back, his mother started yelling at him, "Take that! Take that, and as for your precious beans here they go out the window! And now, you go off to bed. Not a sip shall you drink, not a bit shall you swallow this very night." And Jack had no dinner or drinks. His mom was upset and mad. "So Jack went upstairs to his little room in the attic, and sad and sorry he was, to be sure as much for his mother’s sake as for the loss of his supper. At last he dropped off to sleep."
The
next morning, Jack went up the beanstalk to the sky.
"So, Jack climbed and he climbed and he climbed and he climbed
and he climbed and he climbed and he climbed 'til at last he reached the
sky. And Jack walked up to
the doorstep and he saw a great big woman was standing in front of him and
he said, "Good morning, Mum, says Jack quite polite like. Could
you be so kind as to give me some breakfast?"
And after Jack ate he heard something like: "Fee-fi-fo-fum, I
smell the blood of an Englishman, be he alive or be he dead, I’ll grind
his bones to make his bread." And
Jack hid in the oven that had a lock on the outside! Then he came out when the Ogre was gone. Then Jack crept out on his tippy toes from the oven. As he
was passing the Ogre, under his arm was a bag of gold.
(byShauna) |
|
Redmond, OR 97756 9-19-03 Dear
Jack,
In the story Jack and the Beanstalk, I saw that you stole from
the Ogre. You shouldntt of
stole in case you could to jail for doing that.
I hope you learned your lesson.
You should not steal at all. Here
are the things you stole: a bag of gold, gold hen, and a golden harp.
From a Fourth Grader Who Read the Story
(by "The Kid") |
|
Bad
Boy Town, Nowhere Dear
Judge,
This is Jack and I confess that I stole the bag of gold on page 87 and I
stole the chicken that laid the golden eggs when you say, "Lay" on
page 89. I also confess that I stole the golden singing harp on page
91. Then, I confess for
killing the giant Ogre for self-defense on page 93.
Well, that's the end of my letter.
Sincerely,
Jack
(by Tyrel) |
|
Redmond, OR 97756 September 30, 2003
I'm telling you
that you don't want to have Jack as a husband.
He stole from an Ogre. He
threw a bag of gold down a beanstalk and could have killed me, but
instead it put a crater in my garden.
Then he went up again and stole a chicken that laid golden eggs. Then he did it again and this time he stole a magical harp
that sang. When he ran down
the beanstalk he jumped on it. When
he landed, He said, "Bring me an axe."
The Ogre jumped on the beanstalk, then Jack took a swing at the
beanstalk, which cut and he swung again, and down came the Ogre. From,
Jack's Mom (by Victor) |
|
Redmond,
MM 97756 Dear
Jack's Pitiful Mother,
My class just read Jack and the Beanstalk.
When you said on page 83, paragraph 2, "Have you been such a
fool, such a dolt, such an idiot, as to give away my Milky White?"
What
were you doing? Why did you call your son names? You should go to court because you abused your child and gave
your son an axe not knowing what he was going to do with it!
When you said, on page 80, paragraph 5,
"What shall we do!" and you wrung your hands, all you were
going to do was make Jack panic! Why did you let Jack steal three whole times?
By the way, where did you and Jack live?
Sincerely,
Your Worst Fan, NOT!
(by Zoe) |
|
Heaven
Ave., OR 97756 Dear
Jack, Hi! It is I, the Ogre, in Heaven. Why did you kill me? All I wanted is to toast you on my bread. Oh, and why did you steal from me? First, you stole from my gold and then you stole my chicken that lays golden eggs. Then, you stole my harp. I am sorry that I scared you, Jack. The Ogre
(by Shelby) |
|
Phoenix,
AZ 97756 Sept.
19, 2003 Dear
Jack,
I wanted you to know some things that you don't know.
First of all, when you sold your cow, Milky White, I was like so
glad because where I live, cows are like so not available, so, yeah!
When the story said, "Jack and his mother became very rich, and
he married a great princesses and lived happily ever after," on page 93,
I don't think that's quite right.
I mean how did you become sooooo rich only with a harp, a hen that
lays golden eggs, and a bag with gold in it?
Also, we fight all the time when we're together (at times).
Plus, when it showed me on page 92 in the Jack and the Beanstalk
story that you shouted out, "Mother, Mother, bring me an axe!" and you
cut the beanstalk and killed the Ogre. I'm mad but happy because
if I was out there I would have been freaking OUT!!! (So I’m
glad, yeah). I’m also upset
that your mother didn’t know that you weren't that far from home when
you sold the cow. Your mother
said, "What! Have you been
such a fool, such a dolt, such an idiot, as to give away my Milky White,
the best milker in the parish and prime beef to book.
Take that, take that. And, as for your precious beans, here they
go, out the window. And now,
off with you to bed. Not a
sip shall you drink, and not a bit shall you swallow this very night,"
on page 83. I was like whoa,
she’s being strict, so, yeah, like totally.
Well, Sweetie Pie, I got to go now to the store.
Bye, Bye. Love ya.
Love,
Your Wife, Princess Jessica
(by Elise) |
|
Dear
Jack
You shouldn't have killed me. Why,
why did you kill me? Why did
you steal from me? I was
minding my own business until you came along.
Your friend,
Ogre (by Zach) |
|
I think that what you did was not
nice and that you could change that but that's up to you. If I were you
then I would change that thing that you did.
But doing it again and again until you got caught that is not nice.
When you chopped the bean stalk down and killed the ogre for no reason
that's not right. I think
that you should be punished. By Kacie |
