No Talking

I just recently read this book because I was getting really bored everyday, but I never thought that I would actually read the whole book mean what Andrew Clements did in this book and many of the other books he's written is phenomenal,great,amazing so overall what I have to say is download this book now or even if you have one on your bookshelf pick it up and start reading and you will find out about what I mean when by calling Andrew Clements phenomenal,great,and amazing

The fifth graders at Laketon Elementary are notoriously noisy - there isn't a quiet or shy kid in the bunch. When a silly spat between a couple of kids in the lunchroom turns into a competition to see who can can talk less for forty-eight hours, the boys or the girls, the stage is set for a rollicking good romp through the battle of the sexes, the nature of communication, and the dynamics of school life - and it's a journey that will leave no one unchanged.

The rules of the game are simple: no talking at all over the course of the two-day period, except at school to answer a teacher, and even then, anything more than three words counts against the total score. Almost from the beginning, the students' eyes are opened to possibilities they never considered before: the advantages and limitations of the written word, the untapped potential of nonverbal communication, the pleasant surprise at listening to the thoughts inside their heads without the distraction of constant chatter, and just how much meaning can be packed into a three-word utterance. When the teachers and school administration figure out what's going on, their reactions range from joyful fascination at the possibilities of silence as a social experiment, to bemused tolerance, to a determination to shut down this apparent disruption to the educational process. By the time the forty-eight hours are over, teachers and students alike will have been forced to re-examine some long-held assumptions.

Sure, the premise is a bit silly - the idea that one class of over a hundred students would be so universally noisy in the first place, and that everyone would agree to participate in the competition (out of 125 kids in the fifth grade at Laketon, is there not ONE that's a soft-spoken introvert, or an unsociable little smart aleck who delights in going against the flow?), certainly requires some suspension of disbelief. But this is a comic novel, and Clements tells his story with such simplicity and eagerness and perfect pacing that it's impossible not to give in to its charm.

Everything I love about Andrew Clements is on display in "No Talking": his eagerness to tackle unusual ideas in a funny children's story, his belief in the human potential to create and change and connect, his colorful and witty protagonists, his teachers that are as relatable and interesting and flawed as their students (yet still held up as worthy of respect). "No Talking" is a book that will make you laugh out loud, make you think, and keep you turning the pages - and in the end, it just might leave you speechless.

This one definitely falls in the ranks of Frindle, The School Story, and The Landry News. It goes back to the charming school story, of two kids who make a difference in their entire school, rebelling against the authority figures. Two kids, just playing a simple little game, but in the process, revealing so much about life itself. I love the way the message is sent. Silence may not be the best solution, but on occasion, if taken the right way, it will work. The adults learn lessons from the ingenious kids, like the classic Clements works before this. I feel like the characters (other than the teachers) were really not given much characterization, though. Not much is known about their home lives, their interests, their personalities (other than the feistiness living in them all).
Random points I would like to make. It was slightly weird seeing them in a K-5 school, as the last book of his I read, 'Lost and Found', was set in a K-6 school, which I found odd. The three word story was pretty awesome, although it's more commonly seen as a forum game than a classroom activity, it worked out as a pretty awesome teaching tool. And, again, three word debating, that had me laughing very hard. All the ingenious ways the kids came up with to communicate and have fun, it's all classic Clements again :)

Working in a public school, I am around children every day. Here are two facts that I feel I can state from experience:

1. Kids like to talk

2. There is nothing that gets the youngsters going like boys vs. girls competition

In No Talking, Andrew Clements manages to merge both of these eternal truisms.

At Laketon Elementary, the 5th grade class has a reputation for embracing the spoken word - so much so that they earned the nickname "The Unshushables" from teachers. On top of all this noisiness, the boys can't stand the girls and the girls aren't all that keen on the boys.

One day Dave Packer attempts something that surely has never been done by anyone in his fifth grade class - to make it through the school day without saying a word. He fails, but his experiment leads to a challenge between the boys and the girls: Two days of school. Whichever group talks the least wins.

This book has all kinds of classroom implications, and the rivalry between boys and girls will immediately draw kids in. No Talking is an entertaining story and a quality fiction selection

The cover was for "No Talking" and the pages were another book entirely...obviously an error at the production facility. I would be suspicious of all the "school & library binding" books. Returned it to the store.com.

No Talking is a competion of no talking between boys and girls even though this is one of most loudest 5th anyone can imagine which makes this competion very interesting.

It is a very neat and deatailed book that will enjoy young readers from the beginning. This also show a lot of facts school life, it's like he just graduated 5th grade yesterday.

There was two things that sort of got this book that makes you feel this book is a little off. First is a principal trying to make kids talk, should be a paradise for loud kids not talk, apparently not for her. Second, a whole book of people barely talking, a little strange. Luckily these are only minor. I'm giving it a 96%

No Talking by Andrew Clements is about a fifth-grade student named Dave Packer who has just finished his studies on the life and teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. He was particularly drawn to Gandhi's practice of continual silence for days at a time. Dave's grade level student body is well known as the loudest group of students his teachers have ever been faced with. They gave his class the unflattering epithet of The Unshushables. When Dave gets into an argument with a fellow student of the opposite gender, he challenges her into a contest to see who can speak the lesser number of words over the next two days, boys or girls.

In the course of this book, these students go through learning experiences that involve growth through assimilation and accommodation. The developmental stage this book deals with is characterized by a loss of egocentrism. With this loss, students should be given examples of how to interact in their broadening environment. Through this book, students are presented with additional ways to communicate. They are shown how to channel their energies to accomplish difficult tasks in creative ways. It's helpful for a teacher or librarian to present students with materials that can navigate and solidify their understanding in positive ways as they enter higher levels of thinking. No Talking is a useful source to bring out the needed talking points (oh the delicious irony... as The Joker would say) for this learning.

When I used this book for a fifth-grade book club, the students had a lot of fun with it. We did a contest of our own where we saw how few times we could laugh throughout a two-day period. We all started laughing and losing points just by thinking about not laughing. Once the inevitable jokes started coming from competitive students, some of us were out of the contest quick... including me.

Not all Andrew Clements novels are created equal, and that's a fact. I mean, don't get me wrong. This is true of most children's authors. But sometimes I feel that with Clements, he's always readable. Even if you feel that one book of his is better than another, that doesn't mean that kids aren't going to read them all equally like mad. I maintain the paperback fiction portion of the children's room in which I work, so I've seen firsthand the levels of sheer maniacal energy that go into keeping that area stocked. Turn around for two seconds and FOOM! There go all your copies of Frindle,The Landry News, and Lunch Money. And while I've always kind of enjoyed Clements, none of his books really struck me as something I would have liked to have read when I was a kid. Then I picked up "No Talking". Oh brother, oh sister, oh me, oh my. This. Book. Is. Great. Yes, it has a little bit of learning. A teensy bit of a moral stuffed in there. But to me, this is Clements at the top of his game. Tapping into the essential rivalries that exist between boys and girls, this book is just pure fun and that's a fact. A must read for Clements fans and an enjoyable jaunt for the rest of us.

Let me tell you a little something about the fifth-graders of Laketon Elementary. The teachers there call them The Unshushables for a reason. These kids are the loudest group to cross the threshold of Laketon in years. They also happen to be a bit immature in the whole boys and girls area of things. Where other kids might be growing up at this stage and toning down the gender rivalries, this group is led by two leaders. You've Dave on the boys' side and Lynsey on the girls. But when a dare breaks out between the two as to whether or not the boys or the girls can keep from talking the most over the course of two days, neither side is prepared for the consequences. With rules firmly in place, the kids begin their contest only to find that it has inadvertently raised the ire of their normally competent principal. Now the kids will join together to face a common enemy in the quietest manner possible.

The moral of the story would make it pretty ideal for bookgroups discussions. The principal's opinion on everything is summed up nicely in Chapter 15. "These children need to learn to be quiet when it's right to be quiet, and they need to talk and participate at the right times too." This isn't a rigid stance until the kids stop talking en masse (something I'm sure educators countrywide would love to encourage) and of their own volition. Suddenly, the idea of silence as a weapon comes to mind. The principal trying to make kids talk becomes the kid-friendly equivalent of the old villainous statement, "We have way of MAKING you talk." So when authority figures tell you that you have to talk and be silent only when they say so, isn't that an untenable situation? It's worthy of further thought.

I've maintained for years that the best children's authors are the ones who can finesse different forms of writing seamlessly into a fictional narrative for the young. Clements is a perfect example of this. First of all, his writing is... I hesitate to use the word "pure" but it's just so straightforward. Accessible, amusing, and without ever feeling forced or unnatural. Then, on top of that, "No Talking" utilizes flashbacks, at the beginning of the story, beautifully. And as with Frindle or some of Clements' other works, "No Talking" boils down to kids versus adults. That's a popular topic right there. Then it adds in the boys versus girls element, which never goes out of style. Finally, it tops the whole shebang off with a contest with a set series of rules and regulations. The kids may speak in class when called upon to do so, but they can only speak three words at a time. They cannot speak at home and will use the honor system to keep track of their own foibles. Then Clements works in all the situations in which a person really needs to speak, and the book just gets more and more fun.

I was intrigued by the illustrations provided by a Mr. Mark Elliott. To my mind, illustrators of children's novels never get enough credit. Mr. Elliott's name, by rights, should appear on the front of this book. That's just not how things are done, but I wish publishers would reconsider. And Elliott in particular has a kind of classic feel to him. You go through his images and you're reminded of Paul O. Zelinsky's work on books like Dear Mr. Henshaw. The pictures here are done in graphite with clear outlines and gentle shading inside. I'm a fan of realism as it is, and this book shows that Elliott is an artist worth keeping an eye on.

You know, there are some children's books I read where writing their review requires hours, literally hours, of hair pulling and groans on my part. Where every sentence I plunk down feels forced. And then there are books like "No Talking" that are just a joy to speak (ha ha) about. I think it's safe to say that this is my favorite Andrew Clements novel, case closed. Also, with its boys vs. girls mentality, this book would pair beautifully with this year's other great kid-friendly (and fellow favorite) read, The Lemonade War. Consider these two to be the sheer-fire crowd pleasers you absolutely must stock on your library shelves.

This is our second Andrew Clements book & this was is even better that the first book we read of his(Frindle). We love that it is just good, clean competition utilizing the elementary boys vs girls rivalry. It is suspenseful in that the characters stick to the plan even in when faced with looming potential consequences. This book definitely will keep your young reader engaged!

The person who started the contest was Dave, one of the fifth grade boys. He said that girls always have their fat mouths opened. So Dave challenges Lindsey to a no talking contest with boys against girls. The teachers get mad because the boys and girls aren't talking. The principal gets mad too. The principal holds an assembly and she says to stop the no talking. When the fifth graders go to their specials, they still weren't talking, and the contest was still going on. When the contest was over it was a tie, and the boys said 74 words and the girls said 74 words.
I like this book because it is funny and creative. It is creative because the fifth graders have to use other ways to talk to each other by writing on a piece of paper or using the 3-word rule.

The person who started the contest was Dave, one of the fifth grade boys. He said that girls always have their fat mouths opened. So Dave challenges Lindsey to a no talking contest with boys against girls. The teachers get mad because the boys and girls aren't talking. The principal gets mad too. The principal holds an assembly and she says to stop the no talking. When the fifth graders go to their specials, they still weren't talking, and the contest was still going on. When the contest was over it was a tie, and the boys said 74 words and the girls said 74 words.
I like this book because it is funny and creative. It is creative because the fifth graders have to use other ways to talk to each other by writing on a piece of paper or using the 3-word rule.

The basic plot: A couple of 5th graders decide to see if their class can go 48 hours without talking. Boys against girls. If a teacher addresses you, you may respond with the maximum of three words.

No Talking is an adorable story. It's a fun concept, and the author takes the idea and moves it along at a quick, easy pace. I loved the sweet ending. It was very much a "happy book" - one that leaves you with a smile. Highly enjoyable . . . it almost made me want to try the kids' experiment, too.

No Talking by Andrew Clements is a great book set in fifth grade where the students have challenged each other to a contest...boys versus girls. The rules of the contest are simple but can be very hard to follow. Students may talk at school only when an adult asks them a question, but then they can only answer using three words at a time. Students can not speak at home, on the playground, or in the lunchroom. The students keep track of their words and use the honor system to report them. When the principal demands that the contest must end, the students join together to silently face a new opponent in the competition. Clements does an excellent job of showing the voice of these students through their dialogues with one another. Their personalities shine through the pages.

Teachers will love the ideas and discussions that stem from this book. The book sparks conversations about peaceful ways to settle arguments like Mahatma Gandhi did in India. The teachers in the book complete many activities that allow students to follow the contest rules and still learn. One my favorites includes creating a story as a whole class where all students add to the story using only three words at a time. Students will love completing lessons that follow these from the book. It may even inspire a contest.

This book is hilarious! People young and old can read it. It's an easy read and is fun! It is so suprising in a way that does not make you jump, but one that makes you think,wow! I definitely give this book a rating of 5 stars, no doubt about that!!!

"No Talking" is a realistic and entertaining book that describes a competition between the boys and girls at Laketon Elementary. Each team tries to go untill the end of the week without talking. Commotion occurs as a result of the silence. The teachers and the principle are getting annoyed by the constant silence to they decide to take action on the nonsense. Does the teachers stop the competition or do the children pull them into the fun? Read to find out!

No Talking
By Andrew Clements
The book is about when David reads a book and its based on this guy that does no taking for a whole day. So tomorrow he tries it at school and he had a project so he was mumbling and no one could hear him and everyone was starting to wonder because he's a big talker. I think kids should read this book because I don't think an adult would like it.

Who can be quieter - boys or girls? Well, the fifth graders of Laketon Elementary are about to find out...as are their teachers and principal.

The Unshushables, that's the name given to this particular group, are known for, well - not being quiet - EVER! Through an intriguing experiment Clements explores the very nature of being young and why adults should never discount them.

No Talking is another fun and thought provoking book by Andrew Clements. The story focuses on a notoriously loud and chatty group of fifth graders, led by Dave Packer and Lynsey Burgess. The students' typical boy vs. girl mentality is intensified when an argument between Dave and Lynsey leads to a No Talking contest between the fifth grade boys and girls.

The manner in which the students go about fulfilling the no talking rule and the unexpected reactions they receive from their teachers and principal is what truly makes this book entertaining. Andrew Clements is an excellent author for school-aged children and always provides an interesting twist to the otherwise mundane. While many of us have participated in no talking contests, I promise they have never turned out like this.

As an elementary teacher, I appreciate that Clements includes topics, such as Gandhi, in a way that peaks student interest and encourages children to learn more about the subject. Children will easily identify with the characters and situations presented in No Talking but be warned, things may be a little quieter after they finish reading it.