Spying Eyes in Our World and in Jonas'

With an article titled "Drones Put Spying Eyes in the Sky", students are learning about the positive uses of drones and thinking about potential negative uses.  This is our first foray into nonfiction reading in ELA.  Before beginning, students considered the steps readers take before reading fiction vs. nonfiction, as well as the strategies readers employ during their reading of both fiction and nonfiction texts.  They are doing a jigsaw reading of the article, which means in sections assigned to small groups, and each group will answer guiding questions about their section to use in a presentation of their reading.  After this reading activity, they will consider possible thematic connections between drones and events in The Giver.  Finally, we will examine some MCAS-style questions in relation to the article in order to begin some periodic practice for the exam which will occur in April.

Later this week, we will continue our discussion of The Giver through various activities, including skits, vocabulary work, summarizing and predicting, examining author's language and craft, and illustration.  Students should be actively reading the novel by noting important items, predictions, questions, visuals, and wow or ah-ha moments on sticky notes placed on the page.  This process of active reading and becoming more aware of thoughts while reading will help strengthen and deepen students' comprehension of text.

Homework:

Monday:  catch up:  finishing Giver Quiz 2 revisions and submitting to Classroom
                                    reading ch. 14/15 w/sticky notes (or reviewing if already read)

Tuesday:  review ch. 14/15

Wednesday:  read ch. 16 (w/sticky notes)

Thursday:  read ch. 17 (w/sticky notes)

Friday:  read ch. 18 (w/sticky notes)

A Busy Short Week!

Students have been busy revising a written quiz on The Giver which they took last week.  By doing this they are engaging the writing process and learning how to strengthen their academic writing.  Mini-lessons included topic sentences, how to join two complete sentences (not with a comma!), and pronoun use.  Students are also being encouraged to use their books to find as much text evidence as possible to support their answers.

On Thursday, students will review selected vocabulary words for chapters 11-15.  Those who need to finish up quiz revisions will do so.  The next chunk of reading is chapters 14 & 15.

Homework:

Thursday:  finish quiz revisions if needed and resubmit to Classroom.
                      Read ch. 14 & 15 w/ sticky notes (and chart if I gave you one).
                      All of the above should be completed BY MONDAY.


The Giver Vocabulary Lists

The Giver Quiz #2 Questions

"Thank you for your childhood." --The Giver

As Jonas and the other Twelves learn their Assignments, they are thanked by the community elders for their childhoods.  We are seeing that in this community of The Giver, individuality has been diffused creating a mostly homogeneous culture.  Children, unbeknownst to them, spend their childhoods preparing for the way in which they will contribute, as adults, to the preservation and continuation of the community.  But Jonas, as we surmised based on the fact that his eyes are different from others, is given an Assignment like no others, one that will at times be both painful and joyous, exhilarating and isolating.

Along with reading this week, students will work with a new set of vocabulary words.  As well, they are exploring euphemisms in our world while also examining the role they play in the novel.

Homework:

Monday:  read ch. 8/9 with sticky notes (and chart if you received one).

Tuesday:  finish inputting Ch. 6-10 vocab words in your Giver Vocab doc; catch up on reading if necessary.

Wednesday:  finish reading ch. 10/11 w/sticky notes (and chart if received one)

Thursday:  Finish questions (Giver Quiz #2) if needed and submit to Google Classroom.

Friday:  Read ch. 12 & 13 with sticky notes (and chart if you received one)

Giver Quiz #2 Questions

Entering Jonas' World

As we enter the world created in Lois Lowry's novel The Giver, we can see right away that things are a little strange.  Family units are deliberately composed, population is controlled, language must be precise, and this community is distinctly separate from other communities that are "out there."  The protagonist, Jonas, is feeling a bit apprehensive about his upcoming birthday, in this world a formal Ceremony of Twelve, in which all twelve-year-olds will learn their assigned vocation.  As the story unfolds, we will find out Jonas' Assignment and just what it means for his role within the community.

Students are asked to monitor their thinking as they read using sticky notes to jot thoughts, questions, predictions, etc.  These notes will become the springboard for our daily discussions about the novel, as well as triggers for longer pieces of writing.  

We previewed vocabulary from chapters 1-5, locating synonyms and antonyms for each word.  This week, students drew a word from the list on our "wall of wisdom", and they are writing sentences for each word.  We will be considering the notion of "precision of language" as a value in this community of The Giver, including the irony of the community's use of euphemisms.  Students will have a chance to explore their own knowledge of euphemisms used in our world.

I am making my way through students' short stories, amazed by the creativity and expressive language they used in writing them!  Subjects range from animal tales to futuristic fantasy to realistic fiction to historical stories.  While it takes a while to read them all, it is time well spent to enter their imaginations and evidence their growing command of language.

Homework (class work that needs to be completed):

Monday:  finish reading ch. 1/2

Tuesday:  finish reading ch. 3; should have written sentences for first 5 vocab words in class.

Wednesday:  finish reading ch 4/5; finish questions for ch. 3-5

Thursday:  finish sentences for last 5 vocab words

Friday:  finish reading ch 6 & 7 (use sticky notes as you read); finish synonyms/antonyms for ch. 6-10 vocab if needed.

Giver vocab ch 1-5
Giver chapter questions

Happy New Year!

With the new year comes a new endeavor in ELA: a whole class reading of The Giver by Lois Lowry.  With themes of individuality vs. conformity, utopia vs. dystopia, and the role of memory, feelings, and language within a community, this novel offers lots to talk about.  We've already begun the discussion today as students explored their own idea of what a utopian society would be like.  Their ideas led to the question of whether utopia is possible to achieve, and if so, is there a cost?  At some point in our exploration of this theme, we will read a few articles about utopian communities that have been tried throughout history, including one right here in Florence!

Tomorrow students will preview vocabulary drawn from chapters 1-5.  They will study these words by finding synonyms and antonyms for each.  

We will begin reading next week!

Homework:

Thursday:  Finish Giver pre-reading questions

Friday:  Finish synonyms/antonyms for vocab words

Giver Vocab ch. 1-5 Quizlet

Giver Vocabulary lists