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
