Effective Reading Responses

Moving from avid readers to interpretive readers...

Discussing the naive (naif) narrative in Scout's Honor by Avi

Courage, honor, and boyish camaraderie are interesting themes woven into the coming of age tale, Scout’s Honor by Avi. Set in post World War II America, this heart warming short story chronicles the adventures of a trio of friends who set out from their inner city neighborhood, Brooklyn, on an overnight hike, ‘in the country.’

Avi, the narrator and main character in the story, acts and behaves in a fashion typical of the time period and age range.  Blind faith in one’s own ability and an unwillingness to admit a mistake are common characteristics of most boys,  “the way they agreed (to the trip) made me nervous. Now I really was going to have to be tough” (p.2). To proud to admit his own fears and insecurities, Avi continues on his adventure out of city even though at heart, all he seems to desire is to admit defeat and head home.  With a probable stock of role models such as comic book heroes, western cowboys, and returning soldiers, it is easy to appreciate why Avi feels that the only way to show true bravery is to keep going.

Clearly, Avi showed  his age and immaturity by failing to plan the trip in a little more  details before setting out. By anticipating the expected travel time, Avi could have at least calculated that his group might arrive at their destination while it was still daylight. However, all of this behavior is understandable knowing that at the time Avi was only nine years old.

Both a flaw and strength is the narrator’s misinterpretation of what it means to be tough. Keeping face in front of one’s peers must have certainly been a neighborhood ritual in his world full of “slate payments, streets of asphalts, and skies full of tall building” (p.1). Living in such a densely populated community probably meant that reputation was everything.  Backing down at any point probably had much deeper and longer lasting repercussions in the streets where the boys lived.

Boyish wisdom is an admirable characteristic that Avi demonstrates throughout the story. Instantly, he devises a plan to meet back up with Horse when he gets stuck on the subway train (p.4). A pile of spent matches are what he creatively chooses to use to build a fire when all the other kindling is wet from the rain.

Avi and his childhood comrades constantly felt the need to prove their toughness to themselves and to each other. Their adventures in Scout’s Honor if anything, certainly proved one thing very clearly, their beautiful friendship.

H/W

1) Reading Ladders: Personal Reflection - PRINTED COPY Due next Tuesday. Don't just get a parent's signature, discuss your reading habits so far with them and tell then your next steps to moving 'up your ladder' Suggest that you begin to read the same book and then book talk it once or twice weekly.

More sophisticated readers select books:

• across genres
• across time periods
• that contain multiple plot lines
• that contain multiple perspectives
• from a variety of authors
• contains less dialogue and more description or narrative
• that takes the reader out of their background knowledge/interests/age bracket comfort zone (when appropriate)
• follow parents/Goodreads/Amazon/teacher's/friends recommendations
• seek out award winning books
• seek out books with more complex plot structures, themes, vocabulary

Showing sophisticated reading habits is ASSESSED. How will you proof that you are moving up your ladder?

2) Read all the comments on this post about the Reading Response.  Type in which  student(s) gave the best comment

Which student gave the most thoughtful comment?... at AnswerGarden.ch.

Friday Message - Worth Watching - Notice her age!

From Anecdote to Memoir

Today, we began our journey from anecdote into memoir through trying to attach learning to our memories. As we delve deeper into memoir, we will start to answer the questions related to how we have changed because of  the experiences we have had.

Where did your song take you? - Was there a moment of learning?


Reminder: PLEASE BRING A PRINTED COPY OF YOUR READING RESPONSE! (Let's see who actually reads the blog!)

Look at yesterday's post for reminders  for tomorrow's class.

HomeBase - Work on your part of the skit. Ask your parents for ideas on how to be funny!

Reading Ladders

Reminders:

Subjects and Predicates Booklets - Due Thur
1st Reading Response - Due Friday


IMPORTANT
For Friday's class, we will be constructing a 'reading ladder' of the books we have read so far. If you are able to bring in a copy of the books you have read so far this year, please do so. If you do not have access to the books that you have read so far, bring a a piece of paper that is representative of  each books that you have read. The piece of paper should look like  the image. One paper for every different book you have read. Most of you will have read between 3-5 books so far. You can get the number of pages from goodreads (see 2nd image - below description)

It is better to have the books. You will be evaluating your progress in reading so far. You NEED the materials to be able to participate in the class. DO NOT FORGET!

Reading Response: Feedback
How well did YOU prepare for today's reading response formative assessment?

Look how these students prepared! Success = Preparation. Preparation = Success

Creating Characters that Readers Care About

For Thursday - Find 'THE SONG' - you know, the song that you hear and you think..."That's my song"  -I originally stated longer than  two years - ultimately, you just need to make sure that  you and the song have a relationship spanning over a decent time period.

H/W

Recap - Today we looked at crafting characters that readers care about. Remember the tips below on how to build solid characters.

• 1) Identity the person’s name and relationship to others in the story.
• For example: Uncle John is your father’s eldest brother and 
• is married to your mother’s second cousin
• 2) Describe, as if to a blind person, how the person looks
• 3) Describe character’s values, attitudes, interests  
• 4) Describe their habits, quirks, moans
• 5) Put your character into a vignette (short situation)
• then: Mix and Match and play with the order of your sentences 

e.g.

When I walked into the cinnamon-scented kitchen, Mother looked up, a smile spreading across her thin face and a twinkle in her cornflower-blue eyes. She wiped the flour from her arthritic hands on the well-worn, yellow apron before hurrying over to hug me. I was shocked to notice that with age, she had begun to shrink and now stood on her toes in order to embrace me. I’d been away too long.

or

• Wednesday - Naive Narrative - In class Reading Response (make sure you have read the story BEFORE class and identified any red flag moments). You will have 30minutes to write about the NARRATOR: Link to Story
• Thursday -Subjects and Predicates practice worksheets 1+2 

Homebase

Craft out your ideas for our 'Super CWW skit' - We start writing the skit tomorrow!

Word Study Unit 1

From now on - you only have to fill in your personal reading log daily!

Important:

MAP Makeup sessions are scheduled in the Library after school on Tuesday, September 3 and Wednesday, September 4 from 3:00pm - 4:15pm.- If you missed a session, or need to finish a test -MAKE SURE- you attend on one of these days.

H/W
Bring your Wordstudy Test sheet to class tomorrow: Signed!
Remember - you only have to look at the questions on the sheet that you made an error on.
www.socrative.com Room # m325

Mentor Text: Reading Response 

 In the beginning of the book, "The Dead and the Gone," by Susan Beth Pfeffer, Alex lived a normal life.  He had friends, a family, and he was always winning school competitions.  But all of that changed when the moon was hit by a meteor.  The moon was pushed towards the earth, causing millions of natural disasters all over the world.  And meanwhile, his parents are gone and he has to take care of his two sisters. The premise of the story is based on the moon crisis, and how Alex deals with this change.

    Alex proves to be a bold, responsible, and short-tempered guardian.  At first, Alex believes that his parents and his older brother are alive and about.  But after months of waiting, and no phone calls, he begins to lose hope. Meanwhile, his younger sister Bri, is filled with faith in Christ, and that He is always watching over us.  Bri turns out to be a rather optimistic girl, but her bright side is also her flaw.  She is unable to see reality. But, Julie, Alex's younger sister, is the first to lose hope.  She no longer believes in Him. This too is Julie's flaw. She has no faith whatsoever, which only makes her life more unhappy. Alex, on the other hand, is actually a very confused child.  When Julie says to him, "Look me in the eye and tell me that Mami and Papi are alive," he can't.  Alex doesn't know what to believe.  Are his parents really alive?  But this confusion proves to be a roadblock for him, his nights are haunted every night with these thoughts.  Is my family alive? Or are they dead? Is God really there, watching over us? These thoughts confuse him and make it much harder for him to understand his sisters and for him to be able to protect them. The only thing Alex is sure of is that he needs to protect his sisters.

    Susan Beth Pfeffer's story ends up being about a confused boy in a confused world.  Her message in this story is that if you don’t work hard, you’ll never succeed.  To be honest, I completely agree with this message, because if you want to achieve your goals in life, you’ll have to work hard for it.  This moral reminds me of the book, “Kira-Kira,” because in this family, the parents have fallen into depression, the older sister is extremely ill, and the younger sister is forced to persevere and work hard to take care of her family.  Overall, "The Dead and the Gone" was a very enjoyable book, but a bit on the dark side.  If I were ever able to speak to Alex I'd tell him to just hang in there and just keep pushing.

Being organized is 'key' this week. Make sure you are well prepared for the week's learning.

If you need help on how to put your images slideshow onto your blog, use this link. (Thanks Jordan for finding this!)

• Tuesday - Your Life Slide show- Due
• Wednesday - Naive Narrative - In class Reading Response (make sure you have read the story BEFORE class and identified any red flag moments). You will have 30minutes to write about the NARRATOR: Link to Story
• Thursday -Subjects and Predicates practice worksheets 1+2 (Due - These will be given out Tuesday)
• Bring your most favorite song to class - It must be something that is at least 2 years old (you can just tab it on youtube)
• Friday - 1st Graded Reading Response Due - Will you be prepared?
• Friday- 'Reading Ladder' Self Evaluation - More on Wednesday
• When preparing for Friday's first reading response, how many of these categories will you include?

The reading response will receive 4 grades (x1 reading grade - ideas and x3 writing grades - craft, structure, conventions).

The Reading Response Rubric is attached here (coming soon)