READING






Themes:
  • Cancer
  • Country life
  • Cows
  • Death
  • Hope
  • Poets

    Introduction:

    Toby’s mother is driving him crazy with her over-protectiveness because he has been very ill Even their summer “vacation” isn’t really relaxing—he has to try to get her off his trail so he can even ride the bike he found, or visit his friend Pearl and her tranquil cow, Blossom. The experiences Toby and Pearl share with Blossom help them discover new paths leading toward their own freedom, regardless of circumstances they are trying to overcome. ______________________________________________________________________
    Discussion

    1. Do you think Toby’s mom was right in attempting to protect him from things she thought were dangerous?
    2. How did Toby respond, and why?
    3. Why did Toby seek friendship from Pearl and Blossom?
    4. Why did both Toby and Pearl identify with the sign “Whoever steals my freedom takes my life?” Do you?
    5. What did Toby and Pearl learn from each other, and from Blossom?

    Activity Suggestions

    1. Toby and Pearl read poetry together. Discuss with students some of the poets mentioned in the book. Research information about: Robert Frost, Dylan Thomas, Thomas Hardy.
    2. Look up poetry written by students in your age group. Ask students to find a poem they think Toby would like to show Pearl, and read it to the class.
    3. Ask students to write their own poems about “freedom” from their own points of view. Use some of the poems you have found for ideas, etc. about writing your own poem. These don’t necessarily have to “rhyme,” and don’t be afraid to express yourself in poetry in your own way! 


November 2, 2017

We will be finishing up summarizing and then moving on to analyzing non-fiction texts







In the past couple of days we've been learning how to differentiate between important and interesting information in a text, discussing non-fiction text features and summarize.







- we're working on monitoring our comprehension by recording our thoughts, comments and questions on a text




- We are also working on writing reading responses based on the books the students are reading during independent reading and based on our class read aloud.


- We've started to learn how to find the main idea of a text

The main idea is what the text is mostly about.

To find the main idea:
1. Look at the title
2. Look at the pictures
3. Look for key words or words that are repeated
4. Reread the topic sentence or closing sentence

When we write the main idea for a text, we must include:
1. the title and author of the article
2. the authors purpose
3. the main idea

Example main idea:

The article titled "Too Much - Too Little," written by Diane Swanson was written to inform us of the importance of eating just the right amount of food.


- Next, we will  be learning about how to summarize a text

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