Fantasy Unit Continues

This week, we've read more fantasy, specifically Ray Bradbury's "The Foghorn." This story about a lighthouse keeper's encounter with a sea monster had us thinking about our own regional monster, Champy. You can see a recent news story about Champy here.

Here Be Dragons

It's time for a unit of study on the fantasy genre. We started this week with an Achieve 3000 article about The Wizard of Oz. Next up is the shared reading of "The Smallest Dragonboy" by Anne McCaffrey.

During this unit, I've encouraged the students to choose a fantasy book for independent reading. Here's one library's list of the best YA fantasy books of all time.

Darth Paper

One of my favorite books last year was The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger. This school year, I'm recommending the sequel Darth Paper Strikes Back. You can listen to a sample of the audiobook version here. Enjoy!

Indiana Jones and the Reading Lesson (of Doom??)

Today's lesson was focused on reading, specifically on how to get to know characters in books better. We talked about looking at objects that are near and dear to characters in a story. Often an object that a character keeps close is a window into what he or she is like as a person. For example, Indiana Jones is very attached to his bull whip. What ideas can we grow about him based on this information?

Happy World Smile Day

Friday, October 7th is World Smile Day. My Homebase will celebrate by spreading smiles throughout the school. Look for them to leave their "mark" on you all day Friday!

October's Here

I'm wondering where September went. The first week of October finds the grade 7 students closely reading a short story called "El Diablo De La Cienega" by Geoffrey Becker.

Our last two stories are included in an anthology produced by The Great Books Foundation.