Literature Circles: Holding Student Led Discussions Posted by The Literary Maven at July 27, 2021 Labels: literature circles <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-X_XotVND5Xo/YQAro11ofhI/AAAAAAAAXTI/taaMNc7PS4I-RwYTqL-rsLvQyNxIKdnvgCLcBGAsYHQ/s720/Slide3.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="If students are new to literature circles or if you want students to be able to run their own discussions, a highly structured format is a must." border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="720" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-X_XotVND5Xo/YQAro11ofhI/AAAAAAAAXTI/taaMNc7PS4I-RwYTqL-rsLvQyNxIKdnvgCLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/Slide3.png" title="If students are new to literature circles or if you want students to be able to run their own discussions, a highly structured format is a must." /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p style="text-align: left;">You've <a href="https://www.theliterarymaven.com/2021/04/literature-circles-book-selection.html" target="_blank">decided on the books</a> and <a href="https://www.theliterarymaven.com/2021/07/literature-circle-groups-first-meeting.html" target="_blank">how to group students</a>, but now you will have to decide how you'd like to structure the discussions those groups will have. I am not a fan of using assigned roles during literature circles because I find it can lead to superficial engagement with the text. Student can hyper focus on fulfilling their role of writing a summary, defining unknown words, etc. and then don’t have much else to contribute to the discussion. I’ve run literature circle discussions in two different ways and have found success with both.</p><p style="text-align: left;">This first option is highly structured, so it is perfect if students are new to literature circles or if you want students to be able to run their own discussions. It works well for discussions held about once a week and after a significant chunk of reading. </p><b>Preparing for Student Led Discussions</b><br />Each student receives the same discussion preparation sheet that includes elements of traditional literature circle roles. Students are asked to summarize the assigned section of their book, pick out challenging vocabulary, illustrate a key scene, track the themes of the book, and develop discussion questions. At the top of this preparation page, I have students record the pages they need to read in order to complete their preparation and the date they will need to be prepared by.<div><br /><b>During the Discussion</b><br /><div>Students take turns leading and taking notes on the discussion using a recording sheet. I choose the leader for each meeting, starting with a student I know will get the group off to a strong start. The recording sheet creates accountability for the leader as well as the other members of the group. The sheet has directions stating how many students should share during each part of the discussion, which matches up with the parts of the preparation sheet. During the first discussion, the leader can choose any student. In following discussions, I make note of students who have already contributed and should not be chosen again until everyone has had a turn with that part.</div><div><br /></div><div>Despite the discussion being highly structured, I do want it to be a discussion, not just one student sharing after the other without any interaction between students. To help students respond after someone else has shared, I have a slide of sentence frames displayed on my whiteboard during the discussion and the group leader will select some students to share responses; students may also volunteer to respond to others. As the groups become more comfortable with the structure of the discussion and talking with each other, there will be more of a natural flow and less of a need for the leader to call on students to respond.</div><div><br /></div><div><div><b>Setting Students Up For Success</b></div><div>I don't expect literature circle discussions to feel comfortable for students from the start, even with such a structured organization. One thing I do to help students feel more comfortable is to first use the preparation sheet with a text all students have read. As a whole class we share examples for each part of the preparation sheet. I come prepared with "bad" examples (poor quality preparation) and ask students for feedback on what others did well and what I could improve. Students need the most help with creating meaningful discussion questions, so that section of the preparation sheet may have to be reviewed again after all students participate in their first discussion. I like to make a T- chart and have students sort questions into "after one person responds, no one would have anything else to add" and " students would have different responses or additional examples to add."</div><div><br /></div><div>Then I select students to model a discussion while others watch. I'll review the format and timing of the discussion. I also take part in this model discussion and, depending on the class, will model the group leader role or model a poorly participating group member. Again, I'll ask for whole class feedback on what others did well and what I could improve.</div><br /><b>The Teacher As An Observer</b><br />When I use this style of discussion, all book groups meet at the same time in the same classroom so it isn’t possible for me to be a part of all of the discussions. I can float between the groups and jump in when someone gets stuck. Groups use the camera on an iPad to record their discussions so I can listen to them later. Students record only the audio of their discussions; they start recording and then place the iPad face down so no images are captured (much less distracting for students). Besides holding students accountable, having the recording sheet to review while listening ensures that I know who was speaking and when. I use a rubric to score students preparation for and participation in the discussion.</div></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aSbwiDHlSo8/YQGlvO4yBqI/AAAAAAAAXU0/t6pM-Av1kog438_p894JbKOBNsmfUkELgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1082/Slide14.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="If students are new to literature circles or if you want students to be able to run their own discussions, a highly structured format is a must." border="0" data-original-height="1082" data-original-width="720" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aSbwiDHlSo8/YQGlvO4yBqI/AAAAAAAAXU0/t6pM-Av1kog438_p894JbKOBNsmfUkELgCLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/Slide14.png" title="If students are new to literature circles or if you want students to be able to run their own discussions, a highly structured format is a must." /></a></div>
More From The Blog Literature Circles: Grouping Students & Holding The First Meeting Posted by The Literary Maven at July 27, 2021 Labels: literature circles <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UeIxW1lKzQU/YQAqaiTZXQI/AAAAAAAAXSo/r0j9F7eCHFU_HaGmtenwvcK1Wh65Z8EkACLcBGAsYHQ/s720/Slide2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Create literature circle discussion groups, in which students will feel comfortable sharing and build excitement with their first group meeting." border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="720" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UeIxW1lKzQU/YQAqaiTZXQI/AAAAAAAAXSo/r0j9F7eCHFU_HaGmtenwvcK1Wh65Z8EkACLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/Slide2.png" title="Create literature circle discussion groups, in which students will feel comfortable sharing and build excitement with their first group meeting." /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Group dynamics are important during literature circles. If you want to get beyond surface level responses, students must be comfortable with you and other students. Your classroom must be an environment where they feel comfortable sharing and not be concerned with what constitutes the "right" thing to say. In addition to <a href="https://www.theliterarymaven.com/2021/04/literature-circles-book-selection.html" target="_blank">selecting texts and having students preview them</a>, before getting into literature circles you will need to make sure students are ready for a departure from a typical novel study.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Building Up To Literature Circles</b></div><div>Literature circles is not something I jump right into at the beginning of the year. I start the year with shorter fiction and nonfiction pieces, then a whole class novel study, then more shorter fiction and nonfiction pieces before I introduce literature circles, which are usually a new concept to sixth graders. </div><div><br /></div><div>We frequently work in different collaborative groups, some assigned by me and some chosen by students, so by the time we reach our literature circle unit, students are comfortable working in groups and with many different students. Through all of the different texts we have read, students have also moved away from low level questioning answered with basic text details to higher level thinking requiring careful selection of text evidence. They know that I'm not looking for one "right" answer so they shouldn't be either. </div><div><br /></div><b>Setting Up Literature Circle Groups</b><br /><div><div style="text-align: left;">After students have previewed the texts and ranked their preferences, I first match as many students as possible with their first choice, especially students who I know have struggled to engage with books in the past. Then I review the list of who students do and don’t want to work with and make any shifts as necessary. Depending on class dynamics, I may lean toward including students in a group who are close friends or including students who I know will challenge each other's thinking as they read.</div><br />I usually offer six book choices and end up with one group per title per class, with two to six students in each group in each class. These are the groups that will have live discussions. I also create groups across my classes for the “online discussions” my students have. I like to have at least four students in a group, but will allow two or three students when I know they feel strongly about the book selection and won't need much motivation from other students to keep up with their reading.<br /><br />Once I have the groups sorted out, I create a Google Classrooms for each book choice and have students join these groups on day one of our literature circles. Setting up these Google Classrooms just for literature circles makes it easier to assign text specific assignments to all of my classes at once. I can also more easily assign a shared Google Doc to a specific group of students.<br /><br /><b>The First Meeting</b><br />Literature circles come with a certain level of excitement because students get to select a book rather than being assigned one, and I want to continue to build on that excitement during their first meeting. The first order of business is to review the reading calendar. </div><div><br /></div><div>You may choose to create a reading calendar for students, including the days they'll meet for discussions as well as the pages they should be reading each day or week. Another possibility is to allow students to create their own reading calendars around the days you've designated for discussions. This is an opportunity to continue to build excitement. Students are thrilled that they get to decide what they'll read and when. Students may choose to divide the pages or chapters into equal sections or tailor their calendars around personal commitments. After the reading calendar is decided upon, I make a copy and post it in the group's Google Classroom for easy access. As with books that we read together in my classroom, students know that they can always read ahead, but are not allowed to spoil the book for others.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then we make bookmarks! I use <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEwl0fvqo18" target="_blank">this video</a> to teach students how to make a basic corner bookmark. Once they've got a basic corner bookmark, we do a <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=corner+bookmark&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj8zfqVxIPyAhUGEVkFHfSjCrkQ_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=1264&bih=567&safe=active&ssui=on" target="_blank">Google image search</a> for ideas on how to take it to the next level. Bookmarks transform into bunnies, cats, owls, monsters, cartoon characters, and more. This activity is fun and practical. Students now all have a way of marking where they are in their book and the book marks help identify whose book is whose.<br /><br />The last and arguably most important thing to do during this first meeting is to give students time to read and talk about their books. I give students 15-20 minutes daily to read in class (in a 80-90 minute block period), but on the first day I may limit it to 10 to let students read a few pages and then informally chat with their group about what they are liking about the book so far. This is also an opportunity to talk about the pace at which students read and how much time they'll need to dedicate to reading each day or week to keep up with their group's reading calendar.</div><div><br /></div><div>Read on for how I structure <a href="https://www.theliterarymaven.com/2021/07/literare-circle-discussions-student-led.html" target="_blank">student led literature circle discussions</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eTVlg_XyWac/YQAqp8blY1I/AAAAAAAAXSs/w0GqnfH8aJEeH3EkjjEx_yUneAOUK3PEwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1082/Slide9.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Create literature circle discussion groups, in which students will feel comfortable sharing and build excitement with their first group meeting." border="0" data-original-height="1082" data-original-width="720" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eTVlg_XyWac/YQAqp8blY1I/AAAAAAAAXSs/w0GqnfH8aJEeH3EkjjEx_yUneAOUK3PEwCLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/Slide9.png" title="Create literature circle discussion groups, in which students will feel comfortable sharing and build excitement with their first group meeting." /></a></div>
What I'm Reading & Planning in July Posted by The Literary Maven at June 30, 2021 Labels: <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-c2xenN1RrRM/YNyyI3e1FQI/AAAAAAAAWw4/dAB4T_TDzPw7oX6eRC_LIudk2Y_zxYELwCLcBGAsYHQ/s960/Slide7.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Summer is for reading and recharging. Here's my TBR for July and the reading choices and writing instruction I am considering for next year." border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="960" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-c2xenN1RrRM/YNyyI3e1FQI/AAAAAAAAWw4/dAB4T_TDzPw7oX6eRC_LIudk2Y_zxYELwCLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/Slide7.png" title="Summer is for reading and recharging. Here's my TBR for July and the reading choices and writing instruction I am considering for next year." /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">School is out for the summer and those last few days of teaching in June weren't half bad. After sweating through two field days (thanks hybrid schedule), we spent our last few days in the classroom reflecting on the year and having fun. Students created a virtual portfolio and completed an end of year survey for my class. On our last day of class, students "competed" in a series of summer themed challenges. It was definitely a school year like no other and I'm interested to see what next year will bring.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><u>Reading in July</u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;">I read all but two books on my <a href="https://www.theliterarymaven.com/2021/05/june-lesson-plans.html" target="_blank">June TBR list</a>. I read 7 middle grades titles, all of which were audiobooks. I also read 3 young adult titles and 1 professional development book that I plan on finishing today. I decided to start including the titles that I did read the previous month in these blog posts because it is usually more than what I set out to on my TBR list.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">So here's what I read in June:</div><div style="text-align: left;">1. <a href="https://amzn.to/2U9lNuW" target="_blank"><i>Walls</i> by L. M. Elliott</a> (young adult, available July 27)</div><div style="text-align: left;">2. <a href="https://amzn.to/3y7JqTb" target="_blank"><i>The Antidote</i> by Susan McCormick</a> (young adult)</div><div style="text-align: left;">3. <a href="https://amzn.to/3AcVN2n" target="_blank"><i>A Sea of Troubles</i> by Elizabeth James and B H James</a> (professional development)</div><div style="text-align: left;">4. <a href="https://amzn.to/3AgYobF" target="_blank"><i>The Revelation</i> by Jared B. Sharpe (young reader's edition)</a> (young adult)</div><div style="text-align: left;">5. <a href="https://amzn.to/2TlTUje" target="_blank"><i>Blended</i> by Sharon Draper </a>(middle grade)</div><div style="text-align: left;">6. <a href="https://amzn.to/3AdIFKm" target="_blank"><i>Simon B. Rhymin'</i> by Dwayne Reed</a> (middle grade)</div><div style="text-align: left;">7. <a href="https://amzn.to/3x9C8yf" target="_blank"><i>The Brave</i> by James Bird</a> (middle grade)</div><div style="text-align: left;">8. <a href="https://amzn.to/3h6N5v5" target="_blank"><i>Song for a Whale</i> by Lynne Kelly</a> (middle grade)</div><div style="text-align: left;">9. <a href="https://amzn.to/3xbByQw" target="_blank"><i>Pie in the Sky</i> by Remy Lai</a> (middle grade)</div><div style="text-align: left;">10. <i><a href="https://amzn.to/3xbZeoa" target="_blank">Goldie Vance: The Hotel Whodunit</a></i> by Lilliam Rivera (middle grade)</div><div style="text-align: left;">11.<a href="https://amzn.to/3h4S0MP" target="_blank"> <i>Finding Langston</i> by Lesa Cline-Ransome</a> (middle grade)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">More time in the car driving my oldest daughter to and from camp plus the back and forth from the beach plus more downtime at home means I've had more time for audiobooks. During the school year when I'm tired, I get in bed with a book, but I'm finding I'm doing less of that during the summer because I'm better rested and less stressed. Tracking the number of books I've read throughout this year and the format of those books (physical versus audiobooks) has really helped me think about my reading habits and ensure that I'm not spending too much time doing less important things (yes, I'm talking about you social media). In July, I'm hoping to read a few more adultish titles plus two PD books that I want to lean on during my writing instruction this year.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Here's what I'm hoping to read in July:</div><div style="text-align: left;">1. <a href="https://amzn.to/3qARjOB" target="_blank"><i>Terraform: Building A Better World</i> by Propaganda</a> (poetry)</div><div style="text-align: left;">2. <a href="https://amzn.to/3jwd3d4" target="_blank"><i>Everyday Editing</i> by Jeff Anderson</a> (professional development)</div><div style="text-align: left;">3. <a href="https://amzn.to/3wdVKAg" target="_blank"><i>Mechanically Inclined</i> by Jeff Anderson</a> (professional development)</div><div style="text-align: left;">4. <a href="https://amzn.to/2TlV3Hy" target="_blank"><i>At Night All Blood Is Black</i> by David Diop</a> (adult fiction)</div><div style="text-align: left;">5. <a href="https://amzn.to/3ApAKtA" target="_blank"><i>The Light Between Us</i> by Andrew Fukuda</a> (young adult fiction)</div><div style="text-align: left;">6.<a href="https://amzn.to/3hfL3ri" target="_blank"> <i>An American Marriage</i> by Tayari Jones</a> (adult fiction)</div><div style="text-align: left;">7. <a href="https://amzn.to/363TGQI" target="_blank"><i>The Misadventures of Max Crumbly: Locker Hero</i> by Rachel Renee Russell</a> (middle grade)</div><div style="text-align: left;">8. <a href="https://amzn.to/2Tq42aB" target="_blank"><i>The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora</i> by Pablo Cartaya</a> (middle grade)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><u>Planning in July</u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;">Immediately after school let out, I spent a week at the beach with my little ones, enjoying being able to just be mom. Now we're in the swing of summer, which means some time at camp and with their summer sitter for my girls and long weekends at the beach. The days when my girls are occupied, I spend working through my teaching resources, making plans for next year, and thrifting for books.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">One of my first summer tasks, especially after this year, was to do a clean up of my Google Drive. I have an archive folder where I put all of the folders I won't need next year, but might want to reference at some point. Then I organize everything in my ELA folder, labeling and color coding things so they are easy to find and access. One thing I did this year that I haven't done in the past is to make copies of excellent student work samples and save them in the folders with the assignments. I know I'll be thanking myself for that next year.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Another of my first summer tasks was to review the novels I used this past year and submit any changes so books could be ordered for next year. In Trimester 1, my theme is "animal intelligence" and all students read <a href="https://amzn.to/3qBzajC" target="_blank"><i>Pax</i> by Sara Pennypacker</a>, which I'm keeping for next year. I'm considering replacing it with <a href="https://amzn.to/2SFybm4" target="_blank"><i>Song for a Whale</i> by Lynne Kelly</a>, but not ready to create an entirely new whole class novel unit just yet. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I am also going to keep the parallel novels from Trimester 3 tying into the theme of "dealing with disaster." Using <i><a href="https://amzn.to/2UW0f5p" target="_blank">Life As We Knew It</a></i> and <i><a href="https://amzn.to/3x8KS7X" target="_blank">The Dead and The Gone</a></i> by Susan Beth Pfeffer meant students still had a choice in books, but they were similar enough that we could have whole class discussions that still made sense to everyone. That was perfect for the end of the year when we did a lot more just talking about our books and less assignments. The change in genre (the rest of my titles are realistic fiction and these are science fiction/dystopia) is also nice.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">For my literature circles with the theme of "facing fear" during Trimester 2 this past year students had 6 choices: <a href="https://amzn.to/2UbMLlB" target="_blank"><i>On My Honor</i> by Marion Dane Bauer</a>, <a href="https://amzn.to/3AcvrNP" target="_blank"><i>Maybe He Just Likes You</i> by Barbara Dee</a>, <a href="https://amzn.to/3whmq37" target="_blank"><i>Black Brother, Black Brother</i> by Jewell Parker Rhodes</a>, <a href="https://amzn.to/3AeUuQA" target="_blank"><i>The Only Road</i> by Alexandra Diaz</a>, <a href="https://amzn.to/3h40NP8" target="_blank"><i>A Good Kind of Trouble</i> by Lisa Moore Ramée</a>, and <a href="https://amzn.to/3jBVUhQ" target="_blank"><i>Under A Painted Sky</i> by Stacey Lee</a>. There weren't any titles that students didn't enjoy, but as I reflected on the list I wanted to replace some of the titles to better allow students to learn about identities or experiences other than their own. I also wanted to make sure my choices didn't center around racial trauma or potentially reinforce stereotypes. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">As a result I decided to drop <i><a href="https://amzn.to/2UbMLlB" target="_blank">On My Honor</a></i> and <i><a href="https://amzn.to/3whmq37" target="_blank">Black Brother, Black Brother</a></i>. I will still offer <i><a href="https://amzn.to/3AeUuQA" target="_blank">The Only Road</a></i> and <i><a href="https://amzn.to/3jBVUhQ" target="_blank">Under A Painted Sky</a> </i>because I have copies left, but I'll phase those out. My new additions will by <a href="https://amzn.to/3duJDrK" target="_blank"><i>Tight</i> by Torrey Maldonado</a>, <a href="https://amzn.to/3whn6FH" target="_blank"><i>The First Rule of Punk</i> by Celia C. Perez</a>, <a href="https://amzn.to/3dwvKcF" target="_blank"><i>Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World</i> by Ashley Herring Blake</a>, <a href="https://amzn.to/3jv0sqA" target="_blank"><i>Freak the Mighty</i> by Rodman Philbrick</a> (I used this title as a read aloud this year) and <a href="https://amzn.to/3hq8cHF" target="_blank"><i>Pie in the Sky</i> by Remy Lai</a>. I imagine this list will continue to evolve year to year as I read more middle grade books and as new titles are released. The new mix of titles still ties in to "facing fear," but more specifically the fear of "othering," which will allow me to incorporate purposeful discussion around our experiences being the other or othering, and being upstanders and bystanders.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">My big mental project this summer is to think about how I'm going to build by writing instruction next year. Pre-pandemic, I was working on building students' writing skills with personal writing assignments, mostly inspired by Linda Christensen's work in <i><a href="https://amzn.to/3hnSrkw" target="_blank">Teaching for Joy and Justice</a></i> and <i><a href="https://amzn.to/3drgGNh" target="_blank">Reading, Writing, and Rising Up</a></i>. I want to get back to that this year, but also work in Jeff Anderson's use of mentor sentences as a way to "teach" grammar in the context of the writing we are already doing. The first step will be reading the two books of his on my TBR list. Hope you are enjoying doing whatever it is that makes you happy this summer!</div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><i>Note: </i>The Literary Maven is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8DFq2zwvhH8/YNyyjsJRUJI/AAAAAAAAWxA/0pxXnnCBQEMJwSST7A8OvVGb7JqI9eIQgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1443/Slide7.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Summer is for reading and recharging. Here's my TBR for July and the reading choices and writing instruction I am considering for next year." border="0" data-original-height="1443" data-original-width="960" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8DFq2zwvhH8/YNyyjsJRUJI/AAAAAAAAWxA/0pxXnnCBQEMJwSST7A8OvVGb7JqI9eIQgCLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/Slide7.png" title="Summer is for reading and recharging. Here's my TBR for July and the reading choices and writing instruction I am considering for next year." /></a></div><div><br /></div>
What I'm Reading & Teaching in June Posted by The Literary Maven at May 31, 2021 Labels: <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OUN00bNMUKs/YLUs530tTLI/AAAAAAAAWUE/Omnp6YxLBGkZ3xunBM0v5J6Sz2c45JX8QCLcBGAsYHQ/s960/Slide6.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="There's just a few days of school left and just enough time for some reflection and fun. Here's what I'm be doing in my classroom and my TBR for June." border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="960" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OUN00bNMUKs/YLUs530tTLI/AAAAAAAAWUE/Omnp6YxLBGkZ3xunBM0v5J6Sz2c45JX8QCLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/Slide6.png" title="There's just a few days of school left and just enough time for some reflection and fun. Here's what I'm be doing in my classroom and my TBR for June." /></a></div><br />May was not much of a teaching month between administering our school's benchmark tests (NWEA's MAP testing) and then our states standardized tests. This lull in classroom planning and grading made May my best month yet for reading. But that doesn't mean nothing happened in my classroom! Students did finish up a crossover research and narrative writing assignment and will finish their last novel unit this week. I have just a week and a half of school left in June to squeeze in some reflective activities and some fun.<div><br /></div><div><b><u>Reading in June</u></b></div><div>In May, I read everything on my <a href="https://www.theliterarymaven.com/2021/05/may-lesson-plans.html" target="_blank">May TBR list</a>; I am finally getting the hang of creating a monthly stack of books I want to read without hesitation. I'm still working on balancing genres, but did pretty well with that this month too; I read six YA titles (one was a collection) and six middle grades titles (two were nonfiction and the other four were audiobooks). I'm almost a month ahead on my goal of reading 104 books for the year, so I'm feeling pretty good about that too.</div><div><br /></div><div>Here's what I'm hoping to read this month:</div><div>1. <a href="https://amzn.to/3wKMt31" target="_blank"><i>The Edge of Anything</i> by Nora Shalaway Carpenter</a> (young adult)</div><div>2. <a href="https://amzn.to/3wFgBwK" target="_blank"><i>Walls</i> by L. M. Elliott</a> (young adult)</div><div>3. <a href="https://amzn.to/34wsdGv" target="_blank"><i>Terraform: Building A Better World</i> by Propaganda</a> (poetry)</div><div>4. <a href="https://amzn.to/3fW1sAp" target="_blank"><i>The Antidote</i> by Susan McCormick </a> (young adult)</div><div>5. <a href="https://amzn.to/3p4cVSO" target="_blank"><i>A Sea of Troubles</i> by Elizabeth James and B H James</a> (professional development)</div><div>6. <a href="https://amzn.to/34xOQKv" target="_blank"><i>The Revelation</i> by Jared B. Sharpe </a> (young adult)<br />7. <a href="https://amzn.to/2TmTwR6" target="_blank"><i>Blended</i> by Sharon Draper</a> (middle grades)</div><div>8. <a href="https://amzn.to/3uDyZEM" target="_blank"><i>The Line Tender</i> by Kate Allen</a> (middle grades)<br /><br /><b><u>Teaching in June</u></b><br />My students just finished their final novel of the year; they had a choice between two parallel novels, <i><a href="https://amzn.to/34z9PNi" target="_blank">Life As We Knew It</a></i> and <i><a href="https://amzn.to/3fA8UlO" target="_blank">The Dead and The Gone</a></i>, both by Susan Beth Pfeffer. Because of all of the testing in May, this novel unit was much less structured than the whole class novel or literature circles I did with students earlier in the year. We had a lot of informal whole class discussions about the two books because although the characters and specifics of the plots are different, the general events and issues are similar enough. Students enjoyed getting to hear about what was happening in the other book and comparing the characters' experiences.</div><div><br /></div><div>To wrap up the novels, students will have a short and creative assessment that will hopefully be the perfect mix of structured and open ended. I'll ask students to focus on the thoughts the main character is having in the final chapter of the book. Students will choose three key words or phrases to represent the character's thoughts and then pull three pieces of evidence from the text to support those choices. Students will also add at least three images to reinforce the key ideas and text evidence. To support my special education students and lower level readers, I created a word bank of key words they could choose from. This is my first time using an assessment like this, so I'm hoping it is something that students will be successful with and not something that turns out to be much more difficult for students than I intended.</div><div><br />Despite all of the challenges in teaching and learning this year, I want students to reflect on everything they've accomplished this year and give me feedback so that I can make changes for next year. After grades are in, I'll have students complete an anonymous survey about their favorite unit, assignments, and books as well as the structure of my class and classroom. The other reflective activity I'm trying out this year is for students to create a virtual portfolio. They'll choose four of their assignments to show off, write a reflection paragraph, and then decide who they'd like to share their portfolio with. If the idea goes well this year, I would love to build it up next year into an in person event for families to attend (I can remember doing something similar as a sixth grader).<br /><br />Each year, students are given a summer reading assignment, so I'll be previewing <a href="https://amzn.to/2S2flVI" target="_blank"><i>Harbor Me </i>by Jacqueline Woodson</a>, the novel students will be reading as rising seventh graders, and passing along <a href="https://amzn.to/3p5bcwk" target="_blank"><i>Look Both Ways</i> by Jason Reynolds</a> to my incoming sixth graders. The "work" attached to reading is to send me an email reflecting on the character and conflict and making connections with the book. I also ask students to answer some fun questions about themselves. The summer assignments are not graded, so I like the email format which doesn't make a big show of who turned it in and who didn't. It is also a great way to preview students' writing skills and start connecting with students before the school year begins.<br /><br />On the very last day of school, I've set up a summer themed mini-Olympics, similar to what I did the day before winter break. Students will create teams and compete in six rounds of activities, some are word or logic puzzles and others are games on Kahoot!, Quizziz, and Blooket. Since some of my students are remote and some will be in person, I'll use breakout rooms on Zoom to allow students to work together. And that'll be a wrap for the 2020-2021 school year!</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Note:</i> The Literary Maven is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JLmLyactvvU/YLUtDRIE0dI/AAAAAAAAWUI/iBASUvdkE0IMgLVe-0y5lC71K0BctqiaACLcBGAsYHQ/s1443/Slide6.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="There's just a few days of school left and just enough time for some reflection and fun. Here's what I'm be doing in my classroom and my TBR for June." border="0" data-original-height="1443" data-original-width="960" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JLmLyactvvU/YLUtDRIE0dI/AAAAAAAAWUI/iBASUvdkE0IMgLVe-0y5lC71K0BctqiaACLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/Slide6.png" title="There's just a few days of school left and just enough time for some reflection and fun. Here's what I'm be doing in my classroom and my TBR for June." /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div>
Literature Circles: Selecting and Previewing Texts Posted by The Literary Maven at May 05, 2021 Labels: literature circles <div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GPfMo4XEvXQ/YQAqJRwXhkI/AAAAAAAAXSg/MEpXH1XW9hYhcVQeJSe8xvFNRqR0YbOigCLcBGAsYHQ/s720/Slide1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Running literature circles in your classroom may seem daunting. Find out how I select books to offer students and having them preview those choices." border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="720" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GPfMo4XEvXQ/YQAqJRwXhkI/AAAAAAAAXSg/MEpXH1XW9hYhcVQeJSe8xvFNRqR0YbOigCLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/Slide1.png" title="Running literature circles in your classroom may seem daunting. Find out how I select books to offer students and having them preview those choices." /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>The idea of running literature circles in your classroom may be a daunting one. Maybe it is your first go or maybe it didn't work out all that well in the past. This series of blog posts will detail my experiences with literature circles in hopes of making your next go at it a little easier for you, more engaging for your students, and an enjoyable experience for everyone in the classroom. This first post is about selecting books to offer to students and having them preview those choices to find which books they'd like to read.</div><div><b><u><br /></u></b></div><div><b><u>Selecting Books to Offer</u></b></div><div>Literature circle choices usually have some thread that binds them together. The choices may be all of the same genre, from the same time period, focused on the same topic, or connected to the same theme. How many book choices you offer will largely depend on your access to books, what your school has available and/or what you are able to purchase. You may also want to think about how many different discussion groups you want to manage in your classroom. More choices will likely mean smaller groups, but you could also break up larger groups of students reading the same book.</div><div><br /></div><div>As you select books to offer as literature circle choices, you will want to consider offering a variety of difficulty levels, lengths, and protagonists. <a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/" target="_blank">Common Sense Media</a> is a great resource for vetting the appropriate age level of a book if you are making a selection before you are able to read the book yourself. </div><div><br /></div><div>With class sized around 24 students, I like to offer six different choices. I don't mind having some groups that are smaller and some groups that are larger; three students is usually my minimum and six students is usually my maximum. Most of my book choices will be at grade level, but I like to have at least one choice that is below and one choice that is above grade level to meet different students' reading needs. I handle length the same way; most books will be of the same length, but I like to have at least one choice that is fairly short and one choice that is longer to meet different students' reading needs. When possible, I like to choose protagonists with a variety of ethnicities, backgrounds, and experiences</div><div><br /></div><b><u>Physical Previewing</u></b><br />If you able to have students preview physical copies of the choices of books, I put one at least one stack of book choices at each group of student desks and give the students time to preview each of the books, telling them to look at the front cover and read the details on the back (and inside flaps if it is a hardback). I also encourage students to read a few pages to see if the book grabs their interest and the writer's style and organization appeals to them. When students are finished previewing the choices, I have them rank their choices and turn them in to me.<br /><br /><b><u>Digital Previewing</u></b><br />If students are going to be previewing the book digitally, I create a Google Slides with a slide for each choice. On each slide, I provide the image of the front cover and a summary of the book. I also include a link to Amazon and show students how to use the "look inside" feature so they can read a few pages. When students are finished previewing the choices, I have them rank their choices in a Google Form to allow for easy sorting.<br /><br /><b><u>Other Considerations</u></b><br />Depending on the number of choices I am offering and the number of copies of each I have available to give out, I may have students rank all of the choices or just their top three. In addition to ranking their books, I may also ask students if there are students they do and do not want to work with, the size of the group they'd like to discuss with, and their usual role in discussions : leader, participant, or listener. Since I don't typically start the school year with literature circles, I usually have an idea of which role students take on in discussions, but it is good for students to self identify as later that can be used to help the student set goals for how they will participate in discussions.<div><br /></div><div>Read on for <a href="https://www.theliterarymaven.com/2021/07/literature-circle-groups-first-meeting.html" target="_blank">how I group students and the must haves for a successful first group meeting</a> during literature circles.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bywFPONJ0t8/YJLr9sIU7lI/AAAAAAAAWFM/P_a-gmokHkUeW57PNBd_PrsmyLcdgQHNACLcBGAsYHQ/s1443/Slide4.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Running literature circles in your classroom may seem daunting. Find out how I select books to offer students and having them preview those choices." border="0" data-original-height="1443" data-original-width="960" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bywFPONJ0t8/YJLr9sIU7lI/AAAAAAAAWFM/P_a-gmokHkUeW57PNBd_PrsmyLcdgQHNACLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/Slide4.png" title="Running literature circles in your classroom may seem daunting. Find out how I select books to offer students and having them preview those choices." /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div></div>
What I'm Reading & Teaching in May Posted by The Literary Maven at May 03, 2021 Labels: <div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-b4xUnM4pul8/YJCmI908qmI/AAAAAAAAWEI/gea9pVL0z-Q4RjgcmFGZacmmhFzlEO3GwCLcBGAsYHQ/s960/Slide5.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="In between school benchmarks and state testing, we're reading parallel novels from the Life As We Knew It series and writing a disaster narrative." border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="960" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-b4xUnM4pul8/YJCmI908qmI/AAAAAAAAWEI/gea9pVL0z-Q4RjgcmFGZacmmhFzlEO3GwCLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/Slide5.png" title="In between school benchmarks and state testing, we're reading parallel novels from the Life As We Knew It series and writing a disaster narrative." /></a></div><br />After another month of virtual teaching, I thought I would feel more comfortable and settled into a routine, but instead I find myself feeling more bored and frustrated. There's only so much shaking things up I can do while still feeling connected with my in person and online students. There's also so many aspects of teaching that are just more complicated with some students at home and some in the classroom. </div><div><br /></div><div>The good news is that there's only a little over a month of the school year left. The bad news is that next year may not look much different, but I can't process that right now, so I'm trying to actively ignore it. At this point though, I've taught in person, virtually, and hybrid, so whatever next year brings can't be more challenging. I've also got a repertoire of activities and lesson materials for all three scenarios, so next year will not be me recreating the wheel, maybe just fine tuning the spokes. </div><div><br /></div><b><u>Reading in May</u></b><div>In April, I read 9 books, six of those were young adult and the other three were middle grades (and all of those were audiobooks). This is the fewest number of books I've read in a month so far this year and I can't pinpoint why. I still averaged about 2 books a week, keeping me on track to reach my goal of 104 books by the end of the year, and worked through most of the titles on my <a href="https://www.theliterarymaven.com/2021/04/what-im-reading-teaching-in-april.html" target="_blank">April TBR list</a>. However, this month I want to be more conscious of what I am spending my time doing when I could be reading. I may be able to sneak in some reading time in class during independent reading time. Here's what I am hoping to read:</div><div><div>1. <a href="https://amzn.to/3nJmOEE" target="_blank"><i>Women Who Dared: 52 Stories of Fearless Daredevils, Adventurers, and Rebels</i> by Linda Skeers</a> (children's biography)</div><div>2. <a href="https://amzn.to/3tk2Xx0" target="_blank"><i>The Radium Girls</i> by Kate Moore</a> (middle grades nonfiction)</div><div>3. <a href="https://amzn.to/3eUpzim" target="_blank"><i>Girls Who Looked Under Rocks: The Lives of Six Pioneering Naturalists</i> by Jeannine Atkins</a> (middle grades/young adult biography)</div><div>4. <a href="https://amzn.to/3uhdpqs" target="_blank"><i>What Kind of Girl</i> by Alyssa Sheinmel</a> (young adult)</div><div>5. <a href="https://amzn.to/3eRoGar" target="_blank"><i>The Obsession</i> by Jesse Q. Sutanto</a> (young adult)</div><div>6. <a href="https://amzn.to/3xHkMtj" target="_blank"><i>Yesterday is History</i> by Kosoko Jackson</a> (young adult)</div><div>7. <a href="https://amzn.to/3vy3ZHc" target="_blank"><i>Five Total Strangers</i> by Natalie D. Richards</a> (young adult)</div><div>8. <a href="https://amzn.to/2SjtSw1" target="_blank"><i>Be Dazzled</i> by Ryan La Sala</a> (young adult)</div><div><br /></div><div><b><u>Teaching in May</u></b></div></div><div>May has just barely started and I know it is going to be a whirlwind. So many teaching days are lost to testing: first our school's benchmark (MAP) testing and then state standardized testing (the PSSAs). As we continued with our dealing with disaster narrative, I debated moving into a historical fiction narrative piece (students research a disaster to be at the center of their narrative) or our final novels of the year (parallel novels <i><a href="https://amzn.to/2PM4Sg5" target="_blank">Life As We Knew It</a></i> and <i><a href="https://amzn.to/2RkC8LR" target="_blank">The Dead and The Gone</a></i> by Susan Beth Pfeffer), and decided to do both at the same time. My periods are currently 80 minutes long, so we spend the first half hour dedicated to activities connected to our parallel novels, the second half hour on developing our narratives, and then the final twenty minutes of class reading.</div><div><br /></div><div>Our narratives are still in the development stages. Students picked a natural or manmade disaster to be the focus of their narrative and then researched the disaster as well as its setting. I provided students with two lists of disasters as a starting point, but they could choose other topics with my approval. Incorporating a real disaster allows students to practice their research skills at the start of the writing process and practice MLA formatting for a bibliography at the end of the writing process. Once students have a grasp of what happened during the disaster and where it occurred, they create the main character for their narrative. Students have a choice of basing the character off of a real person involved in the disaster or starting from scratch. Finally students will map out the plot of their narrative, making the connection between the disaster they researched and the character they created. Before we start drafting, we'll work on writing dialogues and hooks. After drafting, we'll work through revisions focused on adding figurative language and imagery.</div><div><br /></div><div>We just started our parallel novels last week. Both center around the disaster of an asteroid hitting the moon, knocking it closer to Earth, but have two different settings and protagonists. Miranda is a white high school sophomore living in fairly rural Southeastern Pennsylvania and Alex is a Puerto Rican high school junior living in New York City. As students started reading the first few chapters of their books, they explored nonfiction texts and media about asteroids, the relationship between the Earth and the moon, and the likelihood of a disaster like the one depicted in the novels actually occurring. Now that students are a few chapters in, they are tracking changes that have happened in the character's personal lives as a result of the disaster as well as changes that have happened in the larger world around them. Assignments like these allow students to discuss in groups of other students reading the same text, but we can also share out as a whole class and make connections between the two books. I am keeping the assignments are generic as possible so I can utilize them for both novels. Over the next two weeks, I will work in some grammar review using examples from the books. I haven't decided yet on a final project, but will try to work in something fun and creative after testing ends.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Note: </i>The Literary Maven is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jG1GkBjyy58/YJCnODd4CAI/AAAAAAAAWEQ/pVnVGqa7CfoxbR7W_sFgQSAtIbJWDQK7wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1443/Slide5.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="In between school benchmarks and state testing, we're reading parallel novels from the Life As We Knew It series and writing a disaster narrative." border="0" data-original-height="1443" data-original-width="960" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jG1GkBjyy58/YJCnODd4CAI/AAAAAAAAWEQ/pVnVGqa7CfoxbR7W_sFgQSAtIbJWDQK7wCLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/Slide5.png" title="In between school benchmarks and state testing, we're reading parallel novels from the Life As We Knew It series and writing a disaster narrative." /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div>
What I'm Reading & Teaching in April Posted by The Literary Maven at April 02, 2021 Labels: <div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YiJBoiYZynI/YGXQDLmM6_I/AAAAAAAAVp4/q--8Yn5RrPsEMnMXPPasU4WA7Pjav6KDQCLcBGAsYHQ/s960/Slide4.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Our "dealing with disaster" unit started with a mini research project and poetry, and in April will move on to other texts and narrative writing." border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="960" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YiJBoiYZynI/YGXQDLmM6_I/AAAAAAAAVp4/q--8Yn5RrPsEMnMXPPasU4WA7Pjav6KDQCLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/Slide4.png" title="Our "dealing with disaster" unit started with a mini research project and poetry, and in April will move on to other texts and narrative writing." /></a></div><br />This week is my Spring Break and after a full month of hybrid teaching, I just barely made it. While I am overjoyed to no longer be spending my days alone in my classroom, it is a serious struggle to balance the needs of students in person and online. I never feel like either group is getting enough of my time and attention. Strategies I used for collaboration when my students were 100% virtual now have to be tweaked to accommodate social distancing in the classroom and avoid feedback issues from students being on Zoom in the classroom.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The stress and exhaustion of teaching this past month meant that I spent most evenings lying on the couch with a book. I read all but one title on my <a href="https://www.theliterarymaven.com/2021/02/what-im-reading-teaching-in-march.html" target="_blank">March TBR list</a> and a total of 12 titles, bringing my total reads for the year up to 32. A tough month for teaching turned into a great month for reading.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><u>Reading in April</u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;">In March, I read 12 books: 2 adult titles (one was a memoir), 6 young adult titles, 3 middle grade titles (all of those were audiobooks), and 1 poetry collection. The rest of this week will hopefully be filled with more reading. Here's what I'm hoping to read:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">1. <a href="https://amzn.to/2QMI3Jh" target="_blank"><i>Where It All Lands</i> by Jennie Wexler</a> (young adult, available July 2021)</div><div style="text-align: left;">2. <a href="https://amzn.to/3ucB4HZ" target="_blank"><i>Within These Wicked Walls</i> by Lauren Blackwood</a> (young adult, available November 2021)</div><div style="text-align: left;">3. <a href="https://amzn.to/3md3ZsY" target="_blank"><i>Cool for the Summer</i> by Dahlia Adler</a> (young adult, available May 2021)</div><div style="text-align: left;">4. <a href="https://amzn.to/3sJd9jh" target="_blank"><i>That Way Madness Lies</i> edited by Dahlia Adler</a> (young adult)</div><div style="text-align: left;">5. <a href="https://amzn.to/39xHDgG" target="_blank"><i>Amelia Unabridged</i> by Ashley Schumacher</a> (young adult)</div><div style="text-align: left;">6. <a href="https://amzn.to/39BiJfQ" target="_blank"><i>You've Reached Sam</i> by Dustin Thao</a> (young adult, available November 2021)</div><div style="text-align: left;">7. <a href="https://amzn.to/3wfoIki" target="_blank"><i>Enduring Freedom</i> by by Trent Reedy and Jawad Arash</a> (young adult, available May 2021)</div><div style="text-align: left;">8. <a href="https://amzn.to/3rHzxs3" target="_blank"><i>The First Rule of Punk</i> by Celia C. Pérez</a> (middle grades)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><u>Teaching in April</u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;">Leading up to spring break, I kicked off our final unit focused on the theme of dealing with disaster. After an introduction to man made and natural disasters as well as disaster preparedness, students chose a disaster to research and analyze its impact on humans. This is the first project of the year where I chose students groups; they did get to rank their topics and indicate if they wanted to work alone or in a group of two or three. Coordinating group work was tricky since some students were at home and some were in the classroom and that changed halfway through the week. Presenting was also tricky since my students at home often have difficult hearing my students in the classroom. My solution was to have the in person students sit right next to our classroom microphone and speak directly into it.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The week that followed I had originally planned to focus on Ray Bradbury's short story, "There Will Come Soft Rains," but instead decided to continue our focus on poetry (you can read all about our March Madness Poetry Tournament <a href="https://www.theliterarymaven.com/2021/02/poetry-tournament-March-Madness.html" target="_blank">here</a>) and spend the week before break focused on poetry centered around Hurricane Katrina. The poems “After the Hurricane” by Rita Williams-Garcia and "Watcher: After Katrina, 2005" by Natasha D. Trethewey both focus on events after the hurricane as their titles suggest. Since my students were born several years after the hurricane hit, I use a mini documentary featuring spoken word poet Shelton Alexander and his experience at the Superdome to help build background knowledge before digging into the poems. We discussed tone, point of view (speaker), repetition, and structure (traditional versus free verse), most of which was a review from earlier studies of poetry. Students were very engaged with the topic and next year I'll add in opportunities to learn more about the disaster.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">When we return from break, we'll continue our focus on real disasters with an informational ready about the Boxing Day Tsunami titled "Mammoth Shakes and Monster Waves, Destruction in 12 Countries" by Brenda Z. Guiberson. I tried out having students create visual summaries (sketchnotes) with this reading last year and will likely do that gain this year as well as practice identifying cause and effect text structure. I'll also use a jigsaw activity to help students write a text dependent analysis since this is a longer reading. You can read more about how I use jigsaws <a href="https://www.theliterarymaven.com/2019/08/jigsaw-strategy-summarizing.html" target="_blank">here</a> and more about my process for practicing text dependent analysis <a href="https://www.theliterarymaven.com/2021/02/text-dependent-analysis-essay.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Then I'll move on to imagined disasters with "There Will Come Soft Rains" by Ray Bradbury, focusing on personification and how setting impacts plot. I haven't explicitly taught students the part of the plot diagram so I'm hoping to work that in here this year. I also have to think about how I'll revise some of the activities I used last year with this short story. I used skits to help students understand the relationship between setting and plot and also allowed students to create a skit to summarize the story after we finished reading. I'm not quite sure how that type of movement and student interaction would work while social distancing.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Following reading that short story, I'm debating moving into a historical fiction narrative piece (students will research a disaster to be at the center of their narrative) or our final novels of the year (parallel novels <a href="https://amzn.to/39xION8" target="_blank"><i>Life As We Knew It</i></a> and <a href="https://amzn.to/3sJf0of" target="_blank"><i>The Dead and The Gone</i></a> by Susan Beth Pfeffer) or maybe both. I'd like to have students try out the format of the books (dated journal entries) for their own narratives, but might also want to to work through just the narrative writing first since it involves research as not to have to many different pieces within my lessons. I also need time to plan out this final novel unit since I only taught one of the two novels last year and need to decide how I'll handle the student choice this year.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Note: </i>The Literary Maven is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-asQZr-1ht_g/YGXQxuipy_I/AAAAAAAAVqA/L9ioBYWEo-AJIUhpedUqGyS8j463x7FXwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1443/Slide4.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Our "dealing with disaster" unit started with a mini research project and poetry, and in April will move on to other texts and narrative writing." border="0" data-original-height="1443" data-original-width="960" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-asQZr-1ht_g/YGXQxuipy_I/AAAAAAAAVqA/L9ioBYWEo-AJIUhpedUqGyS8j463x7FXwCLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/Slide4.png" title="Our "dealing with disaster" unit started with a mini research project and poetry, and in April will move on to other texts and narrative writing." /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
