Week of October 24

We're starting to read Karen Hesse's Witness, set in 1924 Vermont as the Klan presence in the state is on the rise. We've talked a little about the times in which the book takes place, and we'll continue to fill in background information as we read.

The novel is structured as a series of prose poems in the voices of a number of the town's citizens, both big and small. For now, we'll mostly read together in class, because it's helpful for us to be able to talk as a group about what's going on. (The historical context and the format can make it hard to understand what's happening at the beginning of the book.)

We'll also be practicing writing clear, organized paragraphs in upcoming weeks. We'll be writing mini book reviews on the DCF books we're reading as well as answering questions about what we're reading in Witness.

We have our first vocab test on Thursday; students will hopefully be studying words they're not certain of starting today.

Fairy Tale Update

Just a quick update on the fairy tale progress.  It took me longer to type and respond to fairy tales than I was expecting, so we did peer review today, Tuesday.  Therefore, we'll use class time on Thursday, October 13 for revising, and final fairy tales are due to me on Friday, October 14.

Week of October 10

We are off to a great start with our fairy tales:

Once upon a time in early Arabia there was a prince and a princess...

Once upon a time I had no idea where I was. It was very dark and I couldn't make out the shape of anything...

Handsome Billy had many problems. One of them was a magical bunny that tripped him everywhere he went...

Once upon a time the west part of Nilgala was ruled by an evil king...

In a small lonely cabin in the woods only connected to civilization by a little dirt road was a man named John Muffin...

I can't wait to read what happens next!

Most students started typing their rough drafts in class yesterday; I will finish typing the stories over the weekend, and our focus will be on revising on Monday and Tuesday. On Monday, we'll meet in groups of two or three to read one another's fairy tales and make suggestions for improvements.  Students will also receive back their first drafts with my comments.

Final versions will be due to me at the start of class on Thursday, October 13.

Just before the long October weekend, we'll start reading Karen Hesse's Witness.  This novel, told in many voices, takes place in a small Vermont town in 1924 as the Ku Klux Klan is on the rise.  It provides good opportunities to talk more about narrative voice in a story, how an event looks from different perspectives, and how we respond to people who are, or appear to be, different from ourselves.

Finally, a reminder that 5th-8th graders will travel on October 14 to Brattleboro for a special event with author David Macaulay. (Some of his books are: The New Way Things Work, The Way We Work, Castle, Cathedral, Mill, Mosque, Pyramid, and Ship.)