Unit 3 is on the move!

Hello, everyone! I hope this post finds you well.

For starters, I am sending home a parent letter tomorrow with general updates and very important information regarding your student's reading level. Please ask about this letter and make sure that you get it!

Today we began reading Cousins by Virginia Hamilton. We will be reading this book this week and next. The book is just over 100 pages and will finish quickly. I will be photocopying the last few chapters for students to read and finish during Thanksgiving break. After we finish Cousins, students will be choosing their next Virginia Hamilton book with their groups. At the end of this unit, we will be writing a compare/contrast essay about what we have read so students need to really read and pay attention! Unfortunately, students may not take the books home because there are not enough copies. If you would like to purchase a copy of any of these books, that would be wonderful! Some students have already told me that they have some Virginia Hamilton books.

Here's a homework update:

Vocabulary words were given out today. They are due on Friday.

Tonight's reading response: Write five THICK questions as you read (Students have been taught about THICK questions. These are questions for which students need to make an inference in order to answer. They are the tough, big idea questions.).

Tomorrow: Practice the Character Captain literature circle role by choosing a character and completing a character trait chart or discussing that character's personality in one paragraph.

Thursday: Practice the Passage Picker literature circle role by choosing one passage or line from your book that you think is particularly interesting. Write one paragraph explaining why you chose that part or line.

Friday: Practice the Illustrator literature circle role by drawing a detailed picture of something important in your book. It could be an artistic representation or an exact replica of what you visualize.

Special Note: If students need to complete more homework assignments or get a little extra credit, they can complete extra readings over the weekend and write a summary. I have several students that already turn in 3 assignments on Monday instead of just one for some extra points.

Additionally, if your student is reading non-fiction and actually cannot write one of the responses (like the character captain assignment), he or she is to write a 5-7 sentence summary.