Reading is . . .: September 2013

Monday, September 30, 2013

Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare

Sign of the Beaver
Purchase the Book A reading group decided to read this book for several reasons:
1) It looked interesting.[Student looked at the Intro]
2) Noticed the Sign of the Beaver symbol and the title. [Looked at the back page]
3) It had a Newberry Award, the title and a Indian boy. [Looked at the back page]

Read the Historical Story Behind the Book by Elizabeth Speare

Many years ago my husband and I spent a number of vacations at a small fishing camp in Maine. One afternoon, rather bored with dangling a line in the water, I drove into the nearest town of Milo and poked about in the small library. In a slim volume, The History of Milo, I came upon a short anecdote. The story was new to me, but I have since discovered that is has been retold in a number of histories of the state of Maine.
TeacherVision Lessons
Scholastic Lessons
Sonoma Lessons

Prediction Basketball

“This is a kinesthetic and cooperative activity that puts a little more fun into making predictions. It also can be used for other comprehension habits as a way of mixing up answers and creating random participation."

Procedure

1. Have students read a text and stop at a point you designate. Have each student write one major prediction on a half sheet of paper, along with his or her evidence for the prediction.

2. Put a makeshift basketball hoop (wastebasket, box, or coffee can) somewhere in the class. You can take it down and move it around to help students who are further away and to avoid having students get out of their seats.

3. Have students crumple up their predictions and try to throw them into the ‘basket.’

4. Open and read the predictions that make it into the basket. Quickly discuss the prediction and agree if there is enough evidence to support it.

5. Have students randomly pick up the rest of the predictions that did not go into the basket, one prediction per student, and have each student read a prediction to a partner. Some students will not have one-they can just listen and ask for evidence or share a new prediction. Have the pairs discuss the quality of the predictions and the reasons each predictor had for his or her prediction.

Awiers, Jeff. Building REading Comprehension Habits in Grades 6-12. Newark, DE: International Reading Association, 2010. Print.

Friday, September 27, 2013

Ripley's Believe it or Not!

Ripleys.com

Killer boat came out of nowhere

Listen to our non-fiction reading.The Day I Lost My Leg
Lexile Levels

Shark Lady by Ann McGovern

Eugenie Clark Video Dr. Eugenie Clark
Royal discovered an underwater prehistoric graveyard that enabled scientists to recover the first remains of Ice Age Man 12,000 years old.
The Man Who Rode Sharks [Purchase]

Book @ Barnes & Noble

A student shared, "The book sounded interesting and my sister got me interested in sharks. I helped her with a shark report. I googled the sharks that she told me too."