Who is Dante?
This month we read "How to Turn an Everyday Ordinary Hoopcourt into a Place of Higher Learning and You at the Podium" (say that 10 times fast) by Matt de la Peña, and talked about how people are complicated. Everybody has multiple sides to them, and while the least desirable parts of a character may be real, so are the best parts of them too. In this class we came up with how we see the character of Dante before page 18 of the story, and how we saw him AFTER that part of the story. It was really cool to hear how students described Dante, and this is just one example of the language they applied to him.
How we Get our Reading Done, and Done Well
How we Get our Reading Done, and Done Well
This list was generated by all four of Ms. Olsen's ELA classes in the midst of reading their book club selections. So if you're ever wondering how you can get a book finished, and ensure you understood it as well, try these tips straight from some super smart middle schoolers!
- Think / reflect on reading (pause)
- Practice by reading not just when it's assigned
- Find something you're interested in
- Take your time
- Set reminders
- Talk about the book with a group
- Takes notes as you read
- Give yourself a time limit you have to reach
- Find reading tools that work for you
- Research if needed
- Ask questions as you read
- Reread parts
- Find a quiet and not-distracting place to read
- Utilize reading partners
- Eat brain food (No dum dums, apparently)
- Come up with memory devices
- Write things down
- Have someone ask you questions about what you read
- Set goals
- Make a plan
- Review / check-in with yourself
- Picture it in your head
- Use in-class time
- Break the book into chunks
- Make time outside of class (even small moments)
~ Book Bistro ~
Students got to "taste" all of the books we will be working with within our "Investigating Characterization" Reading Unit.
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