Genesis: We identified ways Socratic Circle discussions differ from debate, and had our first shared inquiry discussion on “The Parsley Garden” by William Saroyan.  Students began learning two ways to annotate–logging their thoughts about an author’s intent in the margins of a text, and underlining key elements of plot, character, and theme development.  We had some fantastic discussions–kudos, Genesis, for jumping into the dialogue!

Legacy: By using historical reference points, students developed an awareness of the events, thoughts, and conditions that may have influenced a world classic author.   Students skimmed their own world classic independent reading to identify points in the text that would help them place the book on a historical timeline of English and American literature.  I conducted reading conferences with each student to track their comprehension and how their reading is going during reading workshop.  We went over our writing assignment for our independent reading contract: the letter-essay blog.  We also reviewed our four-line grammar and continued our daily poem share.

Explorers: Our reading and writing pull-out will begin Tuesday, September 16, 2008.

Genesis Block 2 Reading: Bring completed exit slip with you to your next class.  Read at least 30 minutes a day of your independent reading book.

Legacy Blocks 3 and 4 Reading: Your revised reading contract sheets will be given to you on Monday.  This weekend, read at least 30 minutes a day of your independent reading choice book.