Genesis: In reading workshop, students began reading our documentary novel, Nothing but the Truth, and we began our genre study of documents found in the text with “memoranda.”  Students are now well acquainted with the definitions of documentary novel and satire.  We began our four-line grammar analysis study with nouns.

Legacy/Explorers: In reading workshop, all students practiced their close reading skills on the opening passage of Cry, the Beloved Country and began their reading of the book.  We continued building context for the novel with our apartheid jigsaw activity, where students visually depicted a history of apartheid in South Africa.  This timeline is now posted in our classroom as a reference.  Students also continued developing their collaboration skills with attempting to render metaphor/analogies of significant lines in Cry, the Beloved Country. In writing, students on the Legacy team developed free verse poems, as the Explorers wrapped up their memoir final drafts.  Students will be freewriting over the weekend to keep creative works-in-progress in their writing folders as we begin the nonfiction unit.  We also continued vocabulary and grammar practice/daily poem readings.