Hudson read a 10th-grade level, Southern Gothic, short story A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor. He pointed out the descriptions that characterized the short story as southern gothic and witty. He answered analysis, theme, and character develoipment questions.
Hudson first read nonfiction, an informational article about Parkour. We discussed the elements of an informational passage, the author's purpose, and how the author conveyed that purpose in the text. Hudson then read a gothic, fictional short story written in the first person. He analyzed the story and answered critical thinking questions using the text as evidence for his interpretations.
I had Hudson read two gothic stories: Why Is It Fun to be Frightened by Margret Kerr and The Landlady by Roald Dahl. We discussed the characters' development and traits and how they build the theme and mood of the stories. Hudson discussed and answered numerous and various types of comprehension questions.
This afternoon, Will worked in his Summer Writing and Drawing journal. Via guided reading, we read the book, "Pete the Cat - Too Cool for School", even though Will said he had read it at home with his mother. I encouraged Will to read familiar words, sound out unfamiliar words, and tackle some short sentences through guided practice. He as yet benefits from reminders to sound out the word with its beginning letter, but his performance has considerably improved over the past month. I showed him some strategies, such as breaking the word up into smaller chunks to make it easier to sound out and decode, and he wrote a sentence and drew a picture about the story we read in his summer journal. To end our session, Will wrote the letter 'S,' practiced the beginning sound it makes, and spelled the word. We then created the letter into a snake using markers and thought up other 'sn' words. With encouragement and supportive prompts, Will makes the effort to persevere when challenged and is proud when he succeeds.
In today's reading (chapters 18-22), the author answered several of our earlier questions but challenged us to understand Ada's worsening hostility toward Susan. While some of her behaviors are clearly tied to events in her past, others seem without reason. We are reading closely to understand the world as Ada sees it.
Ben started a new book, "Gizmo and Wedgie," a funny fantasy fiction story told from two pets' perspectives. In addition to the pets' tales, the humans' story is written in a reader's theater format. Ben is enjoying using his voice to distinguish the characters.
Ben previewed two books that he may want to read next. We used the covers, summaries, and illustrations to get an idea of each book's content. Ben chose a book about a mysterious library and a puzzling game. We read the first two chapters, learning about the characters and the story setting, before deciding that this isn't a book we want to continue reading. We will try the next book on Thursday.
Hank gave a quick recap of chapter 15 before continuing to read chapters 16 and 17. Today's reading allowed us to look closely at Ada's actions to infer her motivation for refusing Ms. Smith's kindness. Hank found three events to support the idea that Ada is not comfortable with Jamie's growing closeness with Ms. Smith.
Jonathan completed his lessons assigned from his school. Jonathan brainstormed reasons why we sleep and what is the meaning of sleep. Jonathan read the Dr. Seuss Sleep Book and wrote down the places the characters slept in the book during the read aloud. Jonathan brainstormed other animals and the places they sleep in his journal. Jonathan completed his Fundations assignment about word syllables. Jonathan solved rhyming "hink pinks" puzzles.
