Hank previewed three new books by viewing trailers of each. He selected "The One and Only Ivan' as his next book. We previewed the book by examining the cover and illustration, chapter headings (noticeably numerous), and the glossary (curiously located in front of the TOC). Hank pointed out from the first page that Ivan is the storyteller; thus, in his short chapters, we will see from his perspective what is important in his life as a captive gorilla. We left off today when Ivan first learns that he is not the only gorilla left in the world.
Ben tried out a new Newberry Award-winning fantasy story today, about a superhero squirrel. We decided it isn't quite the right fit for now, so we will find a new story next session. After reading a passage about the Sweetgum Tree, he practiced sorting 4 story summaries into appropriate categories. (e.g., too much detail, too little detail, copied and just right) He also practiced drawing conclusions and interpreting punctuation on the Reading Eggspress site.
Using a recent NY Times article about a large sunfish being mistaken for a shark, Dutch read for comprehension. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/13/us/sunfish-wareham-police.html?action=click&module=News&pgtype=Homepage and we defined vocabulary and followed with a word search.
Ben began reading "Everything Sports", a NatGeo Kids book. He compared and contrasted this book to the fiction story he was reading before the break. We noticed the features used to bring the NatGeo book to life, such as text boxes, strong colors, photos, captions, and other special nonfiction text features. We also talked about ways we read nonfiction differently than fiction. We reviewed the features of a good summary and watched a Khan Academy video on the topic. Ben practiced making predictions and using vocabulary on the Reading Eggspress website.
After briefly reviewing the last chapter he read, Hank read the final three chapters of "Wonder." We talked about the ending and how the characters have changed since the beginning of the story. We also talked about why they behaved as they did toward Auggie at the start. Hank looked for lessons learned from the story, which he can take from it to apply to his life. We watched a Khan Academy video about story themes and applied the information to "Wonder." Hank identified the theme as "Even though people may seem different, they often aren't once you get to know them."
Hank continued reading 'Wonder,' returning to Auggie's point of view once more. As Auggie prepares for a weekend field trip with his fifth-grade classmates, Hank pointed out several behaviors that demonstrate Auggie's personal growth. We see Auggie face some internal fears and seem to overcome them. He begins to relax and believe that this trip will be just fine. We wonder if things really will go that smoothly throughout the trip, and although we can't find any foreshadowing of trouble, we are still unsure.
After a brief review of recent story events, Hank read the next section of 'Wonder', told from Miranda's perspective. Much of what Miranda told us, we had already read from Via and Auggie's perspectives. Now, we learned the reasons why Miranda had behaved in the ways she did. Hank made several connections between Miranda and Justin. Both characters have less than ideal relationships with their parents, and they feel more at home with Auggie's family. This sparked some discussion about how Auggie, Via, and others, may take a loving, supportive family for granted.
After a brief review of the previous reading, Ben read the rest of his Magic Treehouse book. Today's reading focused on predicting behavior and events. We talked about the book's structure and wondered if the other books in the series will have similar structures. While Ben said he liked the book and gave a couple of reasons to support that opinion, he wasn't sure he would recommend it because, "It is so long."
Ben read an informational passage about Iceland and selected 4 details to include in a summary of the passage. He completed a lesson on Reading Eggspress, practicing predicting events, and thinking within the text. He read the next two chapters in his Magic Treehouse book, focusing on the characters' behaviors.
Hank read 6 paragraphs and identified the type of figurative language used in each. After a brief review, we read the next 5 chapters in 'Wonder.' Today's reading was all from Auggie's perspective, and we were able to compare his view of an important event with Via's very different view. We also looked closely to determine the author's reason for including Auggie's dog's death in the story. After some discussion, Hank concluded that this chapter brought about a change in Auggie. He did some growing through this sad event.
