Hunter and I reviewed, discussed and analyzed "The Book Thief" up to the point where he has read, approximately page 182. Because he did not have recall of what he recently read, I sent him home with HOMEWORK - to answer guiding questions as he reads. We reviewed vocabulary from the book up to page 81. We also began working on writing Hunter's resume, which he needs to apply for a job this week. I will help him with this.

Hunter did pre-writing and research for new essay topic of his choice, which is the life of O.J. Simpson. He took notes and watched a short video biography on biography.com and read Wikipedia. He then made an outline to structure and organize his essay. We discussed the way the essay would be written and, specifically, how an expository essay should read. We did some grammar exercises at the end of class - run-on and sentence fragments and agreement between subject and verb. Hunter completed practice exercises on each.

I discovered a better way to assess Hunter's reading and comprehension of the book. He will answer questions online with interactive website that is structured to follow the book chronologically and ask multiple choice questions. He sees immediately correct and incorrect responses. There are several sources for these quizzes - BookRags, CliffsNotes, Quizlet. Today we used SparkNotes. He answered questions only to the point where he has read to - middle of Part Three. We discussed some quotes from the book and discussed Hunter's reactions, predictions and feeling about them. He completed homework and wrote about each character on the graphic organizer I sent home yesterday. He will continue reading over the weekend and choose quotes for each part of the book, responding in writing about why they spoke to him. We discussed essay topics for the next class and the next writing assignment.

Hunter and I spent the hour discussing and answering questions related to "The Book Thief". He has read up to page 153. We discussed the writing assignment in which he is supposed to choose a quote from each section and write why he chose it. Today, I gave him a chart to track and describe characters. We also answered guided questions following the reading up the point where he has stopped.

Hunter did the final edit of his essay on Colin Kaepernick. Afterwards, we continued to explore and compare different kinds of essays in the literature textbook by reading both "I am a Native of North America" by Chief Dan George and a reflective essay "All Together Now" by Barbara Jordan. Hunter and I discussed the author's main point and he completed some exercises to build vocabulary, learning new words he encountered in the reading, using them in crosswod puzzles and sentences, and finding antonyms. He used words with the root -mort. He should continue reading "The Book Thief" over the weekend. Happy 18th!

Hunter and I lookd again at vocabulary from "The Book Thief" through page 81. He has encountered some of these words already. We analyzed Part One - The Gravedigger's Handbook. Hunter answered some questions for discussion and we discussed the author's use of figurative language and themes throughout the book. I gave Hunter a writing assignment to choose a quote from each of the nine parts of the book and explain why it stood out to him and how the author used figurative language in that quote. We discussed the descriptions and character of Hans and Rosa Hubermann, Hans' "escape" from Death, the significance of the accordion, and the influence of Nazi Germany sourrounding them.

Hunter worked on his essay in class today. He typed from notes he took over the last week which were on his cellphone. We read 3 news articles together to gain more information and ideas to supplement the essay, two from the New York Times and one from the Editor of the editorial page of the Palm Beach Post. We also discussed recent news and quotes to comment on and respond to.

Hunter was absent today.

Hunter was absent today.

Hunter was absent today.