Today was our school's Thanksgiving celebration lunch. PJ was still feeling unwell so he decided to create a thinking-diagram of the blessings in his life. He really did a nice job on his diagram.
PJ was not feeling well today but really did put his best effort into his literacy activity for his session. He completed Day 2 of Main Idea and Details of the nonfiction article The History of Gift Giving and multiple choice questions.
Ben reread the article Harrison Bergeron. We discussed and analyzed the following questions. In 2081, there have been 213 Amendments added to the U.S. Constitution. What does this show us about government in the story?
2. Find and write down the simile Vonnegut uses when he describes George Bergeron’s thoughts. Then, explain what’s compelling about the use of this particular simile. What can the reader infer from the use of this simile?
3. In this story, equality is highly valued and extreme steps are taken to ensure that no one has an advantage over anyone else. List three ways that a person who is seen as more attractive, intelligent, or athletic might be handicapped by the government.
4. Give two concrete examples from the text showing that, despite the government’s extreme efforts, people still aren’t equal in this society.
Today Ben read the Science Fiction Short Story written by Kurt Vonnegut. In this futuristic short story, it starts with the unit with a chilling vision of a future where everyone has the exact same level of intelligence, talent, and beauty. Ben closely read and discussed critical thinking questions to the short story. Should society in the world in 2081 want to level the playing field so everyone is the same, will continue to think and discuss Day 2 tomorrow.
PJ is continuing to learn and use his reading strategy to improve his reading skill in Main Idea and Supporting Details. He started Day 1 of closely reading a new nonfiction short story. He reread each section and with a highlighter, underlined the strongest important details to support the main idea. He completed 4 out of the 8 questions from the reading comprehension packet. Will continue Day 2 tomorrow.
Ben completed the final chapters in the novel study of The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy. He discussed his favorite characters and why. We reviewed many of the author's themes from the book as why he wrote the themes in the novel.
Ben viewed a painting of Vicent Van Gogh, The Starry Night. He read the poem, " The Starry Night" by Anne Sexton. In this lesson he was comparing the painting and the poem then answered questions. He completed the questions and received 2/4 of the 4 analytic questions. We reviewed the two questions and discussed the mood and overall feel of the painting and compared to the poem.
PJ reread the nonfiction biography article on Bruno Mars. This was Day 2 of closely reading, learning, discussing and identifying relevant important details from the text to infer the main idea of nonfiction articles. He completed questions 2-8 today of his comprehension packet. I noticed PJ has misconceptions of knowing the difference of relevant details vs details that strongly connected to the main idea of the article. Will continue to work on reading skill.
