Yestersday's word parts:
luqu means "talk" like loquacious ("full of talking") and eloquent and soliquy
sacro means "holy" (just like sanct) like in sacrosanct (holy holy?), sacred, and sacrifice
uni means "one" like the words uniform, unicycle, united, unique, and unibrow
-ness is a suffix that means "quality of" so that happiness is the "quality of being happy" and laziness is why this blog entry wasn't typed up yesterday
alt means "high" (just like acro) like with altitude and alto
-ics is a suffix that means "art" like in the words calisthenics and acrobatics and politics
We'll go over the rest of the words tomorrow.
The students spent Wednesday doing some research on the Chicago fire of 1871 using four sources that I gave them. It's kind of like a quiz. I'm looking at their ability to write down the source information like we've discussed and taking note cards using their paraphrasing skills.
I also introduced twelve books to them. Details about them are below. On Thursday, we made our trip to the library and each student checked out one of those twelve books. They'll do some in-class reading (so bring your book every day!) but I do expect them to spend 20-30 minutes a night reading at home. I gave the students a reading log thing (that's what I named it--Reading Log Thing) where I'm having them focus on one thing each reading day. They need to reflect on the day's focus and answer some questions.
Thursday's reading focus: They're looking at the novel's point of view and the tone of the story. I know--that's two things.
Friday/Weekend's focus (for those who like to think ahead): The protagonist and his/her traits as well as what the protagonist is going to want in the story. All protagonists want things. Conflicts in our novels occur when something is keeping the protagonist from getting what he or she wants.
Here are the novels they picked from:
Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan, a story of a girl whose life is turned upside down when she immigrates to California and has to start working hard instead of living the rich life on a Mexican ranch
The Watsons Go to Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis--a story about a family in 1963 that moves from Flint, Michigan to the segregated South
Bud, Not Buddy, also by Curtis--a 10-year old orphan goes on a journey to look for his father
Tangerine by Edward Bloor, a guy with a terrible last name--this is all about Paul, a kid who just wants to play soccer, and the problems when his family moves to Tangerine County in Florida. There's lots of soccer in this one. In case you don't know, soccer is kind of like a sport.
The Young Landlords by Walter Dean Myers--some kids don't like their neighborhood because of an ugly apartment building that makes their street look like a "ghetto dump"; they decide to ask the landlord about fixing up the place and he sells it to them for a dollar. So they're suddenly young landlords which I guess is why the book is called what it is.
I Am the Cheese by Robert Cormier--this ones a psychological story that a lot of the students would probably find boring. It's a real thinking book. A kid is riding his bicycle to find his dad. Juxtaposed with those chapters are chapters where he is being interviewed by a psychologist. It's deep stuff.
The Body of Christopher Creed by Carol Plum-Ucci--Torey, the main character, has his life turned upside down when the geeky guy who's always picked on turns up missing. Note: This book does contain some bad language.
Romiette and Julio by Sharon Draper--it's like Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare except it takes place in modern times and is about a young black girl and a Mexican boy who people don't want to be together
Heat by Mike Lupica--it's a baseball book; Michael is a Cuban immigrant in New York City who has all kinds of problems trying to survive with his older brother. All he wants to do is play ball, but things are getting in the way.
The Giver by Lois Lowry--it's a science fiction novel, a lot like Uglies. It's about a futuristic society that has tried to eliminate emotions in order to have a "Sameness"
The Pushcart War by Jean Merrill is the humorous account of a war between fruit and flower vendors in New York City and truck drivers
And The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton is about a guy named Ponyboy. A lot of students have told me that they've already read this one. S.E. Hinton, by the way, wrote this book when she was only 15.
In other news, I think I was bitten by a brown recluse spider last night, and I'm afraid my leg is going to rot off. Stay tuned for further details.
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