Today started with the long-awaited quiz. I opted to have the students answer a 5-question short answer quiz to reflect what they had learned from reading either To Kill a Mockingbird or Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. The students had roughly twenty minutes to complete the quiz, but, of course, could work at their own paces as necessary.
Once the quiz was finished, I gauged the time remaining in class. For classes where there was more than twenty minutes remaining, we began our Fishbowl discussion. For this, the students sat in a circle in the center of the room while two sat in the center. The students in the center would discuss one of the themes in their story of choice, providing their thoughts and what evidence from the text they found to support their views. Then, as other students had something to share, those would raise their hand slightly and be tagged by one of the students inside the circle to replace them. Only the students in the center could actively discuss the topic at hand. This provide students with the opportunity to have a focused approach to discussing these themes (outlined in yesterday’s blog post) and to practice really active listening.
In the classes with less than twenty minutes remaining, the students were permitted to either:
- review his or her Fishbowl statements from yesterday’s class,
- read either To Kill a Mockingbird or Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, or
- work on the discussion questions in preparation for tomorrow’s Journal check
NOTE: The students reading Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry received information on their “Friendship Essay” which will be due next Thursday, March 12th, 2014
- Topic: What is a friend?
- Directions: Discuss the relationship between Stacey and T.J. in the story. Write an essay describing what you think a good friend should be and how Stacey and T.J. stack up as friends. Remember to use text evidence. The essay should be at least 5 paragraphs in length.
Homework:
- None. Use this time to catch up as necessary.
PowerPoint:
