Spring Break Read-- The Pearl by John Steinbeck

Hey Bookies,
Make sure you read the final Flipped post directly below this one-- very important wrap-up information.  I expect to see you posting comments/questions/predictions/etc.  Read this little gem carefully, please!  I'll post discussion questions over the break, when hopefully you're into your reading (or maybe even finished!).

So I'll see you all Thursday, April 11th, and we'll talk about both books then.

Again, read the final Flipped post below.

:)
Mrs. P

Finish Up Flipped!

All right, about HALF of us finished Flipped, so we will discuss this book completely on the Thursday we get back from spring break (and I need your copies of the book back ASAP).  Here are the Reading Roles that were already assigned:

Questioner:  Alex Stasiak
Connector:  Eric Yi
Illustrator:  Divya Bhat
Word Wizard:  Raven Moe
Summarizer:  Dhruv Patel

We still need a few, so if you haven't chosen one yet, you still can!  Check your Google Drive document for the available Reading Roles and their descriptions.  And while you are pondering the book through your Reading Roles, here are some good discussion questions to ponder.  And feel free to post answers as comments to this post as well!


1. Bryce's grandfather says about Juli, "Some of us get dipped in flat, some in satin, some in 
gloss.... But every once in a while you find someone who's iridescent, and when you do, 
nothing will ever compare." What makes Juli iridescent? 
2. Why do Bryce and Juli's feelings for each other flip? Has your opinion about someone 
ever flipped? 
3. Would you prefer to live in Bryce's family or Juli's family? Why? 
4. When Juli and her dad talk about Bryce, her dad tells her to "start looking at the whole 
landscape." What do you think he means? Does Juli see the whole landscape?
5. Bryce keeps throwing out Juli's eggs because he doesn't want to tell her the Loskis don't 
want them. Do you think this was the right thing to do? What would you have done? 
6. Juli tries hard to save the old sycamore tree because she loves it so much. Is there 
anything you would fight to save like Juli does? 
7. Why has Juli not visited her Uncle David before? 
8. Juli's brothers Matt and Mike say that they don't like "the whole robotron attitude of 
education. Confine, confute, conform." What do they mean? Is your school like theirs?
9. Did you like it better when Bryce or Juli told the story? How does hearing from both 
points of view make you understand what was happening? 
10. If the book continued, what do you think would happen to Bryce and Juli?

That's it for now... Have a great spring break, everyone!  Happy reading!
:)
Mrs. P

Let's Just Finish It!

Hey Bookies,
I just read 33 pages of this eating my lunch.  I know some of you have already finished it.  I say we go for it!  Let's all try to crush this thing by Thursday; that way, we can grab a new read for spring break.
Woohoo!  Happy weekend!
:)
Mrs. P

New Book, New Goal, New Meeting Scheduled!

So hopefully you have your copy and you've read a sentence or two!  If you don't have a copy, come see me and I'll get you set up.  Our reading goal is p. 117, stopping at "Looming Large and Smelly."  You have two weeks to finish this; we will meet on Thursday, March 28th.  Here's the reading roles people signed up to cover:

Questioner:  Alex Stasiak
Connector:  Eric Yi
Illustrator:  Divya Bhat
Word Wizard:  Raven Moe
Summarizer:  Dhruv Patel

I think that's it for now.  Hopefully TCAP is going well for all of you, and you are finding time to read-- this book in particular!  I'll post discussion questions for you to ponder along with the work you are doing in your roles, so we should all have plenty to talk about next meeting.

See you soon,
:)
Mrs. P

3rd Reading Goal-- for March 7th!

All right, folks-- we won't meet on the 28th because it is Book Fair Madness week, so this reading goal is 120 pages (60 pages/week).  We are going to page 356, Chapter 22, "The Dire Magnus."  That is VERY doable if you manage your time.  If you are behind right now, I suggest you add up how many pages total you will have to read to hit this goal, divide it by 14 and come up with a minimum pages to read per night.  It would be great if we call all be at the goal on March 7th, ready to discuss and finish the book together!

Chosen Reading Roles this week are:


1.  Scene Setter-- Dillon Silvernail
2.  Word Wizard--Eric Yi
3.  Summarizer/Illustrator-- Dhruv Patel
4.  Literary Luminary-- Divya Bhat
5.  Questioner-- Raven Moe
6.  Connector-- Emily Knight

I just re-shared the roles description with all of you, so revisit it if you're not sure what exactly you should be focusing in on as you're reading.  And use post-it notes!  If you need more, come see me.

That's it for now.  I'll post some discussion questions next week, so be checking the blog for those... and respond!  I want you guys to be discussing the reading together. 

:)
Mrs. P

Second Reading Goal, Reading Roles + Discuss!

So we've set the next reading goal at p. 236, Chapter 14, "Granny Peet."  That's two goals about the same length as the first one, and ALMOST everyone reached it (Raven and Aly are exceptions to that statement).  We will meet next on Thursday, February 21st!  Yesterday, we also assigned roles for this first part, and they are as follows:

1. Scene Setter-- Raven
2.  Word Wizard-- Divya
3.  Summarizer-- Dhruv
4.  Illustrator--Dhruv
5.  Literary Luminary-- Alex
                                    6.  Questioner-- Aly
                                    7.  Connector-- Raven
Note that some folks have two roles; if you haven't been assigned one and want to grab a role, let me know!  Now, for some discussion questions.  Answer a few of these thoroughly and thoughtfully before our meeting on the 21st:

1.  Would you like to time travel?  Where would you go if you had to choose-- past or future?  Why?
2.  Why does Kate feel such huge responsibility for her siblings?  If you were in her shoes, would you feel the same?  Why or why not?
3.  Who is most like you-- Kate, Michael or Emma?  Why/How?
4.  Compare the different reception the children receive from Abraham, from Miss Sallow, and from Dr. Pym.  Why is Miss Sallow so unpleasant to them, you think?
5.  When they explore the house, why does Michael want to go through the door that appears in the basement wall?  Why does Kate allow them to go through?  Why does it take Kate longer than her siblings to accept that magic is real?

Lots to discuss! Hope to see posts from all of you soon.
 Have a great weekend,
:)
Mrs. P

First Reading Goal

How's everyone feel about reading to page 79, chapter 6, "The Black Page?"  Can we make it there?

Happy Friday!
:)
Mrs. P