Archive: October 6 - November 8, 1997 |
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OCTOBER 6, 1997 |
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FROM: Mrs. Courtney Grade 3 Blackford Elementary San Jose, CA |
MESSAGE:
Our class just started reading Bunnicula by Deborah and James Howe. They are interested in talking to other children about the book. If anyone is reading it please e-mail this book club (jcourtne@campbellusd.k12.ca.us)!!!
Thanks so very much,
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OCTOBER 10, 1997 |
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FROM: Diane Lindbert Grade 4 Cornell Elementary Okemos, MI |
MESSAGE:
I downloaded the Shiloh lesson plan last night. My first impressions are that it looks great. I love the format of the lesson. It makes it so easy for a teacher to follow. I also like the first lesson. I think it's important that the first chapter is read to the kids so they can appreciate and get used to the dialect. I also paid close attention to Lesson 4. This seems to be an area some teachers struggle with: getting good book club discussions going. I know I spend time talking to the kids about what a good discussion looks like and language they can use to get their peers involved. You might want to suggest the use of a tape recorder, so teachers can listen to discussion groups at another time. It's easy just to rotate the tape between groups over a 2 or 3 day period. Use of the tape recorder also puts a little added pressure on kids to participate. All in all it looks just great. I can't wait to get started. |
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FROM: Liz Grube Managing Editor Small Planet Communications |
MESSAGE:
Diane, thanks so much for reviewing the Shiloh lesson plan. I appreciate your suggestion about Lesson 4 -- I think it will be very helpful to other teachers following the lesson plan. I incorporated your ideas into the lesson this morning. |
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OCTOBER 14, 1997 |
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FROM: Diane Lindbert Grade 4 Cornell Elementary Okemos, MI |
MESSAGE:
One of the third grade teachers and I are teaming for Shiloh. There are two goals. She wants to learn more about Book Club and has been experimenting with her class. The place where she's having trouble is the small discussion groups. Our idea is to have the 4th graders model good discussion for the 3rd graders, and hopefully the 3rd graders will follow suit. When we can, we will mix the two groups together for discussion. We are both very excited to participate and plan on Thursday being our first day. |
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OCTOBER 15, 1997 |
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FROM: Diane Lindbert Grade 4 Cornell Elementary Okemos, MI |
MESSAGE:
Tiffiny (3rd grade teacher) and I are very excited to get started. We sent home information letters to the parents explaining that this was an online lesson. We also sent the web address home, so that students who have access to the Internet at home can post messages. We asked that if the kids do post messages at home, they print them and then bring them in to share with their peers. I'm hoping that it can be a home experience too. |
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OCTOBER 22, 1997 |
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FROM: Sandy Bartlett Grade 4 Chancellor Elementary Houston, TX |
MESSAGE:
My students are really getting into the story, but have questioned the use of words like hell and dammit in children's books. This concerns me also, especially in a Newberry. Please don't write back and say it enhances the character. Has this come up for anyone else? Thanks. |
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FROM: Diane Lindbert Grade 4 Cornell Elementary Okemos, MI |
MESSAGE:
Sandy, I was also concerned about the use of hell and damn in the story. I told the kids that occasionally they will run into these words in text and real life. We then discussed that just because we see or hear the word, doesn't mean we use it in our own talk or writing. |
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OCTOBER 23, 1997 |
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FROM: Diane Lindbert Grade 4 Cornell Elementary Okemos, MI |
MESSAGE:
To the 5th-grade teacher at Klentzman Intermediate: I wanted you to know that I've been downloading the student comments every night and then printing them out for my kids to read in the morning. They are really enjoying your kids' responses. |
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OCTOBER 29, 1997 |
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FROM: Patricia Grady Grades 5 and 6 Klentzman Intermediate Houston, TX |
MESSAGE:
My students had a great time "Book Clubbing It." I was amazed daily by the thoughtful discussions and their use of the text to confirm their beliefs. I contribute this in great part to the quality of text. Shiloh evokes feelings and raises questions that are relevant to kids. I hope on the next go 'round that more classrooms take advantage of the on-line discussions. My students were disappointed that they were responding to one another. Part of the attraction was the possible interaction with students around the country. I suggest that The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis be considered as a Book Club literature selection in the future. |
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NOVEMBER 3, 1997 |
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FROM: Sandy Bartlett Grade 4 Chancellor Elementary Houston, TX |
MESSAGE:
Do you know the name of the book you will be doing for the November Book Club? Thank you. |
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FROM: Liz Grube Managing Editor Small Planet Communications |
MESSAGE:
Sandy, we're planning to do another online Book Club lesson plan in early December. The title has not yet been determined. Patricia Grady (see her message above) has suggested The Watsons Go to Birmingham -- 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis, which is a strong candidate. Other titles that have been proposed by teachers include Missing May by Cynthia Rylant and Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. If you have any other titles to suggest, please write to us. I'll post a message here and send out e-mail as soon as we've settled on a definite title. I'll try to give you as much time as possible to gather the books and get ready -- at least two weeks. |
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FROM: Sandy Bartlett Grade 4 Chancellor Elementary Houston, TX |
MESSAGE:
We would like to suggest the book The River for the next online book. This is by Gary Paulsen. Thanks. |
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NOVEMBER 7, 1997 |
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FROM: Karen Smith Grades 3-4 Martin Elementary Houston, TX |
MESSAGE:
We are about 50 language arts teachers and specialists in the Alief Independent School District. We are interested in investigating the Book Club. Two of our schools participated in October's Book Club. Recommendations include: Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, The Watsons Go to Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis, Junebug by Alice Mead, Journey by Patricia MacLaughlin, and Wait Till Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn. Please let us know when you make the selection for the next book club. The sooner, the better. It is important for us to have time to locate enough copies of the text. |
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FROM: Liz Grube Managing Editor Small Planet Comm. |
MESSAGE:
Karen, thanks for writing in with your book recommendations. I think we're going to go with The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963. The start date will be around December 2 or 3; I hope that gives you enough time to gather all the materials that you'll need. The Alief Independent School District has become a great supporter of Book Club, and I was very happy that those two schools from your district could participate in the Shiloh lesson plan. It would be great to have even more participating in December! I'm also thinking of having a discussion of Maniac Magee or Hatchet--two books for which we published lesson plans in the teacher's handbook--but without posting the lesson plan online. We'd just assume that participating teachers already had the handbook and could follow the lesson plan from there. The online discussion, in which kids sent in their messages to be posted at the site, would be the same as for Shiloh. What do you think of this idea? Thanks again for your input! |
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NOVEMBER 8, 1997 |
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FROM: Ellen Fitch Grades 4-5 CLCCA Lansing, MI |
MESSAGE:
My students used Shiloh as their book for Book Club. Originally I planned to go at the scheduled pace. However, with so many of my students learning English as a new language, going so fast was competing with their taking a critical look at the text. After slowing down, all of my students participated in their book clubs better than I had ever seen any of my students do before. They talked about Marty and Judd as if they knew them personally. I still downloaded other students' responses daily and my students found them interesting. I feel Shiloh was an excellent choice. I would be interested if any other teachers had a similar experience with this book. I would like to place my vote for Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. |
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