Our Class Reads {opinionated students blogging} 

The fictional story of the The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch was our read-aloud last week.  I want you to compare and contrast (that means to find how two things are alike and different) the two main characters, Prince Ronald and Princess Elizabeth, to the stereotypical princes and princesses that you may be familiar with, regardless of where that prior knowledge came from. 

 Part A: How do Ronald and Elizabeth act the same or different from the princes and princesses that you’ve read about or seen in a typical fairy tale book or movie?  Use text based evidence and/or quotes to support your response.  

Part B: Write a one paragraph summary of The Paper Bag Princess. Write it as if you are telling someone what the books is about who hasn’t read it. Don’t forget to include essential elements of the story (setting, characters, problem, and solution.)

When responding please indicate if you are responding to Part A or Part B so the reader of your comments knows what you are responding to…and please remember to follow the Rules of Critical Thinking when responding.

Today, the read-aloud was The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson. Think about the story, the characters and the message the author intended for this story.  Think about the characters actions and feelings. Then,  read the questions below and answer them thoughtfully and completely.   When answering the questions, please know that there is no right or wrong answer, only your opinions backed by justifications from your own life and/or evidence from the book. Please remember to use proper netiquette…if you are going to agree or disagree with someone, that’s ok, just do it respectfully as if you are talking to them face to face. 

Compose your thoughts and responses in a paragraph with at least five sentences.  Remember to justify your opinions with evidence from the text, other texts, your life or events in the world. 

Response Questions

How do you think Annie was feeling when she asked if she could play? Clover says that “I don’t know what Iwould have said. Maybe yes. Maybe no.” How do you think you might have answered Annie?

What other characters do you know who are different and who are friends? How do Piglet and Winnie the Pooh overcome their differences? Frog and Toad? Etc…

Author Jacqueline Woodson says on her website that she wrote The Other Side because, “I wanted to write about how powerful kids can be.” How do you think that Clover and Annie demonstrate their power? What about Sandra and Clover’s other friends? How about Clover’s mother? How do you think that you are powerful?

As we begin our non-fiction unit, I want you to think about why people read non-fiction and how reading non-fiction helps us.  Comment on the following questions:

1. What do currently know about non-fiction?

2. How do non-fiction features help you learn the topic?

3. Why is non-fiction reading like “real reading?”

Picture of the Day from www.nationalgeographic.com

Analyze the picture above carefully. Then comment using complete and descriptive sentences.  Write:

2 Observations

2 Inferences

2 Predictions

Begin your sentences with:

I observe….

I infer….

I predict….

Watch and listen to this Nike commercial featuring Michael Jordan, you may need to watch it several times.  {If you don’t know who Michael Jordan is, you can do some research after you’re finished responding to this post.}  Then, think about the producer’s message (Author’s Message) and infer or draw your own conclusions about what you think the producer wanted you to learn from watching this commercial.   I’ve give you a hint * it has something to do with the relationship between success and failure. 

Your task: “What does the producer want the viewer TO LEARN from watching this video? What is the message? The lesson?” Justify your opinion with evidence from the video and from your own life experiences.

To take the Read-Alouds on Tumblebooks up a notch, you will log into the Lake Myra Elementary website and navigate your way to the For Students Star.  Once you select Tumblebooks from the main menu, select Story Books from the Tumblebooks home page.  Find the story, Beautiful Moon, Bella Luna.  As you listen to the story, pause it and record questions for first graders to answer.  Be sure to only compose higher level questions, not Right There questions.  You want to write questions that is going to make them think and draw on their own experiences as well as evidence from the story to answer the questions.

Then, leave a comment with 5-7 questions.  Your 3rd grade peers will evaluate your questions by replying to your questions directly.

For an extra challenge, you may also add a comment about how this book relates to your Sun, Moon and Stars science unit and what background information about science the author needed to know in order to write this book.

This week we’ve been reading books from different countries. We’ve also been sharing our opinions about the ideas in these books, as well as agreeing and disagreeing with each other. Think about what it would be like to be Ruby growing up in China. What is your opinion about Ruby’s predicament and the customs of China? And how would you feel if those customs existed in the United States? In the United States today, do you think boys and girls are treated differently or the same? And how? Give examples.   

Make sure you back up your thinking with evidence from the text and your own ideas to answer the following questions:

What is your opinion about Ruby’s predicament and the set customs of China? And how would you feel if those customs existed in the United States?

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