Today was our first day meeting the students of Leah Finch and it was a great first impression we
all made. Our "I am" poems definitely helped the students become acquainted with us within the short amount of time
we were there. The students seemed to like the World War II theme and I am glad of the clear consensus of the class
while selecting their book. I was sooo proud of the students that chose to read their I Am poems to us because
it showed their interest in us and it was nice to hear. I believe they received alot of great feedback from us and I
look forward to working with them on Monday.
September 29, 2008
Today we began our lesson with letting the children in our group research World War II utilizing
their laptops. Placing emphasis on focusing on a unique fact about the war and sharing with the rest of the group.
We let them know that they were able to use links from our web pages to assist them if they were having difficulties.
I feel that the day was successful and it was great that many shared their
I AM poems once again. It was helpful
in order to place names and associate them with the poems. We agreed to read up to chapter two of the book.
October 6, 2008
Today was a great start we began by separating the group into smaller ones. Each of us had
a group of three that we were able to talk comfortably in a circle. We opted to sit by the track under the trees.
My group consisted of Percy, Mary, and Kyle. We began with the question of how they would feel if they found themselves
in the same situation. There was a complete consensus around the group that they would all feel scared and cry.
We read a few passages that they felt were memorable. They talked about why they liked that particular passage and began
predicting what they felt was likely to happen next in the story. Above all they agreed that they were skeptical of
the story at first however they are beginning to enjoy the book. Towards the end of the hour they selected a role for
the next time that we met. Kyle was interested in vocabulary so he felt that it was for him. Mary agreed that
she was not much of an artist but decided she would work on that component. Percy selected the role of summarizing the
chapters. Then we regrouped under the trees and discussed what we all went over in our smaller groups. At that
time my group was a little shy but they did a great job. I loved how honest they were about being unfamiliar with literature
circles and was glad we openly discussed the meaning.
October 13, 2008
Today was great! I went to class today feeling confident and ready to go because I knew how much
ground we had broken at our last meeting. I was excited to see what results I would see from their roles. However
I only had one person in my group in attendance. It was okay because a new member joined in---Paul. He did a great
job keeping our conversation and ideas rolling. He was able to make connections with the book rather easily and was
able to include Percy in the discussion as well. Percy began by reciting her summary of the assigned chapters.
Which was great and we talked about what others felt they would like to add to the summary. Paul mentioned that he was
not quite finished with the last chapter and we decided to finish reading the last two pages together. We stopped when
we did not understand certain words and talked them out. We also discussed certain points that held their interest.
Paul and Percy discussed how disgusting it would be to eat raw eggs or a chick. I also took the time to discuss the
various roles to Paul who did not hear them yet. He decided that he would like to take on the discussion director which
he would be perfect for. Percy is taking on three roles now that she is familiarized with the idea. She will be
summarizing, illustrator, and vocabulary enricher. From there we moved into a big group and discussed as a whole points
from our small group discussions. It was great feedback to hear what other groups were doing their interpretations of
the roles we gave them. I noticed that most of the groups were relevant in material but there were a few more indepth
ideas. We left off deciding to read until page 100.
October 20th 2008
Today was better we had the entire group in attendance this time and it was great to hear what they
had for me. However this was not quite what I expected. Everybody had excuses once again and brought nothing.
They did manage to get something together to share though. Paul was the discussion leader of the day and I waited while
he thought of questions to ask the group and he did well. He thought of some pretty good questions on the spot.
Although I noticed that students were just agreeing with the previous students answers rather than coming up with their own.
I did point that out to Paul who caught on rather quickly and called on this particular student next. So that was one
problem resolved and we began looking through the book for words that we found challenging. There was great discussion
going around the table about what we liked about the story and our different interests. Towards the end of the hour
we joined Kelly's group and they had questions for us as we recapped what we discussed in our group. Today we all left
with the same jobs because I figured it would help them remember their assignments. Everyone felt that they were in
a place that they could finish the book because we were all in accordance that we wanted to know what would happen to Roberto
now that Samuel was gone. The entire group felt that once that happened they could not put the book down.
October 27th 2008
Today was a great day for discussion because our entire group did manage to finish the book.
However nobody did complete all three of their assignments. I did manage to get vocabulary from though and a summary.
We were all to draw a picture today and that did not happen so we worked on that first thing. Upon reading the book
they all said they were disappointed with the ending of the story. Therefore their assignment for next week is to create
an ending they would have liked to have read. We shared our illustrations with the rest of the groups. We also
watched a skit performed with a combination of group members. It was a great way to learn what happened in the
book visually. I am very happy with the progress that we make every day.
November 3rd 2008
Today was the last day that I would be working with Paul, Percy, Kyle and Mary. It was a great
day to wrap up the Stones book. Their assignment was to create an alternate ending for the book since they were unhappy
with it . However nobody completed the assignment because they said they received the assignment late. Therefore
they were given time to work on it while we were meeting which was fine because we had time to do so. I was impressed
with Mary who completed all three components which I was grateful for. She did an excellent job with her illustration,
summary and vocabulary. Kyle, Paul, and Percy did a great impromptu on their alternate endings of the book. We
drew names and I ended up with Percy, Wes, and Marissa. We are very excited to start off this next segment with the
new book. Our assignment for this coming week is to research Italian resistance movements.
November 11, 2008
Today was a great start for the Fire In the Hills everybody was already anticipating what happens
next in Roberto's story. Marissa is a great asset to our group she speaks up and shares her insight on the story.
She definitely would make a great discussion leader because she is able to avoid awkward pauses by redirecting the conversation.
Percy was a little more quiet today but she did a great job participating. Wes was definitely distracted but I
was able to maintain his interest by asking him questions. We discussed our predictions on the book from the introduction
on back of the book. Everyone said that they believe Roberto would return to his home. Percy added a little
more to everyone elses prediction by saying that he would be reunited with his brother and Memo. We also discussed the
cover of the book and everyone talked about Roberto's eyes. They all felt that the pair of eyes on the cover belonged
to him. So we discussed what feeling we got from his eyes. We also talked about the Resistenza--the Italian Resistance
Movement. We also agreed to read up to chapter 13 in order to finish the book within three weeks. The jobs each
group member was given was to illustrate a part from the book and vocabulary.
November 17th 2008
Today was pretty good we had more of a discussion on the partigiana because they all like the idea
because of the message it was sending. Many agree that they would like to be apart of a changing movement. I was
pretty happy with those who read and was glad they were more open to talking today. Wes proves to have sooooo much energy
and I definitely try to find ways so that he is comfortable and less distracting. Therefore today we had him act out
his favorite scene or discuss it which ever he preferred. Even with all his energy he chose to talk about it but either
way I was getting something from him. Percy is doing awesome. I definitely see the change of her from when I first
began working with her. She speaks up more and is really insightful but quite shy to be heard. Marissa is a gread
orator and loves to share her views. I enjoy how she gets the conversation going. At times i have to ask her to
take the back seat and let others go first. She is extremely understanding though because we are pretty comfortable
talking about similar issues. We talked about ambushes in the story so far and where we think this book will lead us
in the next few chapters. I am impressed that they are keeping up and reading as much as we ask of them. I am
proud!!!
November 24th 2008
Today things were a little different we decided to merge all three groups together. I could
tell right away that this was not a great idea. Everyone was distracted because there was a lot going on and it was
quite different from the structure usually present in my literature circle. I also believe that they were not quite
as comfortable as Marissa was to share their views about the book in front of the entire group. We had a great discussion
on the Resistance group they formed and code names they were given. Each student was asked to create their own code
name and share it with the rest of the group. Each name definitely was a reflection of who they were. I enjoyed
hearing them because of the thought that several of them put into it. From there one student suggested that we play
a little game of trying to pass messages while we had two guards running patrol. It was a great concept but it was difficult
to set up. Due to the distractions that were arousing and lack of participation. I do not believe we completed
much today and I believe it would have been better in our own little groups. However it was nice to have everybody together
and learn from what they were doing.
December 1st 2008
Today was the last day of meeting with our literature circles :(
and it was sad to part ways. However I was exceptionally happy because we talked soooo much.
We talked about the ending of the story and our thoughts on it. Unaminously we all agreed that the ending was bad.
We all wanted to know if Roberto made it home and what happened from there. At that point I proceeded to ask them what
they liked about the two books that we read. Wes said he liked how you never knew what was going to happen and of course
the part about the war. Marissa said he was always meeting new people. Percy enjoyed reading how Roberto managed
to escape from some pretty bad predicaments. For ex: when he had to translate for the soldier to avoid getting caught.
Marissa also said how everyone changed especially Roberto from the first book to the second. At first he did not want
anything to do with the war and now he was involved in the partigiana. Percy said that she enjoyed how everyone joined
together to fight. We also talked about what we did not like and they only said the endings of both books. I asked
what their favorite characters were and why. Volpe Rossa received two votes for being so courageous and Roberto just
because of this transition. Unaminously the Nazis were voted as the least favorite character. No need to embellish
on why that was. The saddest part of the book was when Volpe Rossa died (Marissa & Percy) and when Turbine kisses
Volpe and Lupo's reaction was sad (Wes). The happiest part of the book was when Turbine kisses Volpe. They also
found the most confusing part of the book to be when breadeater disappears and when the girl kisses Roberto. The scariest
part of the book was the ambushes because they never knew who it was. We talked about what they learned from the book
that they did not know before. Marissa said she learned sooo much vocabulary. Percy said that women fought
in the partigiana and had horrible hygiene. Wes said he learned about the secret names and the fire in the hills were
the burning x's. Percy said she learned of Donna Jo Napoli. To wrap up we played a game of 20 questions on anything
in the book. They included characters and objects. They seemed to catch on and did really well. I enjoyed
the time I spent with them and they are amazing students.
