Friday, October 9, 2009

Today, after writing your fourth entry in your travel journal, you completed a small group activity called "Save the Last Word for Me" that focused on pages 163-180, which was your homework. Download the guided reading questions from this section by clicking the link on Monday's post. After recording some passages/quotes and responses you took from your notes onto an index card, you were put into groups of 3 or 4 to discuss and share your quotes and responses. Click here to see the instructions for this group activity. You also completed an exit pass and turned in your index cards for credit.

The last few minutes of class were spent going over your homework. By Monday, read pages 180-186 (itty bitty reading assignment!) While reading this short section, I want you to record one subtanstial "I" entry into your annotation notes (see your annotation symbols guide to see what you need to do for "I" entries.) Richard makes a very interesting decision before he meets back up with Jed. In your notes, write at least 3 sentences about what you would have done/said if you were there when Richard decides to do what he does.

Also, read the lyrics to the song "Suicide is Painless," a song that Mister Duck is singing during another interaction with Richard (182) and provide a brief analysis that explains any connections to the novel. Click here to see an outline of everything we did today, including homework instructions and some background information. Click here to see the song lyrics that are referenced in the novel that you need to analyze.