Session 8-August 8th: Celebration!!

We had a great time celebrating the end of book club with donuts, juice, and some fun on the playground!! Thank you for all of your hard work...we enjoyed spending the last four weeks with you!! Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Session 7-August 6th: Focus on the Ending and Summer Book Pledges!

We finished up the last of our comprehension questions for Friday: Pizza and discussed the ending of the book! I can't believe we finished already!! What a GREAT read!

Next, students completed a "Book Walk" to read summaries for other novels by Sarah Weeks. They wandered the room and jotted down notes about things that interested them about the novels, what they were wondering about, and if they would like to read the book in the future. Then, we completed "summer book pledges" in which we made promises to check out one of the books we found the most interesting and read it in the future!

Don't forget, Sarah Weeks has a website that is updated with future projects and new books that are coming out. You can visit it using the link below if you want to dig deeper!

https://sarahweeks.com/


*Reminder: Thursday, August 8th will be our LAST book club session! We will be celebrating with the students with breakfast and fun activities! Can't wait to see you there!!

Keep On Reading!!!

End of Book Club Celebration-Please let us know if your child has any allergies!

We will be having a celebration on Thursday, August 8th to reward the students' hard work this summer! We will be serving donut holes and juice for breakfast. If your child has any allergies that we should know about, please e-mail us so that we can make accommodations. Thank you!!

jcarr@hilton.k12.ny.us

pcarr@hilton.k12.ny.us

Session 6-August 1st: Focus on Connections

We began with our comprehension questions and discussion of the section we read at home!

Next, we discussed different types of connections; text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world. Students worked in groups to determine an example of each type of connection for Save Me a Seat. Making connections is a great way to deepen comprehension and help to engage higher level thought.

*Reading Assignment for Tuesday, August 6th: Pages 190-216.

Happy Reading! :-) 

Session 5-July 30th: Focus on Theme

We began our session with discussion questions for our reading assignment. We are so proud of the students taking more risks as they answer the questions and build off of one another's ideas!

Next, we discussed the term theme. Theme is the underlying message or big idea from the story. It is often not directly stated in the text. A reader needs to look for clues to discover the theme. Clues could be what a character says, how a character acts or responds to a situation, or even how the events unfold. We discussed the themes of popular picture books and supporting evidence to prove each theme. Then we switched our focus to our novel and came up with two themes for Save Me a Seat.

Joe and Ravi were assigned a "personal reflection" project by their teacher. We will recreate this project in class on Thursday by creating personal reflection posters. Students will design posters with activities they enjoy, strengths, etc. that represent them.

Reading Assignment for Thursday, August 1st: Pages 163-189

Happy Reading! :-) 

Session 4-July 25th: Focus on Figurative Language

We began with our discussion questions for this section of the novel!

Next, we reviewed different types of figurative language (simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, imagery, etc.) and went over examples from the book. We talked about the importance of understanding the author's meaning, otherwise figurative language can confuse our comprehension. Next, students worked in partners to look for their own examples. We had a little fun with this and drew the "literal meaning" of the figurative language too...you can see some of our work below!.

Reading Assignment for Tuesday, July 30th: Pages 137-159

Happy Reading! :-) 

Session 3-July 23rd: Point of View/Perspective

We began our meeting by discussing comprehension questions for our reading assignment; Tuesday: Hamburgers. We are really digging into the different perspectives of Joe and Ravi...even though they are experiencing the same classes, lunch periods, etc. I wonder if these two will be able to put their differences aside and realize they could have a friend?

Next, we discussed the term "point of view". Point of view is the perspective the story is being told from. We reviewed the different types of point of view and practiced using two picture books; The Three Little Pigs and The True Story of the Three Little Pigs to practice identifying point of view. Then had a discussion about how the story would be different if it was only told from Ravi's or Joe's perspective. 

Finally, we revisited our K-W-L chart on India/Indian Culture since we were given a TON of new information in these chapters!!


Reading Assignment for Thursday, July 25th: Pages 93-133

Happy Reading! :-) 

Session 2-July 18th: Character Traits

Today, we began with comprehension questions for our reading assignment to discuss the test. You  should have noticed that the section you read was entitled: Monday-Chicken Fingers. Joe explains that lunch is the only part of the school day he enjoys and that each day of the week they serve the say meal. Mondays are always chicken fingers. I wonder if this routine is comforting to Joe??

You can find a copy of the questions below if you missed today's meeting! What a great conversation about our characters, the setting, and their backgrounds!

Next, we reviewed character traits. Character traits are words to describe a character's personality. Character traits are shown through their words and actions. For example: nervous, risk-taker, caring, thoughtful, etc. We split into three groups. Each group was assigned a character to study; Ravi, Joe, or Dillon. Dillon was a little tricky to analyze since we didn't hear directly from him. We had to use context clues to determine his character traits...and we discovered that Ravi and Joe had different perceptions of him. Each group took turns sharing their character traits and students completed a Venn Diagram for the two characters they did not study.

Our "exit ticket" today was to return to the word "assumption" that we discussed during our pre-reading activity on Tuesday. An assumption is when you think something is true without proof or evidence. We discussed assumptions that were made about Ravi, Joe, and even Dillon so far in the text and the damage that can be done when we "assume" things too quickly. What a great session this morning!

Reading Assignment for Tuesday, July 23rd: Pages 49-89

Happy Reading! :-) 

Session 1-July 16th: Getting to Know Each Other & Introduction to Our Novel!

We are so excited to have such a wonderful group for our book club this summer! Today we played "Two Truths and a Lie" to introduce ourselves to one another. It was a fun way to find our fun facts about the group...including Mr. & Mrs. Carr!

Next, we took a look at the cover of our novel, and made some predictions about the story:

We also watched a book trailer to introduce our novel, Save Me a Seat. You can watch the trailer here if you missed our first session:

Save Me a Seat at Lunch Book Trailer


 Since one of our main characters, Ravi, is from India, we filled in a K-W-L chart with what we knew about Indian culture and what we are wondering or want to learn about. We will save the "L" column for later in the novel when we find the answers to some of our "wonders"!

Remember, we discussed the pronunciation guide that helps us to sound out some of the tougher names and words in the story. There is also a glossary in the back of the book to help you with some of the vocabulary. Make sure you check it if there is a word you are unsure of!

Reading Assignment for Thursday, July 18th: Pages 3-45!

 Happy Reading! :-)