This week we are finishing the oral narratives that we started last week. The stories the students have written have been imaginative and fun to read. I expect them to be even more interesting when they tell them to the class. A rubric will go home with them tonight, so if you are interested in seeing what I will be looking for, you can ask to see the rubric (the pink sheet). The next writing piece we do will be a compare and contrast paper.
About a week ago, our class acquired a mascot of sorts. A gopher snake found its way into the path of one of the students and they decided that it would make a great class pet. Ms. McGillivray has taken charge of Checkers and the seventh grade students are taking turns visiting with him.
The sixth graders have started reading the book, The Giver by Lois Lowry. This book was the Newberry Award winner in 1994 and deals with choices people make when they attempt to create a utopian government.
The seventh graders are reading Breaking Through by Francisco Jimenez. It is a true account of the author's life, from the time he crawled under a fence to enter the US to his graduation from college. Currently, Mr. Jimenez is a professor at Santa Clara University.
