Grades 5 through 7 Mrs. Bailey English Language Arts and Social Studies Grades 5 through 7 Language Arts The 7th grade class finished the read aloud SYLO by D.J. MacHale. Students enjoyed the fast-paced action and twists the story took at the end. Several students have begun to read the rest of the series. Our new read aloud is The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. This mystery contains several suspects and many meaningful details. Students are putting on their detective hats and taking notes during the reading to determine who committed the crime. We have good discussion about which details are important and which are just red herrings meant to throw everyone off track. Students have learned about point of view and how setting influences plot through our read aloud books. They also notice these elements in the books they are reading independently. In the 5th/6th grade class we completed our read aloud of A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle. Students were intrigued by plot and enjoyed discussing the different theories they had based on the events in the book. Several students are interested in reading the next book in the series, and we are all looking forward to seeing the movie. After spring break we discussed the similarities and differences between the book and the movie. We also looked at the influence of setting on the overall plot and how perspective changes a story. Students found several examples of these elements in their own books. Students in both classes presented book projects representing their favorite books of the trimester. The presentations were creative and convinced many students to add titles to their Books I Want to Read lists. These lists continue to grow in length and a variety of genres. 15
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