Miracle's Boys

First off, I'm happy to see that so many people have visited this blog!  Thanks for taking the time to check it out - come back often!

In class this week we have begun to read the novel Miracle's Boys by Jacqueline Woodson.  The story is about three brothers who are trying to work through the hand they were dealt in life.  Both parents have died and the oldest brother - Ty'ree is now the guardian of his two younger brothers Charlie and Lafayette.  Set in inner-city New York, the book tells of life when both parents were alive through the use of flashback, and then the story jumps back to the present to show how the characters deal with and try to rise above the pressures of urban poverty in New York City.  Click HERE to read a brief summary and other reader-reviews of the book.

The book is beautifully written and provides a common text that I can refer to throughout the year.  I also use this unit as a way to teach students the expectations I have in terms of written responses to literature.  In fact, I just had them write a response about how changes in setting could affect the story.  As I read the responses it is showing me where the strengths and weaknesses are so that I can tailor my instruction to meet the kids where they are and move them forward.  Next week I plan to actually model the entire writing process with my classes so they can see how I would plan, draft, and revise a response to literature.

This week we also had a short activity to help illustrate the different kinds of confusion that encountered while reading.  I showed two poems, both from E.E. Cummings.  One of the poems did not look like it was even written in English, and the other, while written in a traditional form did not seem to make much sense. These poems were used to illustrate "bad confusion." I hoped to show students that when one comes across a text that is so confusing that little to no comprehension is happening, they must take some action to get help.  I then made a connection to the confusion that everyone had in the first couple of chapters of   Miracle's Boys. We all had questions which resulted in some confusion, but it didn't get in the way of understanding the text.  It was "good confusion" because it pushed us forward to keep on reading and try to get our confusion resolved.

One item I forgot to mention last week was that we took our first SRI test of the year - parents will receive the results of that test with the first quarter report cards.  We will be using those scores as part of the first semester reading goal every student will set.

Finally, one quick reminder...each student should be reading for about 20 minutes per night as a part of his/her nightly homework routine.  The pages read should be logged on a page log for the independent reading requirement.  That being said, I realize that some kids are very involved in activities outside of school (as are my own children) and that 20 minutes may not happen every night.  Just do your best to encourage good reading habits by having him/her read a bit longer on the nights that have less scheduled or on weekends.

Thanks again, and if you ever have any questions or concerns just let me know!  Have a great weekend!