A Series of Unfortunate Events

We are almost halfway through reading A Series of Unfortunate Events. Although the book has lots of horrible things happen, the most horrible thing I've read so far is:

* That the children's parents both died and now they are orphans. - CJ

* That Klaus was taken to the doctor and something terrible happened to him there. - Shanel

* The children's guardian won't even tell them his name and makes them work in a lumber mill every day. - Equasha

* Their brother had an awful experience and won't respond to his sisters anymore. - Tyreesha

* They have to eat bubblegum for two meals every day! - Juwan

A Series of Unfortunate Events

We are currently reading the novel, A Series of Unfortunate Events. So far we've learned a great deal of new things and had a lot fun reading this story. Here are some new words we've learned:

Equasha - I learned that assiduous means hardworking.

CJ - I learned that diligent means hardworking.

Juwan - I learned that a veteran is a person who has lots of experience doing something. They are different from someone just starting out, they know lots because they have done it for a long time.

Tyreesha - I learned that a lumber mill is a place where people work with lumber or wood.

Shanel - I learned that various means lots of different things or features.

Shanel's Thoughts on Harriet Tubman

Today I read about Harriet Tubman and Mrs.Tubman worked all the time on the Underground Railroad. Also she tried to stop segregation. I want to read more about heroes of our country!


By Shanel

CJ's Thoughts on Whales

I learned that whale have a blowhole so when they come up they breathe through the hole.

Juwan's Reflections on Whales

I learned a lot of different things about Whales and I learned how giant whales can become. There are all kinds of whales living in the water and I learned the biggest whales that there are are called blue whales. I learned how much they weigh and one of the whales weighed 180 pounds!

By Juwan

Tyreesha's Reflections on Sojourner Truth

I have learned about Sojourner Truth. She met with the first president Abraham Lincoln. In 1870 she met with another of our presidents, his name was Ulysses S. Grant.

By Tyreesha

Equasha's Reflections

I have another reason why i like to read because it surprises you about what happened years ago. it make you feel bad about what was going on because you never read that book about your president. You also would say different things in your mind and you will feel bad in the inside but your face expression will not show it. That is the reason I like reading in a class, your class mates will feel the same and you will keep that in your mind for a long time. You will go home an tell your parents what you learned and your parents will be proud of you. You will like to read more that is why I like reading in a group.

By Equasha

Biography Unit

Today we finished our biography series and wrote reflections on what we've learned. We will post our reflections later this week. Stay tuned....

In Shanel's Words

I liked reading group today because we got to type our thoughts into the blog. Also we are reading about Thurgood Marshall and it's a good book. I want to read more history books! I really like using the biography wheel thinking map to help me figure out what I read and what is important.

In CJ's words

Reading group is my favorite part of the day because I learn more then about all our Civil Rights people and what they did to make our world a better place.

In Tyreesha's Words

My favorite thing about reading group is that you get to be with a group to read interesting books. To get facts about people, we read biographies and autobiographies. To learn facts about things we don't know, we read non-fiction books.

My favorite books so far was about Rosa Parks because I learned that she stood up for her rights by staying on the bus.

I like reading even more now that we have started reading groups.

In Equasha's Words

I learned in reading group that if you read out loud you can help others.
The way we read in group is the way we should read all the time. You can also help others if they get stuck in anything else.

My favorite book that we read is Martin Luther King Jr's biography.

Biography Unit

For the last two weeks, we've been studying biographies. The students have learned so much through our studies. We are hoping to finish this unit by Monday.

After reading four books together and working as a group to summarize the story, find the main idea and identify the significant accomplishments of each person, we began an independent study today. All the students selected their own person to research and they are hard at work reading and taking notes on the important accomplishments of their selected person.

I heard lots of "aha" moments in groups today as they read and decided what was really important and what was just an extra detail. I can't wait to share their reflections and final products with you.

1st Quarter Reading Reflections

During the first quarter, our reading group has enjoyed experiencing lots of different genres of text. We have read fiction, non-fiction, biographies, poems, chapter books and more. On the last day of the quarter, we reflected on what we've done so far. Here are our thoughts.....

Equasha said: My favorite part of reading group is reading together in a group. We get to help each other when we get stuck and we learn from one another.

Juwan thinks: We read books that we can take AR tests on later to see if we understand. It helps me to become a better reader when Ms. Fuller explains new words to me.

Shanel believes: Reading group is fun because I learn a lot about history. I didn't know a lot about Thurgood Marshall before we read his biography, but now I do.

CJ commented: I enjoy learning new things I didn't know about famous people in history. We use a lot of thinking maps too and those are fun.

Tyreesha thinks: Reading group is fun because we get to read together and use graphic organizers. They help me figure out what was important about the story and which parts I didn't understand.

As we begin the 2nd quarter, we are looking forward to lots of new reading experiences. We know the more we read, the easier it will become.

Stay tuned for more reflections....