Second visit to Tibbetts Middle School- on March 3rd, and I think it went very
well. I was In Ms. Smith's sixlets class and Frances was the main leader of this hour. Frances and the students went over
Iditrarod competition and competitors in the big mushing race. I have never even heard of this race before! I had no idea
what "Iditarod" meant! I think all of the students did learn something though, I thought it was very fascinating. The students
were given a choice for what book they would like to read in the up-coming literature circles. Most choose "Woodsong",
I was going for the Frog prince one but that did not happen. O well, I guess I will have to put it on my list for books to
read in the near future! I felt kind of like one of the students during this hour and really look forward to the next time
with the students and the new book!
March 10th
I am about to go to Tibbetts, I am not sure exactly how today will
go but I think it will be very interesting to start the story. Hopefully the students have a better stomach than I do!:-)
I am trying to look at the first few chapters and see where we could stop the students to ask them what is going on, ask them
how they feel about the story. See where they can just stop, drop and write. I am looking forward to it.
March 11th
The literature circle started off pretty slow. We didnt know where
the books were, people were running late and we had to divide in two groups. The literature circle I am in I think is great
because they all come from different backgrounds and experiences so they will be able to bring up different discussions. We
read Chapter 1 and then we discussed vocabulary, questions about the story and summarized. We were not able to do much else
because we ran out of time. It was good to see the students comprehending what was going on and talking about the book.
March 17th
Happy St. Patrick's Day! Today the students got out their clipboards and we headed
for the library. We Read Chapter 3 and half-way through 4. The students wanted to read after chapter 3 so they played "popcorn"
and read. We again discussed vocabulary, talked about parts of the story that were not very clear, summarized and did an illustration
of a scene from the story. I think the students are very good about doing their jobs, I am actually quite impressed. Next
time with the circle Me and Nancy are going to change up what jobs the students have, give everyone a different part of the
story to look at. We are also going to be quiet during the discussion. We didnt know we were not suppose to discuss with the
students! Woops. The only talking we will be doing is reading the story and then getting people on track if lost in whatever
else is said. I am enjoying this time, quite surprisingly with sixlets.
March 31st
Today went by so fast! It took us a little longer to get our materials out When
we did though the reading had started. We had them stop and jot after we read to a certain point though. The time went by
so fast for me though that I didn't even think of stopping early to discuss the chapter! I think we had a few minutes to discuss.
Next week I will make sure to have that time to talk and discuss.
April 7th
Today I felt went very well. We got the clipboards out, and my group headed straight
to the library. (Next time I will remind them to collect everything they need before we go to the library.) Then we started
off, I felt that the group was really getting into the story. I ended up reading like twenty pages and man did my throat hurt
afterwards! I stopped like twelve minutes before class got out so we could discuss and everyone could do there part. Everyone
did, and although I thought some of the conversation was lagging, it still went very good. I was happy with today, I felt
like I was under control and felt the kids were getting it.
April 14th
Today at Tibbettswe re-capped of what they last read with Ms. Penny. We read
to "The Race" and read a little bit into the chapter to keep their minds wandering. I felt the discussion went
very well. Wyett was our discussion director and he asked good opinion questions like "What was your favorite part? What was
weird or what confused you?" before questions were like " What happen when storm stopped running?". With these
opinion discussion was flowing. They also stopped and jotted. Next week we are planning to go into the library and get
on the computers to check out the website.
April 21st
Today at Tibbetts our group went to the computer and we were able
to use the computers and look up the Iditarod main website and just skim it and find some interesting facts. We found the
last place person came in 96th place, found why mushers have hallucinations, and many other very interesting facts. Then we
read more of the race and had our discussion. The boys read today and I think they all liked what they read. I also think
it has helped the students interest having Ms. Penny read the book another time within the week.
April 28th
Today we finished the book! I felt like the boys have really gotten
the hang of taking turns to read, helping eachother out, and doing their part with their literature circles. It all went pretty
smooth today I thought. The boys were saying they wished they would have read the book in like a month, opposed to the three
months, just because they forgot alot of information about the book. We also discussed ideas for the last week for the video!
It was a good day and I really enjoy those boys.
May 3rd
The last day at Tibbetts is arriving shortly and I am going to
miss the little group Nancy and I had! They are all really good boys who I enjoyed this semester! I am anxious to see how
the video goes and turns out!
