Isn't that what a language class is all about! We explore the author's ideas about humanity, look at the choices they made when writing and analyse various aspects of the ideas they are exploring . The fun comes out in the rich discussions and arguments as students explore their thoughts about what is going on.
A book that has truly helped me create rich discussions and build a reading community in Literature Circles has been Ariel Sack's Whole Novels. Check out my guest blog post on her site and much more to see the effect this program has had in classrooms.
One of my favourite points in Literature Circles last year when a group of us were discussing Susan Nielson's Word Nerd and one of my students could not believe how the anti-hero, Ambrose, always focused on female body parts whenever he met a new female character. She was disgusted and didn't believe any boy thought that way. The discussion was rich, certainly not boring, and I died laughing...in my head. There was a window she wished she could close!
Click on a title to go directly to a book that interests you:
One and Only Ivan
Katherine Applegate based her story on a real gorilla in a real mall and now his non-fiction story is out in the book,Ivan: The Remarkable True Story of the Shopping Mall Gorilla.
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Wonder
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Rules
Cynthia Lord has created a fabulous book that grabs readers. We learn empathy and understand what it's like to be a sister to an autistic child. We also understand more deeply what it's like to be different as the narrator Katherine, make friends with new people and realizes more about herself.
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One For The Murphys
Lynda Mulaly Hunt also plays with theme in unique ways. Her exploration of what it means to be a hero and what family is will capture you and your students.
Students will not always agree with the path the story takes, but this makes for great discussion and, isn't that how life goes?
Even when I was searching online to find out how much of the story was true, like Sandford Fleming and Cornelius Van Horne, all I could find were references to Oppel's book itself. It's as if Oppel has mythologized the building of the Canadian railway in a grand and action packed way in the writing and advertising of this book
Click on the book cover to read Kenneth Oppel's interview with Maclean's magazine and watch the trailer below!