Blog Post 5- Final Blog Post!

Task:

During the past five weeks, 120 6th graders have spent every Tuesday deep in discussion - Literature Circle Discussions during Humanities classes. Five different novels were completed in groups, important passages, amazing questions and responses, plus vocabulary was shared.
The characters survived, problems were solved and surprise endings shared.

The final blog post is a choice of activities:

1. Write a prediction as to what will happen to the character next ( The missing chapter).
2. Write a letter to the character . Include any questions that you may want to ask the character, provide specific evidence from the novel.
3. Write a letter to author. Information that could be included.. Where did the author get their ideas? What inspired them to write the novel? Questions that you may have?

Minimum requirements - 3 well structured paragraphs.

I chose to write a letter to the Doyle Family.

Dear Doyle Family,

I send my personal apologies for the loss of your dear daughter Charlotte. I have to admit, you have nobody but yourself to blame for losing her. She was a wonderful girl, despite her unexpected change while on the ship. I know that you raised your daughter to be a "proper" lady, but she is your daughter and if she wants to be someone different altogether, you should respect that. After all, you can't force her to become someone she didn't want to be anymore. This doesn't imply that you should let her become a complete rebel, but somewhere along the lines of her behavior, she was only rebelling against the oppression of a family of proper people.

What Charlotte had become wasn't someone who was a bad example to people everywhere, she was better than she was before. She had become more social, and had made new friends in the process. Friends who let her be who she really was. I don't know if you have realized that Charlotte has left to be with those true friends, who will hopefully fill in your place and support her. You should be ashamed of yourselves. Not only have you lost the respect of your daughter, but you have also lost her love for you. It is possible that you have lost the respect of Albert and Evelina because you couldn't control one daughter.

Mr. Doyle, I believe you owe the most apologies for burning down the tool she used to communicate with the readers of her story and burning down an event filled journey overflowing with change and a story worthwhile reading. You dismissed her repeatedly, acting like she was crazy. For instance on page 263, you insisted that you thought that she should go to bed. It hurt Charlotte's feelings. She had something important to say and you wouldn't give her the time, it was very disrespectful to Charlotte. Forbidding Charlotte to talk about the most wonderful experience of her life yet filled with distrust and danger was unfair to your daughter. It was during this voyage that she had a taste of her own freedom, maybe you should have a taste as well before judging her.

Mrs. Doyle, I know that you are proper but this has caused Charlotte to lie about things and say things that weren't true [Page 260]; like the reason she cut her hair was because there was lice on board. This isn't true, she cut it off in order to see well and climb up the royal yard. Her rough hands were roughened with the everyday routine of climbing of the royal yard, not doing her own washing! I don't know what's wrong with speaking to others of lower status if they only have good intentions. Those of higher status like Captain Jaggery tend to be more cruel and end up dying. As a mother, I know that you wouldn't want Charlotte to lie to you just to please you, even if it is what you want to hear from her.

Evelina and Albert owe Charlotte apologies. Though you are children it doesn't excuse you from insulting your sister and calling her an Indian because of her tanned skin--[Evelina Page 262]. You didn't go through the disasters that Charlotte had to face and even if you didn't know, a warm welcome would've been better than chiding her for her "tattered dress and dirty gloves" (Page 258)!

I can only wish Charlotte a safe journey through the winds chosen and hopefully those winds will obey Charlotte's will.

I can only tell you that you should be very ashamed of yourselves.

If anything should happen to Charlotte you would be the blame.

Personally, I wouldn't be surprised if she decided never to come back to you again.

Cindy, a fond lover of Charlotte's story

Literature Blog Post 4- Commenting

The Task:

1. Choose one person from your group.

2. Read blog posts 1-3.

3. Next, write a comment on each blog post - your comment should contain information related to ideas that you had during the discussion and how reading the blog post has added to your understanding of the novel.

Please note - The comment places on each blog post should be 5 or more sentences. QUALITY PLEASE. Check spelling, grammar and word choice.

The whole aim of Literature Circle discussions is very similar to our School wide Learning Results:

* Live Ethically

* Think Creatively

* Collaborate Constructively

* Learn Enthusiastically

* Communicate Effectively.

If people in your group have not completed their Blog Posts, please give them a gentle nudge - you will need their posts to place comments on.

I am grading Irene's Blog, LIVE YOUR LIFE TO THE FULLEST.

Blog Post 1:

I like how you make your Blog Post like a narrative and describe your feelings. It was interesting to hear your perspective of Literature Circle Discussions before 6th Grade. This perspective creates an interesting comparison to how you feel about it now and what makes you feel that way. For example, you said that not many people made interesting predictions and different views on a character. With this, you explain what you think are important elements of a discussion. You explain how the discussion helped you understand certain parts better and talk about characters you like and why you like them. I agree with you because without interesting ideas, predictions and different views, Literature Circle Discussions aren't fun. Overall, it was a very interesting blog post!

Blog Post 2:

Through this blog post, you express your struggle to choose three important passages, as you thought that a lot of them were important. You tell us about how you thought the passage was interesting and why. You communicate to the audience what part of the story you think it is, [Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action]. In the blog post, you tell us about your groups thoughts. You also say that some feelings about the characters changed after you discussed with your group. You express excitement for the next discussion and how you feel you have learned a lot through it. In it, you tell us about how one passage led to discussions about many other passages. Further on in your blog post, you talk about constructive criticism and how you feel better knowing that you are helping others by giving them this type of criticism. I agree with Irene because sometimes knowing others perspectives can change yours as well. I think you have a very interesting style of writing and through it you put across a medley of feelings, understandings, inferences and many more values.

Blog Post 3:

Irene tells about how she thinks there can be many reasons about how a character changes. She tells us about how she thinks that Charlotte felt obligated to be a gentlewoman and being introduced to a sailors life, she felt that Charlotte enjoyed the freedom more. Irene tells us about Charlotte and how she thought that Charlotte didn't know what she wanted for a specific period of time (Chapters 1-13). In it she explains to us her view of freedom to make more sense to the audience and how she thought it was important. Finally, she tells us the moral that she perceived from the story. Irene's Moral: "Follow your dreams and stop at nothing. Although they may be times that feels like the end of the world, just keep going and you'll soon be rewarded with happiness and you'll be proud of yourself for standing up your dreams and stop at nothing. Although they may be times that feels like the end of the world, just keep going and you'll soon." After this, she explains the moral's importance in life, and how people will feel after embracing it. I agree with her thinking because Avi clearly tells us in the book that she felt that her old life imprisoned her. Just like a bird in a cage trying to break free. Her blog post shows a lot of change in her thinking.

Thank You Irene for Explaining Your Literature Circle Discussions Clearly!

Cindy

Literature Circles Blog Post 3

Task:

Now that all grade 6 students are becoming used to Literature circle discussions, the amount of A+ grades for discussion sheets are increasing. Responses and important passages show growth in the analysis of the novel, the plot and themes. In all of the novels studied the main character(s) have changed. In this blog post, please write a well structured post about how the main character(s) has changed and provide evidence from the novel to support your ideas!

Charlotte has changed greatly for the better in the book of her confessions. She has gone from the confined "proper" lady who couldn't stand being talked to by a person in lower status to someone who has welcomed those with low status as her brothers. [On Pages 155 to 159, she tells us about how they helped her through hard times and taught her how to be a proper crew member]. From the naive girl who couldn't see evil and cruelty right in front of her face, to someone who can see the mistakes they did and make up for it in the biggest way possible, which for Charlotte was joining the crew and leaving her life behind, as said on Page.

Her bravery has increased to prove amazingly to all of those who didn't believe or doubted that she had any courage. Yet, she managed to climb up and down the royal yard and face Captain Jaggery with bravery that I couldn't imagine she had. Though she didn't do the right thing at first, she has become more vigilant and has proved to the crew that she is capable. I feel as if it's all over even though I know it isn't. She still hasn't been accused of murder, when that time comes, I wonder if she will change again and I hope it won't be for the worst.

Charlotte has come a long way, and I think she should be proud of her accomplishments and the new person she has become while going through this. The only thing I can be sure of is that The Seahawk has changed Charlotte's life, but I don't know if it will be permanent.

The voyage has changed for Charlotte, from a necessary trip to a mistake. It started to get unlucky when the other chosen voyagers called in sick, or had other excuses for not being able to come on Pages 9-17. I wondered if they decided to not to go because they had heard rumors about The Seahawk, or if they really were sick or delayed and it was just bad luck for Charlotte. I found it strange that Captain Jaggery refused to delay the departure even for one day. I thought that he might not want too many people to witness his cruelty, or maybe he really believed that wasted time was money.

Her bad luck continued when she became to get involved with the crew and Captain Jaggery. This is the very same Captain Jaggery that at this point in her confessions, she wouldn't be "caught dead" speaking to him. When she began to befriend the crew, she found the pistol and round robin, which led to yet another catastrophe.

It is in this catastrophe that in her pursuit of naive helpfulness to Captain Jaggery's cruel purposes, that Captain Jaggery killed Mr.Cranick and Zachariah. Charlotte is constantly being followed by continuous disasters. It would be very hard for a 13 year old girl from her age to maintain the life that Charlotte managed on The Seahawk.

This is what I think about Charlotte and how she changed.

Literature Circles Blog Post 2

Task:

Classrooms full of excitement, novels and sheets in hand, for the second week 120 sixth graders were ready for their second Literature Circle.

Questions could be heard as students came into class; "Will Charlotte trust Captain Jaggery now that she knows about the round robin?", How much longer can Brian survive? Will Julie survive with the wolf pack?....

In post #2, choose one the important passages on your discussion sheet and in a well structured blog post write about :

1. Your discussion with your group about the passage.

2. How your understandings changed after the discussion.

3. Any new insights that you gained from the discussion.

My Response:

The most important passage I chose from my Literature Circle discussion is:

the passage where I explained Charlotte's discovery of the round robin and pistol. My group discussed how the discovery was interesting because Mr.Ewing forgot to think about if his pistol was in a safe place before allowing Charlotte to go search for the needle. I thought more about how maybe Mr.Ewing remembered but thought it would cause more suspicions if he ran up to Charlotte and stopped her from entering the forecastle. It might also be possible that he forgot where it was placed and had also forgotten altogether about the important meeting taking place in the forecastle.

I understood more about the passage because I focused more on the different insights about how the author set up Charlotte's discovery. How it made it seem so fateful and destiny. A mistake just waiting to happen, just like Charlotte's unlucky arrival on The Seahawk. Our group discussed how it wasn't exactly fate, in the authors hands because Avi set the whole story up with events that just fell into place with the most interesting writing techniques. It wasn't very complicated to understand because with different insights you could try to look into the many ways of how the writer would have looked into the situation or how he would have created the situations so that they fall into order.

You can try to take a glimpse on the different ways the passage could have turned out if Avi-the author changed how they thought, acted, behaved etc.

Avi might have even changed how the situation happened completely. Gave it a twist and made sure that Charlotte never found out about the round robin or pistol. For example, if Avi made Charlotte more reluctant to be helpful or more uncomfortable with the crew, she might have been reading to Mr.Ewing to please Captain Jaggery, but she might have not felt it proper for her to fetch utensils for people of lower status and the discovery would've never happened.

Just Like That!

This just shows how the author can twist things to his advantage, or use writing techniques to make the passage interesting and special to the reader. It was a very interesting discussion which included amazing revelations in Charlotte Doyle's adventures! I look forward to knowing more about Charlotte's life!

Literature Circles Blog Post 1

The Task ~ Post Literature Circle - Blog Post - The aim of Literature circles is to provide a way for students to take part in discussions, collaborate constructively and reason critically. We are sure during your groups discussion that your have added to your understanding of the characters, the setting and the plot of your chosen novel. In a well structured blog post, reflect and write about the following:

1. How you discussion helped your understanding of the novel.

2. Connections that you made during your discussion

3. Predictions

A quality response does not retell your discussion. Minimum requirements - 3 paragraphs.

The discussion helped me understand how to do proper literature circle discussions. First, I learned more about the expectations and what it is mandatory to bring to each literature circle discussion: your response sheet and your book. It also helped me understand the range different interpretations of a passage, depending on a person's opinion, how they viewed the passage and the meaning that they interpreted. I understand more how to view other people's interpretations, by reading through the passage and trying to see how someone could interpret it in that way. Next, I learned that it is helpful to put post-it notes while going through the book, to mark important parts, parts you don't understand, parts that show the author's writing technique and parts you think that are interesting and should be shared. Finally, I learned that it is useful to have the discussion book in hand throughout the discussion. This is because you can use it to refer to the passages, responses,discussion questions and the context of the vocabulary that they found interesting or a word that they didn't know until then. 

A connection I made during the discussion, was that most of us found that the part when the porter refused to carry Charlotte's bag was important. I think that Avi: the author might have wanted this passage to be considered important. I think this because he used a style of writing that made this passage stand out to us. It's with this technique that he brings us to see the many ways that show the passages importance. It's important because you can start to see that The Sea hawk's voyage will be anything but, pleasant. Which I find unlucky for Charlotte because of the challenges and self assessment she has to go through. Not to mention, a constant check that her judgement is correct.  

A prediction I can make in the story is that Charlotte will be framed of murder because of Captain Jaggery. I think this because the blurb on the back of the book states: "Not every girl is accused of murder, brought to trial and found guilty..." I think that Captain Jaggery will most definitely have something to do with her accusation, either being the one who accuses her of the deed or the person who brought her to do it. I think that she might be brought to do this because she is always obeying Captain Jaggery's word and believes that he is noble and is just like her father, like she tells him earlier in the book. 

A possibility might also be that she kills him out of sudden spite or anger at his insisted cruelty, that the kind Zachariah insists is true. She might discover herself soon, hopefully it will be before it's too late. By too late, I mean before Captain Jaggery has damaged or hurt more than Charlotte, because of his cruelty.

And with that, I conclude my Literature Circles Discussion Blog Post, Thanks!