Illustrator-draw or find pictures related to the reading 

Autism:The disease that David struggles with
Image result for autism
 Occupational Therapy: The office where "David goes to work on writing,  jumping, stuff like that"
Image result for occupational therapy
Picture Communication Book: This is a book like Jason uses to communicate.  Image result for picture communication book
Connector-Find connections between you and the book, the book and the world 
 This book has so many different connections to real life. Developing friendships with others is found every day. When Catherine meets Jason and begins a relationship with him, there is hesitation from both, but an interest to get to know each other. Kristi moving in next door is something that happens all the time. There are also many children who grow up with a sibling who has autism. This book resonates with them, but can also help those who have not had experience with those who have autism understand it more.


Director-Develop questions and lead the discussion
  • What are some problems that Catherine has with her brother?
  • Does Catherine handle the fact that David has autism well?
  • Are Catherine and David's parents doing a good job taking care of them?
  • Why do you think Catherine is so excited to get a new neighbor?
  •  How do you think Jason felt in the start of the book when he first interacted with Catherine? How do you think she felt? How would you have felt if you were Catherine? How would you have felt if you were Jason?
  • Do the rules help David? How or how not?

Comments

  1. Cindy's Blog of the DayApril 7, 2017 at 4:31 PM

    Michelle:

    I've read this book too as part of a literary circle. I would like to touch upon a few of your questions posed.
    With regards to Catherine and what are the problem(s) she has with her brother, is that he is not normal as much as Catherine wishes him to be. It is 'his' normal and that is what Catherine has to come to grips with. I do and don't think Catherine handles the fact David has autism. She is embarrassed by her brother's disability and wants her friends to think she lives a normal life, one that doesn't entail a brother with a disability. And as for the rules and if they help David, not always. They help him to an extent that he has boundaries for which he is capable to process, but actually understanding the reason behind them is another thing. For example, NO TOYS IN THE FISH TANK. Does David follow through? No. But does he recognize when he has made the mistake? Yes and that's important. Can he understand why its a rule thoroughly? Maybe, but that will come with time. Repeition, time and practice (not to mention love and patience) like anything will help to carry out the task at hand and become a learned behavior. Rome wasn't built in a day, so surely Catherine can give David extra time to process.

    Thanks for posting questions! This is where I initially didn't understand on how to be a blogger from a student perspective. I had not done anything like this before.

    Cindy

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anya BentApril 17, 2017 at 4:23 PM

    Good job on your blogging through the story using the lit circle jobs.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Discussion Strategies

Image
Thunks:             Researching thunks was a bit of a challenge for me because I was not coming up with many good resources. It looks like thunks are a very interesting way to get you thinking, and I can foresee them as becoming a helpful discussion tool in the literature department. The link provided, http://www.thunks.co.uk/ , sparked an idea for me to do an online weekly literature blog of thunks. It could be something that students participate in discussions based on the “thunk of the week” ACTIVITY 1 As students are reading “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” by Jeff Kinney they should be encouraged to add thunks to the thunk box located in the classroom. Students can write them at home, or in class as long as they get into the box! The teacher should also add a few to the box that are a bit more challenging. Depending on how long it takes the students to read the book, the teacher can have one or two thunks chosen from the box per...
Read more

Lesson Plans

Novels and Technology: Modern and Classic Lit Objectives: ·       Students will understand the main themes of Maze Runner and Animal Farm. ·       Students will be able to clearly identify similarities between the two books. ·       Students will be able to clearly identify differences between the two books. ·       Students will think deeply about their readings. Summary of Tasks: ·       Students must read Animal Farm or Maze Runner ·       They should create a twitter account to be used for literature discussions only ·       The teacher should provide students with a class hashtag to use on their posts. ·       As students read each chapter, they should provide two tweets. One tweet should be a main theme they noticed in the chapter or a mai...
Read more

Quote Analysis

         "I know. I know what you're thinking. As I was telling the story, I was thinking the same thing myself. A kiss? A rumor based on a kiss made you do this to yourself?            No. A rumor based on a kiss ruined a memory that I hoped would be special. A rumor based on a kiss started a reputation that other people believed in and reacted to. An sometimes, a rumor based on a kiss has a snowball effect (P. 30)."         I chose this quote to analyze because it seems like the starting point of all Hannah's troubles. She expresses with this quote that while a silly kiss, and the silly rumor about the kiss turned into so much more. It's so easy for things to "snowball" into something bigger. It was because of this rumor that students at her school considered her "easy". It was because of this rumor that Hannah had trouble making new friends, and we find out later that it was because of this r...
Read more