On Sep 18, 2006, at 6:17 PM, Chris Booker wrote: > I'm getting ready to do this novel with my 7th grade Resource Reading > class. I was just wondering if anyone has any ideas and/or materials > they would be willing to share with a new teacher! > Chris, I'll have to look at my stuff at school, but I have used this as a class novel. I love it (and its sequel) and so did my kids. I will see what I have, but the one of the things we did that was very effective was this: Freak has a condition whose name I now can't remember and Max is SLD. I had my kids each find 10 facts about each of these conditions. They met in groups of 3 and compared their notes, paring them down to what they considered the most important 10 facts they thought of interest to kids their age and worded appropriately for peers; then as a class each group presented their conclusions and we discussed the 10 or so facts we thought most important. We then created a bookmark with SLD facts on one side and Freak's condition on the other. When anyone checked the book out from the library, they received this laminated bookmark. It was a neat exercise in providing a real product. It also provided a safe way to discuss learning disabilities, myths, misunderstandings, and facts. The kids also thoroughly enjoyed the movie (compare and contrast) following reading. Another fun exercise is to create a dictionary similiar to Freak's in the back of the book. I think I actually ordered some packaged materials to take things from (I never do it totally their way).
I'll look thru what I have at school and see if there's anything else good. I would suggest you check out Rodman Philbrick's website if you haven't already. Ginny White Fernandina Beach (FL) Middle School _______________________________________________ The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
