We will be kicking off the new year by exploring WWII through non-fiction reading materials combined with our next novel, Number the Stars.  To build background knowledge about the novel’s historical setting (the when), we’ll be watching a short video and then we will use Chromebooks to research the physical setting of the novel (the where) which is Denmark.  We will continue to study vocabulary and consider story elements such as character, setting, plot, and theme as we traverse the story together in class. Students will complete several blogging assignments over the course of the next three weeks and practice the following literature circle roles:

*writing succinct summaries of chapters

*creating and answering higher level thinking questions

*locating literary devices such as simile, metaphor, personification, etc. within chapters

*identifying then clarifying and using difficult vocabulary from the story

*making connections between the story we’re reading and our everyday lives or other things we have read and talked about in class this year

Finally, in the spring, students will enjoy a performance of the play, My Heart in a Suitcase, and make connections to our reading and discussion of the second World War.