Reflections on Mockingjay (spoiler alert)

If you haven't read Suzanne Collin's Mockingjay, I'd advise you to stop reading this post and start reading that novel!  (That is, of course, if you've read Hunger Games and Catching Fire already. I'd never advise someone to pick up a book out of sequential order!)

My students just finished Mockingjay and were doing a quick write response.  I had them write a letter to a character and express their feelings.  I didn't realize they had such angry words to say to Gale:

At least they're passionate about their reading.

We had long conversations about the choices that were made in the book and how those aren't necessarily the choices we would make in real life.  We also talked about how sometimes book characters have to do things they don't want to do in order to survive.  Not to worry, we also talked about how killing book characters is not acceptable.

This group is now getting ready to tackle the Series of Unfortunate Events!

Happy reading :)

Please just...don't.

Clearly, I love books.  I'm an avid fan of movies too, but I get frustrated when the films don't do the movies justice.  The Hunger Games and Catching Fire films were close, some of the Harry Potter films were spot-on and well, we don't need to talk about what happened with the Lightning Thief. 

So when I heard that a film adaptation of The Giver was going to be released this upcoming August, I winced.  I don't have high hopes for this as a film adaptation.

I read the novel myself in elementary school and again as a junior in high school, clearly with different levels of understanding.  I have read this novel with many different small groups, but only if they're mature enough to handle the content...specifically the part with the twins.  That's rough, especially when I had a set of twins in the same small group.  I did not enjoy the tears at that discussion.

So I'm hesitant about this movie...

Then I saw that Taylor Swift was cast in the film.  I'm love her as a musical artist but as Rosemary...I'm not so sure.  At least Meryl Streep has a large role.

I just don't want to see another great book ruined by a sub par movie.  So please, movie industry, don't ruin this classic.

Catching the Catching Fire Spirit!

Catching Fire is released soon. Like really, really soon.  I'm waiting until Thanksgiving Break so I can see it with my best friend when we are back in our home town, but I'm still ridiculously excited.

In the spirit of the upcoming movie, all of my Hunger Games, Catching Fire and Mockingjay products will be 20% off from Thursday, November 21-Saturday November 23rd.  This includes quote sorts, novel guides, chronological order centers, the works!

Spread the word and may the odds be ever in your favor :)

Happy reading!

new stations

New stations are posted on TpT!

The first one is a survival sort. 

I created this one to go along with multiple novels that have survival as a theme.  I created this to go along with Lois Lowry's The Giver and Number the Stars; Suzanne Collin's The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay novels as well as Gary Paulsen's Hatchet, Brian's Winter, Brian's Return, The River and Brian's Return. Students work together to sort descriptions into various categories: emotions, shelter, dangers, etc.  My students love playing this center and as an extension, coming up with new cards to add to our sort.  I love when they are invested in our activities.

The second one is responses to literature for Lois Lowry's Gossamer.

In this station, students draw from over 20 different response to literature cards based on the novel.  Students will respond to the literature, then discuss their answers with their partner or small group.

This supports the CCSS RL 5.1 (quoting accurately) and W 5.9a (response to literature) standards.

Centers one and two are available NOW!

I'm currently working on the next two, which should be available by Sunday.

The third station is based on the Harry Potter novels.  

Students will have to sort descriptions into the characters that are being described.  The center includes descriptions for all the novels and has an "I don't know this yet" section so students can use this sort for any of the seven novels.

This epic sort comes in at thirty five pages and is quite the steal!

The fourth station is also based on Harry Potter, but has students sort descriptions for the houses of Hogwarts.  

Enjoy!

All of these stations are available on my TpT store.  Again, the first two are up now and the second two will be available by Sunday night :)

 If you purchase the products, thank you!  Please consider rating them as well :)

TpT

As I'm sure you're well aware, I have a store on TpT.  (Teachers pay teachers)  I have been in the classroom for five years now and am proud of the rigorous novel studies and centers I've made.  Nothing in my store was made for the sake of posting it on TpT, but rather created for my own classroom and shared with others.  I know that I work hard and more importantly, my students make great academic gains.

Here is a short list of what is available on TpT

novel units (questions, answers, vocab, extension activities, homework questions)
Percy Jackson & the Lightning Thief (1)
Percy Jackson & the Sea of Monsters (2)
Percy Jackson & the Titan's Curse (3)
Percy Jackson & the Battle of the Labyrinth (4) 
Percy Jackson & the Last Olympian (5) 
Steal Away Home
Loser
Gossamer
Holes
Hunger Games
Catching Fire
Mockingjay
From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
Number the Stars
Tiger Rising
The Giver
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

literacy centers/stations
Percy Jackson "Who am I?" center with answer key (based on books 1 & 2)
Hunger Games & Catching Fire "who am I?" center with answer key
Harry Potter "Who am I?" center with answer key
Series of Unfortunate Events "Who am I?" center with answer key
literacy stations bundle
Percy Jackson quote sort for the Lightning Thief
Percy Jackson quote sort for the Sea of Monsters
Percy Jackson quote sort for the Titan's Curse
Percy Jackson quote sort for the Battle of the Labyrinth
Percy Jackson quote sort for the Titan's Curse
editing & revising sort (writing)
Tuck Everlasting quote sort
Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone chronological order sort (freebie)
Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets chronological order sort
Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban chronological order sort
Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire chronological order sort 
Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix chronological order sort
Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince chronological order sort
Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows chronological order sort 
Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets quote sort
Hunger Games chronological order sort 
Catching Fire chronological order sort
Prefix concentration, CCSS aligned
Roots concentration, CCSS aligned
Suffix concentration, CCSS aligned
Catching Fire quote sort

math centers
math taboo (vocabulary activity)
math centers bundle

science centers
mixtures & solutions sort 
types of maps sort (geography)
"I have, Who has?" landforms review
5 themes of geography ppt (freebie)

misc
table of contents organizer for notebooks (multiple academic areas)
back to school activities bundle
teacher forms guide bundle
Teacher name plate


Coming Soon!
math strategies sorts
prefixes, roots & suffixes sorts
Harry Potter novel guides (1-6)
Harry Potter Quote sorts
Mockingjay chronological order sort
Teacher guides for the Series of Unfortunate Events
Teacher guides for Hatchet

and more!  I just need a time travel device :)

#55!

Finally I've finished my TpT product of a teacher guide for Suzanne Collin's Catching Fire.

Somehow I managed to lose my electronic copy of my notes so I had to retype the teacher guide from my hard copy which can take a while.  Granted, I could have typed quicker but football was on and I was distracted by the plays :)

I revised the unit to include open ended homework questions and suggested answers for questions.  Coming in at 22 pages with update extension ideas and a text to movie connection, it's quite a bargin!

Hope you enjoy and may the odds be ever in your favor :)

(I don't know about you, but I'm eagerly awaiting November!)

Anchor Chart for norms for small reading groups

This anchor chart will be remade and posted in my classroom.

I love that it stresses to students that it's okay to politely disagree with one another.  In fact, it's encouraged.  Yay for discourse :)

I needed this poster last year during some heated literary discussions.

They would continue the Peeta vs. Gale discussions long after I dismissed them from our group.  It was quite the topic at recess!

May the odds be ever in your favor.

New TpT quote sort for Catching Fire

I love this book.  I love the series.

I created a quote sort, available here on TpT for this novel. 

Students will read quotes and sort them into which character said what.

For example, who said "Maybe I'd think that too" said ?? bitterly, "if it weren't for the baby."

Poor Caesar, he keeps having to deal with Peeta's confessions.

Not only was that an emotional line in the novel but definitely a game changer for the rest of the novel.  A "golden line" if you will :)

This center supports RL 5.1 and RL 5.3 for the Common Core State Standards.  It's a must have for small groups!

May the odds be ever in your favor.

New Product: novel unit for Hunger Games

November 2010:

I was first assigned the Hunger Games as a homework assignment for a class on contemporary children's literature.  To be fair, I think I was assigned the first eight chapters of the book.

I started on a Thursday night.  The next thing I knew, it was three in the morning and my alarm was set to go off in two hours.  Needless to say, a Borders trip was in the near future and I quickly owned the series.

After a successful donorschoose grant, I owned six of each of the books. I was ready to do the novel with my highest groups. 

We read the first novel after the Hatchet series and many, many discussions about survival.

I have posted my notes and teacher unit for the Hunger Games on TpT.  This 21 page document has vocabulary suggestions, extension project suggestions, comprehension questions for each chapter (with answers) and more.  It's a must have!

Happy reading...

And may the odds be ever in your favor.

(Catching Fire and Mockingjay coming soon!)

Roots sort (TPT)

New product posted: Greek & Latin roots sort, available on TpT

Upcoming novel studies:

Hunger Games
Catching Fire
Mockingjay
The Lightning Thief
The Sea of Monsters
The Harry Potter Series

What would you like to see?

Book suggestions

So I just sort of realized that running two different reading blocks means I need more novel suggestions to read with students.  Since I send my kiddos home with the books as part of their homework and written responses to literature, it's not like two groups can share the same book at the same time.  I mean, I will pace out the groups as best I can so one group is always ahead of another with book series (Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, etc).

However, I need some other book suggestions so I can work on teacher grants or visit the library.

I am currently reading Jerry Spinelli's Loser and loving it.

I am part way through Rick Riordan's The Lost Hero and have the two sequels on my coffee table: 

 

I have these books ready to read with small groups:

 

 

So what else should I read? I'm looking for book suggestions for DRA levels 40-60 or grade level equivalents 4.0 and up.  

Please recommend novels and why my munchkins should read them :)

Who am I?

One of my students' favorite centers was to play "who am I?".  They would read character description cards and take turns guessing which person or animal is being described.

Can you guess who we're describing?

If you guessed Hermione Granger, you are correct!  If you were wrong, brush up on your reading, you muggle :)

These sorts (Harry Potter, Hunger Games and Percy Jackson)

are available at my TpT store, which is accessible here!  Don't worry, an answer key is included so students can do the center without teacher assistance, leaving you free to help others or lead a small reading group.

Happy shopping :)

-Ms. Vice

Catching Fire and Hunger Games

With November's movie date fast approaching, I am one of many eagerly re-reading Suzanne Collin's Catching Fire.  While I liked the movie adaptation of Hunger Games, it pales in comparison to my love of the books...but isn't that always the case?

I am also preparing for reading these novels with a new group of fifth graders in a few months an preparing for the inevitable comments from a few stinkers about "can't I just watch the movie instead?".  No, you can't.  Movie fans lack the development of Katniss and Peeta's relationship.  More importantly, they can' tell me who Madge is...so no, the movie doesn't replace the book.

To prepare for these literature circles, I've made sorts where students must put the events back into chronological order.  This requires them to pay attention to key details, re-read the parts of the book and think critically about how the chapters and events build upon one another.

They are available on my TPT store now :)

(Mockingjay should be up within the week but Hunger Games and Catching Fire are available now!)

My students enjoyed this sort and would have some great literature discussions.  They'd often independently start talking about which characters they liked best and which events were the most meaningful to them, which is always exciting as a teacher :)