Theme Development

Your blog for your 40 Book Challenge this week will focus on theme. You will need to determine a theme and analyze its development throughout the novel. By looking closely at character's actions, the setting, plot events, and/or the conflict, you can identify clues that are written by the author to help teach you (the reader) a message about life or human nature. Start first by looking at your 'Universal Theme' sheet to help you get started.

Narrative Twist - 7th grade

Choose any story in this unit and write a new ending for that story. Your new ending should show a major character changing as a result of the events in the original story. You can rewrite the ending starting from any point in the story that you choose. You need to add dialogue to your story. Try to make the ending as creative as possible.

Criteria:

• Character is chosen
• Picked logical events from the story
• Showed a new/distinct decision the character would make
• New ending to the story

1st Quarter Reflections

We have reached the end of 1st Quarter...can you believe it?! Now take a moment to reflect on what you have learned so far. Some questions to consider:

Where are you in your 40 Book Challenge? How have your blogs been progressing since August? What strategies have benefited you? What have you learned about the world? How have your research skills improved?

Make sure to include a topic sentence and supporting details that fully support your main idea.

How do Elements of a Story interact with one another?

Based on your reading for your 40 Book Challenge, your blog post this week will be centered on  how elements of a story interact with one another. You may focus on how the setting affects the character OR you may focus on how the conflict drives character development (causes the character to change).

40 Book Challenge for 2015-2016 School Year

THE EXPECTATIONS

 Poetry anthologies/novels: 2

 Traditional literature: 2

 Realistic fiction: 6

 Historical fiction: 2

 Fantasy: 4

 Science fiction: 3

 Mystery: 2

 Informational: 5

 Biography, autobiography, memoir: 3

 Personal-choice chapter books: 11

HAPPY READING!

Parallels between Mawi's experiences and the Syrian refugee crisis

Last week we started reading Of Beetles and Angels by Mawi Asgedom, which starts off by describing Mawi's journey from a refugee camp in Sudan to his relocation in Chicago, Illinois. This week you have picked an article that focuses on some aspect of refugees throughout history, or more specifically the Syrian refugee crisis.

In your blog you will analyze how Of Beetles and Angels and your AoW make connections or distinctions between individuals, ideas and/or events. You must include at least three paragraphs, two of which will focus on a connection made through individuals, ideas, or events. Your last paragraph will center on the question, 'How does war affect individuals and societies?' Follow the TIQA paragraph format, making sure to include textual evidence from your two sources.

Top Ten Book Blog

You must compile a list of the 10 books that are personal favorites or which have influenced you the most in your life. After each book title and author, please provide a graphic of the book cover and a brief blurb as to why this is a personal favorite or has influenced you.

1. To Kill a Mockingbird  by Harper Lee
This novel is one of my all-time favorite novels due in large part to the narrator, Scout. We are able to learn about her life and see firsthand the powerful affect her father, Atticus Finch, has on her and the town they live in. I remember the first time that I read To Kill a Mockingbird was in 9th grade and the lessons that I learned about the existence of social injustice and the importance of morals were as relevant then as they are now.

2. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

3. The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank

4. The Giver by Lois Lowry

5. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein

6. The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins

7. Wonder by R.J. Palacio

8. Little House on the Prairie Series by Laura Ingalls Wilder

9. Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery

10. Night by Elie Wiesel