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Miss Catherine’s Class
January 26-29
Reading Workshop
• Before we begin…
…make sure that you have your red
notebooks on your desks.
Great Readers…
• …recognize that stories address particular themes.
• As readers of fiction, we pay attention to what is happening
in each story and to how the story fits into larger themes in
literature.
• A theme is a dominant idea that the author wants to share.
• There are many themes in literature, and many texts
address the same themes.
• Part of our thinking as readers is to uncover themes and
determine what this particular text is saying about that
theme.
Great Readers…
• When identifying a
theme, we often
express this idea in
a single word, such
as friendship,
family, equality or
discrimination
• Let’s take a look at
some common
themes in
literature…
Great Readers…• Today, we are going to
read a beautiful
realistic fiction story
called The Can Man by
Laura E. Williams
• Yet while this story is
fictional, it does
address issues and
themes common not
only in literature but
also in the real world.
Great Readers…
• As we read, let’s
identify possible
themes and consider
what this story has to
say about those
themes.
• Begin a new page in
your reading notebooks
for this story…
Great Readers…• Read through “…been down on his luck.”
• How does Tim seem to feel about what has happened
to the Can Man? Does it seem to influence his feelings
about him?
– Turn & Talk to your partner and make sure to write down a note
in your notebooks about your thinking.
• Now consider possible themes that are already
emerging and write them down too.
• Continue reading until Jamal agrees to give Time the
cans he usually saves for the Can Man.
Great Readers…• What do you think about Tim’s decision to collect
cans?
– Write down your thoughts.
• It seems as though Tim doesn’t seem to
understand how he might be taking cans and
money from someone who needs them more than
he does.
• Continue reading until after Tim and The Can Man
meet on the rainy walk…
Great Readers…
• What are you thinking at this point?
–Write down your thoughts.
• Read through the next page…
• What do you think about the Can
Man’s reaction to Tim collecting cans?
– Turn & Talk to your partners…
Great Readers…• Write about your
thinking regarding
the end of the
story…
• Take a few minutes to
read over your notes
and add to your initial
list of possible themes
in this story.
• Now think and write
about the theme of
this story.
Great Readers…• Now let’s move into a
conversation to discuss
possible themes of this
story and how The Can
Man addresses theose
themes.
• Remember, there is not
one right idea but many
right ideas.
• The challenge is to be able
to use evidence from the
text to defend an idea.
Great Readers…• Let’s really push ourselves
to refer back to the text
and support our thinking
with evidence from the
text. Who would like to
start off our conversation?
• The idea of theme, and
the author’s message
about the theme, is one
we will continue to
explore as readers in this
unit and this year.
5-Minute Break
Writing Workshop
• Before we begin…
…please make sure that you have your
white binders on your desks!
Great Writers…• …close their stories by resolving the
characters’ conflicts in the end of the
story.
• Imagine any of the following examples
were part of the conflicts you chose for
your fiction stories…
Great Writers…Death of a
Loved One…
Divorce…
Argument with a sibling…
Great Writers…• Let’s begin by imagining an example…
• We discussed a character the other day named Shorty who
was a trumpet player while he lived with the Silent Tribe.
• Can anyone suggest how his belief system might help him
resolve his conflict of living in his problematic circumstances?
• Do you think that while he loves playing the trumpet, his
belief of “making noise” may change into “making music” so
that his silent neighbors won’t view him as a noise maker
anymore…
• Turn & Talk to your partner to discuss whether this is a good
plan.
Great Writers…• Now let’s remember what conflict you decided your
character was having…then imagine how through
his/her own personal religion or belief system, they
solved their conflict…how they may have found
spiritual health.
• Turn & Talk to your partners about how you might be
able to resolve your conflicts peacefully but with a
great concluding statement to allow the readers to feel
as though all of the questions they had while reading
your story, were answered.
• Let’s imagine that may be a great way to end our
stories…a great way to conclude the conflict our
stories have been discussing so far!
Great Writers…• A great way to end a fiction story is with the resolution
of the conflict your readers have been reading about.
• Your readers have begun to care for the characters
who have been experiencing these conflicts and so
they want to see that the characters resolve their
issues in a way that may also teach them a lesson.
• For this reason, make sure that your concluding
sentence restates the moral lesson of your fiction
story…something for your readers to take away with
them.
5-Minute Break
Writing Workshop
• Before we begin…
…please make sure that you have your
white binders on your desks!
Great Writers…
• …revise their stories by returning to
their story maps to make sure
they’ve included all the details.
Great Writers…
• Can we all turn
back to the pre-
editing section of
our white binders
to where we have
our Story Maps?
Great Writers…• Imagine you re-read your story…from beginning
to end…and you realize that you forgot to base
your conflict on the belief system of your main
character…as you had planned to do on your
story map!
• What can you do?
• It’s simple…just take a fresh sheet of paper and
make sure that the conflict is written in a way to
really show your readers what it is based on!
Great Writers…• Imagine your original notes about your character or your
setting did not transfer clearly enough to your first draft.
• What can you?
• Take out a fresh sheet of paper and re-write that section
of your story. Make sure that you are as clear as
possible.
• Also, when creating your second draft (your revision),
make sure that you do not lose your first draft.
– I base part of your grade on the improvements I see from one
draft to the next…
Great Writers…• Let’s also consider typing our papers at this point…if
this is something that would interest you, I can email
you a template document where you can just start
typing…I will create the settings for you…font type,
size, spacing, margins, etc.
– make sure that you save it onto your computer at home!
• This will allow you to sit at your computers at home…
save the attached document from my email and just
start typing. Make sure you print it before coming to
school Wednesday morning!
5-Minute Break
Writing Workshop
• Before we begin…
…please make sure that you have your
white binders on your desks!
Great Writers…
• …revise their writing by including vibrant verbs
and adjectives.
• Great writers need to help their readers visualize
their stories by including vivid details.
• Let’s read a passage from Gary Paulsen’s novel
Hatchet, and identify which details Paulsen used
to create these images...
Great Writers…“BRIAN ROBESON stared
out the window of the small
plane at the endless green
northern wilderness below.
It was a small plane, a
Cessna 406—a bush-plane
—and the engine was so
loud, so roaring and
consuming and loud, that it
ruined any chance for
conversation.”
Great Writers…• Who can tell me what we just
read about?
• Do you think the author used
sufficient adjectives and verbs
to really paint a picture for his
readers about the setting for
the first scene of his book?
• When he wrote about this
setting, how many senses do
you think he used when
describing his first setting?
Great Writers…"Get in the copilot's seat." Which Brian had done. They had taken
off and that was the last of the conversation. There had been the
initial excitement, of course. He had never flown in a single-
engine plane before and to be sitting in the copilot's seat with all
the controls right there in front of him, all the instruments in his
face as the plane clawed for altitude, jerking and sliding on the
wind currents as the pilot took off, had been interesting and
exciting. But in five minutes they had leveled off at six thousand
feet and headed northwest and from then on the pilot had been
silent, staring out the front, and the drone of the engine had
been all that was left. The drone and the sea of green trees that
lay before the plane's nose and flowed to the horizon, spread with
lakes, swamps, and wandering streams and rivers.
Great Writers…• What else do we know about the setting now?
• Was there a bit of a climax included in this scene?
• Did the author use verbs vibrant enough to keep
your attention throughout?
• Now turn to your own draft and see what vibrant
and exciting verbs you might be able to include
when describing your setting as well as the
conflict that occurs.
• Make sure that the adjectives really paint a picture
for your readers!
5-Minute Break
Reading Workshop
• Before we begin…
…make sure that you have your red
notebooks on your desks.
Readers…• …construct understanding at the beginning of the
story by paying attention to story elements.
• Works of fiction pose particular challenges at the
beginning of the story.
• Readers are faced with a lot of information and need
to sort through and understand that information.
• By identifying what we know and what we are
questioning, or wondering about, we are able to
construct our understanding of the story.
Readers…• As readers of fiction, we use the framework of the
elements of a story to build this understanding.
• Today, we are going to read a short story called
“Seeking a Hidden Hive.”
• As we read, we are going to write into our Red
Notebooks our noticings about the characters,
setting and conflict in the beginning of the story.
• Then we will consider what we still wonder or don’t
know yet.
Readers…• Copy this chart
into your notebooks to help you…
• Read aloud through the
line…”but I don’t have enough
money.”• So far I know that
Guyo is a young boy who really wants to help his father.
• I wonder exactly what Guyo wants to help his father do.
Readers…• I also know that
Guyo’s grandfather has suggested that he help by getting honey for his mother.
• Why does he need honey?
• And why doesn’t he have enough money to get honey?
• After marking ?’s on board, continue reading through …”he whistled again.”
Readers…• Now I know that
Guyo is a member of the Borano Tribe.
• I wonder where this tribe lives.
• What exactly is this tribe?
Readers…• I have also learned
a cool new word: fuulido.
• I know that this is a shell with a hole in it used to call for Honey Catchers.
• I wonder what a honey catcher is.
• Will it actually work?
• Will it help Guyo and his grandfather find honey?
Readers…• Now as I finish the
story, I want you guys to follow this pattern and continue to write down things you know as well as things you wonder about.
• Then we can share…
Readers…• When we carefully
construct meaning at the
beginning of a story, we
can use every element of
the story and ask questions
as we read.
• Wondering early on in the
story allows us to look for
answers and build a deeper
understanding of our
stories, which ultimately
leads to more enjoyment.
