Quarter 2 is underway!

We are Catching Fire! Class discussion on the first chapter of Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins was most definitely fiery! We explored the question of Katniss Everdeen's state of mind as she has returned home triumphant from the Hunger Games. Her family and friends are safe; she has more money and food than she could ever hope for; her mother and sister live in the Victor's Village; so why does she seem so unhappy? Students had many responses to her current state of mind, and to what they knew or thought would be coming up next.

As the quarter commences, we will be working with the students on expanding their vocabulary through the Wordly Wise program; we will be reading closely, and using higher order thinking questions to really dig deep into the meaning of what we are reading. We will also be relating different themes in our novel, Catching Fire, to the civilization of Ancient Rome and the time of the gladiators. We will be writing responses as well as summaries to synthesize what we learn and to show what we know.

Our next writing project will be the Argument Paper. In these types of writing, a student is not only trying to persuade a reader that what they believe is correct, but they must present facts from reliable sources that back up their claim as well as acknowledge an opposing claim.