Week 16: Attitude

As we watch The Pursuit of Happyness, we see a father struggling with overwhelming obstacles over long stretches of time. What do you notice about his attitude? How important is attitude to our daily lives? How do you view your own attitude, or the attitudes of those around you?

Week 15: Supports

As we are reading in We Beat the Street, it's important to have people you can trust to guide you and support you as you face life's obstacles. Who are some people in your life that you trust to help you? How do they help you?

Week 14: Inspiration

The book we have begun, We Beat the Street, is based on overcoming obstacles and the people or events that helped them achieve their goals.

Share some people or events that have contributed to your life: helped you, taught you, led you, inspired you. You can decide how personal you want to be!

Week 13: Independent Research

Generate a list of ideas that people might want to research for their independent research papers. Keep in mind that your paper should be about three pages!

Week 12: Nonfiction Rules!

So, how are you enjoying reading nonfiction? Is it what you expected? What do you like or dislike about it?

Week 9: Winterdance Research

It's time! As you did for The Glass Castle, list some ideas related to Winterdance that you could use for a research project.

Week 7: Interactive Survey

Now that you have the Iditarod survey based on http://www.iditarod.com/, see if you can help each other fill it out. You may not copy and paste the information from the website in big chunks. Instead, see if you can communicate how to divvy up the questions, decide who will answer what, and determine how to find what is needed. Help each other navigate the site. If someone is stuck, s/he should ask for help.

Since I expect this to be more interactive with perhaps more frequent entries, you should aim for FIVE entries this week!

Weeks 5-6: Research for Glass Castle

Generate ideas for possible research topics related to The Glass Castle.

Weeks 5-6: Intro to Winterdance

Weeks 5-6: Intro to Winterdance

Share what you know or can find out (including websites) about the Iditarod, Gary Paulsen, and/or dog sled mushing.

Week 3: Family

Think about the family in The Glass Castle. Then offer your ideas about how families work. What makes a family successful and healthy, or dysfunctional? What are the roles of parents and children? What works and does not work about the Walls family?

Week 2: "Everyone Has A Story"

During this course, I would like you to complete at least two projects that show something about yourself. Many people don't think they have a story, but everyone has something interesting to share (even if you don't think so!). Remember, we like learning about others.

This week, generate possible ideas for what people could share about themselves. It might be small or life-changing, humorous or soul-searching. Ask each other questions, share tidbits, and help each other develop ideas to develop into a personal nonfiction story!

Week 1: Icebreaker

Find two things you have in common with EACH member of the class, including the teacher!