The older students were part of an eight week book club where they read The Fledgling by Jane Langton.
At the start of the book club we set up expectations. All book marks needed to exhibit responses that were Detailed Articulate Thoughtful and Exemplary (DATE).
Each week children were responsible for bringing to class two examples of author’s craft. They had to share the examples outloud and explain why they chose it. As the weeks rolled by we gained increased appreciation for Langton’s descriptive and poetic writing style.
Each week the students had another assignment that focused on figurative language, personification, point of view, characterization and/or setting. These observations supported the discussion around their fiction writing assignment.
At the end of each class children graded themselves on a scale of 1 – 10 for their efforts.