The Week in Review

At the end of our first full week together, we should now be committed to reading every night for a minimum of 100 pages a week, and after visiting the library, trading books, and sharing passages, we should also have settled on our book choices. You'll need to look over the book response choices for first quarter and set a goal for the book responses you have chosen and the books you will be reading.
Tomorrow you will have a chance to turn in your portfolio work and to report your goals. We'll be traveling to the mobile laptop lab room to take the SRI and to investigate this web log. You'll need your sign in password and some patience!

I am heartened at your enthusiasm over your books and your readiness to share passages. It will become even more interesting when we begin to share responses in the next few weeks.

Here's an idea for thought and free writing: If you could design your own school and your own individual education program, what would it look like? What would you study and how, and how would you stay motivated?

Powerful Passages

I recently started reading Amy Tan's Saving Fish From Drowning. It was the title that caught my attention, and when I read the quote on the opening page, I knew I wanted to read on:

A pious man explained to his followers: "It is evil to take lives and
nobel to save them. Each day I pledge to save a hundred lives. I
drop my net in the lake and scoop out a hundred fishes. I place
the fishes on the bank, where they flop and twirl. "Don't be scared,"
I tell those fishes. "I am saving you from drowning." Soon enough, the
fishes grow calm and lie still. Yet, sad to say, I am always too late.
The fishes expire. And because it is evil to waste anything, I take
those dead fishes to market and I sell them for a good price. With the
money I receive, I buy more nets so I can save more fishes. -Anonymous

I'll have to find out how the story might have something to do with good intentions
and ignorance. Amy Tan's descriptive prose is beautiful, and tomorrow when we share passages, I've marked a couple that make me feel as if I am there with the author on her journey to trace Budda's footsteps from southwestern China.

Your goal is to read a minimum of one hundred pages a week for this quarter. There are five more weeks in this quarter. Happy reading!

Reading and Writing Territories

I hope all of you got some good ideas today as we passed books around and gave them a quick overview. Of course, it will be even more interesting as we begin to share book responses after we finish reading our books. As you think about the kind of reading you enjoy, you may notice that your reading interests may be very similar to your writing territories. (For example, I couldn't leave my pets off either list.) Tomorrow we'll look at ways to share our book responses. That, to me, is the best part of reading, like talking to a friend about a movie you've just seen. If you are still looking for book titles, check out the link (the underlined word "book") in the August 31st post. It will take you to lists of award winners, and I've gotten lots of ideas there.

Tomorrow we'll share passages from our books, so be sure you throw your book back into your backpack after you read tonight. Be looking for a passage (a few lines or so) that you find interesting, descriptive, shocking, or in some way noteworthy. You'll have a chance to hear some of these read aloud. I'll pass back your logs so that you can pick up where you left off.

So, class, happy reading. I'll be anxious to see where tomorrow takes us!

No Pain, No Gain

Topic for thought and possible free writing: What is one area in this class in which you would really like to improve yourself? How can you get there?

Something unique about a reading and writing workshop class is the time built into the daily and weekly schedule for personal reading and writing. As students enrolled in this class, you've been given the freedom to choose a book for your independent reading. This book should be brought to class every day so that if there is time (and you can count on it on Mondays and Fridays and extra time between), you can do some of your reading. Without bringing the book to class, you will not be able to use it for your book credit. I trust this is now clear, and your books will be brought every day. What a great opportunity this is.

I am also wondering how hard you are willing to work. Musicians practice daily to better their skills, athletes spend hours on skills and strength and endurance, and the list goes on. It follows that a reader must read and a writer must write in order to improve. If you could choose one area in which to grow (intellectually and academically)in this class, what would it be? How will you achieve this? How did you select a book? Did you find a book at home that you had already read? (There is something wonderful about rereading an old favorite, but how many books have you read, and would you benefit by reading something new, or did you genuinely need to reread this old favorite?) These are questions that you need to ask yourself, and I will be asking you as well. What are you willing to invest in yourself in order to grow intellectually?

So, class, this is a challenge. Please do not squander the opportunity to make some wise choices for yourself. Tomorrow in class, we will be rating each other's books and creating our own "reading territories." This means that you will once again be using your books and your brains. I will be asking you to stretch in areas that may challenge you. That's why you are here. As the coaches say, "No pain, no gain."