News & Events

Friday Letters - 5th & 6th Grade English, Ms. Gough

May 2, 2008

Dear Parents,

With the promise of summer so heavy in the air, the last month of school can be challenging for students!  To encourage the 5th and 6th grade English classes to continue doing their best, I recently reviewed each student’s discussion grade (a copy of which they hopefully brought home to share) and recommended ways for both classes to keep their analysis of the text engaging and focused.  One of the primary skills that we are revisiting is marking the text.  It is the single most important thing each student can do to ensure his or her successful participation in discussion.  Marking the text not only helps students to slow down and read more carefully, but it builds a facility with the text so that referencing even unmarked details comes much more easily.  I am happy to say that both classes have risen to the challenge, as evidenced by the fruitful and interesting ways that their conversations delved into the texts this week.

The 5th graders are moving competently through their latest text, The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare.  Our initial discussions focused on the ways that attaching labels to people can be harmful to both parties, with one student noting that a label’s “true meaning” often lies more in “the perspective of the person doing the labeling”, rather than in the inherent quality of the beliefs or behaviors of the person being labeled.  Students observed that “labels are usually a way to boost the labeler’s own social status or position on an issue.”  Such an insight for 5th graders to make!  Students also explored the issue of change, specifically how “abrupt change confuses people”, and discussed the effect this had on both Kit and the Puritans in her new community.

The past couple of 5th grade discussions, meanwhile, have analyzed the main character, Kit, and her evolution throughout the story thus far.  We first had a lively debate around a statement that arose during discussion:  Kit is as judgmental of the Puritans and sailors as they are of her.  The preparation for this debate, as well as the ideas that emerged from it, have provided ample material for students to continue digging into the complexity of Kit’s character.  Students found consensus in the important distinction that Kit is not actually selfish, as many of them initially felt, but rather, she is spoiled.  What is particularly impressive about this distinction is that students made it by using numerous passages from the book: some which showed her acting unselfishly, some which demonstrated that she is, indeed, spoiled.  This distinction has also proved interesting in that it actually caused some students, who initially felt they disliked Kit, to soften in their opinions of her. 

The 6th grade class is also doing a fantastic job with their text, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor.  Throughout the first third of the book, discussions were spent analyzing the many important characters, based upon their actions and words.  More and more, the class was turning to the text to reread Taylor’s exact words in order to sharpen their understanding of each character.  Taylor does an incredible job of crafting complex, vivid characters by using a competent “show, not tell” writing style, which in turn generates more lively discussion among students.  One successful activity students enjoyed, which combined the skill of text referencing with that of making character generalizations, was Character Jeopardy.  Students each wrote down two generalizations about characters in the story, and then, in Jeopardy format, I read those generalizations while student teams raced to find a piece of text that would effectively support each statement.  The game was a success, and it also served to reinforce the students’ text referencing skills!

Just as students were forming a deeper understanding of the characters and lifestyles in 1930s Mississippi, the plot began to reach a turning point.  The last several discussions, then, have delved into the more nebulous issues of racism, and have particularly focused on the ways in which the Logan parents have chosen to selectively expose their children to it.  I have been particularly impressed with the way in which the class has been able to sustain their inquiries across several class periods, building on previous conversations as they progress through the text.  During their most recent discussion, in fact, students processed their surprise about Cassie’s unawareness of slavery’s history by reviewing the ways in which her parents have “sheltered” her from it.  They raised the question, “Was it better to be sheltered from the harsh realities of racism, or was it better to know the full extent of those realities?”  And, if some balance should be found between these extremes, where do we draw the line? 

Students reached a general consensus that the Logan parents were right to shelter her to the extent that she can grow up without fear and with the self-respect and confidence to stand up for what is right.  One student observed that if she hadn’t been sheltered, then she might just accept things as they are, which everyone agreed would not be a good thing.  At the same time, students felt that too much sheltering endangered Cassie, as it kept her unaware of the possible ramifications of any serious challenge to the status quo. 

Finally, in closing this week’s letter, I’d like to mention the two writing projects we have begun in 5th and 6th grade English.  The 5th graders completed the prewriting stage of a Compare/Contrast Essay, in which they will analyze the meaningful similarities and differences between two characters from texts we’ve read in class this year.  The 6th graders, meanwhile, are writing Book Reviews for a text we’ve read in class or one from the RMDS 6th Grade Summer Reading list last year.  Students were given a timeline of their writing project with further details, but if a timeline has not come home with your child yet, please feel free to email me or stop by the English room to obtain another copy.

Sincerely,
Andrea Gough