Perfectly Paired

If anyone is still reading this, I must first utter most sincere words of apology for not being a diligent reporter.  I know I’ve mentioned before that the site is extremely slow, and then with the busy-ness of the holidays, posting was promptly placed on the back burner.  Thrown in a week’s worth of snow days, and a trip to Colorado for my brother’s wedding, and well, you get the picture.

At any rate, today I thought I would start anew.  We’re celebrating one of two full weeks of school in 2008 and while I’m completely exhausted, I’m also glad to have some consistency in my work schedule, and feel that we’re finally moving forward.

While the perfect pair my title refers to is something only I can see, it’s still worth sharing.  You see, my 8th grade students are a third of the way through The Giver by Lois Lowry and the if you’ve never read it, it truly is an intriguing story, albeit somewhat strange.  We’ve had some engaging discussions about the freedom to choose, a utopian (or distopian) society, as well as literary aspects such as symbolism and soon characterization.  The premise of the story is that a young boy is selected to be the Receiver of Memory for his community.   This is where the connection lies.

In seventh grade, my students have just finished reading a selection of memoirs where they worked to uncover the events in the story as well as the author’s experience.  They have since begun working to focus on a topic or specific memory from their own lives, which they will share in a memoir of their own.

I’m especially interested in the 8th grade study of memoir following the reading of this book, as I think the discussions we’ve had will give them greater fuel for their ideas.

Finally, I’d like to thank each of you for your continued work with your student.  Without parental involvement and support, my job is extremely difficult.  By emphasizing the importance of school at home, students develop an attitude of confidence and responsibility thats is, at times, directly reflected in their attitude.  I welcome your thoughts and comments and look forward to the remainder of the school year! 

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