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We are begining our fantasy unit. This unit is treated a bit differently. The students are split into four different groups and are reading four different books. They reach all aspects of fanasty and a bit of science fiction. They will be reading in a literature group fashion and will each have a different role per meeting. The roles have been chosen by the students and they have already had their first meeting.

We will meet on Tuesdays and Fridays for the next three weeks to wrap up the book. During the week of testing (April 28-May3) we will wrap up the unit with short stories from our literature book.

Role Description

Discussion Director - responsible for writing down 5 thought-provoking questions for the purpose of group discussion based on that day’s reading assignment. As group facilitator, it is also this student’s job to direct the group discussion, keep track of the student work, and rate the group’s “Habits of Work”.

Literary Luminary - responsible for choosing parts of the story that he/she wants to read out loud to the group. The idea is to help the students remember some interesting, powerful, puzzling, or important sections of the text being read. You might decide on passages or paragraphs that are worth being read aloud. You must justify in writing the reason for selecting them. Additionally, if the Discussion Director is absent, this student will serve as stand is Facilitator.

Connector - responsible for finding connections between the text his/her group is reading and the outside world. This means connecting the reading to the following: his/her own life, happenings at school or in the community, similar events at other times and places, other books or stories, other writings on the same topic, or other writings by the same author.

Character Captain - responsible for revealing specific personality traits of the charater(s) within the novel. This means he/she will find examples in the assigned reading of behaviors/actions that help the group members to know the character(s).

Vocabulary Enricher - responsible for finding especially important vocabulary in the story. Vocab is selected should focus on words that are unfamiliar, interesting, important, repetitive, funny, puzzling, descriptive, vivid or those used in an unusual way.