"Finishing First" and "Working to Win"

This week the students read two passages in shared reading in order to work on our comparison and contrast skills. Before comparing the two main characters of each story, the students first thought about them individually. This response asked, "What lesson do each of the main characters, Denise and Jordan, learn in the stories?"

"Big Trouble In Little Village"

This story is about a boy named Carlos who is distressed when he finds something bad had happened to his precious bicycle. An annoying old neighbor, Mr. Novak, turns out to be a surprisingly big help . . .

The students response question was: "How do Carlos' thoughts about Mr. Novak change in this story? Provide text evidence to help you prove your answer."

"Hoot and Hollar Hat Dance"

11.05.09 : This is a folk tail about a spider, Anansi, from Ghana. He is a greedy fellow who looses his hair permenantly due to his hoarding of food.

Student Response: What kind of a character is Anansi? Please give text evidence to support your answer.