The week following Spring Break is a challenging one for students and for teachers. Truth be told we all want Spring Break to last forever, but the idiom is true: all good things must come to an end.
Still we were able to jump back into Steinbeck's novella, Of Mice and Men, without too much of a gap. Students were able to make interesting connections because the Reader's Journal approach helped to organize their thoughts. I used to give quizzes, fill-in-the-blank worksheets, and multiple choice worksheets to give me feedback on what students were learning, but they really didn't help me or them. Choosing instead to focus on the text and requiring at least 150 words of thought forced students to dig deeper in their learning.
By the end of the novella many were excited to see how well the BQs they created fit with the book. As laughable as Lennie seemed to be in the beginning of the piece he became humanized in the minds of the students and they were able to put themselves in his shoes.
To this point in the marking period I am pleased with the way students are working, thinking, and interacting it will help them to grow as learners and thinkers whether they notice it right away or not.