Christmas Reading 1

Summary for Lesson 1

In today’s lesson we began studying the book Wonder by R. J Palacio. The powerpoint with all of the resources is attached below, which should be used to help plan and write the mini-essays assigned for homework. The powerpoint contains loads of information on the context of Wonder, information and things to consider about people with disabilities and their lives, along with our notes from discussing the semantic field and themes of the book, and an example P.E.E. paragraph on the theme of ‘otherness’ within the book. We had a great discussion on everyone’s favourite and least favourite parts of the book, and everyone did some great work on linking a poem written by a disabled poet with the wider themes and message in Wonder. Well done today guys, we had some good conversations about the importance of kindness and how Palacio’s focus on this theme affects her readers, and also some really good work was done on the concept of a semantic field and the words we associate with the novel. Good luck writing your homework paragraphs and I will see you all soon! 🙂

Homework 

Lesson one

Summary for Lesson 2

In today’s lesson we continued our work on Wonder, considering the significance of character development in the story, along with ideas of narrative. The powerpoint with all of the resources is attached below, which should be used to help plan and write the mini-essays assigned for homework. The powerpoint contains lots of thoughts about the skill set needed for inference, how to analyse characterisation, thoughts on Palacio’s use of narrative voice and how different perspectives may change that, and finally, some quick-fire questions to help the students think more deeply about the style and nature of Palacio’s writing. The class today worked brilliantly, I was really impressed by the contributions but particularly by everyone’s considered and fantastic acting skills in the hot-seating exercise that was designed to help them put their character inferences into practice. There were some really interesting ideas floating around about Julian’s character and whether we can classify him as ‘all bad’, and the students picked up on and utilised the skill of inference in an exemplary manner. Both students produced some incredible work today and I really enjoyed our lesson. Well done guys and I will see you tomorrow! Keep up the amazing work 🙂

Homework

Here is the video I said might be helpful when thinking about character inferences and the effect of the narration in Wonder: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceWNY5eNSWY

P.S. The homework is due on Monday 28th December, the powerpoint is wrong!

Summary for Lesson 3

In this penultimate lesson on Wonder, we looked more closely at how to conduct close textual analysis and how to write about thematic and symbolic material in a literary context using quotational evidence. The powerpoint with all of the resources is attached below, which should be used to help plan and write the mini-essays assigned for homework. The powerpoint contains our work on considering and then creating our own ‘precepts’ in the same style as Palacio’s precepts in Wonder, a book review of Wonder, lots of ideas on what role symbols and motifs play in the book and how they support the central themes, and some more general discussion about the message of Wonder. We also had a really illuminating, exciting and lively debate on one of the key quotations from Wonder, which absolutely everyone contributed to brilliantly and in a really passionate, thoughtful way. Both students worked incredibly hard today, I was particularly impressed by their debate skills and the maturity they demonstrated when engaging with the question of kindness and rightness. They also did particularly well in identifying and talking about the importance of the symbolic in Wonder, identifying symbols that I had not even thought of yet! The mini reviews they wrote were really fantastic and I really enjoyed hearing the precepts they came up with, which were very moving and reflected the themes of the book perfectly. The work completed today was of a very high standard, really well done to you both! Keep up the excellent work guys and I will see you next week. Merry Christmas! 🙂

Homework

Masks help Auggie by covering up his face so people won’t make fun of him since he is extraordinary and has a different ugly face that he calls himself. Since masks can help him cover up his face, this was also the reason why he likes Halloween the most among all fests. I also think that if Auggie was in this COVID-19, he would be so happy because he can wear masks. One thing bad about masks is that he might have breathing problem and he might not breath through the mask.

Summary for Lesson 4

In our final lesson on Wonder, we focused on thinking about how literary analysis can be utilised in exam and essay contexts. The powerpoint with all of the resources is attached below, which should be used to help plan and write the homework. The powerpoint contains work on three main styles of literary analysis: comprehension questions, thematic essay questions and directed writing. We had a very detailed and thoughtful conversation about what literary analysis entails, discussed the concept of word choice and why it matters, and shared some final reflections on the message and moral of the novel. Well done for your work today everyone, and for all the lovely contributions you have made to our classes in the past few weeks! Have a lovely New Year and I hope to see you all again in the future 🙂

Homework