It is the second week of student-led discussions for our novel study, which is in its third week. Sixth graders are discussing chapters 10-14 in The Giver; seventh graders are discussing chapters 11-15 in The Fault in Our Stars; and eighth graders are discussing through page 196 in Feed. 

In these discussions, we are summarizing main events, discussing why events are occurring as they are, making connections to events outside of the novel, and predicting what we think is going to happen next. This last piece, though, is getting tricky. I had planned to finish these novels the week before we go on Thanksgiving Break; however, more than half of middle schoolers are ahead or completely done with their grade’s novel! So, we are revisiting our reading schedule and may be able to dive into our summative novel project before break begins. 

To engage with your student, you could ask them: 

• who is leading class discussion this week;
• what chapter they are currently reading; 
• how their opinion of the book has changed (or not) now that we are (at least) more than half way done with book; and 
• what they think is the point/theme of the book.