The+Novel+Inquiry

==== We began our look into Genocide by engaging in a small group novel study. Each student chose one of six books. From there they were given some assignments to complete. Part of the novel inquiry was to meet with a group of classmates that were also reading the same book. During this time, the students were presented with a question to answer in the format of a written conversation. In a written conversation, one person in the group begins by responding to the posed question and then each group member takes turns responding to each others responses underneath. This is intended to help them overcome the awkwardness and fear that sometimes occurs in middle years students when asked to discuss serious topics or respond out loud to a question. I had the students respond on paper but in future Written Conversations I would like to use a Wiki or other blog space. This would allow for the students to respond to more of their classmates that are reading other books. The reason I chose not to do it on a wiki this time was simply because of our restricted access to the laptop cart, which is too bad. Hopefully in the future, this situation will improve and projects such as these can all take place on a wiki. ====

// [|We Are Witnesses] : Five Diaries of Teenagers Who Died in the Holocaust by// Jacob Boas
[|A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of A Boy Soldier] by Ishmael Beah

The Assignment
 You will be working in small groups together. You will make up a schedule where you divide the books into 6 sections for a reading timeline. You will be required to read the assigned novel and complete two of the following assignments by the given due dates. Individual Assignments:

**1) Author Information**: research your author's biography and determine the reasons for writing your novel. Search for any other novels written by your author. Is there a connection between them and the novel you are reading? Choose a way to present the information you learn.


 * 2) Connections**: Contemplate meaningful connections between other novels you have read, movies you have seen, world events or other connections you deem significant. Connect to self, the world and to text. Find a unique way to present the connections that you find.


 * 3) Map it!**: Your novel will include a setting that may not be in Canada. Find a map of the country in which your story takes place. If there are specific places on the map identify them with events from the story. This map is to be hand drawn or traced. It is to be colored, labeled and includes a legend, a compass rose. All places must be printed horizontally, with the exception of bodies of water. Include bordering countries.


 * 4) Timeline**: Choose 8-12 major events that took place in your novel from the beginning to the end. Using a large 11 x 17 piece of paper, divide your paper by folding it into 8 or 12 squares. Each of the squares will become a cell for you to depict an event in your timeline of events. You may use dialogue bubbles and narration bars. The first cell should be your title, author and your name. You can also use Comic Life to create this timeline.


 * 5) What a character!** : Choose a character from your novel and complete a character analysis on them. Include as much information as you can about your character. Also include at least 8 character traits for your character along with proofs from the book. This may be in the form of quotes or events. Include a drawing or drawings of your character.


 * While You Read: You will engage in the following two activities as you read your book**


 * Visual Response:** After each of the six sections you read, you will create a visual response to what you have read in your visual response journal. These can be a drawing of the most memorable action or moments in the section or an abstract representation of your reaction to what you have read. Be creative!


 * Sticky Situation:** Use sticky notes throughout your reading to record thoughts, questions, connections, feelings, I wonder ... statements. Place the sticky notes in your book to mark the spots. These will be used as jumping off points for big questions and inquiry topics. You should have at least 5 sticky notes per section read.


 * Group Meetings**


 * Written Group Response Conversations**: During your reading of the book you will meet your group. You will be given a debatable topic such as author's style, characters, events or a specific question that came up. In your group write the topic, the names of the participants, the title of the novel and the date on the top of a page. One person starts to write, others will be reading etc. This will be timed by the group leader ( approx. one minute each). When it passes to the next person, they read what has been written by the last person only and continue by responding to what they have said about the topic. Tell your reaction, make a comment, ask questions, share a connection you've made, agree or disagree, or raise a whole new aspect. Keep the conversation going. I will initiate these conversations. There will be several of them throughout the course of your book.