8th Grade Reading Projects
by Amanda Bray
May 19, 2009
I really enjoyed teaching this 8th grade reading class this year! They are a fun bunch of students and they made my first year at Prague really enjoyable! I had the students complete a couple of projects to help them gain information about topics before reading the books. Before reading the book, Black Star, Bright Dawn, the students researched Alaska and created a travel brochure. It even helped that one of the 8th graders has been to Alaska before, so she was able to give us some more information! Before reading the book, Banner in the Sky, the students researched Switzerland. I had the students research Alaska and Switzerland because these were the settings of these two books. By having the students gain some background knowledge before they read the books, it helps them to comprehend the story.
Along with Mrs. Kavan's class, we are currently working on creating a class book. This class book will include different creative writing pieces like journal entries, poems, and stories. All of the writing materials are complete, but we are still currently working on putting the book together. Although the book was not completed by the end of the year, it will be neat to see the finished project either this summer or in the fall! Mrs. Kavan and I plan on keeping a copy of the 8th grade class book in the library for everyone to see!
