Making Connections and Reading Together
Reading Together
This year I am reading Hatchet by Gary Paulsen with my 6th graders. Reading a book together at the same pace with all students helps my auditory learners tremendously, and it helps other students with their listening skills if this is a weakness.
There is no other time of day when you can "hear a pin drop" like the read aloud time. It helps that Hatchet has cliffhangers and suspense throughout.
Connections
Along with reading the book we were able to make a number of curricular connections.
- Research Connections
- Reading Connections
- Survival Education Connections
- Sensory Connections
- Fiction / Non-fiction Connections
- Critical Thinking
- Teamwork and Discussion
We are using non-fiction books about survival to compliment the reading. We also tasted dried Aronia berries.
We are partnering with our Wilderness Instruction and Leadership Development (WILD) program to combine the classroom with the outdoors. The student leaders in this group demonstrated fire-building skills for the sixth-graders.