Within a class novel, the YOSS third, fourth, and fifth grades in Mrs. Lowenstein’s classes discover more than a story; they are taught the ELA curriculum straight from the pages. Vocabulary, punctuating quotes, literary devices such as similes and metaphors, as well as how an author stages suspense in the plot line in realistic fiction, science fiction, or historical fiction are lifted right from the class novels.
Reading The Chalkbox Kid, third graders learned not only vocabulary and how commas fit into a compound sentence, but how to determine a character’s feelings from actions or speech. Students showed with facial expressions how Gregory really felt when his uncle was disrespectful to him. And in contrast, they noticed how small actions of Ivy showed her generosity toward Gregory.
Students learned the difference between feelings in a certain time, and personality traits that are always a part of the character. Students were able to determine the theme of the book, kindness, through the characters’ actions and speech.
Fourth Grade has discovered in The Power of Un, that a person’s choices in an ordinary day, even in science lab, can have ripples of effects in the following hours in ways seemingly unrelated to an unimportant, but selfish choice. Students determined which choices unexpectedly turned Gib’s world upside down. Where did he go wrong? What behavior choice could have saved his sister from an accident? Through the use of an “unner,” which allowed Gib a do-over, multiple times, students break down how Gib’s small choices for good or not, add up to deeply influencing others’ lives, as well as his own. Here, again the theme of kindness reveals how choosing to help someone else before yourself sends ripples of good into the world.
Number the Stars, a book of Jewish historical fiction, takes place in Denmark during World War II. On almost every page, examples of semi-colon usage make an often misunderstood punctuation understandable to 5th graders. Experimentation with semi-colons in their own writing is a delightful outgrowth of reading this novel. Again, themes of kindness, the value of loyalty to friends, and remaining true to who you are are life lessons woven into the ELA curriculum.