Michelle Rubin by Xuchilt Perez https://padlet.com/xp29/p5f1yoj46scx For each book you choose, upload an Informal Textual Response Here. If you'd like you can upload links or pics that will add to your entry. en-us 2017-08-29 20:35:49 UTC 2025-03-21 00:45:27 UTC hello@padlet.com Literature Circle: Speak Characters-15 September 10, 2017 Dear Abby, I have a problem and I don’t know who else to talk to about it. This past summer I was a happy teenage girl. I had a good group of friends, I was doing well in school, and I had a voice. Well, all that changed when I went to a party. You see, I used to love going to parties, but all that has changed now. It started off as a great party. I was dancing, drinking and having fun. The problem started when IT came up to me. IT is what I call him. I can’t say his name anymore. IT made me feel special. He was older, popular and so good looking. We started dancing and kissing-it was the best night ever. I was going to enter high school with the most popular guy as my boyfriend. Well IT wanted to take things to the next level. And you know high school girls, one too many drinks and I didn’t even know what was happening. I didn’t know what was happening, until I did, and I wanted it to stop. I didn’t know what to do, I was scared. I did what I thought I had to-I called the cops. Well, it was the wrong thing to do. Now everybody hates me. My best friend won’t talk to me. Speaking up ruined everything. My voice changed things, so now it is silent. I know what you’re thinking, “why don’t you tell someone?” I want to tell my parents, but what are they going to do? They have so much going on. They know there is something wrong with me, but not this. I could tell my friends, but they won’t talk to me. I made a new friend, but she wouldn’t understand. She just wants to be popular, and I’m holding her back. So now I walk the halls, silent, as IT taunts me with he voice and his looks. It isn’t all bad. Not speaking has made me notice new things about the world around me. I may not be getting good grades, but I have discovered I’m pretty ok at art. I like art, you don’t have to talk to draw a tree. That's what I’m drawing, a tree. My art teacher is cool, he’s kind of crazy too though. But he doesn’t expect me to talk, and I like that. I want to speak, I want this to go away, so I am speaking up, to you Abby. -Silent Tree. Dear Silent Tree, Thank you for reaching out to me. I hear you, I am sorry for what happened to you, and I want to help you find your voice. What happened to you is terrible,and IT deserves to be punished. You don’t deserve to be silenced. I am sorry you feel there is no one in your life that you can speak to and that you must be silent. You see, you are brave. It took a lot of courage to write to me. I am so happy I could hear your voice. And I know others would like to hear it too. I understand you don’t want to speak to your friends or parents about this. That is ok. But I know there must be someone out there. You mentioned you feel comfortable in art. Perhaps you could speak to your art teacher. It seems you feel comfortable when you are drawing. Perhaps you could use your art so express what you are feeling. You could use your art to open a dialogue with your teacher about what you are going through. I think you are very much like a tree. From where the world can see you, you are just like everyone else. You have leaves and a trunk. But underneath you have so many roots, looking for a place to grow. Your roots are looking to come up out of the ground and share their voice. I know it is scary to find your voice. But remember, your voice holds the truth. IT does not control the truth, you do. I encourage you to find someone to speak to. And please remember, I am always here. -Abby. https://padlet.com/xp29/p5f1yoj46scx/wish/186156430 2017-09-10 15:19:59 UTC https://padlet.com/xp29/p5f1yoj46scx/wish/186156430 Chapter Map: The Glass Castle https://padlet.com/xp29/p5f1yoj46scx/wish/188238151 2017-09-17 15:44:15 UTC https://padlet.com/xp29/p5f1yoj46scx/wish/188238151 Running with Scissors-Feminist Lens https://padlet.com/xp29/p5f1yoj46scx/wish/190585652 A letter from Augusten to Deirdre. ]]> 2017-09-24 16:52:54 UTC https://padlet.com/xp29/p5f1yoj46scx/wish/190585652 VTR Routines https://padlet.com/xp29/p5f1yoj46scx/wish/198898550 Compase Points:
I found this routine very interesting and definitely something I will try to use in my classroom. I spend a lot of time teaching my students how to make decisions and have opinions on different matters. These range from what game they want to play, their favorite food or if they want to do the activity someone else chose. Making decisions is especially important for my high school students as they will be graduating and making decisions about what they want to do and more. This routine is a great way to help them visualize and express their opinions and help them make decisions. I like the idea of using north, south, east and west to explain the concept. It acts as a visualization of the terms as well as a mnemonic device. I think when using this I would give students graphic organizers of a compass to help them remember the steps and organize their thoughts. This is a great routine that can be used in reading, writing, current events and during their free time. 

]]> 2017-10-19 23:23:16 UTC https://padlet.com/xp29/p5f1yoj46scx/wish/198898550 Picture https://padlet.com/xp29/p5f1yoj46scx/wish/198901523 2017-10-19 23:44:48 UTC https://padlet.com/xp29/p5f1yoj46scx/wish/198901523 If You Could Be Mine-Book Review https://padlet.com/xp29/p5f1yoj46scx/wish/201497638 2017-10-29 15:01:24 UTC https://padlet.com/xp29/p5f1yoj46scx/wish/201497638 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Disability Article. https://padlet.com/xp29/p5f1yoj46scx/wish/208479788 2017-11-19 15:20:45 UTC https://padlet.com/xp29/p5f1yoj46scx/wish/208479788 "Mind Gap"-Younker & Webb https://padlet.com/xp29/p5f1yoj46scx/wish/211224335 I think this is a great article-it is important to make sure the literature we are giving our students to read is something they can relate to. Whether it is race, socio-economic status or disability, it is important for students to read about characters they can connect with. It is also important they what our students take away from this literature is positive. I think this article fits well with our discussion of Part Time Indian. There are so few books with Native American teens, the one book they did find was so new that they couldn't find it on any of the lists they looked at. I think they also brought up a good point of looking if these minority characters are seen in relatable, positive lights and are seen as main characters or just the "friend." I think this article gave a good list of books to keep in mind when teaching minority students and things to look out for when choosing books for our classes. ]]> 2017-11-29 01:13:44 UTC https://padlet.com/xp29/p5f1yoj46scx/wish/211224335