Literacy

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**__Welcome to Mr. Perez's Wiki Space__** = =

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= = Please use this space to help your child succeed in our unit, "Building Relationships Despite Our Differences." For the next two weeks we will be reading several books that encourage students to think about how characters are able to build relationships with others when a relationship seemed impossible. Your child will bring a book home for nightly reading so they will be able to contribute to our class' literature circles. At school, we will be working on several reading strategies to improve students reading ability and hopefully enhance their reading enjoyment. Please see Learning Targets for information.

Along with the books, we will work on worksheets which you can find on this page. Each worksheet is designed for students to apply what they learned in class so that I may determine if the lesson was successful. Please notice that some worksheets are for your student to complete. You will find worksheets that the students are supposed to do themselves along with worksheets that they are supposed to work on with their families. Please see Family Activities for directions.

You will also find a list of many of the books we will be reading both in class and for our literature circles. The books that have links to them are the ones we will be reading in literature circles and so all students should be really familiar with one of these books. The students are required to read every night to make sure they are able to contribute to their literature circles. Please help your child by making sure they are reading every night and discussing the book with them so that they will have a better idea of what the message of the book is.

//The Cricket in Times Square //is the classic story about three unlikely friends in the middle of the liveliest place in America. Chester and his friends must overcome many challenges and obstacles in order to not only help Chester get back home, but also help Chester’s human friend by making use of Chester’s natural talents. This story perfectly illustrates how we shouldn’t let our differences get in the way of building friendships and how we can use those differences to help others. We will use this book as part of our literacy circles selections. By [|George Selden].

//Freak the Mighty //, told through the eyes of a young man who is mentally handicapped, recounts how he and Kevin, a boy who is physically disabled but incredibly intelligent, together became Freak the Mighty. As different as can be, these two quickly become friends and come to rely on each other in more ways than one. This book illustrates how we need to stand up for what we know is right and how important it is to build and maintain a meaningful relationship with someone. We will use this book as part of our literacy circles selection. By [| Rodman Philbrick's]

//Maniac Magee // is the moving and amusing story of Jeffrey “Maniac” Magee, a homeless young man in search of a place to call his own. Through Maniac’s many adventures we meet characters of diverse backgrounds that begin to see others who are different from themselves in a better light thanks to Maniac’s willingness to take chances on people and break down barriers. This story shows how we have more in common than we are different and that sometimes barriers need to be broken down in order to build relationships. We will use this book as part of our literacy circles selection. By [|Jerry Spinelli]. Matilda is about a brilliant young girl who cannot get enough of books. Her parents, however just consider her a nuisance. It seems all they ever want to do is watch t.v. and chest people out of their money. Matilda decides to teach them a lesson and discovers she has powers she did not know she had. These powers come in handy, not only at home, but also in school where Matilda has to match wits with the scariest headmistress of them all-Miss Trunchbull By [|Roald Dahl]