Maniac Magee

It has been such a great start to the school year in Reading and Writing. Our students have jumped on the Maniac Magee bandwagon. The story is rich with themes of love, homelessness, and family. Students have learned to look for the moral message, as well as the "heart" of the story. It is VERY rewarding to hear students talk about the book and have an eagerness to continue to read each portion of the book in our literature circle. 

Maniac Magee is a tall tale of sorts as we look through Jerry Spinelli's initial warning of not to let the facts get mixed up with the truth.... and the history of the kid is one part legend, two parts fact, and three parts snowball. 

Our adventure has included group discussions with Mr. Aaby and Ms. McDaniel combining the blocks to discuss characters, key points, themes, and vocabulary. It also includes KIDBLOGGER. Students have been addicted to writing their posts about theme. AND as always, we struggle to establish the scholarly responses to use it as a learning tool and not a social networking tool. Ah! The struggle to respond without using LOL or I think you are COOL in every line! 

This week, we will wrap up our discussions on Maniac Magee and begin our final project of book jackets and blurbs and transition to our Challenge Novel Workshop. 

We hope you will follow our Tale of Two Teachers Reading and Writing Blog to keep peeks at your students adventures in reading and writing. 

Mr. Aaby and Ms. McDaniel