On Team A, our English teachers encourage us to develop our literary skills through reading assignments and with hands on activities. One of the things we participate in is read-aloud. Read-alouds improve our ability to pay attention and grasp key information from a section of text. It also helps us expand our vocabulary.
We recently finished reading The Gollywhopper Games, by Jody Feldman. In this book, we follow Gil Goodson, an 8th grader in Orchard Heights. Gil participates in the Gollywhopper games, hosted by Golly Toy and Game Company. The concept of the games is that contestants must go through a series of puzzles and riddles. After each round, a number of players get eliminated. Their goal? Make it to the finals and beat the other players! The twist- everything is being broadcasted on national tv. Along the way, Gil must overcome many obstacles including, his father’s questionable relationship with the Golly Toy Company. Our English teachers read one to two chapters aloud to us every Monday. Throughout the read aloud, all of the students were instructed to write down new characters we encounter and keep track of the different settings. At the end of each reading, we all had to write a brief summary about the section of text we “read”. From there, students broke off into 6 different teams. We then had to answer a series of puzzles/riddles (just like the characters in the book). At the end of the class we went over the answers and tallied up our points. The interactive activity allowed students to use the information they learned from the story and apply it to a fun game. The friendly competition brought students together and made the experience more enjoyable! “The Importance of Reading Aloud to Big Kids.” Brightly, 16 Mar. 2017, www.readbrightly.com/importance-of-reading-aloud-to-big-kids/. - Novalea |
clubs
|