Book Clubs Come To A Close

This year, there were lots of students participating in 4th and 5th grade Book Clubs.  Somany kids interested that we had to have 3 clubs for each grade level!  I know the students who were a part of our first Book Clubs enjoyed meeting and discussing the books this year.

Next year, I hope to continue the Book Club program again for 4th and 5th grade.  Be on the lookout in the Fall for information about joining the Book Clubs!

meeting notes 3.21.2011

Welcome back from Spring Break!  Over the past few weeks, we read The Thing About Georgie by Lisa Graff, from the beginning to page 110. 

Our Book Club Season is coming to a close!  We will have our final meeting on Monday, April 18th and will discuss the ending of the book, The Thing About Georgie.

Here are some of our discussion questions from today:

What is the thing about Georgie?

• He is a dwarf.

How does that make you feel?

• It makes me feel like he's sad because he is different and he is so small.
• I feel like I'm not really that small; my brother is really tall and he makes me feel small but now that I'm reading this there are even smaller people out there.
• I feel sympathy for those people; Georgie suggests that you stare at people who are different to just figure them out.  It makes me feel differently about staring at people.
• It made me think because I just thought people were shorter but I didn't realize about all of the little things that were hard for them to do like tying their shoes, etc.
• If I were Georgie I might feel left out, like when Andy is not his friend anymore.

What do you wonder about Georgie?

• Why is he so shocked when he finds out his mom is going to have a baby?
• I wonder if Georgie ever gets scared around people who are taller...
• Why does Georgie not like that Andy is hanging out with Russ?
• I wonder who is writing the notes....

How would you describe Georgie to someone who hasn't read the book?

• A person who has problems in his life
• He is a dwarf
• Very few people are nice to him because they feel uncomfortable around him
• He doesn't really like the baby who is going to be joining his family

What is there to learn from the sections directed at you, the reader? 

• It explains how short Georgie really is; some abilities we have he can't do since he's short
• More about Georgie's personality

Who do you think the narrator of these parts is and why do you think the author used a different narrator from the story? 

• I think it may be Georgie's mom or dad...
• Andy?

What did you think about these activity sections and how did they make you feel?

• I felt sad for Georgie because he can't do such small things; how can he do big things?
• I learned how different he really is from us; you thought he just had a big head and is shorter but there are a lot of other things that he struggles with (like tying his shoes)

What do you think will happen when Baby Godzilla arrives?  How do you think Georgie will feel?

• I think Georgie is going to feel a little bit happy; he may be happier than he thinks he will be.
• I think he might be a little happy but he really doesn't want a baby brother or sister.
• I think he might not like it and feel left out
• He feels like he is going to be littler than Baby Godzilla since he/she will be "normal" and will grow taller than Georgie
• He might feel better about the baby since he's spent all this time worrying about it and he may realize that the baby may not be able to put the star on the tree (and he can still do it for a few more years)

notes from our meeting 3.7.2011

We finished our discussion of Anything But Typical today, and we had mixed opinions on how we felt about the book.  Some enjoyed it, some did not find it enjoyable.

What did you think of the book?  Why?

Do you feel like you have a better understanding of what struggles people with Autism are living with?

We are moving on to our next book, The Thing About Georgie by Lisa Graff.  Our next meeting is on March 21st, and we have decided to read to page 110, exactly halfway through the book (through the end of Chapter 12).

notes from our meeting 2.28.2011

This week, we had a big catch-up meeting, since we had a lot of confusion among the group members about when we were meeting and what page we were going to read to in our current book.  We decided today that we are going to get all caught up on Anything But Typical, since we want to all be on the same page.  When we took a poll today, some group members had finished the book, some had read to around page 150, and some had not yet reached page 100. 

Next Monday we'll have an extra meeting - on March 7th - and we will ALL bring our current books to discuss and trade out for our newest choice, The Thing About Georgie.

See you next Monday!

notes from our meeting 2.14.2011

This week, we discussed the first section of our book, Anything But Typical by Nora Raleigh Baskin (through page 64).  Here are some of the thoughts from our discussion today:

How do we know, right from the beginning of the book, that Jason is not a typical twelve-year-old? Name some of the characteristics he exhibits. Are these behaviors things you have seen before?

• He flaps his hands, and yes, I have seen that before
• Jason can't sit still, even if he tries really hard
• It's hard for him to communicate
• He can't look straight into a person's eyes
• When people touch him, he feels weird (we know someone who has similar behaviors; when I touch her she starts yelling at me unless I tell her beforehand that I am going to touch her)
• He is not very flexible; he wants things a certain way and if things don't go his way, he has trouble handling the situation
• He remembers appearances but can't process them really well; he has trouble remembering names or exactly who people are if they don't have a feature that stands out (for example: glasses, long hair, etc)

What are some of the techniques his therapist suggests he use in order to communicate with NT (neurotypical) people? Do you think these are easy or hard for Jason to do?

• He needs to work on making eye contact with people when he is talking to them
• Writing is a good way to communicate

Does it seem that Jason has a hard time understanding what other people are doing or asking of him? Give an example of a communication from Jason's point of view. What things does he notice? What things are hard for him to tolerate? What things doesn't he notice or respond to?

• In the library, he didn't understand that the librarian said that all of the computers are really the same - he was distracted by looking into her face details (wrinkles on her face, etc)
• Whenever people touch him, like the librarian, he feels like his body is going to explode or like he feels trapped.  He is wishing that she would stop touching him, but he struggles to put that idea into words and communicate with her.
• He thinks that his mom is sad all the time, because she feels bad for him
• He has a way of knowing people's feelings; his mom is sad, people are angry, without people telling him
• In art class, his ears were really bothered when the teacher's voice was kind-of scratchy.  He couldn't handle the noise, so he just hid under the table.

*Discussion questions from the Reading Group Guide from Simon & Schuster

Other things we discussed, or want to look for next time:

• We want to learn more about PhoenixBird and we hope that he finds out what she is like.
• On the back it seems like Jason will meet his new friend, so we are wondering how that will go; maybe she is like him?

For our next meeting on February 28th, wewill be reading to chapter 18 (page 103).

Notes from our meeting 1/24/2011

This week, we discussed the end of the book, Runaway Twin.  We talked about several things that happened at the end, and why the author chose to create the characters with those issues.  I think we all enjoyed the book, and might try to look for other books by that author in the future!

At this meeting, we also selected our new book, Anything But Typical by Nora Raleigh Baskin.  After looking at several options, our members chose to read this book about a twelve-year-old boy with autism.  We are planning to read this book in three meetings this time, so by our next meeting (February 7th) we will read to page 64 (the end of chapter 10).

Notes from our meeting 1/10/2011

We are enjoying reading Runaway Twin!  Here are a few things we discussed at our meeting today:

• It might not have been a smart decision for Sunny to leave Rita and go to Enumclaw.  She doesn't know if her sister is even there anymore.
• Sunny might have a hard time getting to Starr, and we don't know what is going to happen when or if she finds Starr.
• What if Starr doesn't want to come with Sunny?
• Sunny has done a lot of hard work to be able to find Starr.
• Sunny has found a dog and she is thinking about how hard it might be to take the dog with her to find Starr.
• What if Starr doesn't remember Sunny?
• We can't decide if Sunny was being brave or not making a good choice by leaving Rita and going out on her own to find Starr.
• What if Starr is mean to Sunny?
• If I was Sunny, I would have asked Rita if she would help me get an airplane ticket and help me find Starr instead of going alone.

We can't wait to read the end of the book!