And in the end....

We spent the first part of today's class working to deepen the connections we made last class.  Students found their post-it notes from the board and set to trying to push themselves to make the connections more meaningful.  For example, we talked about how I could deepen this connection:

Pavel is a doctor but is not allowed to be a doctor now that he is a prisoner in Auschwitz.  I have a friend who was a pilot in Iran, but is not allowed to be a pilot in Vancouver.

If I begin to think, "So what?  Why does this connection matter?" then I will begin to deepen the connection.

I think it's an important connection because it helps me understand the reasons why people are judged and persecuted.  Pavel is not allowed to be a doctor because he is Jewish, and Jewish people are being treated inhumanely.  My friend is not allowed to be a pilot because he does not possess the proper qualifications in the eyes of the people who employ pilots in Canada.  In both cases, the men must feel like they are not able to live their lives the way they want to, like they are not able to do the thing they are good at, because someone else won't let them.  I bet this makes them angry, and frustrated, and upset.  Now this, is a deeper connection.  

I collected the students' deepened connections before the end of class.

Then, we finished the book.  What a surprising, and sad, ending!  We continued to record what we know and what we wonder about our book's topic.

At the conclusion of class, I handed back students' practice expository paragraph.  We will focus on improving the variety of sentences we use in our writing in a future class.