Tomorrow we kick off our last big literature unit this year.  Sigh.  Where did the time go?  

Well, don't worry.  We still have enough time to tackle a truly fun book by Rodman Philbrick (the same author who wrote Freak the Mighty) called The Last Book in the Universe.  It's a sci-fi novel dealing with a dystopian future.

I found an interesting little piece by Rodman Philbrick about the book and how it got banned in one school district for being a "gang" novel.  Of course, the message in this book is the complete opposite...but I guess some people were too busy to read it before banning it.  Check out what he says here:
http://www.seacoastnh.com/Today/Editor_at_Large/Banning_the_Last_Book_in_the_Universe/

Students are busy working on research projects this week that they began last week.  My student teacher and I are very excited to see what everyone comes up with.  The assignment has thrown some kids for a loop - present how an item (or idea) has changed over time.  It turns out that some students' idea of "history" is less than a decade! 

Luckily, we've managed to educate our classes on the importance of researching an item (or idea) that has been around for more than a few years.  So far, we've got topics such as the history of: orchestras, video game consoles, American dresses, the English language, medicine, and television. 

This Friday (April 22), students will be presenting an oral report plus a physical display (and some students are creating PowerPoints!).  The third component is a research paper, complete with parenthetical citations and a works cited page.  Does it get more fun than this?!  :)