For Fun and for Three!

We just began reading Lloyd Alexander's, The Book of Three over this past weekend. An in-class "survey" this morning shows much higher ratings than our last Language Arts read, The Secret Garden. Comments such as, "It's full of adventure," and "I like the imagery," and "It's full of cliffhangers," make me think that this will be a fun book for the students to sink their teeth (and eyes and critical thinking skills) into.

We had a really good discussion this morning and I am very pleased by the students' progress to dig deeper and answer (as well as ask) thoughtful questions, such as:

"I am not anything, not even at Caer Dallben." Said Coll, "I shall make you something, Taran, Assistant Pig Keeper, etc." Is Coll just teasing him, telling him he is ridiculous? Or is there advice here?

“In some cases,” [Dallben] said, “we learn more by looking for the answer to a question and not finding it than we do from learning the answer itself.” What do you think this means? And how do you think this relates to our classroom discussions regarding questions/inquiry?

(p. 21) “Taran, hunched against a tree root, pulled his cloak closer about his shoulders.. . . ‘I don't even know who I am.’ ‘In a way,’ answered Gwydion, ‘that is something we all must discover for ourselves’.” Read this passage carefully and consider the words the author uses. Why are we given this vignette?

To the straight forward, reading comprehension question, "What does Coll tell Taran 'the three foundations of learning' are?" the answer was, "See much, study much, suffer much." To which one student in class today observed, "that's wisdom."

And so it is.

Cheers,
Ms. Pitman