Tuesday, October 14, 2014

10/8-10/14 The Cold Equations by Tom Godwin

We were reading the short story "The Cold Equations" by Tom Godwin.

Here is a link to the text:  http://www.spacewesterns.com/articles/105/

We worked on vocabulary for the unit.  The words are:

Inured
Increments
Recoiled
Paramount
Annihilated
Irrevocable
Immutable
Ponderous
Apprehension

Ineffably

We looked at the definitions in the Holt Reader book and we discussed each word.  

We began to read the story.

On Friday 10/10, we began class with a vocabulary exercise:

On a ½ piece of paper, write only the word that should go in the sentence for each question. 

Word Bank


Inured
Increments
Recoiled
Paramount
Annihilated
Irrevocable
Immutable
Ponderous
Apprehension
Ineffably



1.                      1.  She was filled with ____________ when she got called to the Principal’s office.

2.                      2.  I _______________ as the snake jumped out at me.

3.                      3.  Our football team is ___________ in their division with their winning record so far                                this year.

4.                      4.  Your allowance will go up in ______________________________ of one dollar.

5.                      5.  My little sister ________________ my favorite poster because she didn’t like it.

We continued to read on,

On Monday, looking at the picture below students were to write 2-3 sentences for each questions as an activating strategy:





             
                       1.  How do you think it would feel to be the pilot of the spaceship shown in this                                         illustration?

                       2,  Do you think you could handle navigating a vehicle in space?

                       3.  Describe the sights, sounds, smells, and textures you might experience in this                                       spaceship. 

We continued to read, and in some classes we finished the story.  When we finished, we had a short class discussion about the story.  Then students could have completed one of two exercises.

                       1.  Write your own goodbye letter to someone you care about.

           Since I thought that this assignment may be difficult for some students, I allowed them to work on a graphic organizer from the workbook about suspense.  They were to read the passage in the left column and come up with at least 2 questions that the suspense created in their minds.



Tuesday 10/14

Today in all classes we finished reading the story.  Classes had a short True/False quiz on the text.  

Students then completed the plot outline of the story as shown in the graphic organizer from the book.  They had to give the main things that happened.  They should add boxes if needed.  Their paper does not necessarily have to be in graphic organizer form.  If they would like, students can list and number the plot outline.  I want this to be detailed.  


After doing the plot summary, students were to write 3-4 sentences that discuss the following:

In this story, Barton has to carry out the rules for jettisoning a stowaway, but he is reluctant to do so.  Discuss the hard choices he must make.












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