Literacy+Workshop

Literacy Workshop Tools

Reading Journal Entry:

paragraph 1: Answer all questions paragraph 2: Summary - title of the book - author - main character, setting, problems/conflicts, plot

paragraph 3: Think-Along #1 paragraph 4: Think-Along #2

Think-Alongs Connections: Model of a think-along explaining your connection

Another example of connections… An Explanation

2/8/2012 In class today, we created a model paragraph that shows how to use evidence from the text and include your own opinions. As an example, we talked about the conflict of human vs. nature, and we used Hideyo in the snowstorm to show that conflict in SFFTBG. Here is the model paragraph. //(Note: In your reading journals, you DO NOT have to talk about human vs. nature; you DO need to use evidence from the text and include your own opinions.)//

While I was reading __SFFTBG,__ I noticed that one theme is the conflict of human vs. nature. There is one episode that really clearly shows this conflict. It is when Hideyo is on his own, and he is stumbling through a snowstorm. He really needs to struggle and fight to survive this element of nature. The snowstorm turns into a blizzard. Hideyo’s clothes are ragged and he must be freezing. “His shoes, rubber-soled tabi, were torn to shreds, his Korean clothes were frozen, and he was totally exhausted.” (p. 99) In fact, his whole body is being impacted. Watkins describes “his chapped face”, “his hands, cracked open, bled” and “his eyelashes were freezing.” (pp. 99-100). I can’t imagine what Hideyo must be feeling. I’ve been in bitter cold weather, but it’s always been with a warm coat, mittens, a scarf, and a hat. Hideyo does not have this protection, and he is alone in a blizzard. In his struggle against the blizzard, he’s not even sure that he will survive. He keeps stumbling, falling and trying to get up, and Watkins writes, “He had no strength to brace himself against the blizzard.” (p. 100) As a reader, I’m not even sure that Hideyo will win this fight against nature.