Getting into the Dickens spirit

I dressed up with some 19th-century style clothing. I might make a dress from a pattern if I teach this unit again.

This day we finished A Christmas Carol listening to the last stave in class together. Most kids actually paid attention.

I also tried out a genius idea, silent conversations. Students get in partners and reflect, following a series of written questions, or their own ideas, on the book. They each write for 3 minutes on their own paper, and then switch papers, read, and respond for 3 minutes. Then they switch again, read, and respond. They switched 4 times. It was very interesting to read their responses. Some kids were way off topic, but most stayed on task. After the silent portion, they had the chance to discuss what they had written, and then we had a whole class discussion. It was impressive. I have a very low class this year, but they really got into this assignment in a marvelous way!!