Thursday, November 18, 2010


This week for Lit. circles we had a twist in it. The twist is that we got to work with a partner. Mrs. Narsiman called it "Literature Circles With A Twist." Instead of doing two of each section we only needed to do one of everything. This blog post will answer three questions: "What the benefits of collaborating with a partner?"; "What challenges or obstacles did we overcome (tried to overcome)?"; and "What new understandings about the novel did we gain from our collaboration?"

There are many benefits to collaborating with a classmate on a Literature Circle assignment.  One benefit is that you don't have to do everything yourself.  Sharing makes less work for each partner.  Another benefit is that you have another person to edit your work and share ideas with to make each partner's work better.  A third benefit is that if you don't understand something, your partner can clarify it for you.  But, the most important benefits is that collaborating with a classmate, makes a Literature Circle much more FUN!

We overcame challenges or obstacles when we were having different opinions on what are the best questions. I had ideas to help Jorghi's questions because his were not high level enough. Another challenge we had was when I went on a camp out with the boy scouts. I did not have any time over the weekend to do my Literature circle, and was not able to get my work done as planned.  We had to do everything on Monday night, but got it all done and got an A.

Jorghi helped me understand the book because when he had a question that I did not understand, he helped me understand it. The question was, "Why did Miyax want to get marred to Daniel?" I did not think that Miyax wanted to marry Daniel. So Jorghi explained to me that Miyax wanted to marry Daniel because her father arranged the marriage and she was unhappy living with her Aunt Martha. 

In conclusion, I enjoyed writing our Literature circle with a friend much more that doing one by myself.

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Literature Circle review



1. How your groups discussion helped your understanding of the novel.

The discussion in my group was very helpful to me because when I had a question on the book my group helped me clarify it. I was wondering why Miyax tried to talk to the wolves and my group was able to explain it to me. My group helped me realize that because Miyax's father talked to the wolves when he was out hunting to get food, Miyax realized that she too could talk to the wolves to get food and survive. Having a group discussion helped me understand and like the book more. I realize now that when I don't understand something I can become disinterested. 
2. Connections that you made during your discussion

Because my group helped me understand Miyax better, I was more able to connect with her ability to connect with the wolves. In my life, ever since I was young, I've felt a deep love, connection and understanding of dogs. It's through my relationship with my first dog Haven, that I was able to relate to Miyax's growing relationship with the wolves. Haven was a 'guide-dog in training for the blind'. Miyax loved the wolves like I loved haven.


3. Predictions

I think Miyax will stay with the wolves until the sun sets so she can travel to her pen pal in San Francisco. I also predict that Miyax will hunt with the wolves and catch a caribou. I think this because Miyax has started hunting owlets and I believe she will soon grow to hunt bigger animals.I think she will do this by watching the wolves hunt so that she can hunt with them.