The T.C.C.D Week 3

Now that all grade 6 students are becoming used to Literature circle discussions, the amount of A+ grades for discussion sheets are increasing. Responses and important passages show growth in the analysis of the novel, the plot and themes.
In all of the novels studied the main character(s) have changed .
In this blog post, please write a well structured post about how the main character(s) has changed and provide evidence from the novel to support your ideas!


-First of all, Charlotte has changed dramatically since the start of the book. At the start of the book, Charlotte was a proper young lady with good manners, and in my opinion a bit spoiled. When she first boarded the ship she did not approve the ship and the crew at all, which made it easier for the captain to capture and fool her. At first she was too soft hearted.
But as time passed and she got used to the crew, she did become a bit more accustomed to the crew's behaviors, but still she thought it as low and still approved the gentleman like behavior from the captain a lot more. It's pretty much shown on page 84 that she was still more on her ladylike side.
As the mutiny failed and Charlotte became part of the crew, she had totally changed from the girl she was when she first stood in front of the ship. She now was nowhere near the ladylike manner she used to have. She was totally part of the crew, and she had become slightly more rude (but not in a bad way). She could also do the harsh work along with the crew, something she could never do before, and she became more bolder, learning up how to stand up to the captain.
But Charlotte Doyle wasn't the only main character that changed a lot. Captain Jaggery changed a great deal too (or at least against Charlotte, he had been the same to the crew all along). In the start of the book, Captain Jaggery acted all fancy-like and nice to Charlotte since he needed her on his side. But as Charlotte began to slide to the crew's side, he started being not at all nice to Charlotte, and he became more and more ruder, and finally he treated her harder than he treated the crew. Captain Jaggery did not like Charlotte at all- he called her bad names and he hated her for embarrassing him before the crew.
This is my opinion on how the main characters changed while the story went on. Of course there are other characters who changed as well and there's also a bit more to it in the change of Charlotte and Captain Jaggery. But this is what I think and I think it covers up pretty much the basics and the important parts.

The T.C.C.D. Week 2

Classrooms full of excitement, novels and sheets in hand, for the second week 120 sixth graders were ready for their second Literature Circle.
Questions could be heard as students came into class; "Will Charlotte trust Captain Jaggery now that she knows about the round robin?", How much longer can Brian survive? Will Julie survive with the wolf pack?....
In post #2, choose one the important passages on your discussion sheet and in a well structured blog post write about :
1. Your discussion with your group about the passage.
2. How your understandings changed after the discussion.
3. Any new insights that you gained from the discussion.

Our group's second literature circle discussion was another success, and my brain was going crazy. Just like our first discussion ideas came out like mad and it was creepy. Juanita and Abby had finished the book and looking at their faces I really wanted to finish the book quickly.

The passage that I think was the most important is the pages from 45 to 48. I wasn't the only one who chose this passage, the group also agreed that this part was important. It is very important because where all the secrets from the past is revealed. It might not have meant so much to Charlotte since she trusts the captain a lot, but it is where the readers are clearly informed of how evil Captain Jaggery is. Although Charlotte tries not to listen to Zachariah, readers are smarter and we can definitely know from this part that Zachariah is a caring man, very different from the captain.

My understanding did get better, however did not change as much as before in our group's first discussion. We pretty much had almost the same ideas for the book, but still quite different. After the discussion I was able to add up my previous details and the other information I had heard to give myself a prediction about the next few chapters.

There weren't really new insights I gained after the discussion. I pretty much had the same basic ideas, but it had become much bigger with my group's ideas added, and it had also become much clearer because some certain thoughts I had I couldn't really explain, but after the discussion I was able to do it. This second discussion was more comfortable for me because this time I knew exactly what to do, and it was way less confusing.

The T.C.C.D. Week 1

-The Task ~ Post Literature Circle - Blog Post - The aim of Literature circles is to provide a way for students to take part in discussions, collaborate constructively and reason critically. We are sure during your groups discussion that your have added to your understanding of the characters, the setting and the plot of your chosen novel.
In a well structured blog post, reflect and write about the following;
1. How you discussion helped your understanding of the novel.
2. Connections that you made during your discussion
3. Predictions
A quality response does not retell your discussion. Minimum requirements - 3 paragraphs.


-This first literature circle discussion has definitely given me an impact on my opinion and ideas of my book. As a matter of fact I actually felt stupid after our group's discussion because Peggy and Juanita had ideas I hadn't even thought about. After reading the first two chapters of the book my understanding was pretty simple. Charlotte Doyle is being taken to her ship by a man who calls himself Mr. Grummage. The reason the two porters ran away is because the Seahawk and Captain Jaggery is infamous for something and Mr. Grummage knows about it too. I thought that according to the end of chapter two that Mr. Keetch was lying about Captain Jaggery being absent, and that the captain is planning something, Mr. Grummage is in it too, and that not every single one of the crew's in it. But after talking to Juanita and Peggy, I found that their ideas were also highly possible and I started to understand the book way better than before.

- During the discussion, we all agreed that it must have been Captain Jaggery Mr. Keetch was talking too. Also according to the descriptions of the ship we thought that the Seahawk might actually be a pirate ship. Another thing was that we figured the other two families must be held hostage on the ship. This was different from my previous idea because at first I thought the two families had refused to come because they knew something about the ship too. Some other connections we made were that Zachariah and the rest of the crew is evil since they are acting all grumpy like, and that also Zachariah wants to harm Charlotte.

- Some predictions our group and myself made were pretty wild. First of all our group thought that Captain Jaggery might be actually on the ship, and that he and the crew is planning something evil. Some predictions I made myself was that the Captain is planning something and that most but not all of the crew's working for it.

- This literature circle discussion was very exciting for me because well first of all our group has a very interesting book, and we came up with tons of ideas, some stupid and some very thoughtful. In my opinion it is very different from Elementary school where we just sat down, read, talked a little and got distracted by other topics like 'Which one first- chicken or egg?'. Also this book makes me and without doubt the rest of my group think a lot, so it can be confusing but still fun at the same time.