We have officially begun our Fiction unit for In2books. In2books is an online pen pal book club. The students will be reading from 5 different genres throughout the year and corresponding with their very own pen pals who are also reading the same books.

Our first theme of the year is on bullying.  Bullying occurs in all schools, large or small. The students will read about realistic characters who have to deal with bullying firsthand.   Throughout the unit, students will make connections with the stories and discuss their thoughts with other students about the issues of bullying in school.

The students have just received their books and began reading today. We had a brief discussion about the new characters and the plots of the books.  It was tough for some of the students to put their books down when it was time to move on with the day. One student was seen even bringing her book with her to lunch!  Several others had to be asked to put their books away during math time.  I predict that for some of these students, this may be the first chapter book they complete on their own. The energy for reading is high and we are running with it!