It was interesting to read Lee's post because I had a very similar experience with my students. Some of my students were not \"feeling\" the book (as one outspoken student put it)until the end of chapter eight. When I stopped the CD a chorus of protests erupted in the room. The same thing happened at the end of chapter 15! The majority of my students are now definitely \"feeling\" the book. The only downside is that they want to hurry through the assignments to get back to the story. This is not a problem I am too upset about- wanting to read more! The Y charts are working especially well for all levels of my students. Our word sort has been interesting as well. I posted the words and student selected categories on the wall. Almost every day we interact with the words to either reorganize or move our unknown words into pre-existing or new categories. I will take a picture and try to post when I am done with my roll of film (I know- I need a digital!).
Something else that has been going well is my students are making connection with the text. Because of my students' socio-economic status, there is special attention to how the government treats the commoners vs. the barons. Also, there is a link that could connect well online today about America reaching 300 million people. I believe the link is through the Today show. Here is an attempt to add the link: [Click to view link] rats! I don't think it is working. It is on msn- there is a message board about if we should worry about the pop growth and related articles about the environment and the economy. My students don't have regular access to computers, so I think I am going to incorporate it through homework or extra credit. Hope this helps!