Questions on Questions in Books XIII-XVIII

Questions crop up throughout these books that can provide with real world connections for students  (I hope you've realized that this book isn't so foreign to students as it might seem in the beginning).

Remember when Poseidon defied Zeus and helped the Achaeans?  This is a prime time to discuss sibling relationships.  Ask students what their relationships are with their siblings.  Does birth order matter?  How does this compare with Zeus and Poseidon?  Students will, usually, open up with details about how the older sister got to sit in the front seat solely because she was older (that's how it is in my family to this day.  I'm 21 and my sister is 17 and I automatically get the front seat when we go somewhere). 

Patroclus's death is a moment in the text that students can identify with--not dying, but Achilles's reaction.  Ask students if they have promised to do something in light of an unfortunate event happened.  It could be something as simple as promising your parents that you'll clean your room so you don't get grounded again.  Obviously that example isn't as extreme as avenging a friend's death, but students will understand the concepts once you prompt them to think about it in new ways. 

The following link gives some good ideas of activities that promote questioning while reading:  Questioning Activities.  It discusses questioning the author, read-aloud think-aloud, think-pair-share, and more.  It gives some good ideas that can be easily adapted to these six books. 

Today was short, but I don't want to keep harping at you about how to use questioning in the text.  I'm giving you prompts and ideas that you can use in your classroom.  Questioning is highly important when trying to show students why the text matters to them.  You might often hear kids say, "So what?  Who cares if Patroclus died?"  You can show students how this can relate to their lives.  On Sunday, I'll discuss not only how this can relate to students' lives, but also to current events and why it is more important.  But not to jump the gun, tomorrow is the final six books!  Yay!

Until tomorrow,

Cassy