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The Giver
Wow! I couldn’t put this book down. It was so interesting! If you haven’t heard of it, The Giver by Lois Lowry is an excellent book that allows you to discuss some really pertinent issue’s with your 8th/9th grade level children.
The book itself is a good read. I read it while traveling to Washington a couple years ago. As I’d get off the plane to the seating area I couldn’t wait to open the book back up. While reading I kept “seeing” little things that would seem weird and eventually the whole picture opens up and you see what’s going on. It’s basically about a planned society that you find out near the end practices euthanasia (think Logan’s run if you’ve seen that, my son found comparisons) but it’s more than just that.
It’s about the value of things like pain, differences, independent thought and speaking up. What great things to talk about!
My oldest son did this book with the Total Language Plus study guide. He was in 9th grade this last year which I feel was perfect for this study. Many of the questions were pertinent to things we’re currently discussing. Like for instance one of the questions he had to answer was what he thought was best for marriage, either your spouse being chosen by yourself, your parents or a committee. We’ve been talking about courtship around our house so it was perfect timing. In the society of The Giver a committee makes the choice for you.
He chose to do a pen and paper regarding a career in which he’s interested. Surprisingly to us he choice to write on writing as a profession, we hadn’t heard this one before! Again, another timely question as we’re looking at planning his high school to his “bent” and possible career area’s.
Another project he chose to do was on a chart on childhood development. I think he found it interesting as he keeps telling us things he learned. One of his favorite things to inform us of was that 8 year olds tend to eat a lot (presumably because it’s a big growing year) and so that’s why his 8 year old sister eats so much! He found this site helpful in his research.
So I hope you'll check out the Giver, it's definately worthwhile!
Gina
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