Reading Club A – The Adventures of Tom Sawyer / Little Women -- 9

 Learning about Literature / The Adventures of Tom Sawyer / Newspaper/ Little Women

by cAmilla Wu

Date: Saturday, March 13^th, 2010

1.     Learning about Literature (based on What your fifth grader needs to know, p. 50)

a. William Shakespeare(1):

(1) an Englishman, one of the most famous dramatists of all time

(2) Shakespeare’s plays, written between 1592 and 1611 and performed in theaters around London including the famous Globe Theater, are among the most popular of all time and are still performed today.

(3) One of the greatest things about Shakespeare is his ability to describe all kinds of characters: kings and queens, soldiers, merchants, servants, and beggars—and everyone in between.

2.     The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)

Mark Twain was the pen name of Samuel Clemens. Born in Missouri in 1835, Clemens worked as a Mississippi riverboat pilot, a journalist, and finally, a novelist. He took his pen name from his days on the river. Twain means “two.” Riverboat pilots would call out “Mark twain!” when a rope dropped overboard indicated that the water was two fathoms deep—deep enough for the boat to proceed. (based on What your fifth grader needs to know, p.19)

a.       Group reading.

b.      Discuss the characters, the plots, and the scenes..

c.       Retell the story with our own words.

3.     Newspaper

a.      International Herald Tribune

b.      The Wall Street Journal

4.     Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

All the club members are required to finish reading Little Women.