This term 5/6J read J.A White’s novel “The Thickety”. We LOVED it. Definitely our favourite book of 2014.
At the end of term 5/6J had to select some homework tasks based on the novel. Here were the tasks that the students could chose from:
Below is a gallery of some of the students’ awesome work!
It was fun to read everyone’s tasks; you could really tell how much the students in 5/6J got involved in the book and the characters.
We are waiting with baited breath for the sequel, out in 2015! Oh and please please please someone make this novel into a movie! Until then, go here to watch the book trailer!
Here are some other samples of the students’ great work!
I really like the choices you gave the students for this task, and thanks for showcasing the examples of all their work! Really lovely!
http://www.teachersresourceforce.weebly.com
This looks interesting!
Hi Miss B,
This was a fabulous book!
From Victoria
Well, I might be a little biased here, but this is pretty much the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. The writer part of me is extraordinarily flattered and humbled by all the care and thought the kids have put into their work, and the teacher part of me is super impressed by the creativity of the assignment. This is how novels should be taught (as opposed to endless comprehension questions and the like). There is clearly some serious magic going on in that classroom.
J.A White
Hi Miss B,
I loved doing this homework, I hope we can do some more homework like this one.
Bye for now! Alyssa.
Dear J.A White,
5/6J and I are so honoured that you took the time to come and visit our blog! We truly loved your book, the whole class loved fantasy adventure novels and reading your novel at the end of the year was an awesome book to finish on. We had some amazing discussions on the book that showed some deep understanding and critical thinking, sometimes I wished I was recording everyone wildly calling out ideas and hypotheses, and their reactions to certain scenes! We also used your book for our drama lessons that term, acting out scenes between characters, interviewing characters and creating freeze frames where the rest of the class had to guess the scene from ‘The Thickety’.
The members of 5/6J loved the book trailer and made me play it over and over again, especially after some new development in the book. Thank you so much for your amazing book! I have 9 of the same students this year and they were thrilled to get your comment and are eagerly awaiting the sequel!
Along with your book in 2014 we also really enjoyed our other novel studies for the year. We read ‘Walking the Boundaries’ by Australian author Nikki French (complete with time travel, giant serpents and dinosaurs set in the Aussie Bush), then went old school reading ‘The Wolves of Willoughby Chase’ by Joan Aiken (and 5/6J loved paying out the B grade movie made in the 80s!), We really loved ‘Song for a Scarlet Runner’ set in a bleak fantastical world by Julie Hunt, then finished the year with ‘The Thickety’.
We are about to start a novel with the new 5/6J 2015 class ‘The Kensington Reptilarium’ by Nikki Gemmell. I’m sure you love to read amazing stories and novels to your class too.
Thanks again for stopping by! Good luck with the release of the sequel ‘The Whispering trees’ !
From Miss B and 5/6J
Miss B and Her Awesome Classes,
I just saw your response to my response now. You are doing AMAZING things in your class. I love Joan Aiken! Actually, a book she wrote is the inspiration for the silhouette-style drawings in The Thickety.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/612647.The_Kingdom_Under_the_Sea_and_Other_Stories
If you look up the book in google images you can see more of the interior drawings, which are AMAZING. The stories are incredible as well.
It is so gratifying and flattering to hear about all the projects you have done with The Thickety, as well as the other great literature you are reading. It is clearly a special place to learn, and I bet you have a lot of fun as well!
J.A. White
Hi J.A White,
We look forward to reading the second book in The Thickety Series next during class time. Miss B has already read it (SHE LOVED IT!)… We are also very excited to have a signed copy to read, along with the first book that Miss B’s fiance got for us while he was in America! Thank you so much for the autographed copies! We will read it soon and thoroughly enjoy it, then no doubt wait and wait for book 3!
We will have to visit the library and find some more Joan Aiken books too! Thanks for the tip!
Thanks again for taking the time to visit our blog and comment.
Cheers
Miss B and 5/6J