Because of Winn-Dixie, Part 2
As a teacher I often make decisions that don’t work out as well as I think they will. This happens a lot when choosing books for the class to read together. I think I got it right with Because of Winn-Dixie. It could be because:
- we started reading the book after the Thanksgiving Break (thus, we were refresehed)
- the book is shorter in length than some of the books we have read before
- the storyline is easier to follow and more engaging (interesting) than the last book we read (The House With a Clock in Its Walls)
- the first test was done online (which, based on your feedback, looks like you liked)
No matter what the reason it is nice not to hear ”this book is boring” comments!!!
In the course of preparing to use Because of Winn-Dixie I came across a number of websites I thought I would share with you. The first one site is supported by the author Kate DiCamillo. You can find some information on her, her books, and the movie The Tale of Despereaux that is being released today (19 December 2008) based on her Newbery Medal winning book The Tale of Despereaux.
Another cool site to look at is Wikipedia’s entry on Kate DiCamillo. This site is interesting as it provides an incredible number of additional sites to jump to for information related to the author, awards her books have won, movies created based on her books, etc. A great site to use when trying to waste time.
The last site I want to share with you is Scholastic.com’s Because of Winn-Dixie. This site is very cool. It is full of games and activities based on the story. It is a really slick way to test your knowledge of the story through the use of games. They also have a video interview with Kate DiCamillo and a slideshow of the movie Because of Winn-Dixie.
Please, as always, feel free to provide feedback. What did you think of the story, the online test, etc. If you also know of a book you think we should read together — let me know. You never know what we will be reading next…
Filed under: Audio Read, Because of Winn-Dixie and tagged Audio Read, Because of Winn-Dixie, Books, Kate DiCamillo
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