A Day of Fours!

Today, we experienced an awful lot of fours. I only wish we had four massive cakes that we could have eaten while we explored so many fours...for instance...

First we shared aloud our own Chapter 4 from The Breadwinner, in which you each chose a character from whose perspective to write what YOU thought was going to happen in Chapter 4 of the novel.

Then, we read the real Chapter 4 aloud, to see how close we came in our guesses and own own fictional narratives.

We read and shared and guessed in groups of--yup: four.

And Chapter 4 from our novel begins on page 44.

(And one last, inconsequential note: my favorite number is actually four. It's a beautiful number--not too much, not too little, but just about right. I think if I could choose any number of any things, I would choose 4. Unless, of course, you asked me to choose how many dog bites I would like to receive, in which case, I would definitely choose ZERO.)

For tonight, be sure to study for our vocab quiz tomorrow. To help you study, use the notes and examples below along with your own notes:

1. EMBARK -- to begin (as in a quest or journey). Example: Though the sky loom heavy, we will embark upon our quest to find an ice cream stand that is open. 

2. OBFUSCATE -- to confuse, or to hide / hinder. Example: When the laughing bear pointed towards the waterfall, he only obfuscated the real direction of the treasure, which was on the grassy plain.

3. ASTUTE -- clever, perspicacious, observant. Example: As the student shared her ideas about the novel, many others students took notes, because they could see she was being astute in her insights.

4. NEFARIOUS -- evil; wicked. Example: The family arrived back home to find all of their belongings stole. "Those nefarious robbers!" roared the mother.

5. TACITURN -- silent; habitually quiet. Example: Even though most of the class hooted with reckless joy at the mention of no homework, one boy remained taciturn. 

And our word of the day today was SERENDIPITY, which means unexpected awesome luck.

I appreciate your insights into The Breadwinner, and I am looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow!

Peace,

Mr. R