A Deep Dive Into: The World According to Humphrey

It is nearly impossible to NOT fall in love with Humphrey, the hamster of hope. Come tag along, and you'll soon see why!

* *While reading is done outside of class, the beautiful book of The World According to Humphrey (by Betty G. Birney) is welcome to be enjoyed independently OR in a shared reading context between learner and special grown-up* *

Humphrey is much more than just the class pet of Room 26, he is a true and caring friend. While all reading will be done * *outside of class* *, each week will focus on only three chapters of The World According to Humphrey to make each weekly meeting the most beneficial to deep dive into all of Humphrey's interpersonal relationships! As such, each learner will 'carry' a Character Observations journal with them during their weekly reading assignments and then, into class to share.

CHARACTER OBSERVATIONS JOURNAL:

As Humphrey is the Room 26 class pet, and his story is told from his first-person point of view, he encounters and experiences MANY, MANY different peers, grown-ups and families. These characters are integral to Humphrey's story, and are often not one-dimensional or 'flat' characters; in fact, Humphrey learns a lot about various people in his story, and is even a part of many characters' growth. 

Prior to the first class meeting, I will post a self-created Character Observations journal to be printed and used in tandem with our book. It will have a list of many different characters learners will meet on Humphrey's literary journey. I will model and describe its usage during our first meeting together, with our classroom family sharing and brainstorming our beginning observations.

After the introduction of modeling of/ writing in our independent Character Observations journals, the students will write/ take notes in these as they see fit throughout the remainder of our reading assignments * *outside of class* *. However, they will be brought to every session to share, discuss and 'deep dive' into the current world of Humphrey!

READING SCHEDULE:

-- Week One: CHAPTERS 1, 2, 3
-- Week Two: CHAPTERS 4, 5, 6
-- Week Three: CHAPTERS 7, 8, 9
-- Week Four: CHAPTERS 10, 11, 12
-- Week Five: CHAPTERS 13, 14, 15

‘ROOM 26 MUSINGS’:

Each week, learners will have an in class writing prompt (think ‘OpEd’!) I will provide a self-made template and different text-based prompt each week (to be used in conjunction with personal Character Observation journals, as each reader will be adding new notes throughout the chapters read). 

Each prompt will be opinion-based (I LOVE hearing the various connections we make to the books we read!) while also relying on ‘evidence’ from The World According to Humphrey to support our opinion. 

Examples of ‘Room 26 Musings’ may be: 

‘Mr. Morales strengthened his voice at home by…’

or

‘I was disappointed with Garth because…’

With the balance of book discussions and Character Observations Journals small shares to consider, each learner's 'Room 26 Musings' is not expected to be more than a few sentences in length (if time allows, that is certainly encouraged to grow!) Accurate spelling is NOT NECESSARY; and while I will happily partner in brainstorming, 'talking out' a musing to better transfer to paper and aid in sounding out unfamiliar words, all learners should be comfortable independently writing up to 3 sentences.