The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne is a story set in WWII about a fictional friendship between a boy who is the son of a Nazi officer, and a boy who is in a concentration camp. Although by the author's own admission, this is not an accurate portrayal of historical events, as a novel, it explores themes of friendship, innocence, stereotypes, prejudice, discrimination, courage, humanity, and obedience versus conformity. We will study relevant vocabulary and discuss characters' choices in reflection of what we learn about the different themes the story brings to light. We will use games, puzzles, and definitions to learn the vocabulary. Each week we will read together 25-30 pages, usually around 2-4 chapters, and we will discuss the story, the characters, and what we can learn from them.  Here is a weekly schedule (please realize that the dates may be flexible, if you need a different day/time for the class schedule, I will accommodate as best I can):
Week 1: January 3rd  Chapters 1-3  vocabulary:  muster, chaos, dismissive, presume, desolate, foreseeable, content, exasperation, indicate
              January 5th Chapters 4-6 vocabulary: plaque, conviction, countered, discard, deliberate, despite, peckish, obliged, incredulous
Week 2: January 10th Chapters 7-8 vocabulary: prospect, escapade, diversion, dominate, coincide, summon
              January 12th Chapters 9-10 vocabulary: despair, forlorn, resolution
Week 3: January 17th Chapters 11-12 vocabulary: enunciate, disdain, snippets, contradict
              January 19th Chapters 13-14 vocabulary: catastrophe, torrent, incumbent, dilemma, crucial, existence, sophistication
Week 4: January 24th Chapters 15-16 vocabulary: grimace, departure, inconsolable, consult, misshapen, dwindle
              January 26th Chapters 17-18 vocabulary: senile, explicit, reluctant
Week 5: January 31st Chapters 19-20 vocabulary: implanted, unaccustomed
              February 2nd vocabulary review, evaluation, and closure of story; next book study?