Discussion
Coordinator
Name: Chelsea Lucius
Book: The Secret Garden
Author: Frances Hodgson Burnett
Reading Assignment: Chapter 1
Assignment:
Your job is to develop a list of questions that your group
might want to discuss about this book, or part of book. Your task is to help
people talk over the big ideas in the reading and share the other members’
reactions. Usually the best questions
come from your own thoughts, feelings, and concerns that occur as you read. You
can list these ideas below during or after your reading. If you want, you may
use some of the example questions below to help you develop the topics for your
group. Part of your job is also to make sure that each group member contributes
to the session.
Possible discussion questions or topics for today:
1
Have you ever felt as alone or unwanted as young Mary must feel?
2 Have you ever neglected someone
in your life, perhaps not to the extremes but similarly, as Mary’s mother?
3 How would you feel to lose the
one person who has always cared for you?
4 What would your plan be if you
realized you were alone and had no one to help you or care for you?
Sample Questions:
What went through your mind while you read this
book/passage?
How did you feel while reading this part of the book?
How would someone summarize this section?
What was the main point discussed in this book/section?
At what point did today’s reading remind you of any
real-life experiences?
What questions did you have when you finished this section?
Did anything in this book/section surprise you?
Describe one or two of the most important ideas presented in
the text.
Predict some things you think will be talked about next.
Vocabulary
Elaborator
Name: Chelsea Lucius
Book: The Secret Garden
Author: Frances Hodgson Burnett
Reading Assignment: Chapter 1
Assignment:
Your job is to develop a list of words for your group to
define in the context of this book, or part of book. Your task is to help
define these words from the reading and share with the other members. The words you should select to define should
be words that you or other members of your group cannot pronounce, define, or
understand in the way they are presented. To find your words:
1. First, point to the unexplained word and then
underline or highlight it.
2. Next, read the sentence containing the unexplained
word.
a. If you cannot comprehend the meaning of the word,
read the preceding sentence to try to figure out the definition.
b. If you still don’t have a definition for the
marked word, then read the next sentence after the marked word.
3. Lastly, use a dictionary to check the definition
of the word.
Usually dictionaries will have several meanings and it is
important to look at each numbered definition and decide which one coincides
with the marked word.
Words I have never heard before:
Words I don’t know what they mean:
Words I have seen before, but never used this way:
Word Page/Paragraph/Line Definition
1Tyrannical
| page. 1// definition: unjustly cruel, harsh, or severe; arbitrary or
oppressive; despotic |
2 Governess | page: 1 // definition: a woman who is employed to take charge of a child's
upbringing, education, etc. |
3
Bewilderment | page: 4 //
definition: a confusing maze or tangle, as of
objects or conditions |
4 Desolation |
page: 6 // definition: dreariness; barrenness; deprivation of companionship; loneliness; sorrow;
grief; woe.
Connector
Name: Chelsea Lucius
Book: The Secret Garden
Author: Frances Hodgson Burnett
Reading Assignment: Chapter 1
Assignment:
Your job as the connector is to make connections from the
reading to other experiences: to other texts, to yourself, or to any other
things you have heard about or seen. Your task is to make statements that
explain connections between what you are reading and something you have read in
the past, some of your own personal experiences, or anything else in the world
(for example: the news, movies, television programs, people, etc.). As you read
consider what you are reading and try to make the connections. You can create
your own connections or use the examples below. Record the page/location of the
sentence you are connecting, then rewrite or summarize the sentence, and then
explain about the connection.
Connection starters:
·
This book reminds me of ________ (another text)
because…
·
I remember reading another book, ___________,
that also talked about …
·
This part of the reading reminds me of
___________ …
·
I felt like ______ (story character) when I …
·
If this had happened to me, I would have…
·
Something similar happened to me when…
·
The reading relates to my life by…
·
This reading reminds me of a news report I saw
on television about …
·
This book reminds me of ____________ (a movie)
that was about …
Connections:
1
Chapter 1 // Theme: Feeling unwanted
Connection: Mary feels a
desperation in wanting to be loved as she feels and knows that her mother never
wanted her as she fancies herself with parties and other people are prioritized
before her daughter. It reminds me of current TV shows that show the
desperation to be loved and wanted through finding love, going on wild
adventures and, most obviously, storylines of characters who were never wanted
by their parents (i.e.: Meredith Grey, Grey’s Anatomy).
2 Chapter 1 // Loneliness |
Connection:
Hearing that her parents are gone and her caretaker has already passed and
realizing she is completely alone. This reminds me of the Left Behind series or
even shows like Lost or Last Man on Earth when they realize they are alone and
are facing the challenges of what to do next and how to take care of
themselves. I can’t imagine the fear that a young child would experience in
this situation.
