Latin American Literature Circles

The theme Latin America is too exciting to tie down to one book per class, so for this unit, the students will be reading books of their choice in literature circles, or book clubs. My reasons for using this strategy and the books below are twofold: I want the students to be exposed to all that the theme "Latin America" entails, from Mayan civilizations to current issues of indigenous rights, and from the experience of the conquistadors to the Latino experience in America today. I also want to experiment with some of the challenges that arise when reading a whole-class novel such as the diversity of interest levels and comprehension levels within the class, and the difficulty of giving each student a voice in class discussion. By allowing the students to read books they have chosen, I hope that they will be motivated to keep up with their reading and to analyze their stories on a deeper level. In class, the students will practice discussion skills, and we will talk about using literary elements to analyze the books we are reading. No puedo esperar! (I can't wait!)

Grade 5
Jaguar by Roland Smith– Sam, Carlos, Bryce
The Giant Rat of Sumatra by Sid Fleishman – Lucas, Richard, Harrison
The Captive by Scott O'Dell – Evan, Conall, James
Midnight Son by Denise Lewis Patrick – Ian, Chandler, Neal

Grade 6
Jaguar by Roland Smith – Andrew, George, Jonathan
Taking Sides & Baseball in April by Gary Soto – Corey, Samuel, Ian, Bo
The Captive by Scott O'Dell – Ruffin, Cameron, Myles
The Black Pearl by Scott O'Dell – Logan, William, Jesse, Lindsay

Grade 7
House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer –
Alex, Owen, Justin, Johann, Foster
The Forty-Third War by Louise Moeri –
Winston, AJ, James, Caelan, Zac
Taking Sides by Gary Soto – Josh, Keats, Sasha


Grade 8
City of Beasts by Isabel Allende – Daniel, Riley, Andrew, Alexey, Parker
House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer– Zach, Pablo, Eli, Willem, Nick

Let's Get Started!

Greetings Field School Students and Parents!

I am so excited to begin this year of exploration together. Our first unit will take us through space and time into stories that can help us make sense of our past, present, and future worlds. We will travel into universes populated by mystical planets, unforgettable characters, and dizzying turns of phrase. We will also apply the craft of science fiction to write our own stories about the worlds we imagine.

This blog will allow students to discuss what they are reading outside of class and across grade levels. Each student will have access to the blog and will be expected to participate via comments and queries once a week. Questions will be posted by 7pm on Friday, and responses will be due no later than 7pm on the following Wednesday. If you have questions about an assignment, please email or call me rather than commenting on the blog.

Grades 5 and 6 will begin by posting weekly responses to the book A Wrinkle in Time on the blog Tesseract Times. A Wrinkle in Time is just one of many stories, articles, and excerpts we will read based on time travel.

A Wrinkle in Time combines devices of fairy tales, overtones of fantasy, the philosophy of great lives, the visions of science, and the warmth of a good family story. It is an exuberant book, original, vital, exciting. Funny ideas, fearful images, amazing characters, and beautiful concepts sweep through it. And it is full of thruth. - Ruth Hill, A Critical History of Children's Literature


Grades 7 and 8 will read Ender's Game and post weekly responses on the Bugger Blog. They will consider elements of the archetypal hero's journey in this novel as well as in excerpts from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The War of the Worlds, and several others.

Ender's Game is the story of a brilliant boy who is taken from his family to prepare for battle against the Buggers, an alien force that has already attacked Earth once and poses an imminent threat to humanity. At a young age, he is faced with a responsibility laid out to him in the following terms:

“As a species, we have evolved to survive. And the way we do it is by straining and straining and, at last, every few generations, giving birth to genius. The one who invents the wheel. And light. And flight. The one who builds a city, a nation, an empire.... Human beings are free except when humanity needs them. Maybe humanity needs you. To do something" (35).

In addition to analyzing Ender's journey, we will consider themes of games versus reality, the relationships between adults and children, and the dual nature of ruthlessness and compassion.