Trouble River by Betsy Byers https://www.amazon.com/Trouble-River-Betsy-Byars/dp/0140342435 Summary: Trouble River is a novel that takes place on an isolated prairie farm in the 1800s. When 12-year-old Dewey Martin frightens off one Indian trespasser, Dewey fears a raiding party will soon follow. His parents have gone to distant Hunter City to have a new baby, leaving behind Dewey, his grandmother, and his dog. The fastest means of escape is the small raft Dewey has built but does not know how to use. The three set off—with Grandma on her rocker—on Trouble River, a twisting and unpredictable route that offers its own challenges to safety. As they head for Hunter City, they cling to the hope that Dewey's parents have not encountered the raiders. The travelers fend off a pack of wolves and overcome raging rapids before reaching Hunter City, reuniting with Dewey's parents and new little sister.
“Trouble River”
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this podcast because it felt very “round table.” It felt like friends discussing a fun book and actually having a book club. It felt more like a conversation than an interview or a one sided recording. I liked Kimberly’s idea of the teacher reading to the class and incorporating Micheal’s idea of reading maybe the first few minutes and last few minutes of class. This book seemed to put a very strong antagonist position on the Indians and from their review I would be a little hesitant to put in the classroom for lack of being politically correct and shedding poor light on the Native Americans. My content areas are math and science, I think after listening to this podcast, I think I could use this book as a way to measure distance between their home and the bigger city where the main characters are meeting up. I also think you could use the concept of building a floating object in the science classroom. I think these are both stretches and I would spend very little time on either of these topics in my classroom. I enjoyed that this group pointed out the importance of letting the students change roles throughout the book club process. As they said it allows the students to try different things and find what they like and also expand their horizons. Great job guys!
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ReplyDeleteI think y'all did a great job on including some great topics in your discussion of "Trouble River." First off, I love how y'all gave your listeners a short summary of the storyline, so we were able to follow along through further discussion. As a possible future social studies teacher, I love that y'all showed all the points of views that social studies teachers could use this book as a part of their lessons, for even different types of units. I also enjoyed what Micheal said when he said that not only this book is a good book to read for middle school students, but as well as having a book club for students. It is very helpful to know this book has several talking points and allows students to learn differently than being lectured to. I think it is also interesting that y'all suggested this book as a book that could be re-aloud to students even in middle school because hearing something out-loud is very different effect than reading it in your head. I remember following along to an audio book in 6th grade and it made it easier for me to read, but also allowed me to focus on the plot. I loved how y'all explained your roles in the book club to help model to teachers what exactly a book club would look like within the classroom and how giving each student a different role is important to a book club and allows for the best discussion and understanding of the novel. Lastly, I liked the point y'all made that switching roles allows students to try something new and given a chance to do a role they really enjoy and a role where they can learn to productive struggle through. Overall, y'all did a great job!!
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