Thinking 8th Graders

I love it when my students actually think, mull things over, question, and come up with ideas. Today I explained their essay test over the book they've been reading in literature circles. Normally I create a real test based on their vocabulary words, questions, and observations during their group meetings. This time our group time was so disjointed. We had a day off for power outage and then two and a half days off for snow plus Thanksgiving Break the next week. Their discussions never got to the flow mode that I've come to expect in these meetings. So I changed it up. Tomorrow each student will write a 100-150 word book review in class. I told them to focus on three things: the author's purpose in writing the book, the content (did they think it satisfied that purpose), and evidence - particular passages that demonstrate the author's support of his or her purpose. We had such a great discussion over these three points. Students were talking about the survival of the fittest in White Fang and how nature demonstrates this element of Darwin's thinking. Conversation about utopian societies surrounded The Giver and how that idea came out of French philosophy. There was so much more but it just thrilled me that they got it! On the other hand, Mondays and 7th graders are definitely polar opposite nouns! These students simply cannot be contained today - and that's not a good thing!