The Junior Great Books reading program brings high-quality literature and student-centered discussions to our classroom.  It provides a solid framework for practicing reading comprehension, critical thinking, and writing.  The discussion platform we use each week is called Shared Inquiry.  This particular method fosters a vibrant learning environment in which students learn the habits and strategies used regularly and naturally by good readers, thinkers, and learners.

We started our unit with the theme trust, and we asked ourselves, “How do you earn someone’s trust?”  During our first discussion we explored this question and came up with several ideas :

• If you make a deal with someone, keep it.
• Having experience with someone adds trust.
• Follow through on what you say you are going to do.

Award-winning author, Langston Hughes, wrote Thank You, M’am, the first story in our book.  This realistic fiction story centers around a boy of about fourteen, Roger, as he attempts to steal a woman’s purse late one night but winds up with more than he bargained for.  As we read, we noted questions that we had, and instances where we felt the woman in the story was being hard or easy on Roger.  Using our reader’s journals, we recorded our reactions and ways in which the discussion shifted our point of views.