For the month of October we are reading Room by Emma Donoghue
To five-year-old Jack, Room is the entire world. It’s where he was born and where he and his Ma eat and play and learn. At night, Ma puts him safely to sleep in the wardrobe, in case Old Nick comes.
Room is home to Jack, but to Ma, it’s the prison where Old Nick has kept her for seven years, since she was nineteen. Through ingenuity and determination, Ma has created a life for herself and her son, but she knows it’s not enough for either of them. Jack’s curiosity is building alongside Ma’s desperation -- and Room can’t contain either of them for much longer...
Told entirely in the inventive, often funny voice of Jack, Room is a celebration of the resilient bond between parent and child, and a brilliantly executed novel about a journey from one world to another.
Welcome to the Book Club discussion!
ReplyDeleteHere is a place for readers to post comments and thoughts about the book. We are interested to hear your ideas and create a gripping discussion. Post away!!!!!
Hello,
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to say that I am interested in posting about this book.
Hi Readers,
ReplyDeleteAfter diving into this book I just thought that it was interesting the way Jack was educated by his Ma. As educators I think we are always looking for strategies etc to use in our own classrooms. Here are some instances where Jack's Ma tried to teach him through play:
- the rhyming game they play (eg. Our friend Ebeneezer lives in a freezer, Our friend Dora went to the store-a, pg 16)- exploring rhyme helps with poetry for intermediate grades or reading for Jack's age as once he can read 'man' he can read 'can' and so on
- making glue out of flour for Eggsnake (could be an early into to chemistry)
- the equinox- Ma explains it to him in kid friendly language so that he can understand, she uses the same approach with craters (explaining words this way provides answers to curiosity through discovery without overwhelming or forcing memorization of words to expand one's vocabulary)
- Parrot game they play where Jack repeats what the TV is saying. This is very interesting because through repetition he is learning proper pronounciation of words and maybe how to read them if mute is on.
- measuring the room- this is a great math lesson driven by Jack's own curiousity. He wants to measure Door and he learns that if you measure the height of one wall you know the height of all the walls because they are equal.
On another note, Jack personifies all the furniture and the Room. He gives human qualities and traits to inatimate objects. He talks about the scratches on table and how to strokes the table to make it feel better. He refers to the furniture as if they are his friends and they have feelings just like him and Ma.
Looking forward to discovering more. Please share any of your own thoughts here either commenting on mine or your own post.