Hello everyone!
Welcome back to our English reading class.
I am your reading coach, Minhee Teacher.
Today, we are finally reaching the beautiful, heartwarming
ending of our book, Wonder.
We are looking at Part Eight, which is all about the nature
retreat and a very special medal.
To help us picture this amazing ending, let's put on our movie
director hats today.
As directors, we want to see the story through our camera lens.
We have two very different scenes to shoot.
One is dark and scary, and the other is bright and full of joy.
Let's look at our first scene.
The setting is the fifth-grade nature retreat, deep in the
Pennsylvania woods at night.
Our camera pans through the dark trees.
Auggie and his friend Jack are walking back from an outdoor
movie when they get lost.
Suddenly, a group of older kids from another school blocks their
path.
They are mean, they say hurtful words, and they shine a bright
flashlight right in Auggie's face.
Auggie is terrified.
His heart is beating so fast we can almost hear it.
But then, look through the lens!
Three boys from Auggie's school—Amos, Miles, and Henry—run into
the frame.
These are boys who were never really Auggie's close friends.
In fact, they used to ignore him.
But in this dark moment, they stand in front of Auggie, protect
him, and help him run away to safety.
Now, let's cut to our second scene.
The lighting changes from dark forest shadows to the warm,
golden lights of the graduation ceremony.
Mr.
Tushman, the principal, is on stage.
He is about to give out a very special award called the Beecher
Medal.
When he announces Auggie's name, the most amazing thing happens.
The camera zooms out to show the whole auditorium.
Every single student, teacher, and parent stands up.
They are cheering, clapping, and smiling.
Why did this happen?
Let's explain this big change simply.
In the beginning of the school year, kids played a mean game
called the Plague.
They thought touching Auggie would give them a disease.
But Auggie stayed brave, kind, and friendly, even when it was
hard.
When the older kids attacked him in the woods, his classmates
realized they cared about him.
They chose to protect him.
By the end of the year, everyone realized that Auggie's heart
was beautiful.
Auggie did not change his face, but the school changed its
heart.
To help us describe these scenes like professional directors,
let's learn four useful words.
Our first word is retreat.
A retreat is a school trip to nature for a few days where
students can bond.
Think of it as retreating, or stepping away, from normal school
walls to have fun in the forest.
Our second word is shift.
A shift is a big change in how people act or think.
Think of shifting gears in a car to go in a new direction.
There was a huge shift in how the students treated Auggie.
Our third word is standing ovation.
This is when everyone in an audience stands up to clap because
they are so moved and happy.
Imagine standing up so fast your chair squeaks because you want
to cheer for someone.
That is a standing ovation.
Our fourth word is medal.
A medal is a special shiny award given for a great achievement.
Auggie won a medal for his quiet strength.
Now, let's practice our voices.
I want you to pretend you are the actors in our movie.
Repeat these five sentences after me with lots of feeling.
We were scared in the woods at night.
Amos and the other boys came to help us.
We ran together until we were safe.
At graduation, everyone stood up and clapped.
I finally felt like a normal kid.
You did a wonderful job reading and speaking with me today.
As we close our director's notebook on Wonder, I want to leave
you with one final question to think about.
Why do you think Amos, Miles, and Henry decided to protect
Auggie in the woods, even though they had not always been nice
to him before?
Think about that, and I will see you in our next lesson.
Happy reading!