Flush

 
Sixth grade students are excited to continue their exploration of environmental factors at play in our world.  This quarter we’ll read segments from a nonfiction book, World Without Fish, and the entire fiction novel, Flush.  World Without Fish charts the depletion of our ocean’s fish.   While it should be sustainable, past (and current) overfishing practices have a negative domino effect on the ocean’s ecosystem.  Flush, written by the author of similar books like Scat, Chomp, and Hoot, tell of a middle school student determined to exonerate his father who was jailed for sinking a casino boat.  Our protagonist’s father claims sinking the vessel was justified as its owner was dumping raw sewage into the Florida coastline. 

Our sixth graders came to the high school with a strong knowledge of animal habitats and human’s role in either preserving or destroying.  I look forward to reading both texts with my students and their subsequent conversations and writings.