Endings

Our final read-aloud in Third Grade was entitled,"No Talking" by Andrew Clements. BOPDs enjoyed listening to a story about fifth graders who were called, 'The Unshushables' by their teachers because they were a noisy group. A student named Dave was inspired by his research about Mahatma Gandhi and decided not try not talking in school. He liked the idea so much that he started a contest between the boys and girls in fifth grade. Everyone got involved and soon the teachers took notice as well.

The class connected to the story, most especially the relationship between the boys and girls. They were all excited when Ms Montilla announced that the last chapter was entitled, "Winners", anticipating and predicting who would win the contest.
This discussion led them to ask about endings in stories and why it seemed that most authors like to put happy endings. They inquired further and wondered what other kinds of endings stories could have. BOPDs are uncovering complexities in writing stories.