Quicklets: Your Reading Sidekick! ABOUT THE BOOK Glee is part musical, part teenage drama, and part dark (but not too dark) comedy. The show is set in Lima, Ohio at fictional McKinley High School. Glee tells the story of the New Directions, McKinleys show-choir team that is composed of ambitious misfits. They are determined to win the national competition, but it is an uphill battle against their show-choir competitors, social pressures to be popular, and their own interpersonal dynamics. If thats not enough, Sue Sylvester, the cheerleading coach at McKinley, is hell-bent on destroying the glee club. She constantly torments the students for her own entertainment and inexplicably hates their coach, Will Schuester. Beneath her tough exterior, though, shes a bully with a big heart. Drawing off the popularity of American Idol, Glee provides prime-time audiences a rich context to experience the power of music. As the on-screen characters wrestle with theirs stereotypical identities, music gives them opportunities to express themselves fully and feel that they are part of something special. Its not all campy show tunes and sappy love songs. Often satirical, and at times absurd, Glee allows viewers to connect with their inner you-fill-in-the-blank: inner diva, inner jock, inner geek, inner over-achiever. . . you get the picture. The ensemble cast brilliantly portrays the anxieties and crises teenagers face. In watching them, were reminded that our insecurities dont all disappear the day we graduate high school. MEET THE AUTHOR Paula Braun is a recovering bureaucrat. On a whim, she took a one-year assignment in Iraq and followed it with another one-year assignment in Afghanistan. After that, she needed a break, so she semi-retired and joined a bridge club. To support her bridge habit, she entered the glamorous world of freelance writing. You can follow Paula on twitter @paula_braun EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK Finn feels personally responsible for Sams injury and confesses to Emma that all three prayers he made to Grilled Cheesus have been answered. Emma provides practical explanations for what occurred, and tells Finn, Everyone struggles with the big questions. Finn is shaken by the news and sings R.E.M.s Loosing My Religion. Kurt is excited about the fashion at Mercedes church, and he show up with her wearing a fabulous hat. Mercedes asks the congregation to pray for Kurts father and leads the choir in an ensemble performance of Bridge Over Troubled Water by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. After church, Kurt visits his father in the hospital and tells him, I dont believe in God, Dad, but I believe in you, and I believe in us. You and me. Thats what sacred to me. Burt lightly squeezes Kurts hand, and Kurt calls for a nurse. The episode ends with the New Directions singing Joan Osbornes One of Us. Will expects Sue to turn him in to Principal Figgins, but she agrees not to use the song against Will. She had a change of heart after visiting her sister Jane who told her God never makes mistakes. Finn finally eats the remaining half of his Grillled Cheesus sandwich... Buy a copy to keep reading! CHAPTER OUTLINE Quicklet on Glee Season 2 (TV Show) + About Glee + About the Director and Producer + Overall Summary + Episode by Episode Commentary and Summary + ...and much more

Bursting with stories and informational text selections by award-winning authors and illustrators, the Wonders Literature Anthology lets students apply strategies and skills from the Reading/Writing Workshop to extended complex text. Integrate by reading across texts with the Anchor Text and its Paired Selection for each week Build on theme, concept, vocabulary, and comprehension skills & strategies of the Reading/Writing Expand students’ exposure to genre with compelling stories, poems, plays, high-interest nonfiction, and expository selections from Time to Kids

Your students will engage in their first guided practice with fresh reading selections every week! Students can directly interact with text in this fun take-home book by underlining, circling, and highlighting text to support answers with text evidence.

Excerpted essays from Emerson & Thoreau with additional essay comparing the two.

One of Commonwealth Editions' perennials: Bonnie McGrath's photos of Walden matched with quotations from Thoreau's Walden.