Me again. The other things I have done from the book so far are a theme swtich and a setting switch. I did these with "Song of the Trees" as well. I had them think of themes that were opposite the actual themes and then talk about how the story would be different. Their responses were short, usually just a paragraph or so, but I overall I was impressed. They seemed to easily be able to switch themes. I also had them do a setting switch. They did OK, but their answers were not as thoughtful as they were on the theme switch. I attribute this mostly to the fact that we mainly discussed theme with this story, not much about setting.
I am going to continue to do these, though. They did a good job.

Well. I am finally getting around to posting about my experience with the Patterned Partner Read on p. 42. I made guidesheets for each kid telling them where to pause in the reading and what to do when they paused (discuss, sketch, predict. etc.). I had them read aloud in pairs. It took 2-3 class days since we did it with "Song of the Trees," which is long.
I was very pleased with their results. First of all, practically everyone turned it in (some of the usual suspects did not, of course) ! I think reading with a partner held them more accountable. I also think they were more engaged during reading since they had to pause every so often and do something with the reading. Their answers were good and well thought out for the most part. Their scores on this assignment were higher than some of the other comprehension type exercises I have had them do individually. I would definitely do this again. Next time, I may stick to one type of activity to do as they read. Maybe all "read, pause, discuss" or "read, pause, sketch" or whatever. It was a good assignment, and they loved reading in partners, of course.