Want to be a Better Reader?

Image from @rgowgreene

Want to Read a Mystery?

Happy World Book Day

How Would You End the Book Essay

Tell Me About the Main Character

Time to Read

Why are you smiling? Oh, because I said, get out your book. It's time for SSR.

Today in class when this happened, I smiled too. As a language arts teacher, nothing beats having students that enjoy reading. The sixth grade class this year has many readers. We are lucky too , because the library has about 10,000 books and all of them are geared towards adolescent readers. With such a great selection every student can find something interesting and exciting.

So thanks, Travis. You made me smile too. I am glad you enjoy reading!

The Last 20 Pages

Please complete the form below.

Start with an Event

I just finished reading Compound by S.A. Bodeen. This is the opening scene:

My world ended with a bang the minute we entered the compound and that silver door closed behind us. The sound was brutal. Final.   .   .   .   My fists beat on the door. I bawled. The screaming left me hoarse.

In the next few pages the book explains that Eli's family is in an underground shelter but his twin brother Eddie and his grandmother didn't make it. Eli's father, mother, and sisters Lexie and Terese managed to get safely inside within the forty minutes needed to survive.

The world just ended with a nuclear explosion. Eli's family was safe only because of the compound. Eli's father (a billionaire) had prepared them for this day and made provisions to help them survive underground for the next 15 years.      

Eli was forced to live with the fact that he caused Eddie's death. Eli had talked him into sneaking into their grandmother's car. She didn't make it back to the compound in time to get to safety in the shelter. Now Eli had to spend each day knowing his brother, his twin died because of him.

What Happened in the Book Last Night?

Here is an example written by Trinity T. in about 15 minutes.

Gecko had stolen a car from a lady. He was trying to find his brother Reuben but couldn't find him on foot. He was under age to be driving. He was only 13! The lady called the cops and he had cops after him in a few moments of driving. He was going about 80 mph down the highway trying to find his brother. He finally found his brother running out of the door at a game store with a bunch of games. Gecko figured his brother was stealing the games. Reuben spotted Gecko and ran to the back door. He hopped in with all of the games in his hands.

The cops started to catch up with him and soon were on their tail. Up ahead was an old lady pushing a stroller with a baby in it. Gecko swerved the car and the car started to spin. Gecko slammed on the brakes and the car stopped. Gecko noticed that he had missed the old lady. He sighed in relief. The cops were long gone. No where to be seen. So he headed back to the house. Gecko started to think that his life needs to change.

This is from the Gordon Korman book, The Juvie Three.

Is Your Teacher Making You Read?

The class was having SSR (Sustained Silent Reading) and I noticed a girl scooting around in her chair. I started watching her and every little bit she would glance at her book and then look all around the room. She looked one way and then the other. She tried to see through the blinds on the windows. She wanted to take a restroom break. She looked at her friends trying to catch their attention. The one thing she never did was read her book.

This girl obviously was only reading because her teacher was making her. She does not like to read. She can't even fake it well. SSR clearly makes her miserable. But of all the reasons to read, reading because your teacher makes you is the worst.

She could read because:

1.   She wants to learn;
2.   She found an exciting book;
3.   She is on the fourth book in a series and the first three books were awesome;
4.   She can't wait to see what happens next;
5.   She wonders who did it;
6.   She can picture the story;
7.   She imagines herself as the main character;
8.   She loves books by that author;
9.   She likes scary books like the one she is reading;
10. She wants to solve the mystery in the book;
11. She hates the main character and wants to see if something bad happens to her;
12. She saw the movie (Maze Runner, Divergent, Hunger Games, Twilight, Holes);
13. She wants to read the book before she sees the movie;
14. She isn't a good reader and wants to get better;
15. She knows she will have to write about the book;
16. She wants to have intelligent things to say about the book on her blog;
17. She heard it was a great book from her friend;
18. She and her friend are reading the book and talking about it;
19. She wants to know how the main character will solve a problem.

Reading should be fun. Reading should be exciting. Reading should be a story in your mind where you can't wait to see what happens next. If it is not this way, here is what you should do:

1.   Get a different book;
2.   Try an easier book;
3.   Try a different author;
4.   Try a different genre;
5.   Ask a friend for a recommendation;
6.   Ask me for a good book;
7.   Pay attention to when you stop getting a picture;
8.   Reread, a page, a chapter, or the whole book until you get a picture.

Whatever you do, don't just read because your teacher is making you.

What Happened in the Book Last Night?

Did You "Get" Your Book?

Book Trait Blog Post

Students have recently been writing a blog post about the book they are reading.

To read them go HERE.

Making an Inference

What can you figure out?

An Amazing Story of a Reader

Savannah never read a chapter book before this year.  Somehow she got to six grade and never finished a chapter book.  She was a fake reader.  She tried reading Scat five times last year.  She kept getting lost and restarting.  It didn't matter because she didn't get it anyway.  Besides, reading gave her a headache.  

Talking about second grade she said, "They pulled me out because I couldn't read. I was just below average."  In her pullout class, she had to read these little books and little pamplet stories.  She just really didn't read though.

Her grandpa started the change.  He would read with her.  He would help her figure out the words.  It started with One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.  That was the only book she liked.

She came to sixth grade and had to start logging her reading for her Read at Home assignment.  At first she just logged what she wanted her goal to be so she had to read that night.  Then she found The Hunger Games.  She connected to the story and it made her want to read.  She finished the series and found other good books to read.

Before she knew what happened, she began to read because she liked it.  Now she reads at least an hour each night.  Her mom has to make her stop reading.  She reads books, understands them, and writes about them.  The last book she read she finished in two days.  She's an amazing story and the story is just beginning.  Great things are ahead for this girl that just became a reader.

Compare and Contrast Families

The latest assignment in Reading Workshop is to describe the family in the SSR book students are reading.  Then they have to compare and contrast that family with their own.  This is just another assignment in the group as students are working to respond to a prompt.

Organization for Writing a Response Post

The assignment to students was to write a blog post about how the main character in the book they are reading responds to problems he/she faces using specific details from the text to support their points.  

These are the two methods of organizing the essay:

¶1  Introduction—Title, author, purpose for writing, and describe the problem
¶2  First Response—How the character reacted and details to support it.
¶3  Second Response—How the character reacted and details to support it.
¶4  Third Response—How the character reacted and details to support it.
¶5  Closing—wrap it up

or

¶1  Introduction should include the title, author, and purpose (what you are going to write about)
¶2  First Problem's Response—How the character reacted and details to support it.
¶3  Second Problem's Response—How the character reacted and details to support it.
¶4  Third Problem's Response—How the character reacted and details to support it.
¶5  Closing

By the way, you can write more paragraphs. :)

Character in a Book

Students wrote a blog post about the main character in the book they are reading. They shared how the character acts, thinks, and feels and compare him/her to themselves. This should have an introduction and conclusion, and should be at least 5 or 6 paragraphs. Students had two days to complete this assignment.

A Spiderwick Kind of Class

The students in 604 have been infected by Spiderwick.  Over half of the class has read at least part of Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black's five book Spiderwick Chronicles series. These books venture into the world of fantasy with an easy to read style.

In book one, The Field Guide, after their parents get divorced, the three children, thirteen-year-old Mallory and her nine-year-old twin brothers, Jared and Simon move with their mother into the Victorian home where their great-aunt Lucinda lived previously.

The kids discover a world of faeries, a secret library hidden in the house, and later discover Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You in a chest in the attic. Soon after moving in, odd things begin to happen, like strange sounds in the walls, and small unexpected and unfriendly other occupants are in the house.

This is a fun series with nonstop adventure  through all five books.  It is great to see a class find a series they enjoy.  And the good news is there are three new books they can read, Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles.

Reading Success by Selecting a Series

What do the three students in the picture have in common?  All three were reluctant readers that have found success through the choice of an excellent series.  Doing the weekly Read at Home assignment in Reading Workshop was a chore.  They didn't take advantage of the opportunity to improve their grade.  Then they started a good series of books.

Fictional series have a common setting, story, and/or characters. Some series have a specific order, usually based on chronological sequence.  Others stand alone and can be read in any order sharing a similar genre, but sometimes not even sharing characters.

Connor blasted through The Spiderwick Chronicles.  This is a fantasy series written by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi that features three kids, Jared, Simon, and Mallory Grace as they travel to another world filled with faeries and other mystical creatures.  He read all of the first series and has moved on to the next series, Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles.

Taneshia starting reading Among the Hidden, the first book in the Shadow Children series written by Margaret Peterson Haddix.  These books take place in the future and show the challenges faced by Luke, a third child in a society that only allows two per family.  

Mackenzie has been reading the Vet Volunteers books written by Laurie Halse Anderson.  This series is a little different than most because it features different characters in each book.  There is a common theme though--all are trying to help animals in need.

What makes these three students so remarkable is their transition as a reader.  They found a series they like and have actually stuck with books, finishing one after another.  There is no fake reading going on here.  They have become successful readers and students.   

It seems like almost all readers have read a series or two that sticks with them forever.  What is your favorite series?