Reading Notebooks in the Middle School Classroom-PART III

Hi Everyone!

I hope that your week has been productive!  This past week, Long Island schools were out for another snow day.  I do not know about you, but ever since the clocks went ahead, I am for sure ready for spring.

I am very happy with how the reading notebooks are going in my 7th grade classroom.  This week, students worked on Reader Response Questions, read the next 13 pages in their books, worked on a reading log, were introduced to a new mini-lesson, and completed a group activity.

I have been creating all the notes in Google Slides, and I can easily project items right up on the SmartBoard.  Take the Reader Response questions the students answered this week.  I choose questions I figured all the students who have read about in the first 13 pages of their book-setting, characters, inference, and personal response.

The students worked with their group members on these questions, and it took them the entire period to get through all the questions.

On Wednesday, the students read their next 13 pages of their novel while completing their second reading log.

Thursday I introduced my students to the third mini-lesson on “How a Lead Hooks a Reader”.

We discussed how in YA novels, the author will try to hook a reader within the first couple of paragraphs.  Otherwise, they will lose interest in the book quite quickly.  After the students wrote down the notes in their Mini-Lesson section, their job was to locate the hook of their book.  It is quite interesting to see what “hooked” different students about the same book!

Lastly, on Friday, my students worked on a Literary Scavenger Hunt, a product I created.

With the Scavenger Hunt, the students have to go back into the text that they read, and find four of any of the devices listed on the right hand side.  They then have to quote the line from the text with the device, and explain how the line shows the device.  What is nice is that this sheet can be used over and over!

If you would like to check out this resource, you can find it here:  Scavenger Hunt for ANY Piece of Literature

Enjoy your week, and I will update you with more activities from our reading notebooks!