Independent Reading Session 1 Teaching Point: Readers of Science Fiction / Fantasy understand that the first task is to figure out what kind of setting our story takes place in. Active Engagement: Reflection of setting As you read the next 60 pages of your independent novel, flag clues about the setting. Examples: From The Giver we flagged clues about the bicycles, the speaker, release, standard apologies and responses, they don’t know animals, etc. and this was all in 6 pages!!

Independent Reading Session 2 Teaching Point: Describing to someone else, or ourselves, the setting of our story is a crucial way to make sense of and hold on to that story. Share your sticky notes about your setting with your reading partner. Be clear in describing what kind of world this is. Even if your novel takes place in present day, there are distinct differences because you are reading science fiction or fantasy. Discuss what your creative notebook page might look like. Independently, create a notebook entry describing your novel’s setting. Suggestion – a map (You will continue adding to this page as you read the novel.)

Independent Reading Session 3 Teaching Point: Readers of Science Fiction pay attention to how characters evolve as a result of their experiences. Just as we created a map of Jonas’s changes, begin creating a story map of your character and track his/her changes. What was this character like in the beginning of the novel? What experiences made them change and how did they change as a result of each experience? (Suggestion – focus on emotions) You will continue to add to this story map as you continue reading. At this point in your reading, you should be able to describe your character from the beginning of the novel. You will most likely be able to add one or two more changes by the end of today as well.

Independent Reading Session 4 Teaching Point: In our complex books, the characters are more complicated. They are not all evil or all good – they are nuanced. Think again about Jonas’s father in The Giver. Of course we were horrified when we learned his father had killed the infant simply because he was smaller than his identical brother. We once may have thought, “Only a truly evil person could kill a baby!” However, we now understand the term “nuanced” and we realize that Jonas’s father is not totally evil. He is a good father and he is a good citizen in the community. He does not understand what release actually means and therefore he is both good and evil. Jonas himself could be considered a nuanced character. At one point, he was selfish and wanted Giver to escape with him to Elsewhere. He even said, “But Giver, you and I don’t need to care about the rest of them.” This is certainly a point where some evil is creeping into our hero’s heart. Create a page showing which character(s) could be described as nuanced in your novel. Consider your character’s strengths, flaws, and motivations. How are they a blend of good and evil thoughts or doings?

Independent Reading Session 5 Teaching Point: In the stories we are reading, the characters face metaphorical dragons. These are the conflicts inside a character’s soul that haunt the character. Powerful readers learn to think metaphorically about these ‘dragons’. Just as Jonas fought through the physical elements of snow, cold, and hunger perhaps the author was trying to send her readers a message. Usually being cold, hungry, and banished in the snow leads to a solitary life or death. Not only was Jonas trying to survive for himself, he was also fighting for a higher purpose. He was trying to “save” or “right” the community by escaping. He needed to see for himself that Elsewhere truly existed. He needed to know that he had saved Gabriel’s life after all and his effort was not lost in vain. Create a page illustrating or describing your character’s metaphorical dragons. Keep in mind, these conflicts that haunt the soul may not appear until later in the book, but you need to be ready to recognize these conflicts when they appear.

Independent Reading Session 6 Teaching Point: Readers of science fiction and fantasy make connections with other books in the same genre. You know I love the entire dystopian genre. We can fit everything under one umbrella of a theme such as “There is no perfect world,” but there is more to that in each book. Some books consider similar ideas about the perfect world such as eliminating certain groups of people that “do not fit.” Others eliminate choices and freedom from those who the government deem as incapable of choosing on their own. Create a page illustrating or describing SEVERAL connections to other books in this genre. It can be based on the theme, characters, the tough questions the books present, etc.