Everything you need to know in order to set up your Reader’s Notebook

Purpose of Reader’s Notebook The purpose of a Reader’s Notebook is to engage the text through serious study. By keeping a Reader’s Notebook (RN) we will: Develop reading skills by being aware of how we are reading and what we are reading. Keep track of the ideas, connections, and questions that come to mind so we can think more about them later and/or share them with others.

Setting it Up As part of the requirement for the course, you will maintain a Reader’s Notebook. This notebook consists of 4 sections: 1. Table of Contents (first 3 pages) 2. Concepts and Strategies (next 5-8 pages) 3. Reading Journal (all other pages) 4. Literary Terms (last 2 pages)

Guidelines for Reader’s Notebook Try to read at least 10-30 minutes a night, 3-4 times per week. Read with a writer’s eye – what are you noticing/learning about writing from the writers you read? Complete at least TWO pages of response each week – this can include: reaction to the book(s), drawings about what you are reading (w/ explanation), collected pictures, observations and discoveries about yourself as a reader.

Notebook Entries Below is an example of how your heading should look like for each entry:

Entries in your Notebook As you read, have your reader’s notebook next to you as you write your personal response in them. State your feelings, thoughts, reactions, and questions about situations, ideas, actions, characters, settings, symbols, plot, theme, and any other elements of the book. You can't be wrong in your responses, so take some risks and be honest. Write about what you like or dislike, what seems confusing or unusual to you. Make predictions about what might happen later. Relate your personal experiences which connect with the plot, characters, or setting. Don’t just summarize the plot even though sometimes it may be unavoidable to include a summary to support your thought and get your point across. Remember, the purpose of the notebook is to explore your thinking and engage more deeply with the readings and what is going on around you. Let me hear your voice.

Abandoning your Book When you abandon a book you should still have a journal entry in your notebook. Explain to me why you abandoned this book. If you didn’t like it tell me WHY you didn’t like it, if you found it hard tell me why, etc.

Response Page Ideas Make a Prediction (Remember to include details that support your prediction) I predict that… I wonder… I think that… I wonder why… I wonder how… Since this happened __________, then I think the next thing that is going to happen is … Reading this part makes me think that this __________ is about to happen… I wonder if…

Ask a question Why did… What’s this part about… How is this ________ like this _____... What would happen if… Why… Who is… What does this section _______ mean… Do you think that … I really don’t understand this part here … What does this mean… How did this section of my book make me feel?

Clarify Something This makes sense now… Now I understand… No, I think it means… I agree with you. This means… At first I thought ________, but now I think… This part is really saying… I’m not sure, but…

Make a Comment This is good because… This is difficult because… This is confusing because… I like the part where… I dislike the part where… I don’t like this part because… My favorite part so far is… I think that… I think this setting is important because… This part is very realistic/unrealistic because… I think the relationship between ______ and ______ is interesting because… I like/dislike (name the character) because… The character I most admire is _______ because… If I were (name of character) at this point, I would… I wish _______ would have happened because…. I wish the author had included… My opinion of (name the character) is… I noticed while reading that I … I love the way… I can’t believe… If I were… I like the way the author… I felt sad… I was so happy… This story teaches…

Make a Connection This reminds me of… This part is like… This character _______ is like _______ because… This is similar to… The differences are… I also… I never… This event made me think… This character makes me think of… This setting reminds me of… This character reminds me of somebody I know because… This character reminds me of myself because… This character is like (name of character) in (title of book) because… This scene reminds me of a similar scene in (title of book) because… This part of the story makes me think about _______ because… This situation reminds me of a similar scene in (title of book) because… Did it remind me of anything that has happened in my life? Did I learn anything from it? Can I take anything from this story to improve myself?

You MUST include Assume each of the following roles and write a response at least once in your reader’s notebook: Straight Talker Speak directly to a character and give your two cents worth. If you could stop the action at a particular point what would you say? Judge Evaluate an action or a decision by a character or characters. Do you feel a wise or a poor decision has been made? Why? What decision would you prefer to have been made? Why? Memory Keeper Perhaps you remember a similar experience from your own life, from something you heard in the news or history class, or from another piece of literature. Describe that experience: explain how it relates to what you just read. Artist What visual images come to mind as you read the story? Draw and color these images. Write also what your visual image means or represents in the story. Include a dialogue between characters or create captions. Palm Reader What has occurred that you consider an example(s) of foreshadowing? What do you believe will occur in the future? Why?

After Finishing a Book After reading a book, write a letter to me. This will indicate to me that you completed the book. Your letter should be ONE page in length. Here are some ideas to include in your letter. What did you think about the story? What did you like best about this book? What was your favorite part of the book? How did you enjoy the author’s writing style? What did you enjoy most about the writing? Was there anything you found difficult? Would you recommend this book? Why? To whom?