KEEP TRACK OF YOUR READING PROGRESS

Use a bookmark.
Keep track of the pages you've read in your RESPONSE JOURNAL.

RESPOND TO YOUR READING

Talk about what you've read.
Share ideas with another reader.
Question the text.
Write in your RESPONSE JOURNAL.

GIVE EACH CHAPTER A TITLE OR NAME

Select a main idea or catch phrase from the chapter to help you remember what happened in this part of the book.

LIST NEW CHARACTERS AND INFORMATION

Use the CHARACTER CHART. Be descriptive and provide information from the text to build characterization.

LIST PLOT ACTIVITY

Put the story into a sequence of events. Understand conflict and the build up of the plot to a climax. How will the story end? What is the resolution of the story (the denouement)?

MAKE A PREDICTION

Use foreshadowing clues and common sense understanding of characters and events to predict what might be going to happen. Then go back and check on your predictions to see how accurate they were.

JOT DOWN A QUOTE OR MEANINGFUL PHRASE

The author uses many memorable quotes and phrases that have special meaning to various characters and situations in the text. Some of these same quotes and phrases may resonate with you and can be applied to your own life situation. Jot down the quote in your RESPONSE JOURNAL and then briefly comment on how it is used in the story and how it relates to your own life situation.

GO DEEPER:

VISUALIZE THE STORY AND CHARACTERS

Visualize a scene from the book and then draw a picture or find an illustration in a magazine or newspaper. You can also "visualize in words" something you "SAW" in the reading. Example: Visualize and describe the Welcome Stairways Diner.

USE A MAP TO LOCATE STORY SETTINGS

Early in the text, Hope remembers moving many times. She lists all the places she has lived and what she learned at each place. The places are actual locations and can be located on a map, although the small town in Wisconsin where the bulk of this story takes place is fictional.

LIST NEW OR UNFAMILIAR WORDS

Use CONTEXT CLUES (other words nearby in the story) to unlock the meaning of the word.
Look up the multiple meanings of the word in a DICTIONARY and decide which one fits best.
Write the sentence from the book where the word is used, with the word underlined.

SEARCH FURTHER

Go beyond the text, go back and reread, go deeper into the story to harvest additional meaning.
Access the internet, visit suggested web sites, do a search of topics related to the text.
Ask questions of the story and also of other people who may have information helpful for you to better understand the text.