Reading Checklist  Entrance Card: Rank the following 1 = Never, 2= Sometimes, 3= All the time - I enjoy reading - I understand what I read - I can find a book - I get bored - I read why my friends like

Why read?  Think- Pair – Share Think about all of the things you read every day. Write a few ideas down if you need to. Pair up with an elbow partner and share Share with the class So why do we read?

Statistics  50 percent of American adults are unable to read an eighth grade level book.  Out-of-school reading habits of students has shown that even 15 minutes a day of independent reading can expose students to more than a million words of text in a year.  For every 4 children, one grows up not knowing how to read.

Do I have to?  Students who read an average of 20 minutes or more a day score 130 points higher on SAT’s than non-readers.

“I do not know what to read”  Different Genres Realistic Fiction Adventure/Survival Mystery Horror Fantasy Science Fiction Historical Fiction Biography Informational Texts

Realistic Fiction What should I expect?Authors from this genre  Setting- familiar place like a school, neighborhood, etc.) in current time.  Characters have problems similar to our own  Events seem like they could actually happen to us or someone we know  Paula Danziger  Jerry Spinelli (Stargirl, Firegirl, Love Startgirl)  Lois Lowry (The Giver)  Jack Gantos  Andrew Clement  Walter Dean Myers (Monster)  Sharon Draper

Adventure/Survival What can I expect?Authors from this genre  Setting is usually outdoors  Characters will be caught in a life-threatening situation and will need to use their wits to survive.  Events are the focus (Action!)  Jack London (Call of the Wild, White Fang)  Gary Paulsen (Hatchet)  Will hobbs  Gordon Korman  Jean Craighead George  Jon Krakauer (Into the Wild)

Mystery What can I expect? Authors from this genre  There will be some type of crime or unexplained occurrence  The main character will try to solve the mystery.  The author will leave clues to help the reader find the solution.  Joan Lowery Nixon (Mystery Dolls from Planet Urd)  Lois Duncan (I Know What You Did Last Summer, Don’t Turn Around)  Caroline Cooney (The Face on the Milk Carton, The Vampire’s Promise)  Jay Bennett (Coverup, The Executioner)  Willo Roberts (Rebel, Hostage)

Horror What can I expect?Authors from this genre  Events and setting will create a sense of fear in the reader.  Characters will have encounters with supernatural forces such as ghosts  Mary Shelly (Frankenstein)  Edgar Allen Poe (The Raven)  R.L Stine (Goosebumps)  Mary Downing Hahn (All the Lovely Bad Bones, Closed for the Season)  Pam Conrad (Zoe Rising,

Fantasy What can I expect?Authors from this genre  Setting is often an imagined world.  Characters often have magical powers (talking animals, wizards)  Events are imaginative and could never really occur.  Lewis Carroll (Alice series)  Christopher Paolini (Eragon, Eldest, Origins)  Lynne Reid Banks (Indian in the Cupboard)  Eoin Colfer (Artemis Fowl)  J.K Rowling (Harry Potter)  Stephanie Meyer (Twilight)

Science Fiction What can I expect? Authors from this genre  Setting is often set in the future or in the present that is very different from what we know.  Characters interact with creatures and/or technology that do not currently e.xist  Suzanne Weyn (Bar Code Tattoo)  Margret Peterson Haddix (Missing and Shadow Children series)  Neal Shusterman (Skinjacker series)  Orson Scott Card (Ender’s Game series)  Douglas Adams (Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series)

Historical Fiction What can I expect? Authors from this genre  Setting is in the past.  Real people and events may be mentioned, but the main characters are not real.  Words that are no longer common may be used.  Joseph Conrad (Heart of Darkness)  Christopher Paul Curtis (Watsons, Bud Not Buddy)  Markus Zusak (The Book Thief)  Judson Roberts (The Strongbow saga)

Biography What can I expect? Authors from this genre  Events and people are real  Only important events will be included.  Elizabeth Partridge (Marching For Freedom: Walk Together Children and Don't You Grow Weary)  Matt Christopher (Sports Series)  Milton Meltzer (Witches and Witch Hunts, There Comes a Time- The Struggle for Civil Rights)

Informational Texts What can I expect? Authors from this genre  The whole book will be about one main topic and will not tell a story.  There will be specialized vocabulary words  Jim Murphy (Across America on an Emigrant Train, The Long Road to Gettysburg, Blizzard)  Russell Freedman (The Wright Brothers: How They Invented the Airplane, Children of the Great Depression)

Signs you are reading the wrong book  Bored  Do not understand what you are reading  Can not finish the book in a “reasonable” amount of time  Finish the book right away (ex: two hours)  Struggling reading the sentences  You can not identify setting, characters, plot, or conflict.

How do I choose?  Interest- What do YOU like?  Readiness Appropriate reading level ○ Vocabulary ○ Fluency Maturity  Applicable – How can I apply what I learn

Books classmates have read  Uglies series  Hunger Games  Maximum Ride  Percy Jackson  Anthony Harowitz  Shiver  Beastly  The Book Thief  The Kane Chronicles