Compare two characters. (Comparing means you tell how the characters are the same). They can be from the same book or two different books. Read a debate from a TFK magazine. Create a YES/NO column like the one below, and list the reasons each person gives for choosing that side in the debate. Create a text feature chart for a nonfiction book or article. Your chart should look like the one below. You may cut and paste the features if using a TFK article. Create a I Learned/I Still Wonder chart for NF topic you’ve already read about. I Learned I Still Wonder What I Learned Text Feature Debate: YES NO Compare and Contrast two real people you learned about in your NF reading (from a NF book, a passage, or TFK article. In every story, characters face problems. The stories usually contain a solution to the problem. List the problems a character faced in a book you read recently and write other ways they could have solved their problems. Create a “What’s the Big Idea” chart for a NF text or article you read. Read a TFK magazine from cover to cover. Then, create an ad that sums up what a reader will find in that issue of Time for Kids.

Write a letter from one book character to another. Choose a debate topic and write an essay using the outline below: Paragraph 1 – explain the deate Paragraph 2 – summarize yes and no sides Paragraph 3 - choose a side and give reasons why Paragraph 4 – explain why the opposite side is wrong. Choose a debate topic. Write an essay using the outline below. Pargraph 1 – Explain the debate Paragraph 2 – Summarize the YES side Paragraph 3 – Summarize the NO side Paragraph 4 – Choose a side and give reasons why Compare and contrast two characters from two different texts. Write a NF report on a book that you read from our classroom library. Create a TV commercial to advertise a book you are reading/have read. Draw pictures to show what the commercial would look like, and write the words the commercial narrator would say! Include details about the book but don’t give away the ending. Write a letter from one book character to another.

Design a movie trailer that advertises a book you are reading/have read. Sketch what would be included in the trailer and write what the narrator would say. Remember trailers don’t give away endings or surprising details! Write a play using the storyline from a book you are reading/have read. Give the characters lines, include set directions (how characters should move and speak) and describe what the set should look like. Create a story map for a book you are reading/have read. Include the important details that occurred in the plot along with sketches for those moments. Design an ad for a book you are reading/have read. The ad should make people want to buy the book. Include a detailed summary (no spoilers!) as well as a picture that gives some information about the book. Create a collage to tell a story through words and pictures. Using magazines, cut and paste words and images that retell the story you’ve read.. You may also draw and write words of your own to complete the collage. Explain how two or more texts relate to one another. Maybe they have a similar theme, or similar characters. Explain what makes them similar using specific details from each story. Write a news report that gives information about the NF topic you have read about. Your news report should be similar to a TFK article, including the 5Ws! Create a collage to represent a character from a book you are reading/have read. Using magazines, cut and paste words and images that tell about the character! You may also draw and write words of your own to complete the collage.

Create a timeline for the events of a story. Create a game that quizzes players on details of a short story or TFK article. Players should be able to read the story/article and then play the game, answering questions about the article or story. Write an alternative ending to a story you have read. Include a quick summary of the story, a sentence that tells how it originally ends before writing the ending using the characters and setting of the story. Explain why the setting of a story you have read is important. What would change about the story if the setting changed? Why did the author choose that setting? Retell a story you have read from another character’s perspective. Read a biography story from the classroom library. Create a timeline for that person’s life. Organize information in a KWL chart for a nonfiction topic. What you Know, what you Want to know, and what you Learned (after reading). Design a brochure for a location you read about in a NF book or a TFK article. Why is this location important? Why should people visit? What can they see or do there (according to the article/book) Create a timeline for the events of a story.

Create vocabulary maps for words you had trouble with in a story or article you read. Your vocab map should look like this: Write a radio advertisement for a book you are reading/have read. Make sure to include details that would make people want to read the book without giving anything surprising away! Read a chapter in your social studies workbook. Summarize the chapter using words and pictures, explaining what you learned about the history of North Carolina from the chapter you read. Design a comic strip using characters and the plot from a story you have read. The characters and setting should reflect what you read in the original story! Picture Meaning Word Synonyms In a sentence Have you ever read a book and then seen the movie version? Compare and contrast the two presentations of that story. Stories have patterns. They have similar plots and themes. Compare and contrast two stories that are similar in theme or in plot. Stories are told in either first-person or third-person. Explain how a story you have read would be different if it was written in a style other than the one the author chose. Explain the theme of a story you have read. How do you know this is the theme? Write a paragraph using details from the story that demonstrate that theme.

Create a box and bullet chart for an article you read in TFK or a nonfiction book you read. Supporting detail Read a nonfiction book from our classroom library. Write a summary of the book, including the most important details you learned about that NF topic. Create a cause/effect chart for a nonfiction book or article you read. What happened? What caused it to happen? Create a problem/solution chart for a story, nonfiction book or article you read. What was the problem or problems? How were those problems solved? Main Idea Compare and contrast two different articles or books that deal with the same topic. Create a text feature chart for a nonfiction book or article. Your chart should look like the one below. You may cut and paste the features if using a TFK article. Read a nonfiction book or article. Explain what the author’s purpose was for writing that book or article. What is to mainly inform, entertain, or persuade? Or is it a combination? Use details to support your answer. Explain (in a paragraph) how an article or story written about something that happened in the past is similar to AND different from someone who was alive during the event writing about that same moment. Text Feature What I Learned

Write a letter to a person you learned about in a NF book or article. Create a DID YOU KNOW? poster for a NF topic you read about. Include fascinating and surprising facts about the topic. Using the list of “Yes or No?” topics, choose a side in a common debate. Explain, using reasons, why you choose yes or no. Support your thinking! Read two different books or articles on the same topic. Write a report on that topic using information found in both texts. Your information should be organized, clear, and sequenced appropriately. Create a comic strip for a NF topic you read about. You may create one for the life of MLK Jr or to show what you know about the rainforest after reading. The comic should be colorful and informative! Create interview questions for a book character. Then, try to imagine you are that character, and answer the questions fro their point of view using what you know about that character from your reading. Write a letter to a person you learned about in a NF book or article. Create interview questions for a person you learned about in a NF book or article. Imagine you are that person and try to answer the questions from their point of view. Write a personal narrative using a small moment in time from your life.

Rewrite a story you have read by changing the setting. Remember, Conduct research on a topic using the NF books in our classroom library, the science textbooks or social studies workbooks. Use the research skills you learned like paraphrasing and quoting authors to create a report on the topic. Write an informational text using information you read in a NF book or article. Partner up with someone in the class. Read a book together from our “Read with a Friend” basket. Come together to discuss what you learned, the most interesting part of the book, questions you still have, etc. Discussion should be about the book you read and nothing else!  Design an ad for a NF book you read. Include information about what people will learn about if they read this book, some fascinating facts, and pictures that provide some information about what the book is about. Read a debate from a TFK magazine. Create a YES/NO column like the one below, and list the reasons each person gives for choosing that side in the debate. Rewrite a story you have read by changing the setting. Remember, setting = time and place. How would the story change in a different time period? How would it change if the location was changed? Generate a list of questions you have about a topic. Then, during your scheduled computer time, research the answers to these questions. Imagine you are friends with the main character in a book you are reading/have read. Give this character some advice regarding the conflict they face in the story in a letter you write to them. Debate: YES NO

Create a timeline for the events of a story. Create a character map Design a dream bedroom for the main character in a story you are reading/have read. Their bedroom should reflect what you know about them as a character – their feelings, their thoughts, ideas, and actions should be reflected in the room. Write a short paragraph explaining the reasons behind parts of your design. Explain why the setting of a story you have read is important. What would change about the story if the setting changed? Why did the author choose that setting? Retell a story you have read from another character’s perspective. for a fictional character Read a biography story from the classroom library. Create a timeline for this person’s life. Organize information in a KWL chart for a nonfiction topic. What you Know, what you Want to know, and what you Learned (after reading). Design a brochure for a location you read about in a NF book or a TFK article. Why is this location important? Why should people visit? What can they see or do there (according to the article/book) Create a timeline for the events of a story.

Play Boggle. List all the 3, 4, and 5 letter words you can find. Imagine you are a character in a story you are reading/have read. If you could be that character for one day, what would you do? (Your day should reflect what you know about that character. What would they do based on their actions in the book?) Imagine characters from two different books met each other. Write down what you imagine their conversation would sound like. (If they are very similar characters, the conversation should show this. If they are very different characters, the conversation should show that!) Read a NF text about a person. If you could be this person for one day, what would you do? (Your day should reflect what you learned about that person in the NF text). Play Boggle. List all the 3, 4, and 5 letter words you can find. Create a character map Write a test for a book or article you have read. The questions should be both multiple choice and short answer. Read a NF text about an animal. Imagine you are this animal and you can talk (this is called personification). What would you do for the day? (Your day should reflect what you learned about this animal’s home and behavior!) Read two biographies from our class library. Compare and contrast the two people you read about using details from their biographies. for a real person from NF

Find a quiet spot around the room and write nonstop. Free Reading Pretend a student from K-3 wants to know more about a 4th grade science topic. Use your science notebook and any notes/worksheets you’ve been given to write a letter to a younger student explaining a science topic we’ve learned about. Using the information found in your social studies workbook, design a brochure for North Carolina. Explain why people should visit North Carolina. Using information in your social studies workbook, design a tv commercial for a certain spot in North Carolina, such as the Outer Banks. Your TV commercial script should include information about this place as well as why people should visit, what they can do there, and any other interesting information. Using the “Worth A Thousand Words” binder, write a story based on an image. Partner up with someone and write a story together. Work together from start to finish: Brainstorm story ideas Develop characters Fill out a plot mountain Start writing! Use the best parts of each other’s work Combine your writing into one great story, with pictures. Free Writing Find a quiet spot around the room and write nonstop. Create something to tell people about North Carolina’s role in the American Revolution. (You can find information about this in your social studies workbook. Use the table of contents to find the right chapter). Consider writing a song, a poem, drawing a comic strip or writing an essay. Free Reading Find a quiet spot around the room and get lost in a book.

Find a quiet spot around the room and write nonstop. Free Reading Write a prequel to a story you have read. A prequel is what happens before the events of the book. Write a sequel to a story you have read. A sequel is a “what comes next” story. List the events of a story in chronological order. Predict what might happen next by listing two or three ideas that could occur after the story’s ending Create a collage to represent a NF topic you have read about. Using magazines, cut and paste words and images that represent the topic. You may also draw and write words of your own to complete the collage. Create something to tell people about North Carolina’s role in a historical event, such as the American Revolution or Trail of Tears. (You can find information about this in your social studies workbook. Use the table of contents to find a chapter that interests you). Consider writing a song, a poem, drawing a comic strip or writing an essay. Partner up with someone and write a story together. Work together from start to finish: Brainstorm story ideas Develop characters Fill out a plot mountain Start writing! Use the best parts of each other’s work Combine your writing into one great story, with pictures. Free Writing Find a quiet spot around the room and write nonstop. Free Reading Find a quiet spot around the room and get lost in a book.

Identify the 5 W’s of a NF article you have read. Draw pictures that represent each W. Read a chapter in your SS workbook and answer the questions within and at the end of the chapter. Criticize a book you’ve read lately. Remember criticism isn’t just saying mean things about a book or author – but what you think could have been done differently and why. Write a letter to an author or write a book review in which you criticize parts of the book Identify the 5 W’s of a story you have read. Draw pictures that represent each W.