Accountable Independent Reading (AIR)

AIR Five Purposes To engage and motivate students in learning things they care about To promote a love of reading To build vocabulary: reading a lot exposes students to new words and ideas To build knowledge about the world (through both fiction and informational text) To build reading “stamina”: the ability to read harder text for longer periods of time

Learning Goal Students will be able to read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently. 7. RL-RI,10. 4 I can read and comprehend and analyze complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently. 3 I can read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently 2 With support I can read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts proficiently. 1 With much support I can read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts and proficiently. I am unable to read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.

Choosing Books Using the Goldilocks Rule  In order to become a better reader, you need to spend lots of time independently reading books that are NOT TOO EASY and NOT TOO HARD …just like Goldilocks.   The Five Finger Rule- Are there many words you don’t know? Read the first two pages. Every time you come to a word that don’t know, put one finger up. If you get to five fingers before the end of the first page, STOP! This book is TOO HARD to read on your own. Choose another book and start this step again. The Page 2 Check- Can you explain what happened to someone else? Read the first two pages. At the end of the second page, stop and ask yourself: Can I explain what happened so far? Does what I read make sense to me? If the answer is no, STOP! This book is TOO HARD to read on your own. Choose another book and start again with step one. The Page 5 Check- Does the book make you think? Read the first five pages. At the end of the fifth page, stop and ask yourself: “Is this book making me think?” Did you reread or make a connection to help you understand what you read? If not… STOP! This book is TOO EASY. You should choose a more challenging book to help you become a better reader.

Weekly Plot/Focus Question Notes Complete Weekly Entry for Each Reading Check-in: 1. Complete Title and # of Pages Read 2. Complete Plot Tracker 3. Complete Focus Question Make your entries as interesting and detailed as possible! Use “Questions for Reviewer’s Notes” to support your responses! You may choose to “Post-It-Note” annotate your AIR text as you read to practice the skill of annotation. Even though this reading is meant to stimulate interest and enjoyment in reading, you may find annotating your texts a beneficial strategy for reading comprehension!

Reader’s Review/Assessment You will have 5 Weeks to read your book! As you read you will track your progress weekly using the: Reading Log’s Plot/Focus Question Notes ~To be completed by class time- Every Wednesday! At the end of the 5 week reading time-period you will complete an in-class Reader’s Review/Assessment of your book. You MUST have your book with you on the day of the assessment! The Readers Review will assess: 1. The Plot of your book (a plot map will be provided to use as you read. 2. A reflection of your Reading Log’s Notes Sections 3. Your rating of the book with reasons why. IMPORTANT!

AIR Book Review Assessment Paragraph 1: IVF 2. Plot Summary What is the plot of the story from beginning to end? Paragraph 2 2. Setting What is the time and place? How does the setting influence the plot? 3. Characters Who is the protagonist/good guy, antagonist/bad guy? 5. Conflict What is the problem? Is it internal (emotions) or external (environment, other characters)? 6. Climax What is the high point in the story? 7. Resolution How does the conflict (problem) get resolved? Paragraph 3 8. Favorites What is your favorite part of the book? Why? Who was your favorite character? Why? Connection What connection did you make to this story? (Other story, world events, personal life) 10. Rating What score on a scale of 1-5 would you give this book? Why? Identify Verb Finish 1. The (book –or- story) (Title of your book) by (Author of your book) Explores Describes Details Tells Follows Shares This finish should be broad and give the big idea of the story. This is probably going to be a statement of theme.