1. Thinking about our Reading
Using Schema
Making Inferences
Questioning
Determining Importance
Visualizing
Synthesizing

2. Schema: Using your background knowledge to think deeper about what you are reading
This reminds me of…
I’m remembering
One time…
When I was little…

3. In your reader’s binder, create a Self-Assignment (SA) Box:
SA # Date: 9/20/16
Topic: Schema
Choose one of the following assignments to copy into your SA Box and work on as you read:
Choose a section of your text during which you activated schema. Write about how your schema helped you gain meaning from the text.
Make three different connections to the text, one of each kind: Text to Text, Text to World, and Text to Self.
Think about a text-text connection you have made. Create some sort of graphic organizer showing the relationship between the two texts.

4. Inferring: The thinking skill readers use to read between the lines to understand what the author is trying to convey.
Maybe…
Perhaps…
I think this means…
I hope this means…

5. Finished? Is it your best work? Take your thinking a step further:
Complete the SA you chose yesterday:
Make three inferences in your text using this table:
Think about the inferences that you make as you read the text. Why does the author write so that you have to infer ideas rather than just giving you all of the information? How does this impact the meaning of the text?
Finished? Is it your best work?
Take your thinking a step further:
Can an inference be wrong? Does the author risk anything by leaving ideas open for interpretation? Does the reader risk losing anything?

6. Visualizing
When readers visualize they deepen how engaged they are in their reading. Good readers read themselves AWAKE!
I am imaging…
I can hear, see, feel, taste, touch…
My mental images include…

7. SA # Date:
Topic: Visualization
Choose one of the following assignments to copy into your SA Box and work on as you read:
Choose two sections of the text when you read yourself AWAKE and see a vivid movie in your mind. Jot about each of those moments.
Identify two strategies that writers use in order to help their readers visualize the text. Describe these strategies and discuss which is most effective for you as a reader.
Choose a short section of your text that does not inspire a movie in your mind. Rewrite the section so that the reader can better visualize the scene!

8. What if? Why? How could? I wonder if? Questioning
Asking questions when reading propels you through the book! You have to find the answers!
Questioning
What if?
Why?
How could?
I wonder if?

9. Questioning Answers are directly in text Summary-based
“Thin” Questions
“Thick” Questions
Answers are directly in text
Summary-based
Who?
Where?
When?
Typically do not require the use of schema
Require inferences to answer
Longer, more complex answers
May require multiple sources of information in order to answer
Examples
How did…?
Why do…?

10. Levels of Questioning Level 1 Questions Level 2 Questions
You can point to the answer in the story.
Can you recall?
When did ____ happen?
Who was ____?
What does ____ mean?
Who discovered ____?
Can you identify ____?
Example: Where do Wiley and Jeff go to school?
You might have to infer based on the selection
Can you explain how ____ affected ____?
How would you compare ____?
How would you summarize ____?
How are ____ and ____ alike? Different?
What do you notice about ____?
According to the text, what caused ____?
Example: Can you explain how Mr. Hughes impacted his students’ test scores?

11. Extend topics & create theories about ideas suggested by the text.
Levels of Questioning
LEVEL 3
Extend topics & create theories about ideas suggested by the text.
What is the author’s purpose for writing the text?
What kind of bias is present in the text?
How do the ideas from this work inform your understanding of another text you have previously read?
How does the author’s literary craft impact the power of the text?
Why did the author choose to introduce a character?
Critique the text by considering what you would change in the text, how it would impact the story, and what it would look like in your form?
Utilizing texts from a similar period and time, compare the authors’ motivation for producing their respective works.
Example: Why did Gordon Korman introduce a character such as Cassandra?

12. In your reader’s binder, create a Self-Assignment (SA) Box:
SA # Date:
Topic: Questioning
Choose one of the following assignments to copy into your SA Box and work on as you read:
Create and answer to two thick questions about your text.
Create two thick questions and four thin questions about your text. You do not need to answer them.

13. Determining Importance: When a reader can find a symbol or idea or event that seems really important, it can minimize distractions.
One thing I notice is…
The thing I want to remember here is..
It is important that…
One thing that continues to repeat is…

14. How do we know when something is important?
Authors show us!
Authors will:
Provide a repetition of ideas or phrases
Include the title of the novel
Convey major conflict
Show character development

15. Determining Importance

16. Determining Importance Self-Assignment

17. Synthesizing
Good Readers synthesize by using textual evidence to change their ideas throughout the book.
Readers who synthesize expand their thinking in layers through the book.

18. Synthesizing Jot Starters
I’m beginning to think…
I used to think __________, but now I think that….
Now I understand why…
I’m changing my mind about…
My thinking changed because…