Mr. Lewis' 4th Grade Blog

Please use the questions below to guide your discussion on the novel you’re reading.

Elements of Author’s Craft

• The way the author gets you hooked on the story
• The way the author builds suspense
• What the author did to make the ending memorable
• The way the illustrations make the story even more powerful
• The way the author organized the story (is it problem/solution or first, next, then…)
• Places where the author is hoping you’ll picture or wonder or use another thinking strategy
• Notice words and other author’s crafts that help you see the picture in your mind
• The subtle clues to meaning that might be missed without close reading

Visualizing Beyond the Page

• Find a passage that you think the author included so we could picture/visualize something in this text?  What do you think the author wanted us to understand by including these details?
• What other details could you add to the picture in your mind that the author didn’t includes in the text?
• What are the most powerful words the author uses to help you picture this [character, setting, etc.]?  What other crafts does the author use to help you picture this [character, setting, etc.]?
• What is another way of looking at this text?  How does that change what you see? (Think about the text from another character’s point of view)

Questioning for Deeper Understanding

• What was unsettling about what you read today?  What questions did that bring to your mind about people’s behavior?
• What did you read about today that made you curious to know more?  What questions did you with this book would answer?
• Where do you think the author wanted you to have questions?  What part of your reading today was particularly suspenseful?
• Sometimes an author “leaves you hanging,” and you still have questions when the story ends.  What questions remained for you as this story ended?  What else do you want to know?

Inferring the Big Ideas

• What was the author’s intent in writing this [story]?
• Choose a line or a couple of sentences that you feel are important to the text in some way.  What is the author trying to show with this line or lines?  What did the author want you to understand (beyond just the literal meaning0?
• Is there a “universal truth” in this story-something that is “true for people in general?”  What is it?  How did you figure it out?

Connecting and Reaction

• What feeling strands out from your reading today?  When have you felt this way in your own life?
• Think about the big idea in this book.  What is the experience that the author wants you to think about?  Has anything like this ever happened to you?
• Is there anyone in this book you would like to know personally?  Why would this person make a good friend?
• Who do you know who might enjoy this book?  Why?  What could you say to convince them to read this book themselves?
• Does this book remind you of something else you read? What was the book? What was the connection?
• What surprised you or disappointed you?