Summer Reading Suggestions

Summer is a time for relaxing. I hope that you find time to relax and enjoy yourself this summer. As a reading teacher, I hope that you find to read a good book or two.

I encourage everyone to read over the summer and continue the amazing gains you all made over the summer. In order make the most gains, I suggest reading slightly above your reading level. Find books books at or above your reading level by clicking on the "Find Books You Like" under the Classroom Links heading on my blog. The directions are straightforward and you can find the novels at your local library.

I also suggest that you try some of the suggested authors list on my blog.

In order to really push yourself, send post your reactions to the books you are reading on by clicking on the comments link. Be certain to include your name, the title and the author. Spellcheck your work before submitting.

Try these questions to help get you respond more deeply to your reading:
Thinking about how you read
I was distracted by...
I started to think about...
I got stuck when...
I was confused/focused today because...
One strategy I used to help me read
this better was...
When I got distracted I tried to refocus
myself by...
These word(s) or phrases were
new/interesting to me...I think they
mean...
When reading I should...
When I read today I realized that...
I had a hard time understanding...
I’ll read better next time if I...

Thinking about what you read
Why does the character/author...
Why doesn’t the character/author...
What surprised me most was...
I predict that...
This author’s writing style is...
I noticed that the author uses...
The main character wants/is...
If I could, I’d ask the author/character...
The most interesting event/idea in this
book is...
I realized...
The main conflict/idea in this book is...
I wonder why...
One theme that keeps coming up is...
I found the following quote interesting...
I ____________ this book because...

Elaborating on what you think
I think__________ because...
A good example of _______ is...
This reminded me of ______
because...
This was important because...
One thing that surprised me
was___because I always thought...
The author is saying that...

These questions can be found at the following website:
Tools for Reading, Writing, and Thinking