Reading+Tools

= FOR FREE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! = ||= 1. [|Audio Books]
 * = = Download Books to your IPOD or Audio Device =

2. [|More Audio Books]
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 * = = Summer Reading = ||= [|The True Story of Hansel and Gretel] ||
 * =  ||= [|The Kite Runner] ||
 * =  ||= [|An Ordinary Man] ||
 * = =Siddhartha= ||= [|Audio Book] ||
 * = =Hamlet= ||=  ||
 * = =Metamorphosis= ||=  ||
 * = =A Doll's House= ||=  ||
 * = =All Quiet on the Western Front= ||=  ||

‍[|The Raven: Edgar Allen Poe]
BELOW ARE SIX STRATEGIES TO HELP YOU BECOME A BETTER READER, UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU ARE READING, AND REMEMBER WHAT IT IS YOU JUST READ ** BUT... YOU HAVE TO PUT THE WORK IN TO GET THE RESULTS - WITHOUT AN EFFORT, NOTHING CAN BE GAINED. YOU CAN DO IT! ** 1. ** MAKE CONNECTIONS ** - connect with past experiences or your background knowledge - How can I relate? 2. ** QUESTIONING ** - ask to clarify confusion or establish literal facts - I wonder...?... What does the author mean?... 3. ** INFERRING ** - read between the lines, make predictions - What clues are being given? 4. ** VISUALIZING ** - creating visual images - Do I see a "movie" playing in my head while I read? Can I see people, or objects? 5. ** DETERMINING IMPORTANCE ** - remember important information, build background, distinguish importance from interesting - What should I remember? What is important, why? What do I need to know, what is nice to know? 6. ** SYNTHESIZING ** - make generalizations, personalize the information, combine new info with old info to form original ideas - Can I put this into my own words? Did I stop to think about what I was reading?

//__ Mrs. Pietrzak’s Book Report Alternatives __//
 * 1) Write a letter to the main character and the character's reply.
 * 2) Write a different ending for the book.
 * 3) Pretend you are a talk show host and interview the main character.
 * 4) Create a travel brochure for the setting of the story or [|scrapbook pages] about key characters.
 * 5) [|Make a Book Cover] including illustrations, an enticing synopsis, author bio, and favorable reviews.
 * 6) Summarize the book into a comic or story aimed for younger students or your classmates.
 * 7) Write a news article about an important event from the book.
 * 8) Write about the decisions you would make if you were the main character in the book.
 * 9) Dramatize a scene from the story with other students or using puppets.
 * 10) Post a [|book review] on [|the] Wikispace.
 * 11) Chose two characters from the story and write a conversation they might have.
 * 12) Write a letter or email to a close friend recommending the book you have just read.
 * 13) Make a list of new, unusual, or interesting words or phrases found in your book.
 * 14) Prepare a television commercial about your book. Act out the commercial for your classmates.
 * 15) Write ten chat room-style questions that could be used to start an online discussion about the book. Or, write ten questions that test other students' understanding of the story. (Make sure you provide a list of answers.)
 * 16) Explain why you think this book will or will not be read 100 years from now. Support your opinion by stating specific events in the story.
 * 17) Discuss one particular episode in the story that you remember most. Describe why you think it remains so clear to you.
 * 18) Write a letter/email to the author of your book. Address it to the publisher and mail it. Or, see if the author has a Web site and email it.
 * 19) Write a ballad or song about the characters and events in your story. Set the words to the music of a popular song and sing it to the class.
 * 20) Give a dramatic reading of a scene in the book to your classmates.
 * 21) Describe in detail three characters from the story. List reasons why you would or wouldn't want to get to know these people.
 * 22) Design a poster or new book cover depicting the climax of the story.
 * 23) Write an acrostic poem about the book using the letters in the title of the book or the name of a character or author.
 * 24) Draw a classroom mural depicting a major scene(s) from the book.
 * 25) After reading an informational book, make a scrapbook about the topics.