Mrs Elkins Reading Tasks These are some reading activities/questions to guide your child. They are organised chronologically up to the highest order thinking skills. They involve the four roles of the reader (Text Participant, User, Analyst and Decoder) and appeal to multiple intelligences (such as verbal linguistic, logical mathematical, visual/spatial, etc) Happy Reading! Write a list of your reasons for selecting to read this book. Write a prediction about what the book or next part of the story will be about. Draw and label a picture of the setting of this story. Design a different cover for this story. Which part of the story best describes the setting? Why? Does this book remind you of any real life event, experience, television show, movie, book, advertisement, etc? Why? Find some action words (verbs) from the story and list them. Put these words together to form a silly sentence. Have someone read sentences from the story to you to write as dictation. Copy what they say and then check you have used the right spelling and punctuation from the book. Look out for new or interesting words in the chapter or section. Make a list of all interesting words from the book. From the clues in the book, guess the meaning of these words and then check in a dictionary. You may like to practice these words in spelling or use them in your writing now! Create a word search or crossword based on the story.
Draw a picture of what came to mind when reading a chapter/section of the book. What are your favourite and least favourite parts of the book and why? What is something new or interesting that you learnt or thought about while reading? Retell the book s plot in your own words. Pretend you will tell your story to someone who has not read the book before. How is this book similar or different to others you have read? What did the story make you think of? Who is your favourite character and why? List the words in the text that mean the same as said. Describe the main characters of the story. Can you create a profile about them? (e.g. Appearance, Description, Behaviour, etc.) Make a list of adjectives (describing words) to use about a character in the story. Why Find ten interesting quotes from the story and write about why you liked them. Describe one of the main events and why you think it is a main event. Create a storyboard of the main events in the story. Have you ever been in a similar situation to the story? Describe your experience and how it is similar. Make a map of the settings of the story. This will be a bird s eye view. Remember to label your map! Have you read any other stories that have similar characters to this one? If so, which story was it and what happened?
Compare yourself to the main character. How are you alike and different? Write three questions to the author. Draw up a table of facts about the characters. How would you feel if you were treated in the same way as the main character? Would you act in the same way? Think of some questions to ask someone who is reading the book. The questions can be easy (answers right there in the text) or harder (where they have to make inferences or think more). Who is telling the story and why do you think the author chose this character? Create a PCQ (Pros, Cons, Questions) chart about the book. If you could alter the main character of the story, what changes would you make? Create a character profile for your new character. Create a Venn diagram comparing two recent books you have read. How are they similar and different? Imagine you are a character in the story. What are 5 of your strengths and 5 of your weaknesses? Write a summary of the story, chapter or a key event. Choose ten interesting words from the text that all start with the same letter. Write them into a tongue twister. Describe an alternative setting for the story. What would happen if the story was set 20 years in the future or past? Write a paragraph convincing someone to read this book. Do you think this book is trying to give the reader a message? If so, what is it?
Make a list of Who am I? clues about one of the characters in the story. What would you have done differently to the character in a particular situation from the book? Make a list of situations in the story that could have happened (reality) and could not have really happened (fantasy). Make a comic strip about the story or characters. Create a story time line for this book. Make a wanted poster including suspect s name, past crimes, description, etc. Write a song, rap or poem using the story or characters as your inspiration. How could you change or improve this story to make it better? If you could make a second book, carrying on from the ending in this one, what would you write about happening next? Write a diary entry about the story from the point of view of one of the characters. Write a new blurb for the back of this book. What if one main character or event was taken away from the story? How would this change it? Did you like the ending of the story? Why/why not. Create your own ending to the story. Would this book make a good movie? Why or why not? Create a brainstorm of movie ideas or make a movie script or plan for a movie plot based on the book. Write a brief talk about the text. Remember to engage your listeners! Write a letter to the author or one of the characters in the story.
Write a newspaper report about one of the events in the story as if it really happened. Pretend you ve been asked to advertise this book. What would key selling features be? If you changed the point of view in this story, what would change? Re-write a section of the book in a new point of view (choose a new character s perspective.) What type of person would be interested in this book and why? Create an advertisement for this book to appeal to this type of person. Write a book review about the text. Explain the plot, characters, good and bad things about the story and give it a rating out of ten. List any stereotypes that you read about in the text. Are they like any you have seen on television or in the media?