My novel curriculums

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My novel curriculums
By maryteach

are very, very simple. What I do is, I sit down and start reading, and as soon as I have 2-3 really good questions (high on Bloom's tax), that's #1. I continue reading, and the same thing. As soon as I have those questions
(2-4 is more accurate), that's #2. For low readers, I keep each reading assignment to 10-15 pages. For grade level, about 20 pages, and above grade level, as many as 35. Each novel has 9-14 response sheets. Almost every question I ask is right at the top of Bloom's Tax (what do you think, what would you do). I also do a lot of identifying the meaning of a word using the context,

and less frequently, the dictionary. I will occasionally ask a right-there question because I think it's important (who is telling this story? Sometimes I ask them that. Some books are harder for them to identify the narrator in). I will ask them to identify the foreshadowing, the simile, the personification, discuss/explain the metaphor/symbolism. All my questions are short answer, no multiple choice (that's not entirely true; I've used multiple choice on a very few occasions), no true/false, no drawing lines between words and definitions (almost all definitions from the context). Questions that involve metaphor usually come with instructions to discuss with the group. I expect them to do this independently from me. That way, we can have a better discussion when we all get together.

I keep the questions I ask to a really important few, because I believe that lots of questions to answer just kills the book, and reading, for so many kids. And really, all I need to know is if they're comprehending on the level that I need them to. A few well-placed questions tells me. What I'm trying to do is teach kids how to read a novel INTELLIGENTLY. Once I think they're on their way, I'll put them in Reader's Workshop the next time around. They select their own book, and we just write letters back and forth. But I need to know that they really know HOW to read it before I just turn them loose.

I do spelling in context, in writer's workshop, or in teachable moments, based on what I see each kid needs. They don't have spelling lists, nor do they take tests.

I do not generally do activities surrounding novels, mostly because I just don't have the time. I teach reading, writing, and all its trimmings, in a 50 minute class session. Although--I wrote the curriculum for The Pinballs a couple of weeks ago, and it occurred to me that today's kids probably don't know what a pinball machine is--and they need to know in order to understand the central metaphor of the book. Since I can't very well cart in a pinball machine (even if I had one), I went online and found an electronic pinball game! So I'm going to reserve the library for the handful of kids who will do that book, get the site unblocked, and let them play pinball for half an hour!

I just finished, in the last fifteen minutes, Heartbeat, by Sharon Creech. I am really up for using it in a unit on novels told in verse.

I now have about 35 novel curriculums. I wonder if I should approach a publisher. That's probably stupid. A lot of class sets come with a publisher's curriculum, but I HATE those. They're just so much busywork and sometimes, they don't even have anything to do with the book!

I would love to hear what you do. Maybe there's something I should be incorporating.