About Reading Logs

About Reading Logs

There are many ways you can keep your reading logs. From the following suggestions, please select at least five prompts for each of your Reading Log.

    In your notebook and in your handwriting you are to log in the date, time and pages or chapters of each reading session. Your log should include major elements of the plot, consideration of characters including description and motivation, settings, themes, significant details and anything else you feel is noteworthy or significant including questions you may have about anything that seems confusing to you in that section of the book.

1.  Write about what your feelings are after reading the opening chapter(s) of the book. How do your feelings change (or do they) after reading half the book? Do you feel any differently after finishing the book?

2.   What emotions did the book invoke: laughter, tears, smiles, anger? Record some of your reactions.

3.   Sometimes books touch you, reminding you of your own life as part of the larger human experience. Are there connections between the book and your own life?

4.   Would you like to be one of the characters (acquire a personality trait)? Which of the characters would you become, if you could? Why?

5.   If you were the author, would you have changed the name of a character, or altered the location of a scene?

 6.Does the book leave you with questions you would like to ask? What are they? Would you like to direct your questions at a particular character? What questions would you like to ask the author of the book?

7.   Are you confused about what happened (or didn't happen) in the book? What events or characters do you not understand? Does the use of language in the book confuse you?

8.   Is there an idea in the book that makes you stop and think, or prompts questions? Identify the idea and explain your responses.

9.   What are your favorite lines/quotes? Copy them into your reading log and explain why these passages caught your attention.

10.   How have you changed after reading the book? What did you learn that you never knew before?

11.   Who else should read this book? Should anyone not be encouraged to read this book? Why?

12.   Would you like to read more books by this author? Have you already read other books by the author? Why or why not?

GUIDELINES FOR THE BOOK REPORT

I. The Introductory Paragraph (setting)

A. State the title and author of the book.

B. Write one or two sentences that summarize what this book is about.

C. Who is the narrator of the story?

D. Where and when does the story take place? Provide relevant background information.

E. Which of the five forms of conflict are presented in this work?

II. Paragraphs Two through Five (characterization)

A. Write a separate paragraph for three major characters in the work. Develop each paragraph in the following way:

1. Introduce the character by name and tell what role they play in the story.
2. Describe the character.
3. What important interactions take place between this character and others in the story?
4. What words spoken in the story help us to understand this character? Explain.
5. In what way, if any, does the character change by the end of the story?
6. How do you feel about this character, and why?

III. Paragraphs Six through Eight (conflict and plot)

A. Describe two scenes that express the major conflict in the book, and show how they lead to further complications. Write a separate paragraph for each scene.
B. Describe the scene that involves the point of greatest tension in the story, and show how it leads to the resolution of the conflict. Write this in paragraph form.

IV. Paragraph Nine (theme)

A. Tell how the novel ends.

B. What is the author's message?

C. How does the theme apply to people in general?

D. How does the theme apply to you personally?

V. Paragraph Ten (your opinion)

A. Tell whether you liked this book or not, and why.

B. How did the book reinforce, or change, any attitudes or opinions you may have held?

C. Would you recommend this book to others? Why or why not?

Part III

How to respond to the ELA Regents Task III ?

1. Identify the topic
2. Turn the topic into a question( What is...? How is...?)
3. Read passage A and determine:
   • What's the author A's answer to the question?
   • How do you know this is his/her answer? What's the proof  (supporting evidence/details)?
   • What literary techniques does author A use to convey his/her ideas( to show his/her answer to the question)?
4. Read passage B and determine:
   • What's the author B's answer to the question?
   • How do you know this is his/her answer? What's the proof  (supporting evidence/details)?
   • What literary techniques does author B use to convey his/her ideas( to show his/her answer to the question)?
5. Do two authors share similar  views on the topic? Do they differ on the topic?