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The 5W’s

Welcome Readers,

This blog reviews short stories, novels, and non-fiction texts for young and classic readers.  Readers can find these categories in the toolbar at the top of the site.  Now, let’s get to the ethos of these reviews; I am a high school English teacher and college instructor.  I live, read, and teach in sunny Los Angeles, California.  I created this blog in response to the questions parents and students ask me at every back-to-school night, “What should I read and why?” My hope is that this site leads you to the text you love to read.

Happy Reading,

Mrs. Reader

Day 5, Reading Comprehension Strategies

Today we begin reading chapter 4, Invitations.  In your notebook copy the chart below.

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Task:  As we read, choose a strategy from the chart then:

Identify: (ex. Predicting)

Claim: (ex. What is your claim, I predict that_____.)

Evidence: (ex. Write the page number and quote from the chapter)

Interpretation: (ex. I chose this quote because_________________.)

 

Day 4, TGIF! Plot Structure Ch. 3

Happy Friday!

Today we are covering plot structure.  In your notebook, re-create the diagram below and fill it in as we read.

Plot-What happens in a story

Structure-The way the story is written

All stories tend to follow the same plot structure.  This structure is sometimes known as a story mountain or plot diagram.

Task: First, draw the diagram, next fill in the exposition/introduction with your previous answers on exposition in your notebook (the 5W’s)

Screen Shot 2020-03-20 at 9.41.43 AM

After class, challenge yourself to vocabulary work on Vocabulary.com. Click here to begin! Always use your LAUSD account to log-in.

Happy reading,

Ms. M

Day 2, POV and Characterization

Hello readers,

Thank you again for joining today.  Again, it’s never too late to join in you just have to read the previous day’s blog and sign-on at 10am PDT every weekday.

Today we covered Point of View  

Your task: Identify the POV in the story, who is telling the story and how might that perspective limit or exceed our understanding of the text?

Ex: The point of view in the novel Twilight is _____________________, this perspective (limits/exceeds) our understanding of the story because___________________________. I know this because in the text it says, “_______________________________________________”  Which helped me determine that____________________________________________________.

We also started our character list that looks like this!

Major Characters*

Bella

Charlie

Renee

Minor Characters*

Jessica

Mike

Chess Club Eric

*Character list are dynamic, they change as you read the book.  Minor characters might turn into major characters as we move forward in the story.*

**Metacognitive think aloud’s are only covered during the session-they would not make sense out of context because by nature are organic thought processes. SO JOIN US!

Tomorrow we will begin on page 36!

Happy reading,

Ms. M

Day 1, Success and Exposition

Hello readers,

Thank you for joining today’s workshop!  It was great to see and hear from you all.  If you weren’t able to join today don’t worry because it will be easy to catch up. I am posting the notes from the session below.

Mini-Lesson: Today we learned about exposition and how important it is for readers to build a foundation of sorting the 5W’s (who, what, when, where, why) within the first 10 pages of any novel.

Pages-We read the preface and pages 1-21

Tomorrow- We start on page 22

Wait Ms. How do I get caught up?

  • Read the definition of exposition by clicking the hyperlink above
  • Read pages 1-21, including the preface
  • Write down the answers to the 5W’s in your notebook
  • Think about how you might use this to comprehend text that is more complex and challenging

Extension Activity!

Research La Push Reservation located in Washington state, directed topics might include.

  • History and Origin
  • Current conditions
  • Population and Economy

Hope to see you all tomorrow!

Happy reading,

Ms. M 🙂

Ms. Maldonado’s Reader’s Workshop via Zoom

Hello parents, former and current students, in an effort to spread joy and add to the continuity of learning, starting tomorrow, every Tuesday/Thursday at 12:30 pm PDT, I will be conducting a reader’s workshop hour via Zoom. Our first book will be Twilight, by Stephanie Meyers. Yes, we will review the film AFTER we read the novel (NO MOVIE CHEATING).

Wait…Ms. What will I need?

  • Create a Zoom account for free by clicking this link
  • Grab your print or digital copy of Twilight a pdf copy is here
  • Have your favorite pen or pencil ready
  • Have a cute journal or spiral notebook ready

Wait…Ms. How will this work?

  • First, I will introduce the reading strategy and set our purpose (think, plot elements)
  • Then, I will read, you will follow along by tracking your print (use your finger to follow the words)
  • Then, I will focus on our reading strategy with a metacognitive think aloud
  • Lastly, we will hold a discussion and Q and A after the chapter.

Parents your child will need

  • Access to an electronic device with a speaker (Zoom has desktop and smartphone or tablet capabilities)
  • Here is the tutorial
  • Pen/Pencil
  • Journal or spiral notebook

Happy Reading,

Ms. Maldonado is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Ms. Maldonado’s Reader’s Workshop

Email me for Zoom meeting ID.