tracking your thinking
Reading a lot is only one part of growing as a reader; you actually have to think about what you’re reading and analyze it in order to become a truly strong and proficient reader. Here are some ways for you to track your thinking as you read your independent reading book:
- Putting Post-Its directly in your book
- Writing notes / quick jots in your notebook
It is important to write your ideas AS you read to remember your thinking BEFORE your thinking changes and BEFORE the book changes!
what do i take notes about??
On your Post-Its or in your notebook, you can:
- Identify Notice & Note Signposts (e.g. Contrasts & Contradictions, Memory Moments, Again and Again, Tough Questions, Aha Moments, Words of the Wiser)
- Record your theories about characters
- Track character change
- Record your questions
- Identify parts of the book that support your theories/ideas
- Make connections (to other texts, to yourself, to the world)
- Write your emotional reactions
- Make predictions
- Track evidence for theme
- Summarize BRIEFLY (if necessary)