Fiction Units

Independent 

Online Games (Websites & Apps):

  • Look up your favorite author on line.  Find his/her website.  What can you learn about him/her?  Why do they write particular stories?  How has their life influenced their writing?  
  • Use images to help you as you read. Use search terms to find images online that might fit some passages in your book. If not, look for images in magazines, brochures, or other publications. Choose a few strong images. Keep them handy as you start reading.
  • Use the Jotting Menu to write about your reading.
  • Use your reading notebook menu to write a notebook entry about your book.

Projects:

  • Create a poster, mobile, video or diorama about your book
  • Write a letter to your character. Do you have any advice for them? What did you learn?
  • Create a blurb for your book.
  • Write a review for your book
  • Write a short fan fiction story.
  • After reading your book, create a timeline for your main character highlighting the important events. Then create a timeline for a secondary character. Afterwards, select an important event and compare how the two characters responded similarly or differently to the same event
  • Create a comic strip about your book
  • Create a suitcase for your character – what would you give your character to help him/her out in his/her adventure?

Family

Games & Activities:

  • Have a book club.  Read a book together.  Use the jot menu for discussion topics.  Take turns with who chooses the book.
  • Find someone at home to talk to and do a retelling. What kind of retelling will you do—chronological or synthesis? Which kind will help the person get a better sense of your book? Then choose an idea to talk off of. Make sure the idea is meaningful.
  • Act out your favorite scene from a book you read today.
  • If you are reading historical fiction, research your time period to help you learn more about the setting of your book or the character’s problem.
  • Draw a picture of the setting in your book. Think about feelings, mood, and details that hint at possible trouble brewing.
  • Find maps, timelines, photos, nonfiction texts or parts of other books that relate to what you are reading, and slot these into the pages where they are relevant.
  • Have a family conversation about one of the themes in your book. Does this theme appear in a book you’ve previously read? Think about that theme and how it might apply to real life—to your own life or the lives of people you know. What real-life example can you think of that relates to the theme?

Projects:

  • Select an excerpt in your book and act it out. Create costumes, props and the setting. If you want, you can even video tape it!
  • Create a board game based on your story

Videos:

  • Watch the movie version of your book. Compare and contrast it. Which did you like best?
  • Record  a review about your book

Articles & Resources:

Magazines