Realistic Fiction Novel Study

For our second novel study of the year, we will be focusing on realistic fiction. In this novel study we will be looking at a few key elements. Summaries, comparing and contrasting, cause and effect, theme, and some use of adjectives and punctuation. You can view expectations, our rubric, and learning targets below.

Criteria Sheet

Rubric

Learning Targets

In class I have been, and will continue to, model all elements of our novel study with our class read aloud, Maniac Magee. We have been focusing on summary so far. We have also introduced using adjectives to describe characters, and punctuation and why they author chose to use it. 

Summaries

In class we have been writing summaries for each chapter of Maniac Magee. Each chapter a different student will type and the rest of the class will help explain the most important elements of the chapter. I introduced this graphic organizer to help students ask themselves questions each chapter. 

This allows students to organize their thoughts about a chapter. They do not need to fill this our every chapter. It is just a way for students to ask different questions about the chapter and also sequence the chapter. 

Here is our class summaries for the book Maniac Magee.

Summaries

Adjectives

We are also looking at the use of adjectives to describe characters. We want to improve our adjective vocabulary. Rather than describing a character as mean, we want to upgrade our vocabulary to words such as, evil, harsh, hateful, etc. Here is the graphic organizer we are using in class to upgrade our adjectives.

We have been modeling this in class as well. Our class example of adjectives to describe characters is right here:

Adjectives

Punctuation

The third piece of our novel study is looking at the use of punctuation by the author. Students will identify 8 different types of punctuation used by the author and explain why the author used that form of punctuation in that situations.

In class we have an anchor chart that shows 8 different kinds of punctuation and some examples from out book, Maniac Magee. 

In class, as we do dour read aloud, we have been documenting some different types of punctuation used in our class book. This example can be found here:

Punctuation

Cause and Effect

The fourth piece of our novel study is looking at cause and effect in our novels. Effect is what is happened in the novel. Cause is why did it happen. When I introduced students to the idea of cause and effect, I told them that it is much easier to think about it like effect and cause. When you write down the effect first, it makes it much easier to find the cause. It's all about what happened and why.

Here is the anchor chart in our classroom. 

Cause and effect are not just singular events. One effect can have one cause, but there are different versions as well. One effect can have many causes, but also, many effects can have one singular cause. 

For our novel study in class, we have been documenting and discussing cause and effect for our novel, Maniac Magee. Here is the link to our class book graphic organizer.

Cause and Effect