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Overview
These reading assignments come from all different classes. When appropriate or possible I have made a note as to when I use each assignment.

Outside Reading
A crucial part of my class, outside reading provides my students the chance to explore their own interests and develop their abilities as readers.

1. Annotated Bibliography
2. Outside Reading Requirement
3. Outside Reading Sample Essay (Revised 1/22/02)
   

Tools for Reading
These tools are designed to develop students' reading capacity.

1. Reading for Changes: This one-page handout works very well at all skill levels. It provides readers with a specific purpose (e.g., look for and identify the different (types of) changes in the text you are reading. This has been very helpful in all my classes in recent weeks.
2. Characters in Conflict: This graphic organizer asks you to compare and contrast what a character says and does, what they think versus feel. Such an activity helps to establish a purpose for the readers. Works with students at all grade levels.
3. First Draft Reading Follow these six steps when introducing a new text.
4. Lit Circles Packet Contains the complete packet for using literature circles in your classroom.
   • Lit Circle Evaluation Rubric
   • Lit Circle Notes Student Exemplars
5. 103 Activities Before/During/After Reading: This originally appeared in the appendix of The English Teacher's Companion. It's a helpful cheatsheet that sums up what I say in greater detail (300 pages) in Reading Reminders.

Reading Units/Assignments
These are assignments and units that focus on improving reading, though they also incorporate other skills.

1. Reading Literature Project (pdf) This couple week assignment requires both individual and group work; it is also designed around the use of a class textbook to facilitate substantial conversations. This was a very successful unit we did within the last month. It culminates in a class discussion each group facilitates. This assignment is aligned with various standards.
2. Understanding a Character's Philosophy: (pdf) Though this sample assignment is for Shakespeare's Othello, the assignment can easily be adapted for any other work. Some stories have characters that hold to a defiite philosophy. Iago is one such character. This assignment includes several passages for students to work with in preparation for writing about his philosophy. This assignment also incorporates such skills as close reading, annotation, and using quotations to support an assertion.