Page 2 Making Observations

Making Observations

Making and recording observations are a significant part of life.

Some people use calendars to keep track of special days; others create recipe books of favourite family dishes.

Still others keep diaries to record the locations and maturity dates of blueberries or raspberries.

Others make entries in their logs on first bird sightings in the spring.

Blogs, tweets, Facebook, Pinterest and Tumblr posts are examples of how social media can record and organize important events.

In this lesson you will create a reading log to record and organize your thoughts for later use in your assignments.

This log will contain a group of ideas that are valued, noteworthy, or striking — compiled uniquely by you.

Entries can be quotes, observations, poems, song lyrics, scientific expressions, mathematical formulas, recipes... anything really, that relates to the novel you have chosen... or at least, anything that you find valuable and meaningful to you as you read the novel.

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The notes may be organized according to the following chart.

Plot	Character	Setting	Style	Theme

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Reading Log

As you read:

• take notes on a character (what he or she likes, dislikes) and how he or she changes in the novel)
• reflect on why a character does what he or she does 
• reflect on the relationships between characters and how they are contributing to their community 
• consider relationships between characters and setting 
• consider conflict in the story
  
• reflect on an experience you had
• consider a reoccurring theme in the book 
• consider your own belief system and human nature
  
• reflect on a good life lesson
  
• find figures of speech such as similes, metaphors, personification, onomatopoeia, alliteration
  
• find interesting quotes that show character or theme
  
• make predictions of what will happen next
  
• make summaries of main events
  
• create definitions of words you do not know
  
• decide whether or not you think the event is realistic or plausible

You will not be marked on this activity; however, you will need the information to complete the following assignments.