Note It

This reading strategy will help you track important information while you read, so you can find it easily when you complete the assignments in this unit.  This strategy will help you read closely and save you time as you progress through the assignments.

Once you have selected your novel from the approved list, your next task is to gather some supplies.

You will need the following:

• five sets of small, different coloured sticky notes (the ones that are approximately the width of a finger)
  
  
• two different coloured sets of larger square sticky notes
  
  

As you read, place the large sticky notes in your novel to keep track of the details that relate to two essential questions listed on this page.   Every time something happens in the novel that relates to one of these two essential questions (i.e.,plot or dialogue), place the appropriate sticky note on that page.  You should end up with quite a few sticky notes in each colour by the end of your novel!

Choose one sticky note colour to represent each essential question, and make a note to yourself which colour represents which essential question:

• Essential Question #1:  What are the benefits to ourselves, or to those around us, in using our skills and talents?
• Essential Question #2:  In what way can a person change the course of his or her life through a single action?
  

Note:  The key is to use the same coloured sticky note for the same essential question through the entire novel.  For example, you might tag all details related to integrity with a blue sticky note throughout the novel.  When it comes time to complete assignments related to talents (essential question #1 above), you will be able to find details quickly and easily because they are all tagged with the same coloured sticky note.  Without the sticky notes, you would have to search the entire novel to find what you need in order to complete an assignment. 

The next page will describe what to do with the small sticky notes.