Unit 5

What Can We Learn from Realistic Fiction?

Think Like a Reader

Reading Preference


What do effective readers do when reading stories to understand what they are reading?


Scan page 71 of Literacy in Action 6B.

This page is about reading realistic fiction and the strategies that you will practise while reading these kinds of selections. (A strategy is a plan or method to use to figure out things.) Read information about the first reading strategy: Read with a Purpose.

Read with a Purpose

Set a purpose for reading


Preview the selection, the title, subtitles, and illustrations to make predictions about what the text might be about.

You have looked at websites where you can find realistic fiction books.
Answer the questions in the Reader's Notebook: Reading Preference.




Document: Reader's Notebook: Reading Preference
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  1. Download the document Reader's Notebook: Reading Preference.
  2. IMPORTANT NOTE: When the download screen opens:
      • Click the "Open with" button.
      • Select "Adobe Reader".
      • Click "OK".
      • You will then be able to view the document Reader's Notebook: Reading Preference.
      • Can't view the file? View Skill Builder: Saving Dynamic PDFs.

Save

How to save a file:

  1. Have the file open and select Save As from the File menu.
  2. Name your Reader's Notebook: Reading Preference file in this format: jsmith_readingpreference and save the file to your Documents folder.

Crack the Code

  • Sound out troublesome words. Use letter sounds to pronounce the word.
  • Divide the words into parts. Remove the prefix and the suffix to find the root.
  • Guess! Pronounce the word as best you can. Any guess helps you move on.
  • Substitute a word that makes sense.
  • Read ahead to the end of the sentence. Looking at the words before and after the difficult word may help you clarify meaning.
  • Look for meanings of unfamiliar words in the dictionary.
  • In the realistic fiction selections you will read, you may notice unusual expressions that author used to capture the reader's interest. Practise making word pictures in your mind, and then try to explain, in everyday language, what the author meant.

Make Meaning


  • Make predictions and then check them as you read, and revise or make new ones.
  • Make inferences. Make conclusions about a character's thoughts or feelings based on details in a story.
  • Make connections between this story and a personal experience you had, or other stories you have read or seen. 
You will practise these reading strategies as you read the following selections.

Analyze What You've Read

After reading some of the selections in this unit, you will analyze them. You will think about who is telling the story and how it might be different if someone else told it. You will also think about what the story suggests about the author's views about people and life. To help you do this
  • imagine how you might react to an experience such as the main character had
  • imagine the setting and events of the story
  • re-read passages that are difficult. Ask questions about what you have read.