Creating Your Own Literature Study This is a novel study for teens with a twist! You get to be the teacher and create a novel study for a

younger student to complete. Choose a novel that is well-written and is suitable for someone younger

than you, probably in the 8-12 age range. There are plenty of great books to choose from. Here is a list if

you’re not sure what to choose and you’d like some ideas:

http://people.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown/newbery.html

Please include the following sections in your Literature Study:

Title Page – Title of Book, Author

Chapter Questions – Using the Bloom’s Question Starter chart, ask questions about each chapter. Since

this is a study of literature, remember to include questions on Literary Elements: Setting, Plot,

Characters, Language, Theme, Tone. If you are not sure how to ask questions about these elements in a

book, please see the Literary Elements Information Sheet included in the Teacher Guide section.

Open-Ended Questions – questions that allow for more than one answer and facilitate discussion. These

require inference, analysis, synthesis and evaluation (see the Bloom’s Question Starter for examples)

Internet Sources – List of useful web pages

Vocabulary List – create a list including the page reference

Vocabulary Activity – worksheet: Word Search, Crossword, Jumble & Answer Sheet. Include one or

more of these types of fun activities.

Activities – extended activities using the Bloom’s Taxonomy Product Wheel (Appendix)

Follow along through the following pages to complete your Novel Study for a younger student. There

are reference materials included that you will need to help you complete this Study. These are found in

the Appendix found in the back of this booklet.

Literature Study Title Page

Book Title:

Author’s Name:

Student Name:

Date:

Chapter Questions Write your own questions for each chapter of your book using mostly question starters from the

Remember, Understand and Apply sections of the Bloom’s Taxonomy. Don’t forget to include questions

about the Literary Elements in the book.

Open-ended Questions Now write some open-ended questions based on various sections in the book. These questions will not

have one clear answer, but will be worthy of discussion. You will use the Analyze, Evaluate and Create

sections of the Bloom’s Taxonomy to create these questions. Create at least 7 of these types of

questions. If you are asking a question about a specific passage in the novel, include the page reference.

Vocabulary List with Page References

Vocabulary Activities Create a fun worksheet based on the list of Vocabulary words that you collected from the novel. You

might create a Word Search, Crossword, or a Jumble. Include one or more of these types of fun

activities. Remember to include an Answer Sheet.

Vocabulary Worksheet Answers

Extended Activities and Final Products Choose activities and products from the lists on Bloom’s Product Wheel. Create a selection of 3 or 4

possible activities and/or products related to the novel you have read that you think would be a fun,

end-of-book suggestion.

Internet Resources List a few internet sites that will help extend a younger student’s understanding of the novel, or that will

be a resource for the Extended Activity section of this study.

Appendix

Bloom’s Question Starter List – This list moves through 6 levels of questions. The first three levels are

considered lower order questions; the final three levels are considered higher order. Higher order

questions are what we use for Critical Thinking and Creative Problem Solving. I have written what each

level of questions are about, given lists of key words that can be used to begin a question for that level,

and I have listed Question Starters. You can use this chart to create questions that are specific to your

novel.

Level 1: Remember – Recalling Information

List of key words: Recognize, List, Describe, Retrieve, Name, Find, Match, Recall, Select, Label,

Define, Tell

List of Question Starters:

What is...?

Who was it that...?

Can you name...?

Describe what happened after...

What happened after...?

Level 2: Understand – Demonstrate an understanding of facts, concepts and ideas

List of key words: Compare, Contrast, Demonstrate, Describe, Interpret, Explain, Extend,

Illustrate, Infer, Outline, Relate, Rephrase, Translate, Summarize, Show, Classify

List of Question Starters:

Can you explain why...?

Can you write in your own words?

Write a brief outline of...

Can you clarify...?

Who do you think?

What was the main idea?

Level 3: Apply – Solve problems by applying knowledge, facts, techniques and rules in a unique way

List of key words: Apply, Build, Choose, Construct, Demonstrate, Develop, Draw, Experiment

with, Illustrate, Interview, Make use of, Model, Organize, Plan, Select, Solve, Utilize

List of Question Starters:

Do you know of another instance where...?

Demonstrate how certain characters are similar or different?

Illustrate how the belief systems and values of the characters are presented in the story.

What questions would you ask of...?

Can you illustrate...?

What choice does ... (character) face?

Level 4: Analyze – Breaking information into parts to explore connections and relationships

List of key words: Analyze, Categorize, Classify, Compare, Contrast, Discover, Divide, Examine,

Group, Inspect, Sequence, Simplify, Make Distinctions, Relationships, Function, Assume,

Conclusions

List of Question Starters:

Which events could not have happened?

If ... happened, what might the ending have been?

How is... similar to...?

Can you distinguish between...?

What was the turning point?

What was the problem with...?

Why did... changes occur?

Level 5: Evaluate – Justifying or defending a position or course of action

List of key words: Award, Choose, Defend, Determine, Evaluate, Judge, Justify, Measure,

Compare, Mark, Rate, Recommend, Select, Agree, Appraise, Prioritize, Support, Prove, Disprove.

Assess, Influence, Value

List of Question Starters:

Judge the value of...

Can you defend the character’s position about...?

Do you think... is a good or bad thing?

Do you believe...?

What are the consequences...?

Why did the character choose...?

How can you determine the character’s motivation when...?

Level 6: Create – Generating new ideas, products or ways of viewing things

List of key words: Design, Construct, Produce, Invent, Combine, Compile, Develop, Formulate,

Imagine, Modify, Change, Improve, Elaborate, Plan, Propose, Solve

List of Question Starters:

What would happen if...?

Can you see a possible solution to...?

Do you agree with the actions?...with the outcomes?

What is your opinion of...?

What do you imagine would have been the outcome if... had made a different choice?

Invent a new ending.

What would you cite to defend the actions of...?

(Source: Pohl, Learning to Think, Thinking to Learn)

Literary Elements Information Sheet

Plot

The plot of a story is the sequence of events and might be depicted by a graph like this:

Introduction Rising Action Conflict Climax Dénouement Conclusion

Introduction: As you see in the above graph, there are several elements that make up the plan of a plot.

Most stories begin with an introduction which places the story in time and location.

Rising Action: The story begins and it moves forward in some way. Sometimes stories plod along; others

move more quickly. Begin to consider why and how this happens: What is the author’s intent with the

speed of a story? What kinds of complications have arisen? What does the author do to help the story

move more quickly? Is it the style of writing? placement of words? Choice of words? Events that take

place?

Conflict: Plot, of course, happens only with characters and settings in place. It is the conflict between

characters or between the characters and their environment that create the plotline. As you create

questions about the plot of your story, you will consider the conflicts, frustrations or other elements

that push the story along and help it to flow.

Climax: This section of the story is what all the other events seemed to be leading toward. It is the

culmination of action. Begin to consider how the events led here: what caused these events to happen

in this way? Was there anything earlier in the story to suggest that this might have happened? (dramatic

foreshadowing)

Dénouement: This is also known as the Falling Action, as the story’s conflict begins to resolve.

Conclusion: The story comes to a close

Characters

The author creates characters for the story and includes a Protagonist (the main character at the centre of the story’s action), an Antagonist (another character or forces which opposes the main character), and minor characters. Consider how the characters interact and consider how what they do suggests

how they are feeling. What are the emotional or spiritual motivations of a character? Or, is the character motivated to act a certain way because of circumstances and experiences? What does the character say about himself/herself? About others?

Theme

Each story will have one or several themes running through it. These themes are universal questions

that people ask for which they are compelled to seek answers. Certain themes are found more readily in

some cultures than in others, but many are universal. Examples are: innocence, beauty, love, honesty,

life, death, truth, loneliness, coming of age. What themes can you see in the book? Begin to consider

how the author has shown these themes indirectly, without telling you that this is what the story is

about.

Tone

This is the author's use of diction (word choice) and syntax (the order of words in a sentence). The

author’s tone shows us his/her ideas, attitude and feeling toward what is written. Consider whether the

author ‘sounds’ humourous, bitter, sad, joyous, serious. Sometimes an author may choose to write a

story about a very serious topic with a humourous tone.

Setting

This is the place or location of the action, providing the context for the characters.

Bloom’s Taxonomy Product Wheel

Source: http://www.cobbk12.org/sites/alt/training/Blooms/circle.GIF

Notice that the inner circle of the wheel contains the 6 Level of Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remember,

Understand, Apply, Analyze, Evaluate and Create. The middle circle of the wheel has lists of possible

activities that might be suitable to each level of the Taxonomy. The outer circle lists products that

students might create from the activities.

Parent Notes: Creating Literature Studies Parents, please find on this page a few extra notes that may be of help to you as you guide your child

through creating their own Novel Study.

Each student is asked to include the following elements in their Literature Study:

Title Page – Title of Book, Author

Chapter Questions – Using the Bloom’s Question Starter chart included in the Appendix, your child can

easily create interesting and varied questions about each chapter. Since this is a study of literature,

some of their questions should focus on Literary Elements: Plot, Characters, Theme, Tone and Setting.

Included in the Teacher Guide is a Literary Elements Information Sheet. This will help the student

understand some of the key aspects of literature and know how to begin asking questions about them.

Many of these questions will be written from the first three sections of Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remember,

Understand and Apply.

I tend not to overload our children in this section. That is, I would ask them to create 3-4 questions per

chapter. Another strategy might be to group chapters and have them create 5-8 questions per group of

chapters. Those creating the questions and those answering need not think in terms of quantity, but of

quality of questions.

Open-Ended Questions – questions that allow for more than one answer and facilitate discussion. These

require inference, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation and will be created from the latter three sections

of the Bloom’s Taxonomy: Analyze, Evaluate and Create.

Internet Sources – List of useful web pages. Your child should be able to find two or more websites that

would be useful to answer questions or to complete the extended activities of the Literature Study

Vocabulary List – The student will create a list of vocabulary which includes a page reference in the

novel.

Vocabulary Activity – Students can create a worksheet: Word Search, Crossword, Jumble, as well as an

Answer Sheet. Include one or more of these types of fun activities, or create an original vocabulary

activity.

Activities – The students create extended activities using the Bloom’s Product Wheel. Below, as you

study the wheel, you will see a list of possible activities that can result in a final Product. This pulls

together what has been learned and read and the result is something tangible to show what has been

learned. The student will choose several activities to put into their Literature Study. They should choose

a variety that will appeal to different types of learners.