Introduction This Unit contains Lessons and Activities related to improving your reading and writing skills

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Introduction

This Unit contains Lessons and Activities related to improving your reading and writing skills. A major Activity for this Unit is reading a book and writing a book report. The book report is due at the time of your Unit Test, so you will have to continue reading this book as you read and work this Unit. In Sections One and Two, grammar is continued from the basics you learned in Unit 1. Section Three guides you through the process of writing a personal narrative, editing and proofreading of a text, and ending with a focus on writing conventions. Your personal narrative is also due at the end of this Unit in Lesson 9.

Choose a book and practice reading skills.

 

You need to choose a book to read during the course of this Unit and write a book report. You may choose a book of any subject or genre that interests you, as long as it is approved by your teacher first. The book you choose should not be longer than what you can finish reading in about one to two weeks. You will also need to compare the ideas of this book to ideas in another text. This additional text may be one with which you are already familiar that has comparable ideas. The book report is worth 30% of the Unit Test score. You will need to take notes as well. The book report and the notes should contain about 550–600 words.

Your book must be approved by your teacher, first.

 

Parts of a Book

Most books have some or all of these parts. After choosing your book, examine it and see which of these parts are included in it.

1 –cover and front This page includes author, title, and publishing information.

2 –dedication page Authors use this page to honor a person or people important to them.

3 –acknowledgment On this page, the author thanks those who helped with the book.

4 –table of contents This page shows subtitles or chapter names and page numbers.

5 –foreword This section gives background information about the book.

6 –preface or introduction This is usually written by the author to readers.

7 –back cover The back cover may give a short bio (short for biography) about the author’s life.

Some books may have a glossary of terms with definitions, a bibliography of sources, or an index of page numbers to locate topics. Of course, books often include photos, graphic designs, or other illustrations to enhance the meaning.

Taking Notes

You will need to take two separate sets of notes about the most important ideas or events in your book. Read at least a third of the book, then choose the first topic to write about. Next, read a little over half of the book, then write the second note. Use sticky notes to mark pages with interesting ideas in your book while you are reading. This will help you to refer to these important passages when writing your notes.

This example note is a model to follow. It has explanations to the right to show you what to write.

Example in the book report assignment:

Example

Explanations

Text: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (fiction) Notes: Chapter 3 (Pg. 32) Okonkwo adopted a boy from another tribe whom he cares about. The Oracle (the religious leader) says that the boy has to die. He tells Okonkwo not to be involved in his murder, but Okonkwo helps to kill him. Okonkwo wanted to show the tribesmen that he is a brave warrior and is not afraid of death and killing, yet the act haunts him, and he continues to have problems. Theme: blind religious belief and obedience; peer pressure My conclusion: Pride and peer pressure are strong motivators when it come to a person's actions in a society. Also, a religious cult can lead people to act in extremes when they believe they are doing what is right and do not think for themselves.

book title, author, and genre chapter page numbers with notes theme or main ideas add conclusion of your ideas

Choosing an Outline

The following book report outlines show what you will write in your report. Follow the outline for either A (a nonfiction book) or B (a fiction or literary nonfiction book). There are differences in the two outlines. The nonfiction outline is for an informational book of ideas or explanations. The fiction or literary nonfiction is for either made-up stories or true biographies about real people. You will follow only one of these outlines.

A. Nonfiction I.Book Title—Author—Genre (5–12 words) II.Describe structure and style. (25–30 words) III.Summarize main ideas. (50–60 words) IV.Discuss and analyze author’s purpose. (20–30 words) V.Source Write book title, author, date published, publishing company, and location. VI.Synthesizing and Commentary What new information or ideas did you learn? What book or other text have you read with similar ideas? How are they similar or different? How valuable are the ideas in the book to you? Also, how is the book valuable to society, in general? (200–250 words) VII.Attach Notes See example in this Lesson. (approximately 200–260 words)

B. Fiction or Biography I.Book Title—Author—Genre (5–12 words) II.Describe main characters. (25–30 words) III.Summarize the main problem and how it is solved. (50–60 words) IV.Discuss and analyze the theme or message. (20–30 words) V.Source Write book title, author, date published, publishing company, and location. VI.Synthesizing and Commentary What was your mood after reading? Did the story teach you anything or change your ideas? What other book or other text has similar ideas? How are they similar or different? How valuable is this book’s message to you and society? (200–250 words) VII.Attach Notes See example in this Lesson. (approximately 200–260 words)

Synthesizing Ideas

In your book report outline, part VI. Synthesizing and Commentary section explains what those paragraphs should contain. You will have to synthesize ideas from another text and relate how they compare with the ideas in the book you have chosen. Synthesizing is higher-level thinking, after evaluating and analyzing. To synthesize means to combine a few things into a new unit or coherent whole.

First, find similar ideas from the two texts you have chosen. After taking notes from both texts, compare the ideas and think deeply about them. You will have to evaluate the ideas through your own background knowledge. Make conclusions about how these ideas relate to these questions in the outline: “How valuable are the ideas in the book to you?” and “How is the book valuable to society, in general?” These are your opinions, so your writing is a commentary. The commentary is your synthesis (reformulation) of all these ideas.

As you read the following example, notice how quotes are used from both texts. Also, to write like this, you will have to revise and edit to shorten your text. Use very concise words and much revision to fully express the ideas in short paragraphs.

Example:

In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, Okonkwo is very prideful of his position as one of the “lords of the clan.” He “had risen from poverty.” However, Okonkwo thinks he has to put people down, drive his sons hard by belittling them, and act violent toward his own family and others. I felt very intrigued about these complex traits of human nature in regard to self-esteem and peer pressure.

Comparing these ideas to those in the poem “If—” by Rudyard Kipling, there are big differences. Kipling tells his son to “be his own man,” not be showy, but humble instead. He says “And yet don’t look too good, or talk too wise,” meaning that being too competitive and caring about what other people think can cause a person to lose one’s common sense. This is proven in Okonkwo, whose pride and violence bring about his destruction.

I see how kids in groups are always daring each other, wanting to prove something to each other. Then, they do something they wish they hadn’t. Not everyone has role models to give good advice, and other kids don’t listen. This was also one of Okonkwo’s failings, listening to good advice. Achebe’s book is important to society because it highlights how different cultures are sometimes very similar.