Reading and Understanding Fiction! , is a great resource book for teachers which has been developed to help you scaffold your students into reading fiction—and understanding what it is. It’s a flexible resource. You just dip into it whenever you think you need to take some time to make a “reading point.” I’d hate to think you were going to hit your kids over the head with all these activities. There’s about a year’s worth of stuff here—so don’t do it all at once! It will be useful for homework and for library time as well as for consolidating learning. But it’s not a substitute for reading! It’s just a support!

So often children are simply given a book, told to read it and then asked some questions about it to see if they understood it. There is so much more to the reading process—so much more that needs to be demonstrated and taught. The aim of this book is to provide you with activities, not just worksheets, that do just this. The activities aim to help readers of fiction engage with the text in a range of ways, including appreciating what the main character might be thinking, relating what is happening in a story to a personal experience, or thinking about the type of genre they prefer.

The activities are purposeful and kid friendly. They help give narrative know-how and create storybook experts and fiction masters!

Download the Table of Contents page here.

Grades 5–8.