I think this is a great question, Ashli! To me, seven weeks does sound like a long time to spend on one novel, but I do think that teaching the reading strategies is more important than taking comprehension quizzes, etc. which tend to only test, rather than explicitly teach, strategies.
What might seem more appropriate to me might be to spend six-eight weeks on a theme or essential question, such as, "What are the benefits and disadvantages of close friendships?" or "How do people change as they grow older?" The novel, the Outsiders could be your whole-class novel and students could read related books for lit circles and then share their findings on the theme with the class. That way, all students are getting the exposure of several novels each nine weeks, making connections between various books, and thinking critically. You could even tie nonfiction articles, etc. into the unit and then have a culminating essay or research project, etc. My son is fussing to go to bed, but tomorrow I will try to post a website that has a bunch of great theme or essential question-based units that combine several units. May/6th/GA On Mar 27, 2007, at 8:35 PM, Ashli and Paul Andersen wrote: > How long is too long to spend reading > a novel? I think my activities help make connections and understand > the > book better. He thinks the questions/quizzes get the same point > across. > What do you all think? _______________________________________________ The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive
