Reader’s Workshop Response Questions
At least ONE of your reader’s workshop’s projects must be a response question. Please write the answer in your response journal. Record the book and date next to the selected question. Please write in complete sentences. You must address each part of the question, i.e., if there are three bullets, your answer must have 3 paragraphs.
Character: ______
þ Tell me about the main character, e.g., physical description, interests, actions, etc.
þ What kind of person is he/she
þ How do you know? How does the author "reveal" him/her?
þ Is this someone with whom you would be friends? Why or why not?
Character: ______
þ Do the characters remind you of characters in another story you have read or a in a movie you have seen? Who do they remind you of?
þ How are they alike?
þ How are they different?
Character: ______
þ Think about the characters in the story. Are any of them the same type of characters you have met in other stories, but not the same series? Describe and compare the characters.
Character: ______
þ How did the main character change from the beginning to the end of the story?
þ What changed them?
þ To answer this question, discuss what the main character was like at the beginning and then describe them at the end. [You can only choose this question if when you finish a book.]
Character: ______
þ Sometimes we are pulled toward one or two characters in the story. We identify with them or feel sympathy for them.
þ With which character(s) do you identify in the book.
þ Why do you identify with them?
Setting: ______
þ Compare where you live with the neighborhood, town or city in the book.
þ Would you rather live in the place where this story takes place? Why or why not?
Setting: ______
þ Would you like to live during the time this story takes place? Why or why not? [You can only choose this question is the story does not take place in current time.]
Plot: ______
þ Make list of 3 key events from the book.
þ Tell why each event was important to the story.
Plot: ______
þ What handicaps or hardships did the main character have to overcome?
þ If you were the main character, how would you overcome the challenges? Explain.
Plot: ______
þ Did this story remind you of anything that has happened to you? Explain.
Plot: ______
þ What do you predict will happen in the next chapter? How do you know? What helped you make the prediction? What text evidence?
Plot: ______
þ Describe what in this chapter that surprised you? Why did it surprise you?
Plot: ______
þ If you disliked the way the author ended the story, make up a new ending that could still fit with the previous events in the plot.
Message: ______
þ What is the story mainly about? (the message, not what happened or the plot)
þ Do you agree or disagree with the main idea of the story? Why or why not?
Nonfiction: ______
þ What did you learn today about the non-fiction subject as you read that you did not know before?
þ What surprised you? Explain why it surprised you
Nonfiction: ______
þ As you read today, were any questions that you had answered by what you read?
þ List the questions that you had and the answers that you came up with from the reading.
þ Are you satisfied with what you learned, with these answers? Why or why not?
Reader’s Workshop Project Cover Sheet
(please complete this for every project; staple to your project, along with rubric)
Name ______Class ______
Book Title ______
Author______
Genre (circle one): realistic fiction historical fiction mystery fantasy science fiction nonfiction biography autobiography
Is this book a part of a series? Yes/no
If yes, what # ______Have you read the other books? ______
Why did you choose this book?
Who would you recommend it to?
Dates worked on the project ______
Dear Diary,
We finally arrived at Skaguay, 30 days after we left Dawson. It was an awful trip, especially for Dave. He couldn’t handle it and he collapsed in the snow. Our owner went back to see him. We all heard a loud noise and then our owner came back without Dave. I know that we won’t ever see him again. I thought we were going to be able to rest but we were sold again to some people called Hal, Charles, and Mercedes. I am very worried about these new owners. I don’t think they know what they’re doing. They had too much stuff piled on the sled. The townspeople tried to help them by telling them what stuff to throw out but the sled is still too heavy. They bought more dogs to help but I don’t think there’s going to be enough food. Plus they yell at each other all the time. I have a feeling of impending doom. I hope that someone will save us.
Buck
Ten Facts
1. The Klondike gold Rush took place in the late 1800s in the Yukon Territory in Canada.
2. Author Jack London went to the Yukon Territory and participated in the Gold Rush and that’s what helped him write such a realistic book.
3. Jack London died on November 22, 1916, at age 40 from kidney disease which could have been related to his drinking
4. The weather during the winter in Canada was very harsh and sometimes it got down to -20 F.
5. Dogs were stolen from the United States and brought to Canada to pull the sleds.
6. The sled dogs were beat into submission with clubs.
7. Different types of dogs, not only huskies, pulled the sleds.
8. Dogs burrowed into the snow and dug themselves a hole to sleep in so they could keep warm at night.
9. The Yeehats were a Canadian Indian tribe.
10. Sled dogs would rather die pulling the sled then leave their spot.
Poem for The Call of the Wild
A rugged blend of Scotch Shepherd and Saint Bernard,
A regal dog was Buck.
But when he was stolen from his master’s house
He seemed to run out of good luck.
Beaten with a club by man in a red sweater
Buck learned his place in his new world.
He stepped off the boat at Dyea Beach
And around him his first snow swirled.
He seemed to step back to a primitive time
And lived by the law of club and fang.
It was kill or be killed and never fall down.
Lest you wanted the death bell to clang.
The further Buck wandered into the woods
The further from his old life he went.
Then his ancient ancestors started to call
And Buck was filled with a tremendous torment.
Buck learned to hunt and kill for joy
He stalked bunnies, chipmunks and moose.
He made friends with a wolf in the wilderness.
His animal instincts were on the loose.
When his last connection to the human world was killed,
The pull of the wild grew too strong for Buck to resist.
He went to join his untamed brothers in the woods.
Buck, the domesticated dog, ceased to exist.
CD Project
Eye Of The Tiger by Survivor
Risin' up, back on the street
Did my time, took my chances
Went the distance now I'm back on my feet
Just a man and his will to survive
So many times it happens too fast
You trade your passion for glory
Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past
You must fight just to keep them alive
It's the eye of the tiger, it's the thrill of the fight
Risin' up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night
And he's watchin' us all with the eye of the tiger
Face to face, out in the heat
Hangin' tough, stayin' hungry
They stack the odds, still we take to the street
For the kill with the skill to survive
It's the eye of the tiger, it's the thrill of the fight
Risin' up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night
And he's watchin' us all with the eye of the tiger
Risin' up, straight to the top
Had the guts, got the glory
Went the distance now I'm not gonna stop
Just a man and his will to survive
It's the eye of the tiger, it's the thrill of the fight
Risin' up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night
And he's watchin' us all with the eye of the tiger
The eye of the tiger
The eye of the tiger
The eye of the tiger
The eye of the tiger
I chose this song because it is all about doing what you need to do to survive and this is one of the themes of The Call of the Wild. In order for Buck to survive he has to “go the distance” and “stalk his prey.” He “rises up to the challenge.” I also chose this song because it was the theme song in the Rocky movie, which is a story about a man also doing what he needed to do to survive, fight, and win. Rocky had to go back to his basic fighting roots just like Buck had to go back to his primitive ancestor roots. Rocky and Buck seemed to be kindred spirits.
On My Own by Alanis Morissette
Why do I feel it's all up to me to see that
everything's right and it's how it should be
Why don't they just leave me alone
I've got to prove I can
Little girl with stars in her eyes they've
got her all figured out and there's nowhere
to hide why can't they all see who I am
when will they understand
It may take some time they don't know how
it feels because they can't read my mind
They always say I'm too young and they
feel they should help me
But I can make it all alone out here on my own
Every day I feel so in demand and all I
wish I could find is a place I can land
One day I'll feel comfort inside cause I'll
know who I am
I can hold the line if I know in the end
that I won't be left behind I don't regret
what I've done I don't think you can blame me
Now I'm standin' all alone out here on my own
I'm not thinking 'bout leavin' home
But I need to be on my own
Doesn't mean I have a heart of stone
I won't even ask them why
I can't ever let them see me cry
Here I'm standing all alone out here on my own...
out here on my own
Feeling lost in a world full of lies
I can't help thinkin' that love is just
passin' me by Hold on to what I believe
and keep an open hand
Can I have it all if there's no one to
turn to when I stumble and fall
Is there a secret I need because no one
has told me-all alone
It may take some time cause I know
how it feels to have a lot on your mind
I'll never feel all alone cause!
Know that I have me
Now I can make it all alone out here on my own
I chose this song because it talks about a person who is determined to make it on her own and prove to others that she can survive alone. She also talks about knowing who is she inside. She sings, “But I can make it all alone out here on my own, Every day I feel so in demand and all I wish I could find is a place I can land One day I'll feel comfort inside cause I'll know who I am.” I think this song tells the story of Buck and what he might have been feeling. He was struggling to feel comfortable and to feel at peace. Like the song writer, by the end Buck knew who he was and knew that he could survive on his own and the he can depend on himself.
You're My Best Friend by Queen
Ooo. you make me live
whatever this world can give to me
It's you, you're all I see
Ooo, you make me live now honey
Ooo, you make me live
You're the best friend
that I ever had
I've been with you such a long time
You're my sunshine
And I want you to know
That my feelings are true
I really love you
You're my best friend
Ooo, you make me live
I've been wandering round
But I still come back to you
In rain or shine
You've stood by me girl
I'm happy, happy at home
You're my best friend.
Ooo,you're making me live
Whenever this world is cruel to me
You help me forgive
Ooo,you're making me live
You're the first one
When things turn out bad
You know I'll never be lonely
You're my only one
And I love
The things that you do
You're my best friend
Ooo, you make me live.
I'm happy, happy at home
You're my best friend
You're my best friend
Ooo, you make me live
You, you're my best friend.
I choose this song because it talks about a bond between best friends and that is what formed between Buck and John Thornton. What Buck experienced with John, he had never felt before, not ever with the Judge. The book said that Buck experienced “love, genuine passionate love, was his for the first time (p.93). The song says that “I've been wandering round, But I still come back to you.” This is what happened with Buck and John. Buck might have traveled in the woods but he always went back to John. I think, if John hadn’t been killed, Buck would have stayed with him forever, just like best friends.