ADVICE FOR HAVING A POST IT BOOK TALK

  • Write down on a post-it what you would like to talk about
  • Lay out the post-its and see if any overlap, then stack the rest (one student stacks)
  • Member who wrote the first post-it on the stack reads it and then partners or members talk for as long as they can off of it
  • Go to the page and read or retell the part of the book that made you want to talk
  • Say what you think
  • Ask your partners what they think
  • Parts of the text should be read or retold to support thinking
  • Make connections to other parts of the text that disprove someone’s thinking
  • Members should ask each other questions to dig into responses
  • Think about why the character (s) is/are behaving a certain way (motivation)
  • Add what you would do if it happened to you or reminds you of . . .
  • A book you read
  • A character
  • A story from your life
  • Ask your partner or group members what they would do
  • When a conversation feels finished or stuck move on to the next post it in the stack

WAYS TO RESPOND TO TEXTS

Use “post its” to mark:

  • The page where you especially feel the author’s big idea, message or lesson
  • Places that make you go “oh my gosh!”
  • Sections that make you say, “I wonder why. . .”
  • A place where the main character changes and parts that show what contributed to the change
  • Sections where the book reminds you of your life
  • Sections that discuss the main problem or issue in the book
  • Sections that resemble another book
  • When reading a mystery, clues that help unravel the mystery
  • Sections which show a view of life with which the readers disagrees
  • Places where the author has done something you want to try or emulate
  • Cool things you want to discuss
  • Places that show a central conflict
  • Places where the pattern in a book is broken
  • Sections that reveal something significant about a character
  • A part when the reader is surprised
  • Sections where secondary characters points of view are shown
  • Parts that the reader find funny or moving
  • Parts where there reader notices repeating actions across the book
  • Places where the reader notices repeating objects
  • Sections that show foreshadowing
  • Sections that contain symbols
  • GOT ANY OTHER IDEAS? USE THEM IN YOUR BOOK TALKS!