One of the activities I rely on when reading a whole-class novel is ordering events. Sometimes I read events orally and students put them in order on a scrap piece of paper. Other times I hand out events printed onto pieces of paper that students then manipulate into order with a partner.
We are currently reading (AND enjoying!) La Vampirata by Mira Canion and I’ve decided to up my game a bit. Next week I hand out these plastic baggies that contain these of events on colored pieces of paper.
I divide students into teams. Each member receives one event. Then teams compete to line up in the correct order.
To wrap it up, students stay in their line up and retell the events using connecting words: while, first, then, next, meanwhile, second, finally, etc.
Easy, fun, and yet another way to get students to read the text.
