Five questions to ask your reader every time they read a text, fiction or nonfiction.

These questions align directly to our BAS assessment we take three times each year to track student reading behaviors and growth.

1. What are the important events in the story? How would you include these in a summary?

   • Shorter than the original text

   • Includes only important information (main idea and key details)

   • Avoids personal opinions

2. What is the author's message in the story?

   • Think theme

3. How does this message apply to your life?

4. What is the genre of this text and how do you know?

   • Fiction: fantasy, mystery, traditional literature, science fiction, realistic fiction, historical fiction

   • Nonfiction: informational, biography, autobiography

5. What does the author do to keep you interested?

   • "Uses details" is not a fifth grade answer

   • word choice, dialogue, repetition, point of view, tension, figurative language, symbolism, tone, mood, sensory details, text features, structure, punctuation, character development