How it works
The six questions on the bookmark
Character
Which character did you learn the most about today, and what did you learn?
Setting
Where is this part of the book happening, and how does the writer help you picture the place?
Theme
What big idea is this book about, like friendship, fear or growing up?
Values
Did a character do something today that you think was right or wrong?
Language
Which word or phrase stood out to you today, and why?
Structure
What do you think will happen next, and what clue made you think that?
Each question has a label that students already know from English lessons, so saying “Today is Setting” is enough to get the form started.
Each student keeps their bookmark in whatever they are reading at the moment, whether that is a library book, the class reader or something from home. If you print the bookmarks on card, they will last the whole year.
Start by giving students a minute to talk about the question in pairs, then ask two or three of them to share their answers with the room. The resource pack has follow-up questions you can use if the conversation goes quiet.
You can use the questions in any order. If one worked well, feel free to come back to it, or let the form choose which one to talk about.
Every question works whatever the book is, so two students reading completely different things can still talk about the same one.
A look inside
Get the resource
Each sheet prints four bookmarks, so eight sheets will cover a form of thirty. The last page of the pack is for you.
Teacher resource pack
Three pages: a one page teacher guide, the bookmarks four to a sheet, and follow-up questions for each one.
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