Cynthia Jones
Dr. David Lund
EDUC 4020
Comprehension Mini-Lesson
Series Books Studies: Building Background Knowledge
Series books are so popular with young readers today; the good news is that there is a wide variety from which readers may choose. Some series now contain a hundred or more books. Research clearly states that while reading increases fluency and vocabulary, series books have a building-block effect. As students progress through the series, the books build background knowledge of characters, places, and events. The reader becomes intimately familiar with the characters. As soon as one book is read, the reader is hungry for the next. I found this desire to be true for myself. In elementary school, I read the Newberry Award-winning A Wrinkle in Time. All I remember about the book is that I enjoyed it. I could not tell you about characters or places; however, I read the Little House on the Prairie series, and I can vividly remember all the main characters, places, and events. Enticing readers to read series books requires access to many books and ample time for reading.
The purpose of using series books is to get students reading widely. A nonstressful, creative level of discussion should support their reading. Comprehension activities can be chosen according to the type of series book.
Identifying and Gathering Materials
The teacher should have access to a variety of series books. Assigning a number of books from one series proves more effective than trying to incorporate texts from several series. The object is to get students reading and to teach them to use background knowledge gained from one book to increase comprehension in subsequent books—a useful employment of scaffolding techniques.
Introducing the Book Series
The teacher should pre-assesses student interest before selecting the series, and, when chosen, the new series should be unveiled as “fun reading” for student enjoyment. The teacher should explain that the series is best read in sequence since plot emerges from information provided in earlier books. Since some students are motivated as they keep track of what they have read, the teacher should provide a checklist of titles in the series.
Implementing Discussion Groups
and Other Activities
The teacher starts the discussion with an open-ended question about the plot or a character, such as, “What do you think about Lindsay?” The purpose of the discussion group is to get the readers to talk about the characters as if they were friends or as if they had been part of the action. The teacher should act only as a facilitating observer.
Depending on the type of series book, dialogue journals can be used. Students write back and forth, talking about the characters in the book or sending messages to one another. Harry Potter readers could keep a secret file of magic potions or Quidditch plays. Magic Tree House readers could make travel logs of places visited.
Following Up
the
A teacher can build on the students’ growing background knowledge of series books by highlighting intertextual connections. These books can become shared knowledge used to seek and understand the characters, places, and events from texts outside the series.