Thinking Stems for 'Jots'

 

 

A. Making Connections:

 

1.     This reminds me of…

2.     An experience I have had like that…

3.     This reminds me of the book ________ because…

4.     How can I live differently because this book has been a part of my life?

 

B.  Asking Questions:

1.     I wonder…

2.     How come…

3.     Why…

4.     I’m confused…

5.     What if…

6.     I don’t understand…

C.  Visualizing/Sensory Images:

1.     In my mind I picture ______ when I read _____...

2.     I visualized…

3.     I can see…

4.     I can taste/hear/smell/feel…

 

D.  Inferring/Predicting:

1.     I think…

2.     Maybe this means…

3.     I’m guessing…

4.     This allows me to assume…

5.     I predict _____ because…

E.  Summarizing:

1.     So far this book is mostly about…

2.     The main ideas in this book are…

3.     Some important events are _____ because…

4.     First….Next….Then….Finally

 

F.  Synthesizing:

1.     I’m thinking that…

2.     At first I thought _____ but now I’m thinking _____ because…

3.     I’m changing my thinking again because…

4.     I think the lesson or theme is _____ because…

5.     These events have caused me to believe…

 

G.  Author’s Message: 

1.     What is this story really about?

2.     What does this story say about the world?

3.     Whose story is being told?

4.     What are the themes I have been identifying so far?

5.     What is the lesson of this book?

H.  Evaluating:

1.     I agree with _____ because…

2.     I don’t think …

3.     _________________________

4.     _________________________

 

I. Setting (Time and Place):

1.     This story takes place…

2.     Something I noticed about the setting…

3.     I would/would not like to live during this time period/in this place because…

4.     The  author used _______ to describe the setting…

 

J.  Characters:

1.     If I were (character’s name) I would…

2.     The character that interests me most is _____ because…

3.     A character that really changed in the story was _____ because he/she …

4.     I like/don’t like (character’s name) because…

   

 

K.  Plot:

1.     I think a problem in this story is…

2.     I think (character’s name)  will try to solve this problem by…

3.     An event that I think might happen next is…

4.     Another way this story could have ended is…

5.     Predict how the character might overcome an obstacle.

 

L.  Language:

1.     I like the way the author described…

2.     _____ is a new word for me.  I think it might mean _____ because…

3.    An interesting (word, phrase, or sentence) that I noticed …

4.     _____ is one of my favorite passages because…

*Record page numbers where you noticed language!

 

 
M.  Author:

1.     I think the author wrote this book because…

2.     It’s interesting how the author…

3.     Something I noticed about the author’s style…

4.     I’d like to read another book by this author because…

5.     I do/don’t like this author’s writing style because…

N.  Illustrator:

1.     If I were the illustrator of this book I would change/draw…

2.     I could draw _______ as a symbol for _______ because…

3.     Illustrations would/wouldn’t make this story more interesting because…

 

O.  Non-Fiction Prompts:

1.     Something that interests me about this topic is…

2.     Something new I learned…

3.     I want to learn more about…

4.     Some questions I still have about the topic…

5.     The author made the topic interesting by….

6.     An illustration or picture that interested me the most was _____ because…

7.     Something I don’t understand…

 

P.  Open – ended Prompts:

1.     If I could change one part of the selection, I would change _______ because …

2.     I wish…

3.     Something that surprised me was…

4.     As I read this selection, I felt _____ because…

5.     I liked/didn’t like when ______ because…

6.     My favorite part was when _____ because…

7.     I noticed…

8.     I think the genre of this selection is _____ because…