Preview, Summarise, Predict, Identify Stations
The Situation
Students are beginning a novel study.
The Solution
When students start a novel study, they should practise a variety of skills that will frame how they approach the narrative itself. Below, I have outlined four central areas: previewing, summarising, prediction and identifying. The purpose of these areas is for student to practise a wide range of skills. Below, I have outlined what those skills are and how they frame student learning for the novel study.
Preview Station
In the Preview Station, students look at the book cover of a novel consider what the visual elements communicate about the narrative. Here, we have a practise page for students to work on.
Preview is an important skill to acquire. it allows students to stimulate prior knowledge and make connections to what they already know about the genre.
Summarise Station
In the Summarise Station, students summarise the WWWWH of the blurb. Again, this is quite similar to the prediction station and allows students to become mentally prepared for the type of story they will encounter.
Summarising is an important skill, as students to need capture a snapshot of what the narrative is about.
Predict Station
In the Predict Station, students make predictions about the novel based on the first paragraph of the book.
Identify Station
Authors write novels for a wide ranges of reasons. This might stem back to strong aspect of their personality. The Identify Station allows students to analyse the context or personal opinion of the author and make predictions about how this might relate to the narrative.
At the completion of these stations, students are ready to begin reading the novel. They have have successfully previewed the story based on visual elements, they have summarised the narrative in their own words, they have made predictions based on the first paragraph of the story and they have identified the perspective or context of the author is writing the story.
The English Classroom 