New Strategy: Mega Chart

My students have done a great job at keeping track of characters for our novels:

So I decided to try a different strategy:

 I gave them markers and a large piece of paper to keep track of characters.  They were so excited!  Their nerdy reaction to their new task warms my heart :)

I can tell who is contributing to the poster because each student is keeping track of one or two characters instead of all of them.  They will use a different color each time and I can always tell by their handwriting.  They just don't know they're being held accountable for their chart.

Instead of talking with me about how the characters are developing (I know, I already read the books), they'll meet as a group without me to discuss.  Since each person is responsible for a smaller portion, they can go more in depth about those characters and how they're changing throughout the novel.  

I told all my groups that we're preparing for middle school and that means they get more responsibility.  11/12 groups are really excited for the new challenge!  (As for the other...we're working on it.  The first task is making sure they do their homework and show up prepared!)

Happy reading!