Summarizes the key developments in plot, setting, and character for the assigned section; opens the meeting with a concise report.

Weekly task: Write a summary of major events, describe the setting, and identify two to three major characters and how they changed.  

• I generally ask my Reporter to go first when the group meets. This role sets the stage nicely for the whole discussion.

Scaffolding expectations may look like:

7th grade: Summary should be accurate and complete, covering the major events in order.

8th grade: Summary should be concise, not a retelling of every event, and should flag which developments matter most to the larger story.

9th grade: Summary should distinguish major developments from minor ones and begin explaining why the flagged developments matter to the larger arc, not just that they happened.

10th–12th grade: Summary should be concise and analytical, framing the section's developments in terms of their function in the story's overall structure, such as rising action, a turning point, or a complication.

Identifies powerful, unusual, or unfamiliar words and phrases in the assigned section and analyzes why the author chose them.

Weekly task: Select and log words or phrases with page/paragraph reference, a definition, and an explanation of the author's purpose.

Scaffolding expectations may look like:

7th grade: Definitions and explanations may stay close to the literal meaning of the word and its immediate effect on the sentence.

8th grade: Explanations should connect word choice to tone or theme across the section, not just the sentence it appears in.

9th grade: Explanations should connect word choice to characterization or narrative voice, noting a pattern across more than one word or phrase rather than treating each in isolation.

10th–12th grade: Explanations should analyze how the author's diction serves the work's larger stylistic or thematic purpose, comparing effect across multiple word choices within the section.

Connects events in the book to the wider world: to the reader's own life, to other texts, or to historical/current events.

Weekly task: Log at least three connections (text-to-self, text-to-text, or text-to-world), plus one prediction and one conflict analysis.

Scaffolding expectations may look like:

7th grade: Connections may be more personal and immediate ("this reminds me of...").

8th grade: At least one connection should extend to the historical or civic level, a real historical event or a current human rights issue, not only a personal one.

9th grade: Connections should span more than one level (personal and world, or text-to-text and world), with an explanation of why the connection matters, not just that a similarity exists.

10th–12th grade: At least one connection should be a sustained comparison to another text, era, or event that extends the reader's understanding, with explicit reasoning about what the comparison reveals about the text's themes.

Investigates background information related to the book that helps the group understand the historical or cultural context more deeply.

Weekly task: Research one to three topics prompted by genuine curiosity from the reading, citing a source for each, without pulling information from the text itself.

Scaffolding expectations may look like:

7th grade: One well-developed topic researched with a clear source is sufficient.

8th grade: Research should include at least one primary or historically reputable source (museum, archive, or documented survivor testimony), not only a general encyclopedia entry.

9th grade: Two to three topics researched, at least one drawing on a primary or historically reputable source, with a brief explanation of how the finding adds context the group would otherwise miss.

10th–12th grade: Research draws on primary or historically reputable sources and explains how the findings inform interpretation of the text itself, not only background color.

Leads the group's discussion by preparing questions that open up the assigned section rather than simply checking comprehension.

Weekly task: Write a minimum of five discussion questions for the assigned pages and lead the group through them.  This role is assigned to someone in the group for each meeting. 

* It is a required role, and I generally ask my Discussion Director to go last when the group meets.

 Scaffolding expecations may look like:

7th grade: Questions may focus on plot and character motivation ("Why did the character make that choice?").

8th grade: At least two of the five questions should require the group to weigh a moral or historical tension, not just recall events.

9th grade: At least three of the five questions should push toward interpretation, asking what the author is doing and why, not only what a character felt or decided.

10th–12th grade: The majority of questions should require the group to argue a position or evaluate a tension using textual evidence, with the Discussion Director facilitating genuine debate rather than a comprehension check.

Creates an illustration related to the reading and leads the group through responding to it before explaining it.

Weekly task: Create a sketch, cartoon, diagram, or flow chart illustrating a scene, idea, symbol, or character. Show it to the group without explanation, collect a comment or question from each member, then explain the connection to the literature.

Scaffolding expecations may look like:

7th grade: Illustrates a scene or character in a fairly literal way and gives a short explanation once asked, with support choosing what to draw.

8th grade: Chooses a scene, idea, or symbol to illustrate and offers a beginning reason for the color or image choices made.

9th grade: Chooses an idea or symbol rather than a literal scene, follows the show-first protocol independently, and connects the image to a theme in the section.

10th–12th grade: Makes a deliberate choice of scene, idea, symbol, or character, uses color intentionally for effect, follows the full show-first protocol, and gives an explanation that connects clearly back to the literature.

Finds parts of the text the group may find confusing and comes prepared to explain what the author likely means.

Weekly task: Find sections of the text that may need clarifying and be ready to explain the intended meaning to the group.

Scaffolding expecations may look like:

7th grade: Finds two sections that were personally confusing and offers a first guess at the meaning, with support from the teacher or group as needed.

8th grade: Finds three sections and explains the intended meaning using context clues from the surrounding text.

9th grade: Finds three sections chosen with the group in mind, not only personal confusion, and explains how clarifying each one changes the group's understanding of the scene.

10th–12th grade: Finds three sections others in the group are likely to find difficult, explains what the author means, and can defend that interpretation if the group pushes back.

Chooses a character from the text and writes questions for the group to answer from that character's point of view.

Weekly task: Write questions for a chosen character. Group members answer each question in character, using their knowledge of the text.

Scaffolding expecations may look like:

7th grade: Writes two questions that ask about what the character did or said, answerable directly from events in the text.

8th grade: Writes three questions, at least one of which asks how the character felt or why they acted as they did.

9th grade: Writes four questions, at least one requiring the group to infer something about the character the text implies but never states directly.

10th–12th grade: Writes four thoughtful questions that require the group to reason from the character's worldview and values, not simply recall plot, and to answer in a voice consistent with that character.

Finds literary devices the author uses to build meaning or make the text more interesting, and explains why the author chose that device.

Weekly task: Identify a literary device in the assigned section (irony, idiom, metaphor, hyperbole, and similar), log the page number, and explain how it helps the reader's understanding.

Scaffolding expecations may look like:

7th grade: Names one or two familiar devices (simile, metaphor, personification) and describes what is being compared or shown, staying close to the literal meaning of the line.

8th grade: Names a device and explains its effect on the reader, such as the mood or image it creates, beyond just identifying that it is present.

9th grade: Names a device with correct terminology and explains its effect on a scene or character, starting to distinguish between similar device types (e.g., irony versus sarcasm).

10th–12th grade: Explains how the device builds meaning across the section, not just the sentence, and offers a reasoned guess at why the author chose it there rather than elsewhere, with a page number.

Predicts what will happen in the next section of text, for the story overall and for the main characters.

Weekly task: Make predictions about what may happen next in the story and what may happen to the main characters.

Scaffolding expecations may look like:

7th grade: Makes two predictions focused on plot events, with a simple reason for each.

8th grade: Makes three predictions, each with a brief reason ("I think ___ because ___") drawn from something already in the text.

9th grade: Makes three predictions, including at least one about a character's motivation or arc rather than only plot events.

10th–12th grade: Makes at least three predictions about plot and about the main characters, grounding each in specific textual evidence or a pattern established earlier in the book.

Creates quiz questions from the assigned section to check how much the group remembers, with a page-number hint ready if someone gets stuck.

Weekly task: Write quiz questions with correct answers prepared in advance, and then ask the group. If a group member is stuck, give the page number and let them do a quick search.

Scaffolding expecations may look like:

7th grade: Writes three questions of direct recall: who, what, or when, each with a clear right answer.

8th grade: Writes four questions, mixing recall with at least one "why" question that requires a short explanation.

9th grade: Writes five questions, including at least one that requires connecting two moments in the text rather than recalling a single fact.

10th–12th grade: Writes five questions with correct answers prepared, mixing recall and inference, and manages the group activity smoothly, offering the page-number hint only when genuinely needed.