THE COMPANION BOOK

A companion book is one that explores the range of small and big ideas that inspire readers.

The Hunger Games Companion includes chapters like:• The Hunger Games Trilogy: Surviving the

End of the World• Weapons: How Tributes Survive• Medicines and Poisons: Simple and Complex• Survival Instincts and Strategies: Does

Katniss Know what she’s Doing?

This is much like what you’ve been doing lately! The writing you are doing could become a companion book to the book you’re reading!

THERE ARE MORE COMPANION BOOKS TO MANY POPULAR TV SHOWS, MOVIES, AND BOOKS.

TO GET READY TO PLAN THE COMPANION BOOK, WE’LL BE WORKING ON

EXPLAINING THINKING

EXPLAIN BIG IDEAS SO THAT OTHERS CAN GRASP YOUR THINKING

YOU HAVE GOOD IDEAS WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR WRITING

Unfortunately, those ideas don’t often get captured on the page

IT’S TIME TO GO A STEP FURTHER.

You must ask questions! THINK: “What kind of writing am I making?” “What do I know about how to do that

kind of writing well?”

Here’s the notebook entry for Matilda. What ideas do you think Maggie might be developing here?

Looking at this page, we don’t really know this writer’s BIG THINKING yet. Clearly, the writer has a hunch, but what is it?!

The writer needs to do some extended writing and to do that, she first needs to think: “What is my big idea here?”And “How can I use freewriting to explain my idea so that it is clear to my readers?”

Explain Your Thinking1.Study one of your responses to reading,

remembering as much of your original thinking as possible.

2.Ask, “Did I make that thinking clear on the page?”

3.If you didn’t, ask, “What new thinking is this work leading me to?” and write as if you are explaining your thinking to someone.

4.Expect your thinking to develop as you write

Open your Writing Journals!

Remember that when you write about reading, you should expect that you will come to new ideas. As you write, be sure that your thinking and big ideas are explained and developed. Writers can use freewriting to explain their big ideas so that others can grasp their thinking.

Partner A: Explain your thinking to Partner 2. Push yourself to say a whole paragraph of thought! THEN SWITCH!

Now record explanation! Quick!

REMEMBER: • Include evidence to support ideas! • Analyze that evidence and come up with your own ideas!

Ways to Analyze Evidence• This shows….because…• It is important to notice…• __________ means____________, therefore ____________• This is significant because …• Even though… (the character)…

Ways to Analyze Evidence• This shows….because…• It is important to notice…• __________ means ____________,

therefore ____________• This is significant because …• Even though… (the character)

…

Ways to Cite Evidence from a Text• After a detailEarly in the first book in the Hunger Games series, we learn that most citizens don’t own weapons, but if they did, they would probably poach for their food (Collins 5).

• After a quotationKatniss, the narrator, says that “even though trespassing in the woods is illegal and poaching carries the severest of penalties, more people would risk it if they had weapons”(Collins 5).GOAL: ADD EVIDENCE TO YOUR WRITING!

CITE IT!!