Book talk in a thematic literature unit

Discussions of literature may be viewed as a part of the social environment in which students can work together collaboratively to construct meaning. Book talk, or discussion, in a thematic unit encourages students to focus attention on the important ideas in their literature experiences, thus moving them beyond literal comprehension to inferential thinking. The theme of survival was chosen to promote book talk. A web was created that visually mapped the different aspects of the topic. The book Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen, was chosen to introduce the unit and was read aloud to all children. This book became a foil against which subsequent books were compared. The related books chosen for small group reading and discussion were The River, by Gary Paulsen; Brian\u27s Winter, by Gary Paulsen; and The Terrible Wave, by Marden Dahlstedt. These books provided opportunities for students to see the multifaceted nature of the theme