Reader+Response


 * __ Reader Response Journal  __ **

Welcome to our reader response journal. During independent reading, the students read self-selected books that are “just right” for them. These “just right” books challenge the students to use their reading strategies without causing the students to become frustrated. The students can choose any genre of book from our class library and are reading a variety of leveled texts at their independent reading level. While reading, the students are learning skills and strategies to help them become critical readers and thinkers. They use post-it notes to help them interact with the text and gain a deeper understanding of the book. Throughout the book, the students are learning to pause and think about what they have read. On the post-it notes, they write predictions, questions, inferences and their own thoughts. It is a wonderful sight to see all my students engaged in their books.

In addition, the entire class will participate in a literature circle for the novel __Loser__ by Jerry Spinelli. We will work together to learn the techniques good readers use before, during and after reading any genre of literature. The students will learn the different roles performed in a literature circle and complete different group and individual projects. After completing our class literature circle, students will choose books to work on in groups of 4-5. They will complete their own literature circle while I facilitate the discussion. The students will work together and pause at different locations throughout the book to reflect on what they have read, what they think and what they are wondering about. They will write their thoughts down in their own reader response journal and then share their responses with their group. The discussions help generate ideas, questions and ultimately a deeper understanding of the book. Moreover, the students are learning how to be actively involved in discussions and debates as they learn new ideas from one another. As a facilitator of these discussions, my role is to ask probing questions and to try to get the students to think outside of the box! The goal of these literature circles is to have the students be able to apply, analyze, synthesize and evaluate the knowledge and information obtained from the text and each other. I hope you enjoy their thought process as they learn to be critical readers and thinkers.