REading response Journals
Getting Started with Reading Response Journals
1. Begin talking about books during Interactive Read Aloud.
2. Set up a clear and simple management system.
3. Teach and establish clear expectations for quality responses.
Written responses to reading could include one or more of the following:
5. Read and respond to the students’ journal entries in a way that lifts the quality of student thinking.
6. Analyze student responses and plan upcoming Focus Lessons and/or Small Group instruction.
1. Begin talking about books during Interactive Read Aloud.
- Model how to ponder one topic for a while, and how to use evidence from the text to support your thinking. Teach students how to listen and talk in accountable ways.
2. Set up a clear and simple management system.
- Determine how you want the journal organized (e.g., first ten pages to record titles, authors, and genres; next section to record books that the student would like to read; third section for written responses, etc.) Provide tabs to mark off sections.
- Date all entries.
- Number all pages.
- Decide how often you want students to write. In grades 3 and up, students may pass in one response per week, and also be encouraged to write or jot down notes as they read throughout the week. In primary grades, they may write less frequently.
- Stagger the due dates in manageable groups to give yourself time to respond (recommendation: read about 5 response journals per day).
- Post a chart informing students of the weekly due date for their response entries.
3. Teach and establish clear expectations for quality responses.
- Model how to write a response using a familiar text. Analyze the response as a class in order to teach students about the characteristics of a proper reading response journal entry.
- Students are expected to share opinions and feelings and to provide evidence from the text.
- While reading, students may record their thinking on Post-It notes and later use these notes to construct their reading response entry.
- Although this is first draft work, students are expected to write legibly.
- Students are expected to use conventions of mechanics and spelling to the best of their ability.
- Continue to add essential characteristics to a classroom anchor chart.
Written responses to reading could include one or more of the following:
- Brainstorming
- Webbing
- Sketching
- Recording metacognitive thinking
- Listing questions
- Writing a letter
- Two- and three-column entries
- Graphic organizers
5. Read and respond to the students’ journal entries in a way that lifts the quality of student thinking.
- Respond to students so they begin to see themselves as members of a community who engage in literary thinking.
- Ask questions to clarify confusions, to get more detail, and to encourage students to think at a deeper level.
- Acknowledge how literature affects our lives and changes us as people.
- Share your own ideas.
- Require students to use evidence from the text.
- Link students’ responses to other texts, previous responses, and class discussions.
- Comment on the use of metacognitive comprehension strategy.
6. Analyze student responses and plan upcoming Focus Lessons and/or Small Group instruction.
