Writing About What I Read
How:
When students read, they are also thinking. They are making connections, asking questions, noting where they are confused, ‘reading between the lines’, and thinking about how the author crafted their work to relay an important message. Your child can select a few of the stems below to respond to in their special writer’s notebook or you could talk about some of the question stems as you read together:
My favourite part is ….
The book reminded me of…
I wondered why…
My favourite character is…
I was confused when…
I was surprised when…
I pictured in my head…
A part that disappointed me was…
After reading, I felt…
The ending was…
The theme/message was…
Some evidence to support the theme is…
I like this author because…
I noticed the author used these techniques…
Some words I am not sure of are…
Beautiful Words
Use words or phrases from what you are reading and try to write like the author of the beautiful words.
Why:
Writing about reading facilitates deeper comprehension and enhances students’ capacity for reading to learn. “Writing every day that is based on reading an enjoyable book provides a strong language base and good models for student writers. Writing is especially helpful for learners who are finding reading difficult.” (Irene Fountas & Gay Su Pinnell)