20 Minute Daily Reading AND READING RESPONSE JOURNALS (R.R.J.'s)
Each night (Monday to Thursday), my language arts students will be asked to read for about 20 minutes from a "just right fit" book of their choice. This time can be made up over the weekend too, or even enjoyed prior to the week. All I request is that the time spent reading be written in the Agenda Book you will be signing each night. It should add up to about 1 hour and 20 minutes over the course of the 7-day week. Parents reading a more challenging book aloud to your child or students reading to younger sibblings is accepatable too since reading to self, reading to others, and listening to reading all are part of our curriculum. We just want to really get thinking about reading!
During the reading experience, it is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for your child to "stop and jot down" anything he or she found interesting into their R.R.J. (Reading Response Journal) or on post-it notes stuck in the book. I suggest this because once a month each child will be writing a letter to me about what he or she is currently reading:) Students might even decide on the question they plan to answer prior to reading. Studies have shown that when students practice reading and think about reading, they become better readers both in fluency and comprehension. When it is written down, children learn to fine-tune what they are trying to say. Plus, writing this letter to me will give your child a special chance to stay in touch about his or her lastest reading topic!
Students will be given a specifc week of the month to deliver their R.R.J. letter to me. For this monthly assignment students should do the following:
a. Answer one of the questions below in a letter to me.
b. The letter should be 6-8 sentences long.
c. Choose a different question each month for a variety of experiences.
d. The letter should be neatly written in proper FRIENDLY LETTER FORMAT.
e. Students should spell as best as they can and remember to use capital letters and punctuation when appropriate.
I have a friendly letter template students can borrow to get them started. At school we will be doing similar written responses.
Questions
1. What did you like/dislike about this book and why?
2. Write about the authors craft or style. Did it reach out to you in any special way?
3. What if the setting of the story changed? Would it be possible? How? (fiction)
4. What is the main topic of this book and what interesting facts did you learn? (nonfiction)
5. Tell about parts of your book that puzzled you or made you ask questions.
6. Write your predictions and tell if they were right. (fiction)
7. Tell about the connections that you made while reading the book. Describe you it reminds you of yourself, of people you know, or of something that happened to you. It might remind you of other books, specially the characters, the events, or setting.(fiction)
8. Write about the language the author used and why you think the author wrote this way.
9. If you could change one thing about this book to make it better, what would you do? Why?
10. Was there a special reason you selected this book? Describe why.
