When Response follows Reading

Submitted by: Mrs. Freeney, Aine Freeney, & Ms. Brezek

At the end of the school year, I happened to be in the office and Mrs. Freeney showed me a wonderful drawing her daughter, Aine, did:

I mean, isn't it great? The illustrations, and the text bubbles? And the meshing of the two stories into one?

 I then asked Mrs. Freeney how it came about and she said that her daughter had recently read two books: MacBeth on MyOn and Diary of a Wimpy Kid...

Which got her to drawing that picture up above that was a combination of the two. I thought it was so awesome, as it was an authentic response to reading that was unprompted by any kind of "work" that kids were required to do.

Response is one of the five components of Reading Workshop, which is the model of reading instruction that the teachers at Emerson strive to follow.

One quote about reader's response says, "Research on reader response theories has shown that it is a reader's personal response to literature that encourages that reader to return to literature experiences." So, how are your children responding to what they are reading this summer?

Is it through conversation? That's a natural response selection - and as an adult, when I think of my my favorite books, the first thing I want to do after I finish it is tell someone about it. And if they liked the book as much as I do, then I want to talk about it....sometimes for hours!

I happened on this quote on Twitter last week which supports this notion, "Literate conversations with peers (as little as ten minutes a day) improve students' reading motivation, comprehension, and test scores" (Cazde, 1988 & Nystrand, 2006).

So, this month and always, encourage reading in your home by helping your child to respond to it in any ways they might like...through conversation, through art, through writing. Let's encourage our kids to come back to literature experiences through their response!

Book Preferences Develop Early!

Submitted by: Mrs. Suomi

For one week every summer I am lucky enough to babysit my niece and nephew while their parents are at work and nanny is out of town. This week is always filled with reading and playing outside. In this picture my nephew Jack (6) is reading to my niece Leah (3). They are reading an ABC book about Star Wars. Both of them are huge fans! Jack is going to start first grade in the fall and loves to read. His favorite subject to read about is space, specifically the planets. Leah loves to be read to and her favorite book is any of the Pigeon books by Mo Willems. I hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful weather this summer! 

READING AND WRITING GO HAND IN HAND

     My son is eight years old and going to be in second grade.  After discovering and devouring both Stick Dog books and a little encouragement from a school assembly with the author, he started creating his own Stick Dog books. Each book follows Stick Dog and his friends in an attempt to get some kind of food.  So, he decides which type of food they are going to try to get and he writes and illustrates his own version.  We even co-authored one version, of course my ideas were generally shot down for his much more creative ones.  :)  What do moms know anyway?

After he finishes his books, we add them to one of our book baskets.  He is an author after all!  Adding a child's work to works of published authors makes them feel more confident and valued.

Imitating a mentor text isn't just for independent readers and writers.  If you have a young child, you could read If You Give a Mouse a Cookie or Brown Bear, Brown Bear.  These books have very predictable patterns that your child will recognize and be able to imitate.  You can record your child's ideas and then he/she can illustrate.

- Ms. Bless