Writing about Reading 12/31

Writing about reading. I have been thinking about these words a lot lately. My relationship with them has been rocky. Definitely not a stable one for my students' reading lives nor with my own.

I move back forth between these two thoughts: 

1. I want my students to think deeper about what they read.
2. I want my students to just read and enjoy the book without having a task attached to the reading.

The past three weeks, we read The Watsons Go to Birmingham as a whole class novel. I taught specific standards and did not assess their reading through comprehension questions. We had rich whole class discussions about racism, life in the south, and the Civil Rights Movement. 

However, I did assign a one-pager during these last few days leading up to spring break. It was a way to spark creativity yet keep them on task...if you know what I mean!

I was pleased with my students' work, but I am not sure if this is an effective teaching practice or assessment. My students enjoyed creating them and they enjoyed the book and conversations we had. But I am still left with more "writing about reading" questions than answers, and I would love to hear what you do in your classroom!

Join Two Writing Teachers and other teacher-writers as we 
share a slice of life during the month of March. 

To Live Forever - A Reflection on Tuck Everlasting

My students just finished reading Tuck Everlasting during our unit on "Making Choices." They were asked if they would want to live forever and, of course, we wrote about it.

I have been playing with an idea for the Slice of Life March Challenge where I write for 31 days using only 31 words in a slice.  It has been challenging, but it certainly focuses on word choice.   This makes an interesting twist on writing about reading.

Here is my reflection on if I would want to live forever...in 31 words.

I would not chose

to live forever,

but instead,

to live

to love

to die,

each one

dependent on the other,

each one its own spoke 
on the wheel of life.