Reading Response Journals

[Jamee]

Although DS (5th) reads a lot, I don't think he's getting as much out of his reading as he should, especially when it comes to assigned reading that he doesn't really want to do. I was thinking of incorporating a reading response journal of some sort. Does anyone do this? What do you have your child include? Do you require it of every reading/just assigned reading/just for fun reading?

[Chris in VA]

Not in my homeschooling, but my dd and both sons had to do journals of this sort in public school. The idea was to see if they had actually read the material and to find out how they "felt" about it--how they interpreted it, what they would do differently if they were a character in the book, how they would change the ending, etc.

 

I didn't really like the RRJ, and it seemed to turn my middle son off of reading. It just made reading a chore, an assignment, instead of a joy.

 

In my homeschool, I ask for an informal narration from dd for most books--if it's a read aloud, I usually ask for a quick recap each time I read to her, before we start a new section. It refreshes both our memories, and lets me know she is "getting" the story. I might ask her things like, Why do you think a certain character acted like he did, What do you think might happen next, etc. But we don't spend much time on it. For history reading, where I want there to be good factual retention, I'll require more--maybe a written narration. For fun reading, I just ask her how it's going--how she likes the book so far. If she's into it, she'll tell me the exciting bits. I don't require anything other than that.

[74Heaven]

Both these sound really good. Maybe a child could have a choice occasionally. Such as a daily assignment to d0 a RRJ entry which could be omitted 1-2x a week for oral narration. The good thing about the RRJ is that I get so busy hsing 3 (previously 5), just getting thru 5-6 subjects each, that adding another narration might be chore that did not get done.

 

But, the RRJ would help me as it would help me keep up on what my children are reading.

[Jamee]

Thanks for the responses. I had thoughts on both--would this become a chore? Would this help me see better what he's getting from his reading. I really want him to start thinking more about what's being read as opposed to just reading, especially with those books that he's not so keen on reading. I put together a composition book for him, so at least it'll all be in one place now too. Guess we'll have to see how it goes. I did find a great list of prompts that may work to mix things up a bit too:

http://pmms.msdpt.k12.in.us/imc/preddy/writing%20prompts.pdf

[Hunter]

What an excellent list! Thanks!

[papillon]

That is a fantastic list ~ thanks for posting it!