ELLEN
BERG
Diary #13
Now That's Reader Response!
I stumbled across a new understanding of the concept of reader response. In my mind I had envisioned reader response questions as being a set of formal, specific questions that required students to give an opinion about something in a reading while using the text as support. While I am right -- reader response questions can be these types of questions -- I was missing a multitude of opportunities to engage my students more deeply.
As a team we just began a unit on Greek and Roman mythology. Because of the Veteran's Day holiday, parent conference day, and an inservice day, we were only in session for two days during the week. I decided to ease into the unit slowly, reading two myths aloud, holding a class discussion about various aspects, and -- I originally thought -- completing some reader response questions about the stories. However, as I prepared for the week and reviewed the stories, another idea took hold.What if I had the kids do some sort of writing connected with the story? Something quick, not necessarily to be revised and rewritten, but something that required them to express their opinions and enhance their understandings? Knowing everything I know about writing and the writing process, I know that is not a revolutionary idea. But connecting what I know about writing with reading comprehension is an understanding I did not have until this past week.
Spinning a new web
The first myth we read was "The Spinning Contest" about Arachne, Athena, and Arachne's boast that she was a better weaver than even Athena herself. Athena sentences Arachne to a lifetime of weaving -- as a spider. As I have noted in these entries, we have been having a difficult time with verbal conflicts among our team of students, so I had the kids choose to write a letter to either Arachne or Athena, giving them advice about what they should do to solve their problem and keep it from escalating. I anticipated a great deal of resistance and moaning, but to my surprise, the room fell silent in class after class, as kids composed their letters then begged to read them to the class. We spent roughly ten minutes sharing our letters at the end of the period, and the kids hung on their peers' every word. Whoa! Silence, respect and cooperation from kids I struggle with every day? I knew there was definitely something happening, but I was not sure what. More importantly, I wondered what the rest of the letters looked like. Would they be canned? Formula? Too general? To the contrary. I saw more of my students' voices and ideas in these letters than I had ever seen in the traditional reader response questions I had used. I enjoyed reading the letters so much that I would like to share some of the excerpts here:"Dear Arachne,
You should not have bragged like that. You were showing off a lot, and
you think the world revolves around you. You might be able to beat the
goddess, but you did not have to tell everybody. If I were you, I would
have kept that to myself."
--Charmaine (who rarely puts pencil to paper but who wrote a full page in ten minutes time)
"Athena,
I don't think you should have turned Arachne into a spider. I understand
that she was talking smack about you, but still. It's not her fault she's
a self-centered little brat, but you're not perfect either. If she was
better than you, just admit it and practice more, come back later, and
have a rematch. Don't result to magic."
--Jessie
Let's try that again!
I was so pleased with the results that I decided to try something similar the following day. On Wednesday we read the story of Damon and Pythias, where Pythias is sentenced unjustly to die and Damon volunteers to take Pythias' place as a hostage while Pythias settles his affairs. Their friendship is legendary throughout Sicily, and Damon never wavers in his trust that his friend will return even when Pythias is late.
This time I asked the kids to assume the role of Pythias. The king is leading you out to be executed in your friend's place, and he has not returned. Just before chopping off your head, the king mocks you and says, "Your friend has not returned. What do you think of him now? Write him a letter before you die telling him what you think about him." I wondered if the kids would respond in the same manner since the activity was so similar to the activity the day before. I worried that the novelty of would have worn off and with it their interest and cooperation. However, as I introduced the assignment, I was met with the same enthusiasm of the day before and queries of, "Can we read these ones out loud too?" Exciting. One letter touched me deeply because the young woman really hit upon the true spirit of the friendship:"Dear Pythius,
I trust every word you said for they were as true as your friendship.
Maybe you have come upon a terrible misfortune. I cherish every moment
we've spent together, but I fear these will be my last moments on earth.
I still have faith in your return. I'm willing to die for you for these
many years of your friendship. I'll forgive you for I know you tried to
save me. Love, Damon."
--Amy
I saw more quality writing with these two, informal responses to literature than I have with any formal writing assignment I have ever given. With few exceptions, the kids demonstrated a clear understanding of what we read and inserted their feelings and new ideas into their responses. More importantly, every child wrote at least a paragraph in response with no arm-twisting. No arguments, whining, or complaining, just simple, thoughtful participation. Exciting! I think it is still important for the kids to answer traditional reader response questions since our state test requires them to do that and many classes from now through college will overuse those sorts of questions. However, I am starting to see an alternative that still requires kids to think about and respond to what they read while cultivating their interest and enthusiasm. Furthermore, I have learned that if I want quality writing, I will get better results if I give them some sort of anchor to stimulate their minds and help them formulate their ideas. But that's a whole other entry!
