Reading Response Journals as Safety Net

Last month the Leadership Team launched a one-on-one safety net with 21 of our readers in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades. After initiating the weekly two-way communication with an introductory letter, each member of the Leadership Team waited anxiously for a return letter from each student. The letters received demonstrated that each of the 21 students were deeply engaged by the opportunity to write about their reading lives and the meaning they were (or were not) making of the book they were reading independently. The second and third letters revealed that students were not only engaged, but they picked up on the language of a reading conversation quickly. Many initiated their own thoughtful interpretations, responded to questions posed, and asked questions generated by their own interaction with text. A few students even began to mimic the language that their Leadership Team mentor was using (i.e. signing off using creative phrases such as "Your Reading Buddy"). Stay tuned for posted student and mentor Reading Response Journal samples as this safety net demonstrates how readers can grow through a written conversation about making meaning, self-monitoring, and reading inquiry.