Responding to Literature

Chapter 4

"Don't forget that a book is a private contract between a writer and a reader. Don't try to force another reader to share your contract. And above all, don't kill the joy."

Katherine Paterson

Reader Response

Interaction in Readers' Minds

Highly Idiosyncratic

• Experiences

• Interests

• Preferences

• Development

• Literacy skills and motivation

Responses Shaped by Social Contexts

Social Context

• Peers

• Teacher expectations

• Culture

• Transactional Response Theory

Teaching from a Transactional Perspective

Teacher's Role

• Not ONE correct response

• Encouraging aesthetic & efferent reading for personal reward

• Activities for deepening response

Caution

Book reports and fill-in-the-blank worksheets:

Do these fit your goals?

Consider tossing them out or revising them.

Dictated Response

Oral Response

Retelling / Storytelling

Book Talks

Book Discussions

Choral Speaking

Puppetry

Art and Music

Similar Media / Style

In the style of Smoky Night

Similar Media / Style

In the style of Eric Carle

Graphic Organizer

s

Sketch-to-stretch

Other Ways . . .

• Drama & Dramatization

• Pantomime

• Reader's Theater

See the CD-ROM which came with this text for:

• Searchable database of children's literature• Author and illustrator profiles

Visit the COMPANION WEBSITE for:

• Children's literature websites for students