Response to Literature

Transcription

1 Response to Literature WRITING WORKSHOP Unit 1, Part 1, Grade 6

2 Introducing the Workshop Response to Literature A response to literature is a composition in which the writer develops an interpretation of something he or she has read. Sometimes your own experiences influence how you react to a story.

3 Introducing the Workshop Response to Literature Think about a story or poem that you had a strong reaction to. Why did you have the feelings you had? What literary elements influenced your reactions?

4 Introducing the Workshop Basics in a Box Elements of Response to Literature: The introduction clearly expresses your response or assertion. The body focuses on one main element and contains several examples, or evidence, from the selection. The conclusion summarizes or restates the response.

5 Introducing the Workshop Basics in a Box Download this graphic organizer at

6 Teaching the Lesson Analyzing a Student Model In this sample, the author remarks on the nature of friendship and how shared experiences and even hardships make friendship stronger.

7 Teaching the Lesson Analyzing a Student Model 1. Why is it important to name the title and the author in the introduction? 2. Why is it important for the writer to provide details about the story?

8 Teaching the Lesson Analyzing a Student Model 3. What do you expect the rest of the paper to be like based on this thesis sentence? 4. How does the quotation from Max reveal something important about him?

9 Teaching the Lesson Analyzing a Student Model 5. The writer says that the narrator acts brave, even though he hopes that one of the other boys will call off the trip. 6. How does the writer support the claim that the friendship shared by the boys is really strong? 7. Explain the theme(s) of the story.

10 Guiding Student Writing Prewriting Choosing a Subject If you can t think of a character with whom you identify, think about a a character whom you admire.» These might be traits you will to model yourself. Consider responding to a character whose actions you found somehow disturbing or unworthy of respect.» Explain your response with examples of similar situations in which you behaved differently.

11 Guiding Student Writing Prewriting Planning Your Response to Literature Ask yourself, If I were a character in this story, who would I be and why? Make connections to situations that you have experienced. While you freewrite, don t worry too much about spelling just get your feelings down on paper. Identify your audience.

12 Guiding Student Writing Drafting The sample story is just one way of organizing your paper. Start with the introduction and get the basics down on paper. Then you can work to support your ideas with examples.

13 Guiding Student Writing Revising Select a key sentence to share from your paper that expresses your personal response. Help your classmates by making suggestions for more precise words that will make the response clearer and stronger.

14 Guiding Student Writing Editing and Proofreading Collective nouns like everyone and class take a singular verb. This is because everyone refers to more than one person, but it is one group and therefore is singular.

15 Guiding Student Writing Reflecting What have you learned about yourself by writing this Response to Literature? How did your ideas change as you wrote this?