Prewriting for Response Journals
Writing about the reading you do in school helps you get closer to the action, ideas, and characters in the text. These prewriting activities will introduce you to response journals and help you gather writing ideas.
Prewriting for Response-Journal Topics
A response journal is a place to write about the stories, books, and classroom materials you read. Here’s a sample entry from a response journal.
Listen to "Rogues to Riches"
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Title and Author Rogues to Riches by J. Robert King
This book is funny and strange. I like Rengie and Tooles, rogues who want to get rich. Thoughts and Feelings They start the book in prison, and they have a spitting contest to escape.
Rengie and Tooles pretend to be a couple of knights so that they can steal a treasure, but a cursed rose makes them have to actually become knights.
Book Details I'm only halfway through, but I like all the goofy jokes. Right now, they're back in prison. They've just convinced an orc guard to release them if they let him"come back at the end of the book." I wonder if he'll be back. . . .
Gather writing ideas.
Answer the questions to come up with ideas for a response journal. Make a copy of this Google doc or download a Word template.
- What am I reading in school?
- What have I learned from it?
- What do I like best about it?
- What is the most important part so far?
- What questions do I have about it?