Responding in a Reader-Response Journal and With a Poem

During your discussion of the reader-response entry, remind students that their own entries should freely explore their personal thoughts and feelings about a text. They can make connections with the text, ask questions, consider themes, note likes and dislikes, etc. Be sure to model forming a response before having students try one on their own. (Some English Language Learners may have had few experiences with any forms of personal writing.)

During your discussion of the poem response, point out that the sample contains a series of rhyming couplets (pairs of lines). Refer students to “Invented Forms of Poetry” on pages 207–208 for ideas for poem responses.