Your goal in using a reader’s notebook is to help students
extend and express their thinking about reading. Being expected to write about
their thinking places an extra layer of consciousness on readers. They are more
likely to remember details and to store up responses they feel deeply about and
want to include in their writing.
Letters
between you and your students are a collection of thoughts over time as
they develop as readers. Think of them as a written conversation about books.
You can help children better communicate their thinking in several ways:
Once you begin using reader’s notebooks, you’ll find that
responding to students is fascinating rather than arduous If you enter into a
genuine conversation, keeping strategic actions in mind, you will inevitably
stretch your students’ thinking.
From Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency by
Irene C. Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell. Copyright (c) 2006 by Irene C. Fountas and
Gay Su Pinnell. Published by Heinemann.