Creative Reading—Ways to More Meaningful Responses to Literature
For 4th–8th Grade Teachers
With Jay Richards
We’ve heard of creative writing, where students combine past experiences and imagination to “create” stories and poems. But, there’s not much “creating” going on in English classrooms when it comes to reading. Too often, students are asked to summarize and/or answer basic comprehension recall questions. Why don’t we teach creative reading? In this workshop, Jay will share strategies designed to both improve how students read as well as how they respond to what they read. Learn how to get students to show deeper knowledge through meaningful essays and literary poems. It’s a workshop that will get you thinking about how you teach a book.
terri faus Said,
April 9, 2008 @ 5:23 pm
Thoroughly enjoyed the session today-lots of ideas to take back and use right away. The connection back to the standards helps me plan. I want to visit this teacher.
debbie mcgowen Said,
April 9, 2008 @ 5:24 pm
Jay was terrific! I really liked his discussion about students making observations about the novel they have read, and then making inferences based on their observations. I also liked his idea about students doing multiple writing responses on one novel.
In addition, choosing to focus on secondary characters and their importance to the main character(s) is a great idea and seems helpful in the observation/inference process.
Would like to see Classroom Management as a future Super Saturday topic.
Kathleen Quint Said,
April 9, 2008 @ 5:24 pm
Jay’s presentation was practical and thoughtful. His confidence and experience in having a close connection between reading and responding has inspired me to use his strategies. Having students respond to reading isn’t new, but Jay’s approach to reading a text more than just a first read is possible and worthwhile in order to teach inferences.
Brenna Dimas Said,
April 9, 2008 @ 5:25 pm
As usual, this Super Saturday session left me with many things to think about and consider for my own teaching. Specifically, Jay’s workshop has forced me to evaluate the ways that I incorporate truly meaningful interactions with literature in my classroom. Further, it has given me pause to consider what expectations I have for my students regarding their reading and the higher expectations I should have.