In my classroom, students are required to read every day and every night!

Students have
two weeks to finish a novel and, while they read, I instruct students in learning effective
strategies that good readers use in order to better comprehend and analyze fiction texts.
Below, you will find our sticky note categories. While students read, they sticky note
about conflicts, their wonderings, surprises, themes, character traits, character changes, and
character relationships.
As the year progresses, we expose students to the Notice and Note reading strategies.
Again, students continuously write about their reading in order to develop critical reading
skills.
I chose to share this particular curriculum and instruction tool because, as an educator, I
have learned that the best readers write to understand their reading and this increase in
comprehension and analysis can enrich students experiences with book clubs in the later
portion of the year. I have also attached the rubric I currently use to assess students writing
about reading. This rubric is a work in progress- as I continuously am revising it to make it an
effective form of feedback for students to use in order to self-assess, reflect, and improve.

Writing About Reading Categories

Conflicts

1.
What problem is your main character facing? Describe it. Who is involved?
What questions do they ask themselves? How do they try to deal with the problem? This
part is your TEXT EVIDENCE.
2.
Why is the problem important in the story? How might it impact or change the
story? What would you do in the situation? How would you feel? What do you think
they character will do? This part is your PERSONAL RESPONSE (more than one
sentence).

Wondering

1.
What specific scene, action, thought are you wondering about? What is the
text evidence that is making you wonder or question? What is going on? This part is
your TEXT EVIDENCE.
2.
Why are you wondering about this? Why is this important? What might this
mean? How could this impact or change the story? Why might a character act or think
this way? This part is your PERSONAL RESPONSE (more than one sentence).

Life
Lesson/
Theme

1.
What lesson does the main character learn? Who helps them learn this
lesson? How do they learn it? What do we learn at the end of the story? This is your
TEXT EVIDENCE.
2.
How is this lesson/theme important in the characters life? How does it apply
to your own life? Can I apply this theme to another book that Ive read? This is your
PERSONAL RESPONSE (more than one sentence).

Quotes

1.
What is said (character or narrator) thats important? Give the exact quote
and describe the situation surrounding the quote. This is your TEXT EVIDENCE.
2.
Why did you select this quote? How is it important? Is it important to a
character? Why? Does it have meaning to the overall story? Why? Does it have

meaning to you? Why? This is your PERSONAL RESPONSE.

Surprises

1.
What event, action, or character surprises you? What happened? What was
done or said that was surprising? Explain the scene and the surprise. This is your TEXT
EVIDENCE.
2.
Why was this such a surprise? Why might the author have done this? What
would you have done? How might this change things? Why might this be important?
This is your PERSONAL RESPONSE.

Characters
& Change

1.
Discuss a main character, their trait and behaviors. Discuss their problems
and relationships with other characters. Who or what influences them? How do they
change by the end of the book? This is your TEXT EVIDENCE.
2.
Why is this character important? Why did they change? Was their change for
the better? How did this character impact other characters? How might their actions or
behaviors change things? How did this character impact the end of the story? This is
your PERSONAL RESPONSE.

Writing About Reading Rubric

CATEGORY

Exceeds

Mastery

Not Yet

Summarization

I demonstrated
understanding of what was
happening in the text by
using specific story details.

I demonstrated
understanding of what was
happening in the text by
using story details.

I did not demonstrate

understanding of what
happened in the text.

Textual Evidence

I included textual evidence

to support my idea and
cited this evidence with
specific page numbers. My
textual evidence is the best
evidence to support my
idea.

I included textual evidence

to support my idea and
cited this evidence with
specific page numbers. My
textual evidence supports
my idea.

I did not include textual

evidence to support my
idea and cited this
evidence with specific
page numbers.
OR
My textual evidence
does not support my
idea.

Thinking about
Reading/Reader
Response

I included several
thoughtful & reflective
ideas and new
understandings of the text.
I made connections
between multiple texts

I included some thoughtful

& reflective ideas, new
understandings of the text.
and began to make
personal connections to
ideas.

I restated what was read,

jumped to conclusions
without support, or gave
simple or superficial
understanding of
meaning.