The Reader's Response: Still Relevant, or Outdated?

 I can recall even when I was in early elementary school, one of the emphasized points of writing was reader's response, which acted as a direct connection to reading text and writing. In my earlier years of teaching, it was a scheduled skill in various curriculums that needed to be covered (in both reading and writing.) Over the years, with the rise of Readers' and Writers' Workshop, where the emphasis is on student choice, teaching reader's response has become a skill that's been tucked away into the shadows. 

My question therefore is: Has the need for reader's response truly become less necessary to comprehend text and demonstrate proficiency in writing, or has the de-emphasis added to the struggle for readers to think about the W.A.B questions (posted in an earlier blog!)  and write well? 

The goal here is to share some brief points of importance and let you as an educator decide... 

1. Teaching reader's response can have a place in both reading periods and writing, although I typically teach it in writing. 

2. Teaching reader's response might take a period of time for students to understand and use correctly. I can speak to my first and second graders that it usually takes both full years to apply the skills naturally, and for them to incorporate them on their own. 

3. Reader's response assists students in reviewing the text to include details in their answering, and understanding the questions that are "within" the text. 

5. By writing reader's response questions, students gain practice writing in complete sentences and using all parts of speech as well as punctuation. 

Since the point of reading is to comprehend, why would we deny the teaching of a strategy to students to help them accomplish this? Some may argue the point that reader's response can be taught during a modeling example while reading with students, or when students ask for help on responding effectively to text. Again I ask, why not teach this explicitly, especially with younger students who need the repetition and structure? This of course includes modeling and mirroring (two moments in time from Readers' Workshop for conferring) yet offers additional structure for the student(s) as the teacher directly shows the sequence of the strategy. 

Below I am sharing the the sequence with an example: 

In my class I often show students a sample question for reading (usually within the text to start!) 

Example: What did Fly Guy do before he rode on the rocket? 

Step 1: Highlight the words you will use from the question to start your response: Before, he, rode, on, the, rocket, Fly Guy. 

Step 2: Put them into a sentence starter: A- Before he rode on the rocket, Fly Guy ______. or B- Fly Guy _______ before he rode on the rocket. 

Step 3: Use context clues to "fill in the blank" with the question. 

As educators, we make informed decisions everyday for our students based on numerous factors. I plan on continuing to teach reader's response because of the positive effects it has on students' confidence in answering, and it increases their willingness to write about the stories/books they are reading as well. Reader's response will always have a seat in my classroom, what about yours? 

Final thoughts: keep finding "open spots" in your reading and writing curriculum to integrate lessons on how to write about text, keep your students needs (both individually and collectively) in mind, keep trusting your judgement on how your students learn best, and use the strategies they need, whether they are ready for self-direction, or they are in need of direct instruction. Finally....

Always keep reading!