Reading Response Theory: Before Reading Response in I do/We do/You do

           Welcome back.  I hope my blog finds you well.  I hope to post twice a week every week, so come and see me every Sunday and Wednesday.

           I would like to share part of an implementation plan that I wrote for the Coastal Savannah Writing Project.  I took a unit that I teach and re-planned it using Reading Response Theory.  I want to share my Before Reading activities.  The short story we will be reading is "The Cask of Amontillado" by Poe.

          Any reference I cite comes from one of the following sources:

Roessing, L. (2009).  The Write to Read. Thousand Oaks, CA.

               Corwin.

______ . Losing the Fear of Sharing Control: Starting a Reading

               Workshop.  Middle School Journal, January, 2007, 45.

______.  (2004). Toppling the Idol. English Journal,  94 (1), 42.

Spandel, V. (2005). The 9 Rights of Every Writer.  Portsmouth, NH:

               Heinemann.

Activities:  Before Reading

Focus lesson:  Motivation

Students will write in their reflection journals a response to the statement, “Describe a time when you were motivated to finish something you started.” 

The purpose for this reflection is to engage students interactively in their reading.  Roessing writes in The Write to Read (2009):

A reader response program allows teachers to see how students make meaning from what they read and whether they are truly engaged in what they are reading, and it allows teachers to help students read authentically. 

Authentic reading is interactive. (p.2)

            The reflection is designed to begin the process of making meaning as the students lay the groundwork for interacting with the text by connecting to it.  Using the I do/We do/You do strategy will show the students that their teacher is also making meanings and being engaged in the text assigned to them.  During the CSWP, many of the focus lessons were taught in this way.

I Do

During the CSWP, students demonstrated a Voki to review what happened in class the day before.  They created two avatars who discussed the day’s instruction and memorable events or quotations.  The Voki was engaging and hilarious.  I immediately recognized how effectively a Voki could be used to instruct students.

Since religion is the subtext of “The Cask of Amontillado,” I will use a Voki to introduce students to the Roman Catholic observance of Lent.  Montresor’s observance of Lent is a primary motivation for the method he uses to kill Fortunato since he wanted to murder his friend without being punished by God and man.

We Do

I will pass out copies of the story.  We will survey the story:  noting the art, vocabulary, and marginalia.  I will imitate Roessing’s (2009) strategy: “Write a response—anything you are thinking, feeling, predicting, or questioning” (p. 8).

You Do

Since I am required to include online instruction, I will assign the students to go to their Aplus lesson, read the Introduction about Poe’s life, and write their own anticipation response focusing on the two main genres Poe created and what in his life might have caused him to be a tormented person.  They will add their thoughts to their original response.  This will be a modification of Roessing’s anticipation response: #2a response on page 8.

I hope this has been helpful to anyone who wants to teach Poe.  Next time, I will post During Reading activities.  

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