Reading Response Ideas

 After you read for 20 minutes each night, you need to respond in some way to what you read. Some ideas for response are:

 -         Asking questions about what you read

-         Making a prediction about what might happen later

-         Summarizing what you read

-         Agree or disagree with what the author wrote and why

-         Author’s purpose for writing the book

-         Making a connection to another book, movie, or life experience you have had

-         Inferring what the characters are feeling

-         I wonder statements

 Examples: (All are using the Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles)

Asking Questions:

         When the Prock was walking home with Lindy from school, I noted that he asked her a lot of questions about the trip to Whangdoodleland. Why did the Prock want to know so much from Lindy? Why didn’t he simply ask the Professor?

Making a Prediction:

         When the Professor was talking to the children about his work in genetics, and DNA and RNA, I started wondering why he would be interested in finding the Whangdoodle. I predict that the Professor is going to try to capture the Whangdoodle and take him back to his lab to perform experiments and try to make more Whangdoodles.

Summarizing:

         Last night, I read pages 15-23. This section was about how Lindy, Ben and Tom went on a picnic with the Professor and he taught them how to use their senses. Professor Savant taught the children to open their noses to smells and their ears to sounds. Lindy and Tom are having an easier time than Ben because Ben is the oldest brother and older people have lost some of their imagination. The professor tells Ben not to worry, that he will learn to use his imagination in time.

Agree or Disagree:

         I agreed with the character/author when they said…. Because…

          I disagreed with the character/author when they said….Because…

Author’s Purpose:

         I think that the author wrote Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles to encourage readers to hang on to their imaginations because you never know where it might take you.

Making a Connection: (to another book, movie, life experience, etc.)

         When Professor Savant started talking about genetics to the children, it reminded me of something. A couple of years ago, scientists cloned a sheep and her name was Dolly. Dolly was the first cloned animal ever and it makes me curious to see what the professor is going to do when he meets the Whangdoodle.

Inferring:

         When Lindy was dared by her older brother Tom to knock on the door of the scary house, it reminded me of a time when my brother called me a chicken and dared me to go ring my neighbor’s doorbell. I didn’t want to known as a chicken so I took the dare and rang my neighbor’s doorbell, but I was scared and nervous the whole time, I was sure I would be caught. I can infer from my own experience that Lindy is feeling nervous and scared in the book. I can also infer that she is probably mad at her brother for being mean to her, because I would be mad at my brother, too.

I wonder…

         When we were reading about the Prock, I painted a picture in my head that he was a mean, ugly creature with horrible intentions towards the children and the professor. Why else would he try to keep them out of Whangdoodle land? But then I started thinking about the Prock’s point of view and I began to wonder…what if the Prock is just defending his home?