Five Ways to Respond to Literature

Introduction

• Display a piece of chart paper with the question, "How can we respond to literature?" written in the center in large print. Read the question aloud.
• Underline the words "respond to literature" and remind students that the word respond means to reply or interact with, and literature means a fictional text or story. Restate the question in student-friendly terms (e.g., "How can we write or talk about stories?").
• Ask students to think about ways that they respond to literature. Write their responses around the question on the chart paper to create a "brain dump." Use this exercise to gauge background knowledge. Support students by suggesting ideas if needed (e.g., answering questions about characters or setting, making predictions, writing a summary). Keep the brain dump displayed to use later in the lesson.
• Tell students that today they will be using specific types of questions and prompts to respond to literature.