Writing About Our Reading

Before spring break, in a reading comprehension group, we were working on reading fantasy texts. One of the texts that we read was an excerpt from the novel The BFG by Roald Dahl. To help us break down what was happening in the text, we read the excerpt in three small sections. After each section, the students worked with a partner to talk about the section of the text and then write about what they read. After this, we came together to share our ideas and create a whole group summary of the events in the excerpt. 

After the students had a solid understanding of what was happening in the text, we used a structure called All Write Round Robin to think more deeply about the characters and events in the text. The students worked to answer six different questions about the text. Each student started with a question and then added his/her own thoughts and ideas to the paper. Then the question was passed on to the next student. The next student would read what the previous student wrote and then add on to his/her answer. At the end, all six students had an opportunity to think about each question about the text and build upon each other’s ideas.

These activities helped us to deepen our understanding of the text. They also allowed the students to not only talk about what they read but to write about it too. Explaining your thinking about characters and events in a text in writing can be challenging, and the students worked hard to practice this skill.