Response to Literature
What was the selection really
about?
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Good readers think about
what they read before, during,
and after they read
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Responding to Literature
• Continually respond
and predict as you
read
• Take notes
• Think about
patterns—especially
literary elements
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Literary Elements
•
•
•
•
•
Setting
Characters
Conflict
Resolution
Tone
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A response to
literature is
one way to
keep thinking
about
what writing
means.
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Ask yourself
• What was the text really about?
• How did the author ensure the reader got
that message?
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A Response to Literature
• Beginning
• Middle
• End
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Beginning
Include the title, author, and event or aspect
focused on.
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Middle
Describe the event or aspect of the
selection. Try to describe how the author
told this part of the story.
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End
Explain why the event or aspect is important
to the selection as a whole.
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Invitation to Read
• Look at the following response to literature
• Find how the beginning, middle, and end
of the response include the criteria listed in
the last slide.
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“A Friendship Fort”
The most important event in Katherine
Paterson’s Bridge to Terabithia is when Jess
and Leslie build their fort. Jess is a shy boy
who wants to be an artist, and Leslie is the
new girl in the neighborhood. They don’t fit in
with the other kids, but they get along with
each other. Together, Jess and Leslie create
Terabithia, a secret meeting place in the
woods. (cont.)
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“A Friendship Fort”
To get there, they must cross a creek by
swinging on an old rope. Jess and Leslie
build a wooden fort in Terabithia and spend a
lot of time there. Their little wooden fort takes
them to a thousand places. The day Jess and
Leslie create Terabithia is the day they began
to build their friendship.
(Write Source Grade 6, page 284)
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Invitation to Write
• Read a short story or chapter from a novel.
• Take notes as you read, thinking about
patterns—like the literary elements.
• Focus on one event or aspect that you feel is
important.
• Write a paragraph or so detailing your thoughts,
remembering what goes in the beginning,
middle, and end.
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