Tutorial for LAL Reading Assessment Team.. Dear Ben Mikaelsen, A student pushed a ten-year-old boy off a school bus causing him to land face down on the.

Tutorial for LAL Reading Assessment Team

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Dear Ben Mikaelsen,

A student pushed a ten-year-old boy off a school bus causing him to land face down on the ground, “just to be funny.” The bus driver drove away after asking only halfheartedly if the boy was “okay.” Imagine this same boy shoved into the corner of the school building while three students held him down, twisting and pinching his skin....The principal dismissed the actions as “just boy’s horseplay.” The boy felt scared, hurt, and alone. I was that boy.

How has a book or an author changed your view of yourself or your world?

Dear Rudyard Kipling,

Although to him I seem quiet, unaggressive, or all together “unmanly,” my father has consistently tried to instill a sense of being a man in me ever since I was very young. When I reached the age of twelve he began taking me to his auto body shop, which he built up from nothing as an immigrant entrepreneur. He told me this tough job would build me into a man of character. I would work hard grueling hours sanding cars and preparing them for paint. My dad also urged me to lift weights to make me strong like a man. My perception of being a man has mostly been molded by how my rugged dad portrays himself. But this all changed a year ago when my mother passed away and I stumbled upon your poem, “If.” . . . Your poem was so much more than just a simple list of guidelines or morals that some see it as; it really changed my life and my relationship with my dad. Because of “If,” I am able to walk with my chest pushed out like a man not because of bulging pectoral muscles but because of the heart under them.”

Joshua Tiprigan, grade 11, NJ, 2009 national winner, Level 3

When Rasheed became friends with Danny, I was totally amazed! I couldn’t think of why two enemies who hated each other would join together in an extraordinary friendship.

-Matt, RI, Level 2, to Mike Lupica, Summer Ball

. . . I am similar to Danny, the main character in your novel. We are both what one of my coaches

called “vertically challenged,” have separate or divorced parents, and have distant

basketball fathers. Your book was coincidentally given to me by my

dad.

Zachary, Arkansas, Level 2

"When I grow up and have children, I will soon grow old and die."

Olivia, grade 6, Illinois

"For some reason, I am the oldest child."

Alex, grade 6, Colorado

"Your books have changed my life. Now my eloquence is much more better."

Laura, Arizona

Initially this book showed me nothing of interest. Then I reached page three.

Kyle, grade 8, Illinois

Your book was so good, I jumped right out of my skin. Literally!

Samantha, New Jersey

Reader response is a teaching strategy that . . .

• emphasizes child response, both written and oral

• encourages the child to support his or her intuitive responses with specific details from both the text and from his or her life

• builds upon a child’s feelings, memories, and associations

• encourages the child to share his or her response with others rather than just with the teacher

Teacher interacts with text and talks to

child

Child interacts with text and shares

his/her ideas

Two reading instruction approaches:

Result is recalling details and writing book summaries and/or lit-crit analysis

Result is reader response & reflective writing

Reader response helps to refocus the activities of the classroom away from the teacher’s perspective and onto the child’s. This shift in focus encourages the child to interact with the text and take a more active role in interpreting the books they read.

Reader Response

Emotions

Associations

Memories

New Ideas

What is reflective writing?

Reflective writing is an activity where an individual looks back at a past experience or period of time and thinks about the meaning and significance of that experience or time. It is personal. It is insightful. And it is not easy!

Reflective writing is NOT . . .

• conveyance of information or instruction of how-to-do something

• chronological summary

• argument, though it can be persuasive

• straight-forward description, though there may be descriptive elements

Dear Ridley Pearson,

I’m writing to you because of your book Kingdom Keepers. It is a very good

book. Kingdom Keepers is a really good book, because it’s an action and a

mystery and I like those kind of books.

Your book is so good, I own it. My favorite part was when the pirates showed

up. The pirates were fighting and that’s what makes the book better. It

makes the book better because I like the fighting and I like the Pirates of the

Caribbean.

I’d like you to make another book like this one. Goo luck on writing your next

book if you do.

(Ebony, grade 6, Missouri)

When I finally finished your book I understood the meaning of forgive and forget. Forgive means to apologize. Forget means to move on with your life. I used find it hard to forgive my dad, then forget what he has done (or is unable to do).

Forged by Fire taught me to release old pain because I will miss out on my dad's love. Gerald and I couldn't release old pain because we were hurt so badly in the past. At last we see there is a way to throw out our old pain and finally forgive and forget. I finally understand that love can do this.

--Taaja Draughn, Level 1 national winner from NC, grade 6

Dear Lisi Harrison,

When I was a little girl I would always dress up in my mothers high heel shoes, put on her dresses and do my make up just like her. Surprisingly when I was little I knew of Louis Vuitton and Chanel. I always dreamed of being a fashion icon working with the big companies and being thin like the models. When my friends came over for a play date, we would walk around in our hats, and heels and pretend like we were the richest princesses of all time. Our mothers would be our servants and our dogs were our chauffeurs. What my friends and I dreamed about, your character Massie has. . . .

Sometimes I wonder why Massie makes Clair feel so bad. I think Massie is very lucky. She is pretty, thin, and rich. But I can’t help but want to be Clair. She is smart and sweet. I would rather be smart and sweet than having people be scared of me the way they are of Massie. . . .

Rebecca, age13, Illinois

Dear Priscilla Cummings:

It has been three long years since I first opened Red Kayak, so I do not remember the exact details. But the piercing sorrow I felt while I read this book is still inscribed in my memory and will always be with me as I grow up. I was thirteen years old, the same age as Brady, Digger, and J.T. and knowing that we shared the same age intensified my emotions. Imagining my friends and me experiencing what happened to the main characters was something that I could not do because the outcome was just so sad.

When I was 13 and still young . . .I used to run away from problems or things that frightened me. I avoided places that gave me a shiver whenever I looked down. But it wasn’t just heights I avoided. I avoided anything that scared me . . .

After seeing Brady overcoming the fear and deciding to do what is ‘right,’ I became ashamed of myself . . .

—Koki, age 16, Georgia

This has been a great opportunity for my students. I didn’t realize, nor did they, how difficult it was to do reflective writing. We really worked hard not to just summarize the stories.

--Helen Harris, Farnsworth Elementary, West Valley City, UT

“This competition initially was going to be an alternative to the dreaded book report. Instead, it became a great chance for the children to experience, share, and look at literature in a different way. No wrong answers, only a chance to learn more about themselves. This type of reader response really forced the children to evaluate not only what they read, but how they respond or process what they have read.

It was quite difficult for some to put into words why or how they connected to the books they read. Others had to reevaluate the choices they made in the past or why theyhad not yet found a book, poem, or other form of literature that they could connect to.”

—Karen Stewart, Mercer Island, Washington

Content & Theme1-5 points

•Does the letter address the contest theme?•Are the supportive details relevant to the reader’s response to the book?

Writer’s Voice1-5 points

•Does the letter exhibit originality of expression?•Is word choice vivid and appropriate, intended to communicate rather than impress?

Exposition1-5 points

•Is the letter organized and coherent? •Is the writer’s prose grammatically correct?

And the award goes to . . .State level prizes• Varies by state. All states select first place winners on each competition

level. They receive a $50 Target GiftCard plus additional prizes as determined by the state center.

• Some states award 2nd and 3rd place prizes and/or honorable mention and/or semi-finalist recognition awards.

National level prizes• 6 national winners who receive a $500 Target GiftCard plus earn for their

school or community library a $10,000 LAL Reading Promotion Grant.• 12 national honors who receive a $100 Target GiftCard plus earn for their

school or community library a $1,p000 LAL Reading Promotion Grant.