Middle school and students in junior high are often required to write reading response journals for the books they have read. Reading response journals are a lot like book reports, except they are often more specific and more detailed than just a basic plot summary. Often reading response journals are required as a summer reading assignment. These assignments are due the first week of school.
The Main Parts of a Reading Response Journal
A middle school reading response journal has several parts. First, there is a cover for the journal. These have to be original artwork. Students are not allowed to simply copy the illustration on the cover of the book. There is an essay that summarizes the book's highlights. This essay, for a middle school student, is expected to be three to five paragraphs long, or roughly a page long of hand-written material. Middle school teachers often ask for a plot diagram. A plot diagram resembles a bell curve. It shows the introduction, the rising action and climax, and finally the falling action and ending, which tells how the conflict was resolved.
The student may have to describe the setting, which tells the time in which the story is set and the place where it happens. He may have to describe the problems or issues the main character faces in the book, and tell how these problems changed the character by the end of the book. All English teachers seem to love vocabulary words, and with good reason. Students will need to have a large vocabulary in order to do well on the Critical Reading section of the SAT. Students usually have to give definitions for any new vocabulary words they ran across during their reading.
More Parts to a Middle School Reading Response Journal
A teacher may ask students to find an inspirational quote from the book. This does not have to be something a character said, but may also be a piece of prose the student liked or found interesting. Perhaps a teacher will ask for an illustration of what the student believes is the most important scene from the book. This can be as simple as a stick figure cartoon or be an elaborate project for the gifted art student.
Finally, a middle school teacher will probably ask the student for some reference or relevance to the student's own life. If there is none, then the teacher may ask for a connection to the book from a friend or relative's experience. In addition, no reading response journal is complete without the student's recommendation. Would she recommend the book to her friends? Of course, reasons must be given.
Sources:
Harmony Science Academy Waco.org, "Summer Reading List"
Education World.com, "Reading Response Journals"
Donna Pravel - Donna Earnest Pravel is the owner and senior editor of www.Heart of Texas Copywriting Solutions.com.
Join the Conversation