Talking through Reading and Writing

Thank you for enriching my curriculum and reopening my eyes to the importance and power of journaling with students. Digital journals open up an entirely new avenue of literacy- 21st Century communication practices. The RCJ opens up a space to teach many literacy skills and to discuss other topics of interest in your students’ lives.

The Reading Conversation Journal, as laid out in this book, allows teachers to connect with students 1:1 in the areas of social-emotional learning, accountability for independent reading, and the art of thinking deeply and writing about reading. The RCJs grow readers for a lifetime.

-- Alison Anderson, middle Scshool reading and literacy specialist, Oswego Middle School

The rich online conversations between this teacher and his eighth graders are authentic examples of literary talk. I want to join them, as I would in a book club meeting! The authors’ reflections highlight the metacognitive aspects of both student reading and teacher decision-making. Teachers at all levels could share examples from this book with their students as they establish their own system of journaling about books and the reading process. Using this model could lead students to hone their ability to verbalize responses to literature with confidence; and to be aware of their questions, needs, and literary loves.

-- Sharon Kane, professor of literacy; former middle school reading teacher, State University of New York, Oswego

In this book you reveal with examples and insight the teacher decision-making process that contributes to the success of the reading conversation journals. You convey that the teacher is as engaged in exploration as much as the student, and what unfolds is a co-creation that is learning for both. It may be time consuming, but it is interesting to teach in this way—really forging meaningful connections with students around life and literature (broadly conceived).

-- Barbara Beyerbach, professor, department of curriculum & instruction; former classroom teacher, State University of New York, Oswego

While visiting Dan Rose's classroom, I was impressed with the strategies he uses to create a vibrant reading culture; they are clearly having a profound effect. Students’ reading journals afford them a dedicated space to reflect upon and record their reading journey. Dan’s regular comments and suggestions in journals, as well as introducing lessons with ‘Book Talks’, has cultivated an environment where spirited conversations about reading are firmly embedded in classroom life.

-- Laura Barbour, teacher of English, Dunfermline High School, Walter Hines Page Scholar, Fife, Scotland