[MOSAIC] appreciating reading/book talks

[Kukonis at aol.com]

Just a ghost from the past... but in reading all of your posts and trying  to 
implement the best of the best in my own practice I can't help but think that 
 responding to text has got to be more than a written response. ... 
especially in  primary. Turn and talk is good but it takes quite a bit of structure and 
 practice for kids to expand their thinking this way since often little ones 
only  concentrate on what they want to say and even though they give nod to 
the  speaker .... their thoughts are still mostly on their response. 
 
A better activity of turn and talk is in Debbie Miller's  "Ducks  at Night" 
activity for mental images.  This activity keeps  the  kids focused on their 
partner's response because they are looking for something  to add to their 
personal t-chart picture after the book talk is over. I think  the structure has to 
be built in to the activity for kids to really get the  subtle message: Your 
thinking expands, modifies or is confirmed when shared with  others. 
 
In the same respect, written response is not an authentic response to  
reading unless writing to the author or having an online book chat. Rather play  
acting, painting, building, singing, this is the medium that I want to grow the  
strategies in..... who has suggestions????