Reading Response Journal Freebie – Letters to the Author

Reading Response Journals are perfect for working on almost every reading and writing objective. One of my favorite ways for students to respond is by writing a letter to the author.

Because Reading Response Journals are such a versatile and fun way to practice many valuable skills, they truly are one of my top go-to strategies!

One way that I use the response journals to practice comprehension and higher-level thinking is to write letters to the author. Students can incorporate reading and thinking skills with writing for better learning!

There are so many ways to do it, but I like having my students write all the letters in one general area. This works especially well if you are reading a chapter book.

Here are some ideas for putting all the letters to the author in one general area:

• Designate a folder with brads, and have your students write the letters on notebook paper. Have your students decorate the front and label the folder as LETTERS TO THE AUTHOR.
• Have students bring in an extra composition book used only for the letters.
• Have a spiral notebook to use in the same way as above.

I have a free resource for you that includes writing topics. You should review the questions and decide which ones you will use with your specific genre.

Here are a few Letters to the Author – Reading Response Journal Topics for your students to use:

• The most memorable thing about your book…
• If I wrote the book, I would change…
• One part that was challenging for me was…
• I noticed that you built suspense by…
• Your book was a good fit for me because…
• The main character from your book reminded me of…
• An important question I have about the main character is…
• I believe I know why you chose the title of the book…
• What surprised me the most about the text was…
• I noticed that the setting of your book…
• While reading your text, I was feeling…
• While reading your text, I figured out that…
• The message of your text..
• Your book made me think…
• I noticed the features…

To read more and grab your Reading Response Journal FREEBIE – Letters to the Author, just click here.

Best wishes!

Jen Bradshaw from TeacherKarma