The Write to Read: Response Journals That Increase Comprehension

Use reader response strategies to help students build understanding of complex literary and informational text, and provide supporting evidence in their writing—all goals of the Common Core.

Developed for Grades 5-12, this guide focuses on building reading comprehension skills through journal writing and provides a yearlong, scaffolded curriculum with classroom-ready writing exercises.

Lesley Roessing has spent twenty years teaching eighth-grade language arts and humanities in suburban Philadelphia. Prior to discovering her interest in teaching middle school students, she taught high school English. Over the past six years, she published articles in NCTE's English Journal and Voices from the Middle; The Quarterly, a NWP publication; and NMSA's Middle School Journal and Middle Ground. In addition, Roessing has presented her articles and ideas widely in a variety of formats, from lecturing at annual conferences of teachers' associations to teaching workshops for local organizations and schools. In 2002, Roessing became a writing teacher-consultant and in 2004 a literature teacher-consultant for the Pennsylvania Writing & Literature Project, where she began her metamorphosis from a literature teacher into a reading teacher who opens adolescents' eyes to the wonder of literature and from a composition teacher to a writer who shares the gift of writing with her students, both for its own value and to enhance their reading experiences.