Using Partner Response Journals

Hey there!  Just wanted to share a little information about a fun and practical lesson I did this past week with one of my favorite texts!  I love using picture books to do “double duty”–to teach reading strategies and skills AND social studies or science content.
For this lesson, I talk to my students about how writing is communicating–so we use our reading journals to practice our WRITTEN communication with each other!  Here’s how I did it…I read the book in small sections and asked students to record their own thinking–their questions, wonderings, and “noticings” on the left side of a T-chart.  I gave them time after every few pages to jot their ideas on their side of the chart.
Like this!
After a few minutes of writing, I have them exchange notebooks with a partner where they then record their responses…if the first partner writes a comment, the partner can then respond–agree, disagree, ask more questions, and so on.  We practice these skills with our oral language, and we are now moving them to our written work.

After a few minutes, we exchange notebooks back and the students have a quick discussion with each other.  After that, I record some of their ideas on an anchor chart.

We continue this process through the book…read, respond, exchange notebooks, and then share out.
Interested in a resource to use with this book?  Here you go!

Meg