Tag Archives: writing

We begin each week with a learning target that states “Students will engage in independent reading.” There are many intangible things that characterize “engage” ; writing takes the emotional and intellectual experiences and brings them into the community of readers that we are growing into as a class.

Writing about reading requires a specific mindset. We have to pay attention to what the writer is doing with the tools he or she has and we have to keep track of the effect that those choices have on us as readers, as human beings. These to facets are the core of your writing.

Reader’s Profile: This is something you’ve seen before. This is a broad view of reading in your life, but it is still focused on the details that make the reading experience you describe unique to your attitude and lifestyle.

DEADLINE: Post as sub-page (or parent-page if you were not a blogger last year), with 5 external hyperlinks (one of them to your Goodreads profile) by 11:59pm MONDAY, OCT 29th.

Independent Reading: Your Goodreads account is very much an extension of your reader’s profile. In fact, it is the proof of or the acting out of what you describe in your reader’s profile. As we approach the end of the quarter and an evaluation of your independent reading, remember who you are. Show that to the reading community by writing about those intangibles. More importantly, do so in an academic way that shows you are paying attention to yourself and the world around you.

FIRST: Start by posting a one paragraph summary of your reader’s profile to the “about me” section of your Goodreads profile.

SECOND: Let’s look at a great example of how to write about reading on Goodreads: Blindness. We will deconstruct this together and generate a list of ways to represent our reading experience.

THIRD: Write about your reading. Write a book review.

Blog Comments: In order to be fully integrated into the world of bloggers, it is essential to be both a writer (which you already are) and a reader. Because the nature of blogging is social, this is yet another way to think about writing about reading. We understand that bloggers put personal stories, values, intellect, and questions into their writing. The “commenting” practice asks readers to respond, personally (and academically) to their writing. It is a conversation.

FIRST: Read the How To… comment.

SECOND:  Look to your classmates blogs for their personal essays, and comment using the guidelines and your own personality to engage.