Written by: Tabitha Peoples
The new year can be a great time for new beginnings. Many people desire to make changes that they strive to commit to throughout the upcoming year. Some may start developing habits such as reading new books, for example. Along with this, many people keep a diary or journal to take notes of their ideas and track progress. Children can also reflect through writing, especially after they have been read to or read for themselves. They can develop an understanding of what they read by showing what they know in unique ways.
Some of these helpful ways I have found include:
- Writing a Letter
- Completing a Short Response
- Taking Notes
- Making a List
- Drawing a Sketch
- Writing a Summary
- Creating a Poem
For young learners, many are still grasping the basics of how to read and write. Demonstrating understanding can be made simple. Having children make drawings or write a list of letters, words, or phrases that stand out to them after reading can assist in their understanding. Oftentimes, a short written response can answer targeted questions about a story. Creating notes is also helpful as children can reflect on the highlights of a story that they could easily refer back to at a later time. Gathering the main ideas and key details can be summarized in a few brief sentences as well.
Some of my personal favorite ways for children to reflect are by having them write a letter to someone or create a poem. Children could write a letter to others after reading a story by summarizing and also sharing encouragement for others to read the story for themselves. One type of poem that children could make is an acrostic poem. One way to do this could be by taking the name of a character in the book where each letter in the name would serve as the beginning of each new line of the poem. They could do this with where the story took place or with major events in the story as well.
For children to reflect on what they read can be creative, fun, and an activity that does not have to always be done the same way! Writing about reading can become something special for children to look forward to.
Written by: Tabitha Peoples
