Reading with Presence: Crafting Meaningful, Evidenced-Based Reading Responses

“I don’t know.”
Is there a more frustrating answer when we ask students what they think about the texts they’re reading? More often than not, they DO know; or at least, they have something to say but are afraid to say it.

Marilyn Pryle argues that we can help students find their voices and deeply understand texts when we invite them to write and share short reading responses. “If you’ve read something, you must have a thought,” she explains. “The idea behind reading responses is simple: Rea...