Response Strategies

Why Respond to Literature?

Responding to literature includes the various ways the reader reacts to something that has been read. Students can respond to what they have read through discussion, written expression, arts and crafts, drama, and the use of multimedia. By giving students opportunities to respond to literature in these varied ways, teachers are helping students deepen the meaning-making process by constructing a more personal meaning. As students respond, they make connections between what they have read and their own life experiences. They can begin to understand how reading a text affects and changes their lives. Reader-response activities help students reflect on and express their thinking about what they read.

The purposes for reading, as well as the social and cultural context in which the reading occurs, can affect a reader's response. For example, readers can respond to text on a personal level, critique text, and analyze it. These three levels of response can all take place through discussion, writing, arts and crafts, drama, and the use of multimedia.

Want to find out more about diverse classroom strategies for helping students to respond to literature? Select from the navigation menu to the left or from the links below:

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