Retell, Recall, Relate

I have noticed during conferencing that some of my students are still making jottings that simply list something that happened in the book. When I talk with them they have wonderful things to say about their book. They ask questions and share wonderings. They envision and show empathy for the character. They talk about feelings and connections to other books. Their jottings do not reflect their thoughts though.

This week I am going to do a jottings reteach minilesson. I am going to lace the words retell, recall, and relate into my read alouds. I think my students need a little reminder using some new vocabulary and a new anchor chart to set them straight. I hope this will help them make some thicker jottings for their book club discussions. If all goes well I will post photographic proof of thick jottings later this week!