Story Impressions Writing before, during, and after reading proves to enrich a student’s comprehension of content in any given text. Documented research shows that reading and writing should become a joint process, actively engaging the students with the materials read. Students will retain more long-term knowledge and information when writing precedes and follows any reading activity. Writing also provides students with an opportunity to formulate and organize ideas prior to discussion. This, in turn, enables more students to become actively engaged in classroom discussion and activities relating to the text. Guidelines for Implementing Story Impressions
Choose 8-10 words in a text prior to reading.
List words on the board in order as they appear in the text.
In journals, ask students to use all the words in a short story in the order they appear on the board.
Ask students to share stories with the whole class. (volunteers)
Tell students to pay close attention to the similarities and differences with their stories in relation to the text provided.
Read text silently.
Ask students to “think silently” as they read, making comparisons with the reading and their stories.
Engage students in a whole class discussion identifying similarities and differences with student written stories.
Individually, ask students to write a new summary, using the same list of words, sequencing the events described in the text.
Ask for student volunteers to read the revised summaries aloud.
Adapted from the work of McGinley & Denner, 1987