Critical Book Chatting

My older writers have recently finished up their fiction pieces. It has been a long (sometimes painful) process of developing a realistic character and building the events of the story around his or her struggles and motivations. Who knew fiction writing could be so involved?! We do now :)

One of my lovely ladies shared her story about an orphan who comes to America from Germany during the late 1800s (you go history-loving-lady). She poured her heart out reading this heart-breaking but redeeming tale of love, loss, and friendship. The rest of the kids appeared to be listening, but there was also fidgeting, wiggling, nose-picking, neighbor-poking, space-staring and other various behaviors. It never bothers me during a read-aloud, but I wanted full attention to be on our new brilliant author.

After an excited round of applause, the author asked if listeners had any questions. I was a bit nervous about the questions and was fearful to hear "What was the story about?" or "What was the main character's name?" You know...the classic "I definitely was not listening" questions.

Then I remembered that my kids are brilliant and considerate and critical thinkers. And that for some little buddies, the best listening happens when the body is moving. Constantly moving. Check out these questions. (with a couple of sample answers)

"What was your favorite part of the story?"
"Do you think this story is happy or sad?" (My English learning lady! Woo!)
"What did you learn during the fiction writing process?"
       I learned that fiction writing takes a long time. It is a long process to build up the characters and really make them come alive."
"In what time period does this take place?"
"If your book had a little blurb on the back with a summary, what would it say?"
"What was the hardest part to figure out while writing?"
      How the character's heart needs to really change and evolve throughout  in order for there to be a strong heart of the story in the end. 




Sometimes I wonder if it really pays off in the end to be reading aloud to my kids all the time. We are constantly talking about what the author wants us to uncover in his or her story. If someone ever asked me for tangible "work" of what takes place during book chats, I might have to say, "Um.. I am not sure." And I feel anxious about that at times. But holy smokes. Just listen to a conversation in which all of the kidlets are involved--contributing opinions and tidbits that correspond with their developmental capabilities. There's your proof.

Take that worksheets. Yet another point for us.