Poetry and stories for primary and lower secondary schools 5

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Pupils’ comments when reading

(Based on Michael Rosen’s ‘matrix’ of the types of comments which children make about texts (2017), from which the wording of the descriptions is mostly borrowed. See http://michaelrosenblog.blogspot.co.uk)

While reading, children will make comments spontaneously, or within a range of organised contexts – free discussion, free or journal writing, structured talk in pairs, small groups or as a class, talk or writing in role, drama and so on.

However, often comments are in response to questions, sometimes posed by a teacher or other adult but sometimes posed by other pupils. Below are some typical trigger question stems. Of course, it is often the subsequent follow-up questions (‘WHY?’) which prompt the deepest and most interesting thinking.

Experiential Where we relate what is in the text with something that has happened to me or to someone I know. Has anyone ever…?	Is there anything you’ve just read which reminds you of something that has happened to you, or someone you know? Why? How? Have you ever…? Does that remind you of a time when you…? Does anyone you know…? Have you ever seen…? Has anything like that ever happened…? When are you most like…? When do you feel like…? Which character are you most…? Do you recognise…?
Intertextual Where we relate what is in the text to another text.	Is there anything you’ve just read which reminds you of something you’ve read/seen on TV or online or at the cinema/a song/a play/a show..? Why? How? Where else have you seen…? Have you read any other…? Does this remind you of any…? Is this like a…? Is this typical of…? How is this different from…?
Intratextual Might that bit…? Where we relate one part of the text to another part.	But how do we know that…? Does that remind you of any…? Are there any other examples of…? Is there a pattern…? Does that echo any…? How is this different from…? What’s changed in…? Were there any clues to…?
Interrogative Where we ask questions of the text and voice puzzles and are tentative about something.	Is there anything here we don’t understand or are puzzled by? Any questions about…? What would you ask the…? What don’t we know about…? What do we need to know, in order to…? Is anything missing from? Is there something that we haven’t…?
Semantic I wonder what…? Where we make comments about what something in the text means.	What might that mean? What do you think the writer is saying, when they…? Does this tell us anything about…? What does that imply/suggest/indicate about…? Is it clear what…? Can we be sure what…? Where does the text say..?
Structural Where we indicate we are making a comment about how a part or whole of the piece has been put together, 'constructed'.	How does the start/middle/ending…? Is there a pattern in…? Is there a shape to…? What do we… first? Next, how do we…? Does that remind you of any…? Does this echo any…? What changes, as…? How has the writer built…? Is there a repeated…?
Speculative What might…? Where we make speculations about what might happen, what could have happened.	What could…? Might…? What might… if...? What do you guess could…? What could have led to…? What might have…? Any theories about…? Why do you suppose…?
Reflective Where we make interpretative statements often headed by 'I think...’	What’s your impression of…? What, to you, is… like? What do you think happened when…? Why do you think…? What will…? How do you suppose…? Do you think…?
Narratological Where we make comments about how the story has been told, e.g. about narrators, methods of unfolding a story, what is held back, what is revealed. ('Narratology'). It may include an awareness of how stories have episodes, and sudden 'turns' or 'red herrings', flashbacks, flash forwards etc.	What has the writer done to…? Do you think we are meant to notice…? What isn’t the writer…? Who is telling…? Whose view is…? How have we been…? How has the writer built…? What happened to the story there?
Evaluative Where we make value judgements about aspects of a text of the whole. These can be comments about significance, ‘what the author is getting at...’, or ‘why someone in the text said ‘x’’.	What do you think the writer is getting at…? Why do you think the characters said…? When does the writer show most clearly…? What, overall, is the effect of…? What is your favourite…? What is the most effective…? How well does…? What is the most…? Is there anything you didn’t think…?
Ah! Eureka moment Where we announce that we have suddenly 'got it'.	Anyone got a new idea about…? Any comments on what just…? Any breakthroughs?
Effects Where we sense that an 'effect' has been created in us (or in others we have observed) because of the way something has been written.	How did you feel when…? How might that make…? What feeling does…? What’s the effect of…? Which bit make you feel…? Which part might create…? Can you describe how you felt when…? What’s your own reaction to…?
Storying This is where we make a comment which is in essence another story, triggered by something in the text being read.	What do people usually do when…? Do you know any…? Anyone had their own…? When have you…? Does that remind you of any…? Has anyone had a…? Anyone know a story about a…?
Descriptive Where we recount aspects of the text. This may well be more significant than it first appears because we can ask why details were. Which part do you…?	What do you remember about…? What sticks most in your mind about…? What moment do you remember most from…? Can you remind us…? How would you sum up…? What happened when…? How did we get to…? What happened to make…?
Grammatical Where we draw attention to the structure of sentences - syntax, or how individual words are used grammatically.	I wonder what makes that sentence…? What do you notice about…? In that sentence, how has the writer…? Where has the writer…? Which sentences are most…? Which word makes the…?
Prosodic Where we draw attention to the sound of parts of the whole of a piece – the 'music' of it. Let’s try…	Let’s listen to how… If you say that aloud, how…? Where does it sound most…? Listen to that but. How…? How do the sounds of…? Is there anything about how the words sound that…?
Effect of interactions Can we work out…? Where we draw attention to how people interact with or treat one another, how they 'relate' and what is the outcome of how they relate – often more valuable than simply trying to describe ‘character’.	How does … treat…? Why do you think she…? How did … talk to…? What do they seem to think about each other? Which characters seem to…? Can we work out how … feels about…? Why do you think … tells …? How do … and … feel when…? What do you notice about … and… ?
Imaginative Where we move to another artistic medium in order to interpret what we have been reading or viewing.	How could we show this by…? What would that look like if…? What would … say if…? How might … describe…? Can you imagine what…? What would an actor playing…?
Emotional flow These are comments which show how feelings towards the protagonists change. Any thoughts about…?	How have your feelings about … changed? How did you used to feel about…? Does … still make you think…? Is that the same as when…? What’s different now about…? Any thoughts about how … is different…? How do you feel now about…? When did you feel most … about…? At what point did you start to feel…?
'Author intention' This might come partly under the category of 'speculative' – what the author could have written. Or it might be part of 'effect – how the author has created an effect (possibly intentionally.) What do you suspect…?	What do you think is likely to…? How do you think we are meant to…? Do you think the writer has a plan for…? How might we be supposed to react when…? What do you think the writer wants us to…? What do you suspect the writer is doing when…? What might that word be meant to…?
Contextual Every piece of literature comes from a time and place. The person reading or spectating will not be in exactly the same time and place. Many responses and critical ideas and thoughts go on because of this 'gap'. Pupils may well know or speculate about the gap, or the context ('They didn't used to do that sort of thing in those days') and of course, may ask questions and/or we offer them information or they are encouraged to research the context(s).	How do you think we might read this differently from…? When this was written, what/how/who might…? What can we guess about where/when this is taking place? What do we need to know about … in order to understand…? Is there anything we know now which…? Why do you think they felt/thought/ believed…?
Representational or symbolic Where we make comments about what we think something 'represents'. This might be about 'character' where we say that a person 'represents' the class or type he or she comes from...'typical x kind of person'. It might be about parts of the landscape or the nature of the landscape - as it represents a particular kind of challenge to the protagonist. It could be a feature in the landscape/cityscape i.e. a particular kind of tree or building. It could be a single object that represents something more than itself – a torn piece of paper. And so on.	How do you think that might be important? What kind of… is…? Are they typical of any…? Could it stand for a…? What does that mean for…? Does that make us think of any…? Does anything symbolise…? Might it represent something else? What represents…? Could it be symbolic of something else?