Wide Reading Responses

1. Wide Reading Responses A HOW to Guide

2. Response Paragraphs • The HIDDEN QUESTIONS • What is a specific thing that happened n my story OR Aspect of a character OR surprising moment OR thought provoking idea? • What is a quotation that shows this? • What did I think about at this point? Why? • What did I FEEL at this point? Why? • How can I connect this to my life, or the world?

3. Example from ‘The Sniper’ Was the ending from your story more effective/surprising/moving/funny etc that the one you read in class - WHY/Why Not? • One really powerful moment in The Sniper was the ending, when the main character discovered who the ‘enemy’ he’d killed was: ‘He turned over the body and look at his brother’s face.’ I was really surprised by this moment – I didn’t see it coming at all, and it really made me think about how civil war, could turn anyone against anyone. It was powerful and I felt shocked and saddened, as it would be such an horrific thing to have accidently done – to murder your own brother. It really made me think about just how divided Ireland must have been at the time, to cause such a split in the country, and how many tragedies like this must have happened because of this.

4. Example from ‘The Sniper’ Specific detail from the text • One really powerful moment in the sniper was the ending, when the main character discovered who the ‘enemy’ he’d killed was: ‘H turned over the body and look at his brother’s face.’ I was really surprised by this moment – I didn’t see it coming at all, and it really made me think about how civil war, could turn anyone against anyone. It was powerful and I felt shocked and saddened, as it would be such an horrific thing to have accidently done – to murder your own brother. It really made me think about just how divided Ireland must have been at the time, to cause such a split in the country, and how many tragedies like this must have happened because of this.

5. Example from ‘The Sniper’ • One really powerful moment in the sniper was the ending, when the main character discovered who the ‘enemy’ he’d killed was: ‘He turned over the body and look at his brother’s face.’ I was really surprised by this moment – I didn’t see it coming at all, and it really made me think about how civil war, could turn anyone against anyone. It was powerful and I felt shocked and saddened, as it would be such an horrific thing to have accidently done – to murder your own brother. It really made me think about just how divided Ireland must have been at the time, to cause such a split in the country, and how many tragedies like this must have happened because of this. Quotation to show this

6. Example from ‘The Sniper’ • One really powerful moment in the sniper was the ending, when the main character discovered who the ‘enemy’ he’d killed was: ‘H turned over the body and look at his brother’s face.’ I was really surprised by this moment – I didn’t see it coming at all, and it really made me think about how civil war, could turn anyone against anyone. It was powerful and I felt shocked and saddened, as it would be such an horrific thing to have accidently done – to murder your own brother. It really made me think about just how divided Ireland must have been at the time, to cause such a split in the country, and how many tragedies like this must have happened because of this. What you thought about this and WHY

7. Example from ‘The Sniper’ • One really powerful moment in the sniper was the ending, when the main character discovered who the ‘enemy’ he’d killed was: ‘H turned over the body and look at his brother’s face.’ I was really surprised by this moment – I didn’t see it coming at all, and it really made me think about how civil war, could turn anyone against anyone. It was powerful and I felt shocked and saddened, as it would be such an horrific thing to have accidently done – to murder your own brother. It really made me think about just how divided Ireland must have been at the time, to cause such a split in the country, and how many tragedies like this must have happened because of this. What you FELT about this and why

8. Example from ‘The Sniper’ • One really powerful moment in the sniper was the ending, when the main character discovered who the ‘enemy’ he’d killed was: ‘H turned over the body and look at his brother’s face.’ I was really surprised by this moment – I didn’t see it coming at all, and it really made me think about how civil war, could turn anyone against anyone. It was powerful and I felt shocked and saddened, as it would be such an horrific thing to have accidently done – to murder your own brother. It really made me think about just how divided Ireland must have been at the time, to cause such a split in the country, and how many tragedies like this must have happened because of this. A connection to real life – the rela situation at the time

9. Example from ‘The Sniper’ Specific detail from the text • One really powerful moment in the sniper was the ending, when the main character discovered who the ‘enemy’ he’d killed was: ‘H turned over the body and look at his brother’s face.’ I was really surprised by this moment – I didn’t see it coming at all, and it really made me think about how civil war, could turn anyone against anyone. It was powerful and I felt shocked and saddened, as it would be such an horrific thing to have accidently done – to murder your own brother. It really made me think about just how divided Ireland must have been at the time, to cause such a split in the country, and how many tragedies like this must have happened because of this. Quotation to show this What you thought about this and WHY What you FELT about this and why A connection to real life – the rela situation at the time

10. For OUR Comparison – Which character did you relate to most? • Hidden Questions • What is one aspect of the character’s personality I could connect with? • What quotation shows this aspect? • What did it make me think about the character? WHY? • What did this make me FEEL towards this character? WHY? • Who does this aspect remind you of from real life?

11. Example from Examination Day The main character, Dick, was curious, like many children. He was full of questions about the world, asking his dad things like, “What makes it green though - the grass.’ I thought this made him quite believable – it’s a natural thing for a kid of his age to do. Because of this, I felt quite sorry for him, as the answers he was getting were strange (his dad told him the sun was 5000 miles away!) Additionally, I’m one of those people who want to understand how everything works - I always used to pull my toys apart when I was a kid - I’m really curious - so I could relate to Dick when he wanted to understand things like how far away the sun is – so Dick kind of reminds me of myself.

12. Did your story do the best job of making you think about the world we live in? Why/Why not? • What is an aspect of the story that made me think about society or human behaviour, or the world in general? • What is a quotation that shows this? • What did I think about at this point? Why? • What did I feel at this point? Why? • How is this similar in someway to something in real life that does, or has happened?

13. Examination Day also made me think a lot about the world we live in and how governments can sometimes treat people so terribly. It’s really shocking to think a government could kill children who are too intelligent, like Dick, who the government say, ‘We regret to inform you that his intelligence quotient exceeded the government regulation...’ It got me thinking about what it must be like living in places with governments which completely control the lives of the people. It made me feel sick to think of being so powerless, that you’d have to send your own kids off to sit the examination – and could hear the awful news Dick’s parents did. You might think it sounds really unrealistic, until you think about societies like Nazi Germany, that committed genocide, and the whole country thought it was the right thing to do.