Lesson planning and Atwell chapter 8

So far planning the ten day unit has been very time consuming and stressful. I feel like it is hard to find a medium between trying to plan for interesting, fun activities and also making sure that the students are learning the material as well. I am a little nervous doing my unit so early.

Having students talk or write to each other on the books they are reading, recommendations and journal entries is a good way to get them interested in trying new things. When Atwell says "The ways my students write to each other are different from the ways tey write to me -not better, not worse, but different in the same ways their conversations differ from talk with a teacher," it seems to me that students should write this way. But do they all talk to each other in this way? In my experience so far at the high school, I would say that some of the students talk and elaborate more with their friends, and some are the complete opposite. Some of the students don't want their friends to know what they are writing about or reading. One student is reading the Canterbury Tales for fun, and he said he gets embarassed when his friends say things to him. I am not going to lie, The Canterbury Tales is not a fun, or interesting read, in my opinion, but I think it is great that this student reads stories like this. He talks to teachers about the book, and many of them have not read it.

On page 283, Atwell says "There isn't one set of questions for a teacher to ask students in their reading journals." I agree with this. Everyone interprets literature differently, but what do you do if a student just doesn't get it, or is completely wrong? http://www.suite101.com/content/improving-reading-comprehension-a60513
I think this is good information. I think building comprehension skills is really important, so that students don't get left behind during instruction. Supporting their answers with parts of the text really seems to help me. Once you come up with your answer, trying to support it will clarify whether or not your answer is correct.