Literacy Letters
Dear Literacy Buddy,
Being a Literature Partner requires the following:
· daily reading of a novel
· daily writing of a letter discussing it
A partner will read this “letter” which will include
· insights
· reflections
· questions
After careful thought and consideration, s/he will write back to you and discuss what you’ve written and then elaborate on ideas of his/her own.
Literacy Letters allow readers to have an active role in his/her responses to the book. Readers may address a variety of topics by choosing different story elements to discuss in different letters. Each letter MUST include a question, a connection, your opinion, and a prediction.
You may ponder, wonder, choose, and write about the following:
1. a character
· role or purpose
· personality or character traits
· physical traits
· actions
· motives for behavior
2. a problem or conflict
· man vs. himself: within the character-moral dilemmas
· man vs. man: with other characters-emotional/physical problems
· man vs. society: issues of conformity, prejudice, injustice…
· man vs. nature: against the elements of nature-drought, heat, cold, storms…
3. the setting
· location
· time period
· mood or atmosphere
4. the author’s message
· perspective-point of view
· theme: obvious or underlying meaning
5. Genre
· Comments on format or style
· Poetry, historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction, non-fiction…
Grab your book, read, relax, reflect, write, exchange. Read your partner’s lit. letter and respond.