“It Would Be Fun to Do Again”: Multigenre Responses to Literature

Abstract

Middle school students are often asked to reflect on what they read by writing in journals or writing analytic essays. Another approach is to compile multigenre papers. Seventh‐grade students each created a booklet containing 10 items in different genres, based on A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park. Students also wrote reflections explaining how they came up with their ideas and how they connected to the novel. The activity encouraged students to think deeply about the text. Writing diary entries, letters, obituaries, essays, extensions to the story, and personal narratives; constructing word games and tests; and designing catalogs and certificates provided ways for students to solidify their understanding of what they read and showed their ability to think critically and imaginatively about the novel.