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Leann Ringenberg

Foundations of Literacy

Dr. McCracken

24 April 2019

Story Boost Reflection

This semester I had the opportunity to take part in the Story Boost program testing reader

response theory. At the beginning of the semester, we learned about the story boost program and

reader response theory. I went in to read to my students every Friday morning at 8:20. Over these

past few months, I saw first-hand what it was like reading to kindergarteners. These students are

in the early stages of reading, and I found it interesting to see how different my students’

personalities and developmental levels were even though they are in the same grade.

The first student I read to every Friday was Kayden. He was a very small child, who was

relatively quiet. I could quickly tell that Kayden had an interest in reading and letters. Whenever

I would read, he would pick up the book and analyze it before he was ready to read the story. I

was intrigued at how detail-oriented he was. Whenever I read the story, he would point out little

details in the illustration that either lined up or did not line up with the story. I could tell the

pictures of the story were his favorite part. He liked to compare different pages of the story, so

many times I would stop reading so he could flip back a few pages and compare it to what was

happening currently in the story. While I would read to him, he would constantly point out the

expressions of the characters, the colors, and number of objects on a page. After reading the

book, I would have him show me his favorite part of the story and ask him questions. In the

beginning, he did not like answering questions and would shrug his shoulders. So, I asked him

just to show me his favorite characters and questions about himself to make him more
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comfortable. By the end, he would read along with stories he was familiar with, and he would

repeat the words I would say as I pointed them out in the story. He also loved to point out the

signs that they had made in class on the wall behind us and ask me to read what each student

wrote on their piece of art. I thought it was a fun way to familiarize him with even more words.

The other student I read to was Eli. He was much more energetic, which made his

responses to the story more entertaining. However, it was hard to get him to sit still. Many times

when we would read, he would jump up or slide across the floor after reading the story.

Although he was full of energy, I was able to use some of that energy and excitement to promote

his response to the book. In one story I read, he tried to see if he could be as imaginative as one

of the characters in the book. I would say he was. Furthermore, he would read some of the sight

words on his own and insist on reading the story to me sometimes. Every time I asked him to

show me his favorite part of the story he enthusiastically flipped to the page. He also loved to

share what he was reading with teachers that would pass by in the hallway. He would read a

sentence or two from the story. It was very exciting to see his development as he started to read

some of the pages on his own.

In regard to reader response, I was able to see both of these students’ different takes on a

story. The way they perceived what was happening in the illustrations was often different than

my view of the story. I loved seeing what each of their favorite parts were and how they

responded to any questions I asked. It was harder to get them to answer any of my other

questions, so I found during the stories was when I saw the most response from them. I would

often point at parts of the picture that foreshadowed what would happen and ask them what they

thought was going to happen next.

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I loved getting to read to these two students at Francis Slocum. This experience opened

my eyes to see the differences in each child’s developmental level and how they perceived the

stories. Some days they were more attentive than others and were opinionated about the books I

brought them. I learned to take time searching for books that I thought would be beneficial to

them as readers and looked for the stories they said they wanted me to read. Seeing their growth

throughout this semester was very exciting, and it was sad to say goodbye to them my last week

there.