Beyond the Book Response: Digital Writing and Reflection for Deeper Engagement

Even though book responses have, in recent years, begun to take on new forms such as blogs, podcasts, or short digital films, students can still suffer from shallow thinking about what they have read. To counteract this problem, this article proposes ways to teach “beyond the book response,” requiring students to push toward deeper analysis of characters, plot, and setting while documenting the process behind the digital products they create with the technology of screencasting. Using the MAPS heuristic “mode, media, audience, purpose, and situation” teachers can encourage metacognition and reflection, using digital writing tools for deeper engagement.