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Edutopia
Using Students’ Emotional Responses to Texts to Boost Literacy
Naming the emotions that a text evokes can make reading more personal for students and deepen their learning.
By Stefani Boutelier
March 11, 2020
A text of any genre has the potential to pull at your heart, fill you
with laughter, or ignite your anger. If you find your interest piqued
when you’re reading, the author has succeeded. Effective literature and
expository texts often inspire empathy and utilize pathos to inform,
persuade, or entertain the reader, and these texts should be used in
literacy-based lessons in our classrooms to kick-start critical
conversations and learning, and to build deeper mastery of literacy
standards as students find stronger personal connections to what they
read.
EMOTIONAL RESPONSE TO TEXT
An approach I’ve developed called emotional response to text (ERT)
helps readers of all ages and levels identify the feelings summoned by
reading or listening to a text. I designed ERT to build on various
literacy theories—e.g., reader-response theory; windows, mirrors, and
sliding doors; narrative empathy—and a praxis that moves theory to
practice.
To introduce ERT to your class, draw a stick figure. Ask students to
add words that represent sentiments near the body part that might
create a more physical reaction to this emotional response. Here are
some examples students might suggest as the class explores this
approach.
Brain: confusion, light-bulb idea, interest
Eyes: tears for happiness or sadness
Cheeks: embarrassment, anger
Heart: excitement, love, sorrow, anxiety, yearning
Armpits/Palms: sweat for nervousness
Arms/Legs: goosebumps for fear
Stomach: tension, nausea, hunger
Students may provide their own words to fill these in, but the goal is
connecting to texts’ emotions and becoming aware of physical and
psychological reactions. Analyzing emotional responses to texts also
bridges social and emotional learning with academic content by making
the content more personal—creating a stronger personal connection to
increase students’ grasp of the information.
THE MANY APPLICATIONS OF ERT
After introducing the concept, we can use ERT to support other literacy
concepts such as using quotations to support comprehension and
identifying ways in which figurative language heightens readers’
emotions.
To incorporate ERT in a standards-based literacy lesson, pick a
powerful text. I include some suggestions below. Provide students with
something similar to the image above, or have them draw a stick figure
on paper. After reading or listening to the text, students fill in the
emotions they experience. This can be done as a whole-class discussion,
with partners, or individually. When students fill in the emotions they
are feeling, they not only create a tool to demonstrate their
understanding—they also create fodder for further discussion of the
text with peers or in subsequent assignments.
You might try it yourself first and write down the emotions you
experience as you read the chosen text and provide that as a model for
your students.
Here are examples of texts with powerful plots to guarantee a successful ERT the first time you try this with students.
Lower Elementary:
Maddi’s Fridge by Lois Brandt and illustrated by Vin Vogel
Separate Is Never Equal by Duncan Tonatiuh
Upper Elementary/Middle Grades:
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
Mustaches for Maddie by Chad Morris and Shelly Brown
Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman
Secondary/Young Adult:
“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson
Night by Elie Wiesel
I Am Alfonso Jones by Tony Medina and illustrated by Stacey Robinson and John Jennings
#OwnVoices (stories about characters from under-represented groups, written by people with similar experiences):
El Deafo by Cece Bell
George by Alex Gino
American Street by Ibi Zoboi
Internment by Samira Ahmed
Nonfiction/Other: Interviews, first-person point of view, primary resources, audio recordings, pictures
EXPANDING ON ERT
ERT helps students make emotional connections to other literacy
exercises, as well. You can modify the strategy for your particular
groups of students by designing experiences that support their needs.
For lower elementary students, you can scaffold the use of ERT by
starting with only an image of a head. You can provide your students
with vocabulary lists, which exposes them to new words and supports
correct spelling. You can also use technology (such as a drawing app)
or provide an illustration of a body along with a list of words or
images to move to corresponding locations.
To modify this lesson for secondary students, you might require
students to include direct quotes or citations to represent emotions.
You might also require sophisticated vocabulary (such as disheartened
rather than sad). Robert Plutchik’s Wheel of Emotions might be helpful
for this activity. Lastly, secondary students might compare texts to
elicit contrasting emotional responses.
The more we acknowledge the emotions texts inspire, the more a text
becomes personal—and the easier it is to write and talk about.
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