Explain the use of a dialectical journal. A dialectical journal is another way for students to interact with the text and will slow down your students reading, but increase understanding. Take a composition book and demonstrate how to complete an entry in the journal using either a sample text or short story that you want your students to look at.
Draw a line down the center of the paper. Label one side text and the other side either response or reaction. Read a passage with your students and identify a section of the passage that is important or stands out. Copy the selected portion word-for-word. Use quotation marks and note the page number next to the quote. Do this on the text side of the journal page.
Respond to your selection on the reaction side of your journal. Your response in this case should be something like,
What does this mean to you?
What do you think the outcome will be?
What do these events or actions make you think of?
What will happen next?
Complete a sample entry with your students. Ensure students get the idea of how to complete a dialectical journal by doing a few more entries and responding in the manner that you wish your students to respond.
Think out loud, so students can visualize your thinking process. This will help your students complete the dialectical journal entry and will teach inferencing if you guide your students' reaction type. For example, rather than your students responding in whatever way they choose, ask your students to respond by answering certain questions:
What does this mean?
What do you think the outcome will be based on the text?
Can you foresee a particular event occurring?
Address the skill that they are learning. Explain how inferencing is responding to the text in a particular way, such as the way demonstrated. Tell your students that the dialectical journal gives your students a visual record of their thinking.