English with Mrs. Lamp

Dear English teachers,

Are you seeking an engaging way to foster meaningful discussions, improve writing fluency, and cultivate critical thinking around the beloved novel Tuesdays with Morrie, by Mitch Albom? These reading journal prompts are exactly what you need!

Designed to spark rich textual analysis and personal reflections, these guided journal questions offer a powerful blend of reader response prompts and comprehension checks. I LOVE seeing my students eagerly jotting down their thoughts, opinions, and insights in their journals as they delve deeper into Mitch Albom’s poignant narrative. We often have class discussions about what we’ve journaled about, too!

These journaling activities aren’t just a one-way street, and that’s another reason I LOVE them so much! Journal format invites you, the teacher, to provide feedback and commentary on the kids’ responses, fostering an engaging dialogue that reinforces key concepts and encourages active reading. My students love that I “write back” to them about what they’ve said!

Click Here to Purchase the FULL packet

Need a sneak peek? Here’s a sample of what’s inside:

Reading Assignment One: Pages 1-29

1. How does Mitch describe his lifestyle and work ethic?
2. How did the death of Mitch’s uncle impact the way he chose to live his life?
3. What kind of a person is Morrie?
4. In detail, describe Morrie’s attitude toward his illness and his impending death. How does he face death, and how does he feel about talking about it?

If you want to grab the whole resource (an editable Word doc), it contains:

✨ A 6-page printable packet or easy upload to your LMS

✨ 38 thought-provoking prompts chunked into 8 manageable reading assignments 

Make this year the best Tuesdays with Morrie unit you’ve ever done! Grab these powerful reading journals today and see how much your students love this activity!!

Want the whole Word doc?? Click Here to Purchase the FULL packet

Bonus: Want to get more out of your 11th and 12th graders? Here’s how I teach and assess their journals:

✨ Guidance on teaching effective paragraph responses with claims, evidence, and analysis

✨ A stellar student example to inspire your learners

Need help teaching students to answer their journal prompts effectively? I teach 11th and 12th grade, so I ask them to write full-paragraph responses with text evidence (paraphrased or cited).

Remind students to focus on clarity, organization, and CONTENT. Explain that the formula we use naturally as human beings is very simple: we typically state a claim (this is your thesis — it should be a clear and straightforward answer to the question you were asked); next, we offer details (this is where you include evidence from the text (you should use quotes where appropriate)); finally, we explain how that evidence proves our point (this is your analysis).

In order to earn an “A” on Tuesdays with Morrie Reading Assignments, students should follow this basic formula…

1. Claim
2. Evidence
3. Analysis

PS: You may also want to encourage your students to use parenthetical citations after a direct quote AND after paraphrased details from the text.

Here is an EXCELLENT student example: