Wednesday, July 23, 2014

No More Book Reports - Encouraging Reading and Involving Parents/Guardians

Assigning book reports is a waste of time.  Half of the time students don't do the reading and no matter how much you work to teach or develop a lesson to help students write decent reports - the final product is either pretty lame or perhaps done by parents or guardians.

I had heard from our reading specialist that 15 minutes a night of reading could raise a child's reading ability by one grade level and I thought that rather than discouraging parents or guardians from becoming involved what if I made it part of the grade.  Not only that - throw in extra credit if they demonstrated, through some kind of recording, that some effort had gone into reading aloud. I developed the following reading record assignment sheet - due every two weeks.  These record sheets are easy to grade and you can even pull names or numbers out of a hat and have students (whose names or numbers are called) give impromptu book talks for extra credit. Here's the Reading Assignment Sheet -
Reading Record Assignment Sheet- 20 Minutes Every Night
                        Name:____________________
 Date/Class Period:_________________
Grade I think I should receive:_____ Points/Grade from Teacher:___/____
Studies have shown that reading something that interests or challenges you for 15 to 20 minutes every night can raise your reading comprehension by one grade level or more.  Your homework every night is to read material of your choice as long as it is not too easy. (Too easy would be something a grade level below this class.) You and your parent/guardian must agree that the reading material is appropriate. You can receive extra credit if you can document reading aloud to another person with dramatic flair. This might be done using your cell phone, computer camera or some other suitable device. Graphic novels are fine/Internet sites are fine– the purpose of this assignment is to encourage a habit of life-long reading. This assignment sheet is to be turned in every two weeks.  You will have read a total of 4 hours and 40 minutes.  Although it is best to spread your reading time out, you may divide up the time in a way that best matches your schedule.  Neatness counts – a sloppy or rushed job will be returned to you to be redone by the following day. No textbooks may be used for this assignment.
 This is worth 40 points Parent/Guardian Verification:                            Points Earned  _____
My child,__________________, (first and last name) has read 4 hours and 40 minutes, or 20 minutes every night for the past two weeks and I have reviewed his/her 10 sentences.  The sentences are facts or reactions to what my child has read. _______________________(parent/guardian signature) ________(date)
This is worth 10 points: Please write a correct bibliography for the main item you have been reading for the past two weeks.( 3 points off for each mistake)  Points Earned ______
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Examples:  Smith, George. Why I Like School. Manassas: Manassas Press, 2013. Print.
 Smith, Sam. “School Is A Good Place To Make Friends.” Washington Post 18 Oct. 2014: C1-2. Print.                                                    
This is worth 50 points: Please write 10 interesting facts or reactions to what you read. You may choose to write 5 very, very detailed facts or reactions to your reading. 
You may use the back of this paper.                                                                  Points Earned______

1._________________________________________________________________
2._________________________________________________________________
3._________________________________________________________________
4._________________________________________________________________
5._________________________________________________________________
6._________________________________________________________________
7._________________________________________________________________
8._________________________________________________________________
9._________________________________________________________________
10.________________________________________________________________                                                                                                                   

Here is the link for the Book Club Idea from Scholastic: http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/sites/default/files/posts/u159/images/book_clubs_using_common_core_standards.pdf

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