Even though I haven't been constantly writing on my blog, my brain has been reeling researching best practices. One of my favorite ideas came from my friend, Teacherscribe, a blogger I've been following for years. And, he just happens to be a childhood school friend.
The basic idea of the Sticky Note book report is for kids to write on sticky notes and tag it in their books as they read giving us, the teacher, an insight into what they are thinking as they read. Most importantly, it forces kids to slow down and think about what they are reading and interact with the book.
The Sticky Note Book Report has pretty much rocked Red Lake County Central's junior high. Kids love sticky notes. They love, love sticky notes.
After the first project, another teacher member of my team commented that book reports need to be fresh. So, she was trying to decide what to do for her next report. I had an idea... TA DA!
I gave my kids the choice of four books.
The Giver by Lois Lowery
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
and
Roll of Thunder Hear Me Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
In the end, only three books left the room for Christmas vacation. I had two kids reading The Giver, five girls reading One Crazy Summer, and four kids reading Hatchet. Of course, there were kids who took books and didn't finish the assignment.
Awkward....
Those kids didn't have anything talk about. They were left out.
But.... those students who read their books. ..... Those students had lots to talk about. Each kid took a sticky note and talked about it with their group. This gave the kids something to talk about. I had a room full of twelve and thirteen year old students talking about the characters they admired. They were really, really talking about their books.
Just like a book club. The only thing missing was hot coco and biscotti....
Maybe next time.
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