The Book Club Units that I work on with my students are based off of Literary Theory. My hopes are that students will grow as intellectual readers, writers, listeners, and speakers.
Initially,
students were given summaries of each book and time to look at each one. Once
students checked off their top choices, I considered students’ top choices,
their ability levels, and their behavioral levels to create groups of four,
five, or six that would best meet their needs. Once students were in their
groups, they decided together what pages they would read up to each week, as
well as who would be responsible for researching the specific article they were
assigned to do. Student choice is a key element to book club meetings.
Book Club lessons incorporate kinesthetic, auditory, and visual approaches, and students apply prior knowledge to newly learned knowledge. Directions are stated orally to the students, and placed visually in front of the students in the form of worksheets or on the Smart Board. Each “Reader Response” packet is created to prompt students through the specific lens that they should be reading through, and prepare them to have plenty to talk about once in book club groups.
Below is my Book Club Rationale
Book Club lessons incorporate kinesthetic, auditory, and visual approaches, and students apply prior knowledge to newly learned knowledge. Directions are stated orally to the students, and placed visually in front of the students in the form of worksheets or on the Smart Board. Each “Reader Response” packet is created to prompt students through the specific lens that they should be reading through, and prepare them to have plenty to talk about once in book club groups.
Below is my Book Club Rationale
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Below is a sample of the Reader Response packets that I have students complete in preparation for the book club talk. Depending on the "Lens" they are reading through, they are asked specific questions.
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Summative Assessment
The final book club meeting is geared towards the summative assessment which reflects their overall analysis of the text, as well as their curiousity that has awakened through reading the text. The students are asked to choose one controversial question from the collection of questions that they have created throughout their reading. Once they choose their topic question, students must follow the given procedure in order to complete the Synthesis essay task - (Task 2 on the new common core regents exam).
Procedure: Each group must choose a controversial topic question that has arisen from their text. Students will then research four or five articles (one may be a graph/chart) that cover both sides of the argument. Each group will type up the Synthesis Essay Task Cover Sheet, insert their topic question and attach their four/five articles to it. Once all groups have created their Synthesis Writing Assignment (Writing from Sources), they will end up getting a different group's assignment. Students will then write a synthesis essay based on the topic question and articles given by their classmates.
This assignment allows students to take their thinking about a text to a deeper level, practice reputable research skills, and practice writing from sources. Additionally, by re-writing the actual Synthesis Essay Task that they will notice on their Regents Exam this coming June, the students will gain confidence, knowing that not only have they practiced writing argumentative essays through sources, but they have created the assignment for others as well!
Below are the novels the students read in Book Club groups. The Synthesis Writing Task Cover sheets that were attached to their four/five articles are displayed below as well. Students created these higher-level questions after having read and discussed the main conflicts, setting, characters, and themes from their book club novel.
Procedure: Each group must choose a controversial topic question that has arisen from their text. Students will then research four or five articles (one may be a graph/chart) that cover both sides of the argument. Each group will type up the Synthesis Essay Task Cover Sheet, insert their topic question and attach their four/five articles to it. Once all groups have created their Synthesis Writing Assignment (Writing from Sources), they will end up getting a different group's assignment. Students will then write a synthesis essay based on the topic question and articles given by their classmates.
This assignment allows students to take their thinking about a text to a deeper level, practice reputable research skills, and practice writing from sources. Additionally, by re-writing the actual Synthesis Essay Task that they will notice on their Regents Exam this coming June, the students will gain confidence, knowing that not only have they practiced writing argumentative essays through sources, but they have created the assignment for others as well!
Below are the novels the students read in Book Club groups. The Synthesis Writing Task Cover sheets that were attached to their four/five articles are displayed below as well. Students created these higher-level questions after having read and discussed the main conflicts, setting, characters, and themes from their book club novel.
Student Generated Questions Related to Each Text
Each question has been generated from a different group of students who have read this book. Along with the question, students have researched articles that support both sides of their controversial topic question. Their cover sheet will be displayed below all of the groups' questions.
A Long Way Gone:
Red Scarf Girl
A Thousand Splendid Suns
Almost A Woman
In the Time of the Butterflies
- Should children be used as soldiers?
- Is the use of child soldiers ever appropriate?
- Should child soldiers be punished for the atrocities they commit in war?
- Is war really necessary?
Red Scarf Girl
- Is communism the right form of government?
- Do all revolutions meet the outcomes/goals that they initially intended to accomplish?
A Thousand Splendid Suns
- Is gender equality a priority in today's society?
- Should women have equal rights and opportunities to men in today's society?
- Arranged marriages are part of cultures across the world, but should women have a say in whom they marry?
Almost A Woman
- Does government welfare have positive or negative effects?
- Should sexual harassment be more readily punishable by law?
In the Time of the Butterflies
- Should the reign of Trujillo be taught in the classroom because of his harsh rule?
Student Generated Questions and Research Articles: Writing From Sources Synthesis Essay
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