So, this is where I live, Monday through Friday. I don't feel like it's quite as hectic as it looks on here, but perhaps working with freshmen means I'm just used to a little bit of chaos?
Today is a free-reading day, one of my favorite days of the week, and it's not just because the kids are quiet! I love matching kids up with a book and hearing their reactions. A few of my newest titles that seems to do well for both male and female readers are The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian and The Hunger Games--fantastic reads for anyone interested in YA lit.
I was trying to figure out if some sort of blog could be used for free-reading, perhaps as a way of keeping track of reads and reactions? Has anyone ever tried something like this? The largest obstacle I have with using technology is finding it. We have computer carts, but this doesn't guarantee that every kid will be able to get their hands on a computer by the next day. It's certainly something to ponder.
Access is (unbelievably to some of us in Maine) the number one issue or obstacle to technology integration. I would absolutely encourage blogging with independent reading. Both the entries and comments--the chance to respond, recommend, and cross-over--should be great! You might check out the NCTE site ReadWriteThink (http://www.readwritethink.org/) for lesson plans on blogging. I expect there will be some for independent reading or reading groups.
ReplyDeleteI had the same idea this weekend... to use blogging for book reviews. So far everything I have used our class blog for has been all about writing. I have a student who is gifted in reading. He LOVES to read and tell people all about the books he reads, but he hates writing about them. I think part of the reason for this is that there's really no one responding to his writing and, honestly, there's really no purpose for his writing accept for me to hold him accountable for the choice books he's reading throughout the year. Anyways... I was thinking it would be really cool if we had a section of our blog for book reviews. That way kids could write them and read them and comment after they have read books that someone else has read... etc. I think that would be really cool.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I'm reading The Hunger Games aloud to my eighth graders right now... they are LOVING it!