SSR Project
Emma Ahrendsen
Michael Vey: Storm of Lightening by Richard Paul Evans
Penny Royal Academy by M.A. Larson
Bad Girls Don't Die by Katie Alender
From Bad to Cursed by Katie Alender
Reading Reflection
I have noticed that I use the active reader sttrategies a little bit more. I mainly use visualizations and inferring. I also do a lot of schematic. I pick out the important parts but still keep the smaller parts in the back of my mind.
I need to work more on monitoring my comprehension though. I normally just read and don't pay attention to if I'm comprehending what I'm reading. I need to work on that because if I don't understand what I'm reading I need to stop and reread or something so I understand it better. I also need to work on synthesizing. I'm really not sure on what it is so I don't know if I do that or not.
I am pretty good at following the plot line and figuring out important people. I really don't notice myself doing that when I read, but I do it when I'm recalling what happened in my book. I like figuring out and filling out plot lines because then it reminds me of the good parts in my book.
Overall this year I have improved greatly in reading. I am actually not that bad at reading and this year I have gotten even better. I have learned the reader strategies and literary elements. I knew what they were before, but I never applied them to my reading. I have definetely became a better reading student this year.
Write to Learn
Dear President of the School Board,
I think more people need to read at home instead of playing video games or watching TV. It expands your vocabulary and lengthens your stamina. A few ways we could do that is by giving them rewards, having a contest or maybe even a party. We would do things that appeal to students; not something that high school students would think is stupid. I think one of the problems is that everyone thinks that reading is lame, and we need to get them to not think that anymore.
I like reading because it lets me use my imagination. I get lost in books really easily, so when I read it's easy for me to understand what is going on. I like reading better than watching TV because on TV I don't understand as well what is going on. If I have the actually words in front of me, I understand it better.
A way we could get more people to start reading at home is by offering a reward. If student finishes a certain number of books in the year then they get a pizza party or something. This number would vary for different age groups, of course. The number would also have to be high enough that they can't just read in class and get away with it.
Another way you could get people to read is giving them a free assignment pass, which can be used for any assignment, for every book they finish. The student would still have to take tests but not do as many assignments. I know some kids who would like that.
We could also have a contest to see who could read the most books. If you read the most books, you get some really good prize. I think that would get people interested. The school board and other businesses and boards in town could donate money or a prize to the competition. There should also be a requirement for the contest, like your grades have to be passing or if you have missing work then you can't win. Each school, elementary, middle school, and high school could all have their own competitions, or you could do it by grades. This would get a lot of people interested if we had good prizes.
A fun thing would be doing a school wide party for the kids that meet a requirement of how many books you need to read. Teachers could bring treats, and kids could do whatever they want the whole afternoon. The kids would have no homework to make up or anything. They would just have an afternoon of doing whatever they wanted in the school. They could watch movies, play games, take naps, or whatever you wanted to do. There would have to be teachers supervising though.
I agree with people that kids need to start reading more. Maybe, some of these methods would work, like getting to do something or not do something. A lot of people think that video games are bad for kids. I agree with that. Hopefully, you get some ideas from this!