Chapters nine and ten of Daniels
and Zemelman discuss the use of book clubs and inquiry units in the classroom. With
book clubs students are given a list of books to choose from that relate to
themes or ideas discussed in class. They are put in to groups of three to six
students based on which book they choose and divide the book in to sections.
Depending on what the teacher decides students meet in their groups a number of times
until they are done reading the book. During each meeting students discuss
their reactions and thoughts on what they have read. They should question each
other and their ideas. These questions should come from the students and not
the teacher. The teacher does not lead book clubs but is the facilitator.
While
reading about the structure of book clubs I had a number of questions and
concerns. The authors then addressed these questions and concerns later in the
chapter. My first concern was how to make sure that students are actually doing
the readings. It was explained that the teacher could go around to each group
to make sure that students have taken notes on their reading. These notes do
not need to be collected however, if there is concern that the students are
creating fake notes the teacher can let the students know that notes will be
collected at random. My other concern was how student learning could be
assessed or evaluated with book clubs. The authors explained that there does
not need to necessarily be a formal assessment for student learning for book
clubs. However, should the teacher feel that assessment is needed they could
give point values for student preparedness and note taking for each book club.
Students could also be required to write a final essay on their book. This
essay should not be a summarization of the book but ideas, themes, thoughts,
and questions that were brought up in their book club.
I’m
not quite sure how I feel about book clubs. I think that they sound like a good
idea in theory. However, I feel as thought it would be difficult to make sure
that students are actually doing the readings and participating in group
discussions. If they are not being formally assessed students might not have
the motivation to read the text. I do think book clubs would be worth trying in
the classroom. They would just require a lot of work and student practice.
In
chapter ten the idea of inquiry units is discussed. Inquiry units help students
explore bigger ideas and allow for cooperative learning and connections between
subjects. They give the example on page 222 of a project where students design
their own civilizations. This project allows students to learn and use skills
in geography, English, and art. With inquiry projects students work in groups
and share the ideas they have learned through presentations, activities, or
displays and learn from each other. These projects are assessed using a rubric.
Inquiry units help to engage students more deeply and help students to understand
specific topics more in depth. I think that this is an important tool in
teaching. It is always great to get students excited about learning, work in
groups, make connections, and practice public speaking.
While
learning about these two classroom tools I thought about previous readings in
this book. It sounds like these two ideas are what were discussed in previous
chapters with the Fast Food Nation project. Students read a specific book,
discussed it together, and worked on projects in groups in a number of
different subjects about this book. Overall I think these are useful classroom
strategies that help students learn to work together and make connections.
Here are some books that could be used for a history book club:
Jennifer I too was a bit concerned at the start the the book club chapter. When they explained how it could be assessed I felt a little better. When seeing it in practice in Mrs Davis English class at CF I see how it can work. When the studnets were doing the exercise on Frankenstein I was inpressed how how they were getting into the book. The teacher was walking around checking on the notes that were being taken and even on the sticky notes that the students had in the book. It can be hard to implement, but I think once you get a system going the assess issue will fall into place. It may take time it is always a changing process as each class will be different.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that you think formal assessments act as motivators. I have a few friends who don't respond to formal assessments well, but do better with informal check ins. I personally do fine on formal assessments, but just really hate doing them. Many times I procrastinate studying because I would rather learn the material through some sort of discuss. So why do you think formal assessments are motivating?
ReplyDeleteJennifer, I can definitely see why you're unsure about the book clubs. They are certainly a front loaded lesson plan where the teacher has to read the book, prepare the activities and objectives before having students read the book. But the reward of seeing it all pan out and being successful is what makes it all worth it! And plus, if you use the same books for your book club every year you'll have all the materials. In terms of assessing the students on actually writing in their journals you could walk around the room with the grade book and give grades right there for participation, who is taking notes, who is making post-its and who's contributing to the group. Once students understand each person in the group has a role in order to reach the end goal, students will become motivated, if you make them motivated with interesting reading material. Your final/formal assessment could even be a project so that if the group falls behind or one person doesn't read, the whole group suffers and it puts a damper on that final assignment.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments everyone!
ReplyDeleteKendra, I don't necessarily see formal assessments as motivators, I just think there does need to be some kind of grading done at some point during the book clubs whether it be formal or informal. I try to think about how high school students would react to these activities. I feel that if they are not being graded in some way they may not see any motivation or reason to do the readings. I honestly know that I wouldn't be all that motivated to do an activity if it wasn't being graded when I was in high school. Especially an activity that students have to put so much work in to. Students might ask "what's the point?" and not try as hard or not try at all if they are not being graded. I do like Amy's comment and ideas about grading and motivation with book clubs.
I agree that the effort that goes into a book club is a lot and the fact that there is no formal assessment is hard to swallow but that doesn't mean it wouldn't be great to incorporate at times. I understand your concern about students not reading the material. You do have to worry about students using cliff notes or spark notes to get all the valuable information in the book. Not sure how to fix that is students abuse those websites. Hmnnn
ReplyDelete