"A book, too, can be a star, 'explosive material, capable of stirring up fresh life endlessly,' a living fire to lighten the darkness, leading out into the expanding universe." - from Madeleine L'Engle's Newberry Medal Acceptance Speech

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Independent Reading and Blog Checklist


Name:____________________________  Class: ________ Independent Reading and Blog Review
I.                    Check your blog:
a.       For this marking period you should have (check off the ones you have done):
o Independent reading response due 10/10 _____
o RR on Hurricane Sandy nonfiction articles due 11/8 _____
o RR on independent reading due 11/15_____
o Social Awareness Writing Project posted by 11/29_____
o RR on critical thinking question for social action due 12/6_____
o RR on critical thinking question for social action due 12/13_____
o Next blog post: write creative reading response about independent reading book – choose your own focus – due Thur 1/10
o Write reading response about nonfiction articles due Thur 1/24

b.      Which is your best response? Why?

c.       Based on your responses, what are the main skills you need to work on in writing responses:
o Writing the introduction
o Having a thesis/focus
o Incorporating evidence
o Writing the conclusion
o Voice/tone – engaging the reader with personal, creative voice
o Other:

d.      Maintain your book list. Write down title and author of each book you finish reading.

II.                  Read and comment on other students’ blogs to get ideas on what to read and to engage in appropriate dialogue on reading. Specifically, read and comment on at least 2 different students’ blogs – due the Monday after a blog post is due. Write down in your notebook whose response you read and commented on and when.
Guidelines for writing comments:
a.       Be positive, specific, mature, and respectful.
b.      Think of reading blogs as a dialogue. Respond by writing: what does the blog post make you think, feel, know, and wonder? Your comment should be a short paragraph.
c.       Do not just write that you like it or you think it’s so good. Focus on one issue or detail in the post to respond to.  
d.      Include connections, book recommendations, questions, relevant sources or texts that relate to the topic, suggestions, etc.

III.                Get excited about reading! Think ahead to what you want to read next. Ways to GET DOWN with books:
a.       Get ideas from peers. When you read student blogs, get ideas for what to read and write down the title and author. Or just talk to your friends about books. Books are cool! They make you wiser! Don’t let anyone tell you differently.
b.      Browse in a public library or book store. Brooklyn has a myriad of really awesome independent bookstores. Support the small, local businesses. Otherwise, Barnes and Noble will do.
c.       Peruse book lists. Here are a few online ones:
o   http://www.readingrants.org/ (an awesome blog that highlights interesting books and has an amazing range of book lists)
o   http://www.ala.org/tools/libfactsheets/alalibraryfactsheet23#yateens (a well-maintained website by the American Library Association)

IV.                2013 Reading Challenge – read as much as you possibly can between now and 1/17 and log what you read each time (books of all genres); the student in each class with the greatest number of pages read wins a very special prize! Also work on building stamina; read for longer periods of time. Due 1/17
Date
Title and author
Which pages did you read? (Ex. pp. 7-58)
How long did you read for?
Total number of pages read:




































































































·         Continue on loose leaf if necessary.

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