Are book reports the best way to make sure kid's read? What would be better?

Answer 1

fun projects could have the same effect. You could assign the students to do illustrations for the book, or have them write a song or poem about what the theme of the book was. If you want to keep it traditional though, you could have them write an alternate ending for the story.

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Answer 2

The best reading experience I had in high school was with a student teacher who had just finished an essay or something on the "Great Gatsby". He would assign a couple of chapters per night and we would have an in depth discussion breaking down each part, sometimes paragraph by paragraph. Of course this requires A LOT of preparation from the teacher and is a rather slow reading process, but is an amazing way to peel off the many layers in a book.

If you are a parent, I think it would be great to be able to do like the guy in "Zen and the Art of.." and read a book with your kid discussing each part as you go. Mine is 5, so I'll have to wait some..

Answer 3

I am forty something and STILL remember book reports as tedious and boring. I agree that allowing children to choose what they read and write about is much more productive. Even if you stipulate that each must be a different area of interest. I don't think you're ever going to get a 12 year old to be interested in Shakespeare. At 12 you are or aren't. At 6 you don't understand the concept of broadening the mind, but you do understand what you like and dislike. I love reading. Always have since I can remember. Loved books, stories, book stores. I have 2 daughters that I read to daily. My oldest is to this day a lover of books. Was interested it seems like, since birth. She's got a degree in English, works for a publishing company. My youngest daughter couldn't be bothered. She's intelligent, good student, in college, can read write and has a fantastic vocabulary, however her favorite book to read is Guinness Book of World Records. It has been for about 10 years now. She has no desire what so ever to randomly pick up a book, read it, and consider it entertaining. They're just different. As are all children and we should recognize and teach accordingly. I think a love of learning and the ability to read is more important to instill than trying to force a love of reading. That's what I learned from my daughters, anyway.

Answer 4

i think to make kids learn to appreciate reading book reports are not so good. i, a junior in high school, can tell you that school has absolutely ruined reading for me; i always relate it to unenjoyable homework. and with the attactched book report, it just adds on to kids' negative feelings toward reading and the added stress which ends up putting reading in general a poor light.

i dont know what would be a good way to ensure that kids read, though. the book reports give a good chance of it but make the experience a bad one and do not gaurantee reading in the future. however, a good amount of high-schoolers just read summaries and analyses on sparknotes nowadays.

kids need to read books that they can relate to and enjoy and then they an be eased into reading more difficult literature. mostly i think the task is on the parents, to pick out the best works for the specific child.

one more thing:
high school english class introduced to me class discussions about books and in-depth analyzations. in the past 3 years, ive only had 2 quizzes on books; my teachers are against it. now im getting better about reading because of the strive to find things to talk about and analyze. if this classroom method were to be introduced earlier, i think it would yield very positive results.

Answer 5

No....try getting some books that interest them and then sit with them and read together or let them read it first, then you, then you can talk about the book together. Don't ever force a child to read, make it enjoyable. Book reports are for school grades only, and possibly to help the child learn how to write and spell.

Answer 6

while book reports can prove the reading, the thing that will actually get children (and adults) to read is to pcik their own books. if they can't find ones they like suggestions are nice, until they do find one. then they can countinue with that author, genre, or main subject when exploring new books.
its also good to help them if they don't understand something in a book, instead of letting them just find a new one. I'd say its good to ask them why they don't want the book any longer if they change their mind

my philosophy, there are books out there for everyone, you just need to know where to find them.

also- a story my english teach told me. he first read 'catcher in the rye' because he thought it was about baseball. his teacher couldn't let him switch books and he had to finish it. besides the fact that the book lacked all things base ball, it was hard fro him to understand. he sat with his teacher a couple days a week to discuss what he read and go over anything he didn't get. it tunred out with the extra pushing and assistance in understanding he liked the novel.

Answer 7

Make reading into a special occasion. both of you go and pick out the book if this is a one on one thing and then you both pick a time when you'd read together. you can take turns reading the book together or let the child act out the part of the character they read about. Find out what your child's interest are and get books according to that.

Answer 8

It would be infinitely better if you let the kid pick something that interests him or her and let them read the book. If this is for school, then letting them do a project to highlight what makes the book interesting to them might keep it from being such a dull task.

Answer 9

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Answer 10

I think oral reports are better, but most teachers don't have time for them, there are just too many students. Parents can do oral reports though, and ask their kids questions about books, to see that they understand them.