Reading

Dear Families:

Each day at school students read for 40 minutes a day independently. See the bottom of this page for places to find books online. When they are finished their book they write a summary of what they have read. Sometimes it takes a couple weeks to finish a book, sometimes less. I suggest kids have a paper to track the pages they have read with the title of the book at the top. Here is a sample of what your page could look like:

Once the book is done I then ask students to complete a summary which explains the book with its most important points. This summary should be 200-250 words written on paper or on a computer. As students finish these summaries I would like them handed in via email. Please take a photo and email if your student is working on paper.

Summary Expectations:

These are the expectations that the students are familiar with as I have spoken to them regularly throughout the school year. I have grouped expectations in a way that students often progress. That said I know sometimes students like to work on areas of the A or B expectations while they are still challenged by some of the C+ expectations and that is ok too. The most important thing is that progress is made as each student takes steps to improve their writing.

C +

You have the following correct most of the time (8 out of 10 times:

·         correct verb tense 

·         use of punctuation: capitals, commas, question marks ?, quotations for speech “ “,       

·         separated into paragraphs beginning middle end or topics for non- fiction,

·         phonetic spelling on difficult words. 

Summary may be too short or too long.

Some use of transitional words (next, then, finally, also, after that, later etc.).

B

You have everything from the C+ in addition to the following most of the time (8 out of 10 times):

• between 200 - 250 words 
• focus on the key aspects of the book so the summary is smooth and easy to read
• use of a variety of transitional words

A

You have most from the previous expectations plus:

• unique words
• sentence length varies and engages the reader
• use of exclamation points where important
• engaging beginning
• nice presentation (maybe type it out or print nicely)

After Marking:

Once I have marked the summary and met with your student I would then like to show it off online in our blog so that other students in our class can read about the cool books we are reading. This will hopefully give us a much needed sense of community. 

Sample (Please feel free to use some of my ideas as a framework for your own summary if that helps):

Mrs McKerrow’s Summary of

“The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe”

I enjoyed reading this book with my kids recently. It is an older book and I struggled with the role girls had, but overall I loved the adventure. This is my summary of the book. Enjoy! (1^st paragraph – stating my purpose and giving my general opinion on the book.)

This book is about, well, at the risk of stating the obvious, a lion, a witch and a wardrobe… and four kids who go on a big adventure. The book opens with the four kids, Peter, Susan, Edmond and Lucy being sent to their distant uncle’s house so they can stay safely away from WWII. The uncle’s house is huge and the children enjoy playing hide and go seek in all the rooms. (2^nd paragraph – stating the main characters and the beginning of the book)

One day, Lucy finds a wardrobe, (which is like a closet,) to hide in. While creeping to the back of the wardrobe Lucy finds that it is actually a door to a magical world called Narnia. In Narnia, there are wonderful magical creatures, but unfortunately an evil White Witch is in charge. Lucy eventually shows Narnia to Edmond. Unfortunately, when Peter and Susan don’t believe Lucy about Narnia, Edmond lies and says he has never seen the land either! Despite Edmond, Peter and Susan discover Narnia eventually when all four kids are hiding from their uncle’s strict house cleaner. (3^rd paragraph – one important event in the book that flows well with the 2nd paragraph)

Once all four kids are in the land they find a way to defeat the White Witch and save Narnia. And as for the Lion, he is awesome, but you will have to read the book to find out more! (4^th paragraph a wrap up of the book with a cliffhanger. Can our summaries motivate others to read the book?)

Books Online

TeenBookCloud (At Home or In-Library Use Only) – You will need the number on the back of your library card and a pin, if you do not have a pin click “forgot pin” or call the library.

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