Astorino:
http://ilikebigbooksandicannotliee.blogspot.com/
http://libraries-shhh-happens.blogspot.com/
Callaghan:
http://mwojtal.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Group Reading
Its always annoying when you read an amazing novel but have no one to share to the story with. You try to explain the story to your sister or mother but it is not the same. I believe that reading a novel at the same time as a friend can be much more enjoyable. After finishing a section you can discuss the areas that made you angry or the areas that were enjoyable.
The class readers choice made me realize that reading a novel within a group makes the reading so much better. During group discussions, each member of my group would take part in a heated conversation about the last nights reading. My favorite class discussion involved a novel called "13 Reasons Why." For 40 minutes straight me and my group let out our feelings on how much we hated the main character. At first I thought that I was the only one that felt that way, but i sooned learned i was not alone. For me, this made the reading much more interesting
During this class Readers' Choice, we were also given assignments to read alone. One of these assignments included "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas." Reading this novel alone was almost impossible. The novel was so emotionally draining that it was hard not to talk about it with anyone. At the end of the novel I wanted to unleash all my emotions with someone but I couldn't. Reading with a friend offers much more than reading alone.
The class readers choice made me realize that reading a novel within a group makes the reading so much better. During group discussions, each member of my group would take part in a heated conversation about the last nights reading. My favorite class discussion involved a novel called "13 Reasons Why." For 40 minutes straight me and my group let out our feelings on how much we hated the main character. At first I thought that I was the only one that felt that way, but i sooned learned i was not alone. For me, this made the reading much more interesting
During this class Readers' Choice, we were also given assignments to read alone. One of these assignments included "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas." Reading this novel alone was almost impossible. The novel was so emotionally draining that it was hard not to talk about it with anyone. At the end of the novel I wanted to unleash all my emotions with someone but I couldn't. Reading with a friend offers much more than reading alone.
The next time I go to read a novel I want it to be a book that my friend has already or is currently reading. A friend of mine has always bugged me to read the Hunger Games, and when I finally did, I really enjoyed talking to her about different parts of the novel. For me, reading in groups makes the reading process ten times easier and more enjoyable.
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Sparknotes
Why read the book when i can easily read the online summary on sparknotes?, a thought that goes through the head of most high schoolers.
Sparknotes has affected the reading experience of many high schoolers. On a night where you have a paper to write, math homework and 50 pages to read, you tend to move the reading to the end of your list. By the time you finish the paper and your math homework, its about 10:30 pm. You lay down in bed, ready to read your book and you find yourself falling asleep after three or less pages. Instead of struggling for the next hour or more to keep your eyes open, you simply open up sparknotes and read the summary in five minutes.
Of course reading the online summary will help you get a decent grade on the quiz but there has to be more to reading for school than getting a good grade on the test. Majority of the books that we read in school are classics, so it is a shame that many people do not read them. Reading summaries online does not allow you to create emotional attachments with the character or feel any type of emotion while reading. Reading sparknotes takes away the voice of the author, which is only meant to make the reading better.
Now, lets say you have no homework except to read the 50 pages. It is expected then, that the student will pick up the book at the latest 8:00 and read the section. The next day a student, lets call her Sam, that sat down and read the 50 pages, goes to take the quiz and is completely lost. It is as if she did not read the book at all. She turns to her friends and complains, "that was the hardest thing I ever took, and I even read." Her friend then responds with, "Really? I just read a online summary and it wasn't too bad." Now Sam has no motivation to read again and for the next reading section, she uses sparknotes.
If online summaries are so well done, how can a student in high school have any motivation to sit down and read the actual book?
What's the Deal with Summer Reading?
Most people will agree that reading during the summer, on the beach or on your front lawn, can we quite enjoyable. But, is it the same when these are books you are forced to read?
At the conclusion of each year, your teacher hands you a list with about 15 books on it. Reading through the list you maybe recognize 2 or 3 books, at the most, with tons of authors you never heard of. We as students, are expected to choose 2-3 books and just hope that we made the right choice. Is choosing a "good" book even possible though? First of all, the topics on the books cannot be any worse. Sorry, but reading about geishas is not exactly enjoyable as a freshman of high school. Even when the reading list offered better books, my luck would only allow me to choose the worst. And from experience, i can tell you that reading a boring, plotless books during the summer is close to torture.
Not only, is choosing the books a pain, but figuring out when you will read them can be quite challenging. Most people want to get done with their summer reading as soon as possible. Of course that is great so that the rest of the summer you are free. But then you come back to school and are handed an impossible quiz on a book you read about two months ago. How can the teachers expect you to do well on these tests? So after that year of failing, you decide that you will wait to read the books closer to the end of summer. This sounds like a awesome idea, but now you find yourself stuck inside the last two weeks of summer cramming all your summer work. As you see, there really is no good way to approach your summer reading.
So really, what is the deal with summer reading?
Some of my worst summer reading experiences included these books:
At the conclusion of each year, your teacher hands you a list with about 15 books on it. Reading through the list you maybe recognize 2 or 3 books, at the most, with tons of authors you never heard of. We as students, are expected to choose 2-3 books and just hope that we made the right choice. Is choosing a "good" book even possible though? First of all, the topics on the books cannot be any worse. Sorry, but reading about geishas is not exactly enjoyable as a freshman of high school. Even when the reading list offered better books, my luck would only allow me to choose the worst. And from experience, i can tell you that reading a boring, plotless books during the summer is close to torture.
Not only, is choosing the books a pain, but figuring out when you will read them can be quite challenging. Most people want to get done with their summer reading as soon as possible. Of course that is great so that the rest of the summer you are free. But then you come back to school and are handed an impossible quiz on a book you read about two months ago. How can the teachers expect you to do well on these tests? So after that year of failing, you decide that you will wait to read the books closer to the end of summer. This sounds like a awesome idea, but now you find yourself stuck inside the last two weeks of summer cramming all your summer work. As you see, there really is no good way to approach your summer reading.
So really, what is the deal with summer reading?
Some of my worst summer reading experiences included these books:
Memiors of a Geisha
Ties that Bind, Ties that Break
The Lovely Bones
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