Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Summer Reading


It is so hard to say goodbye to our students. We spend so much of our waking hours with them for so many months that they become like family. This year, I decided my teaching wasn't going to end at the sound of the dismissal bell on the last day of school. After chatting with some of my Twitter faves, I decided to facilitate an online  Summer Book Club through Edmodo, a popular educational site than can be likened to Facebook for the classroom.

I launched the book club by first talking to my kids about how much they can benefit from reading just a few books over the summer. I started cautiously by recommending two to three. Their response was "We can probably read more than that!" Then, I shared a book list that I compiled for them. This list is made up of books I have enjoyed, books I have watched some of them enjoy, and recommendations from my fellow educators. I tried to stray from "classics" because, let's face it, those don't always get kids excited about reading. I wanted books they could relate to and really enjoy.

Here's my list:

Next, we talked about how to find out more about the books on the list. I showed the students two great sites for book reviews written for kids: Spaghetti Book Club and KidsReads. I had them look up a few and start making some plans for their summer reading.


After that, we logged into Edmodo and set up our student accounts. This is really easy for both the teacher and student to do. They were so excited! We made sure to go over some guidelines, first, and then I set them loose! Here are the results so far:



I can't wait to chat with them over the summer about their books. Turns out the last day doesn't mean goodbye forever!

4 comments:

  1. What a great way to use Edmodo! I never thought about that. Too late for this year, but I'll have to do it next year. Thanks for the post.
    ThinkShareTeach

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  2. You're welcome! It's been very fun so far!

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  3. I tell my students I'll be doing #bookaday, and check with them in the fall to see what they've read. It is always hard to have students move on-- maybe this is why 8th graders get to be a bit obnoxious near the end of the year, so we don't miss them quite as much!

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  4. I think that's why 5th graders get that way, too! We are having fun with our book club, though!

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