A Report Card for Books
This is an easy add-on to the summer reading your child is already doing that will develop your child’s reading confidence, provide extra reading practice, and help reinforce the habit of reading just for pleasure.
Materials
- Plentiful source of books—check out the school or local library
- Several copies of your book report form that you write together
Getting Ready
Talk with your child about books that he likes and books he doesn’t like. Think about ways to describe books that would help other kids know what was a good read. Think up a set of questions about books and write them down.
Make a book report form. If your child likes to write, set up questions that he can write answers to. If writing will get in the way of his doing more reading, make up a form like a report card for the book. You and your child can assign letter or number grades for quality of story, interest of characters, illustrations, or whatever else the two of you agree should be noted about a book. You could even set up scales of 1-10 for different aspects of the book. Leave space at the bottom for at least one sentence of general comment. The report can then be photocopied, printed from a computer, or individually created. Make at least five copies to begin with.
Activity: A Report Card for Books
- Pick one book each week that the two of you can read together. These books can be exclusively your child’s choice or include some you choose that you think he’ll enjoy. (You could also alternate weeks of choosing the book or work out whatever arrangement seems best for the two of you. Making decisions about what to read is a part of the process.)
Take turns reading the selected book to each other. How much each of you reads can depend on your energy as well as that of your child. Depending upon the demands of the book and your child’s reading skills and comfort level, adjust how much each of you reads. The important element is the sharing back and forth of both reading and listening.
- Schedule a regular time (at a meal?) each week to review what you’ve been reading. Work with your child to fill in the regular report form that you prepared together. Adjust the level of work to your child’s ability and energy. If writing is an obstacle for your child, try having him dictate some of the report. The goal is to develop a pleasurable sharing around reading and thinking about literature.
After making sure there is a mention of the author and title, be flexible about how your report form is used. Change what is on your report cards to make them work for you, your child, and the books you choose. The goal is to have the evaluation belong to your child, but you could decide together to have you add your thoughts, too, perhaps in a different color.
- About once a month or every six weeks, look back over your reports together. Talk about what each of you learned about in the books, about your likes and dislikes, and anything that might be added or changed on each book report. Use this time to compile a summary booklet that contains the reports, along with drawings of favorite scenes or characters from the books.
Activity from Kaplan’s Making the Grade: Grades 3-4, Creating a Successful Learning Environment at Home.
Activity from Kaplan’s Making the Grade: Grades 3-4, Creating a Successful Learning Environment at Home.