Books, Books, and More Books--Write and Read

On Monday, January 9, 2012, Richard Byrne of Free Technology for Teachers, posted an article Book Reviews for Kids, By Kids.  This free web site for students is under student activities in the Teacher section of the main Scholastic site but simply follow the link to Share What You're Reading here.  It is recommended for grade groups 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12. 

In an introduction Scholastic states:

Students can Write a Review, after consulting our helpful tips. Then, they can preview and send their work to Scholastic.

What books are other kids reading? Students can Read Book Reviews to find out, sorting by grade or by genre, from the classics to fantasy and science fiction to spooky books and more.

When a student elects to Write a Review a screen appears which initially lists four main points to consider when writing a review.  If they so choose they can select the option for more help by clicking on the Writing With Writers Workshop which is a five step process to fine tuning their skills in writing a book review.
To write a review to be published they are next reminded about disclosing personal information on the Internet, asked to read the terms of submission and privacy policy statement along with seeking parental or teacher permission to use this service. 

Next they fill in the title of the book, the author's name (best to do complete name), choose the type (genre) from a selection of eight, tell one interesting thing about the book, and explain why you liked or didn't like the book.  The student is asked for their first name and only the last name initial, their grade and their state or province.  Finally they are given the option of preview or submit.


Simply click on the button on the home page to read the recommendations of other student reviewers.  Users can search by genre or grade level.  Whether you are writing a review or reading other reviews it is very easy to navigate within the pages at this site.

In browsing through the reviews it appears that length is up to the reviewer's choice or perhaps an assignment requirement; lengths varied from a single sentence to several paragraphs.  Our students can never get enough writing. This application allows them to be concise, carefully choosing words which will express their exact sentiment and gives them a venue to air their opinions knowing that other students will be doing the reading.  Several reviews are featured and there is a link to a Books & Authors web page at Scholastic which is a fantastic resource for teachers. 

Thanks again to Richard Byrne of Free Technology for Teachers for posting about this excellent opportunity on his blog.

Beat The Heat---I Challenge You To Read

In it's fifth year the Scholastic Summer Challenge encourages reading throughout the vacation months. 

This program is free to use and provides incentives for students to log the minutes spent reading.  In the 2012 Scholastic Book of World Records the top 20 schools with the most minutes read will receive recognition. 

All participants must have a user name and password.  Users can track their minutes read on their own private page at the Summer Challenge site.  Upon registration the school name and location will be requested.  This is just so a record can be kept of the total minutes read school wide.  No school information will ever be displayed in relation to a particular student.  The student, the student's parent or the student's teacher can provide this information. 

Teachers can "bulk" register students and add to this list at any time.  Randomly generated user names and passwords are created.  When students log-in the first time they are required to change their password.  The new password is unique to them and for their eyes only.  Teachers can still track their minutes read by class or grade level if they have multiple classes.  Parents can also receive email updates about their child's minutes and progress in the reading challenge. 

If a child/young adult wishes to participate by registering on their own that is available too.  No personal information is ever asked except for country, state, gender and age.  Only the username chosen will ever be displayed.  A new user is also asked to select a security question and to provide an answer.  If the student is under 13 years of age they will be asked to provide a parent's email address where consent can be given.  When a child/young adult signs up they have the option of creating a THE STACKS account.
THE STACKS is Scholastic's site about books and reading for tweens, where children can create profiles and communicate with other children about books, authors and other subjects of interest.

At the end of the Summer challenge all school information is deleted from the students' accounts but they continue to have a Scholastic.com account, including user name and password, and the user's minutes read, badges and prizes won will continue to appear in that user's profile and widget(if any).

Scholastic 2011 Summer Challenge Privacy Policy is available online for more in depth information.

During the summer of 2011 I have registered as a teacher/library media specialist for Charlevoix Middle School keeping track of our students' minutes read.  In addition to receiving any of the incentives provided at the Scholastic web site, prizes for the top reader in each grade will be provided at the end of the Summer Challenge by Mrs. Culver.  Let's read everyone and put Charlevoix Middle School in the 2012 Scholastic Book of World Records.  Let 's show the world what we can do!