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Book Report & Reading to fast..
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My 13 yr old son is a fast reader! That’s great, and yes he can tell it back to you. Narration good! That makes 2 for 2 and you are wondering then my problem.
Here it is.. he doesn’t have any idea how to apply anything he reads. You know reading something with virtues, character, life lessons.. I will ask how he can relate to these thigns and he just stares at me with the ‘?” look.
So I thought I would make him slow down a bit and do his 1st book report. He’s in 7th grade and he’s going to be trying this for a 1st.
What kind of suggestions would you suggest for his 1st book report? Or do I just let him write me a 2 page paper on what it was about?
Thanks for the advice. Misty
My response has nothing to do with book reports, but when I read your post I immediately thought about the books by Leonard Sax “Why Gender Matters” and “Boys Adrift” (there is also “Girls on the Edge”, but your question is about a boy.) He goes into depth about how boys and girls process and think about things differently. So, how we ask the question makes a big difference.
For example, if you want to discuss a character in a book, most teachers (especially females) will ask a question like “How would you FEEL if you were that character?” In the male brain, the part of the brain that deals with emotions and the part that regulates speech are not directly connected. So boys, especially young teens, literally cannot answer a question like that. Even mature adult men will have a hard time.
However, if you ask something like “What would you DO if you were that character?” it will appeal to the boy’s sense of action and his desire for power over his life. So he will usually give a much better response.
Anyway, that just something to think about. Leonard Sax’s books are my absolute favourite books in helping me understand, parent, and educate my kids, (followed closely by Meg Meeker’s books). If you haven’t read them, I highly recommend them. I first read them a few years ago, then reread them all after having read Charlotte Mason, and I found myself several times saying ‘See, Charlotte was right about that.” Or “So, that’s why CM’s idea about that works.”
Now, hopefully someone will have some advice about your actual question about book reports.
Joanne
I have just started having my daughter write book reports. I typed up a paragraph by paragraph guide telling her what I wanted her to do.
Introductory Paragraph – include the title of the book, the author, and the illustrator
Second Paragraph – include the setting (time and place) and the main characters
Third (or more) Paragraph – summary of the main events of the story
Concluding Paragraph – the child’s opinion of the book and why they did or did not like it
I hope this helps a little.
I’m not the op but these comments helped me tremendously.
I agree with how the “asking” is received differently by male and female (I have all males in my house). If/when I ask about “feelings”, they just look at me like I’m from outerspace. But when asked what they would “do” is another story, especially for my oldest and youngest (similar personalities). My oldest has even had to remind me that we (meaning him and I) are not the same and look at things in a much different way. All I know is, having lots of great character building books to read/listen to has helped my boys think about others (have compassion) which is what I desire for them (although I probably wouldn’t say that outloud).
Now on to your real question: Maybe you could limit the time he’s allowed to read (meaning he isn’t allowed to read too fast through any given book) and ask for written narrations between readings? I really don’t know as all of my boys are medium speed readers 🙂
Hmm, if you’re wanting him to learn to apply it to himself or other situations I would do ‘essay’ type questions like:
What was a challenge _________ had in the book? How did they deal with it? If you had been in the story would you have tried anything else?
Also questions like:
In the book _______ did _________. Is that how scriptures tell us to handle that situation? Would you have done the same thing or something different?
Follow up with “Is there a situation you might find yourself in where you would need to make a similar choice?” Ex: in how you treat someone, in telling the truth or lying, in working hard or slacking off, in sharing/helping someone or looking out for yourself first.
thanks everyone that was helpful. I will try to reask the questions with thinking about him. also the outline ideas for the book report are great.
Tristan and Lynda – THANK YOU! Can I tell you the last time I wrote a book report – or any type of report for that matter. I was trying to remember how to do it, so that I could explain it to my son. That jogged my memory enough! GREAT suggestions! I especially loved the “is that how scripture tells us to handle it.”
I use a book report. It asks questions like Title of book, Author,Main Character, Type of book, Date Read, # of pages, Rate book from 1-10. Then it asks questions like Discribe the book to help others determine if they wish to read it_______/ who was your favorite character? Why? _____. what was your favorite part?___/ where did the story take place?___. YOu could add your own questions or modify these and add more. I put these in a 3 ring binder and they just fill them in after reading a book. You could go to Notebook pages. com and put a square above the questions and have them draw a picture of what they read. This way it will help them to want to write. It also helps them get a visual. This also helps keep records for both of you. They get to see how many books they can read in a year and they can look back and see what their favorite books are. Hope this helps! 🙂
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