Read-a-Thon (mini-challenge: reading)

A mini-challenge about reading! Makes sense. This one is hosted by Joystory and sounds like fun. Our task is to post about reading and children.

My daughter is in the fourth grade and her teacher has a wonderful program where the students earn "degrees" during their book club work.

• Bachelor's Degree: Read 6 books all from different genres. Write up a book club card for each (title, author, lessons learned, golden lines, etc) For 3 of them the students write a letter to their book club answering certain questions. For the other three they do projects (golden lines, a diarama, etc). When they finish they read 2 books of poetry and choose one poem to memorize and recite to the class. They also tell the class about the poet.
• Master's Degree: Read 10 more books that fit into the Master's program that they choose. My daughter chose the Genre Study in which she read Mystery and Realistic Fiction (5 each). Again, book club letters and projects as well as a book club card for each book. The final project was an 11-paragraph essay about the books she had read.

• Doctorate: Students read 10 more books, but create their own plan of study (choosing a theme). For each book the students fill in a more extensive paper. They do projects of their choosing for 5 of the books and at the end write an essay.

As they finish each "degree" the kids participate in a little graduation ceremony where they answer questions about the books they read and what they learned. My daughter is LOVING this experience. She is reading like never before, challenging herself, and really growing as a student and a reader! What a wonderful gift her teacher has given her!