Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Guess what *this* is!

In commemoration of the end of the school year, here is a pop quiz.

Can you guess what *this* is?
(Let's go with multiple choice.)




Is it:

A) An art project

B) A science project

C) A social studies project

D) None of the above... because it's a freakin' READING assignment!

Riiiight.

The ten-year-old is stressed over this assignment, because he can't do it alone.
It involves sharp tools to cut the sticks, and a hot glue gun to hold it together.
Plus now, he needs to build a forest.
And furniture.

You know, he really enjoyed the book that had been assigned. It was about a boy left alone in a cabin in the woods while his father traveled to fetch the boy's mother and baby sister from the east coast.
But he doesn't so much enjoy building this... thing.

And I can't figure out how this project is supposed to make him a better reader.

The whole year, this is how the reading assignments have gone.

I have a ten-year-old who loves to read.
Has a stack of books next to his bed every night.
Reads entire chapter books all in one day because he enjoys them.

But he has dreaded finishing every single book he's been required to read for school because this kind of thing has been attached to every book.

You may now disregard what I had previously posted about school letting out for the summer.
Because after a whole flippin' year of this kind of homework, I am SO ready for fourth grade to be over.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

What happened to book reports? Tests? Questions and Answers? It's no wonder kids don't want to read anymore if each book is going to have to be made into a major motion picture and they have to make the stage.

Anonymous said...

As I said before, WTF??? This makes *no* sense to me...

Maranda Rites said...

Wow! I think he could earn a patch for that in Scouts! That's a nice looking log cabin style campfire in the making :)

And I'm with Tink, what did happen to book reports???

Anonymous said...

I'm with Tink as well...

Anonymous said...

Tink, Richmond, and VWbug: If there was some correlation... anything... to READING!
Draw a picture and caption it with a paragraph from the book... maybe. I don't know.

If this was real life, it'd be the equivalent to my boss telling me to help him set the annual budget by painting his office.

Maranda: You are right.
I would very much like to stuff this thing with bits of newspaper and light it on fire. :)

Anonymous said...

Maybe the teacher can give a choice...book report OR project. That way, it would have appeal to the bookworm AND the kids who hates to read but likes making stuff.

Thanks for the post. It helps me as a teacher when assigning things in the future.