Book Club Styles and Inquiry Units

     These chapters weren't as exciting as the other chapters that we have read, but  were very important none the less.  I really appreciate how this chapter set up how to do the lessons effectively.  Timing can be so difficult when planning a lesson especially while we have very little experience to judge with.  So I love the suggestion of the amount of time we should give them in a reading workshop.  I found it extremely important that they stressed the conclusion of a unit or reading group.  The students want to see that we are having do things that matter, so it is important that we tie together their readings.  When we have them conclude with a project we have something to evaluate their understanding and it gives the students something to work towards.  However, we don't want to restrict their investigation so that they loose their intrinsic motivation for looking for things to learn.

     With so many of the projects I did for school I did not feel motivated to look for any extra information than was specifically asked for in the rubric.  Although that may have been because I never really had a choice of what type of project or the topic of the project.  Allowing the students to choice is what I think will help to eliminate lack of interest.  But, I do want to specifically make sure that I set up the rubric so that I don't restrict the students in anyway.  

     I also want to acknowledge the list of online tools they provide.  I currently use Google docs, but the one that I am most interested in getting to know Glogster.  This sounds very useful because of the ability to demonstrate the different dimensions of the processing done by the student.