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Barb.b
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| Posted: Sept 17 2012 at 1:17pm | IP Logged
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so, my oldest 2 I did Seton plans for reading when they were in 4rth grade (which are very specifically laid out plans for a book report). With my youngest I am not doing seton. I do have Catholic heritage curricula's plans and they have a guide for book reports. But - what do you all do at 4rth grade for book reports. I am just wanting to get an idea of what others do.
Thanks
Barb
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Sept 17 2012 at 1:34pm | IP Logged
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We don't do book reports. 
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19 , ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Sept 17 2012 at 2:56pm | IP Logged
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Just wanted to come back and explain a little further.
If you think of a book report as (1) beginning writing and (2) a summary of a book - there are other ways to accomplish those goals without asking a young elementary student to complete a book report.
I know you didn't ask for alternatives to book reports, but since I'm here and threw my 2 cents worth at you, I thought I'd at least explain my position.
Book reports, historically speaking, are a relatively recent occurrence in the education game. Historically speaking, many folks were educated well without them. So...that at least lets me know that it can be done and that education can be accomplished without required book reports. Book reports are a function of growing classes with limited teachers and a need to see what a child grasped from their reading.
In 4th grade, we continue with copywork and oral narrations, both of which prepare the way for writing.
Oral narrations build a child's cognitive writing abilities and around the age of 10, or 5th grade, they begin to transition from oral into written narrations. These accomplish the intent of the book report without the stress and without stretching the young student outside of his/her own writing voice (which they're really just developing). A written narration:
(1) begins when a child is older
(2) asks the child to write what he knows
(3) and the child writes from smaller chunks of a book (often a couple of pages) rather than trying to cognitively and physically summarize an entire book (often hundreds of pages) in one report.
My older students can summarize an entire book in a written report/essay very nicely, but my beginning writers would be absolutely startled and dazed by the request. By 4th grade, my kids are just, in a sense, getting their writing legs under them, and I enjoy giving them more bite size bits of reading to exercise their writing muscles with, hence the written narration of a short bit of reading.
An alternative to book reports that we've enjoyed is a simple composition book which contains all the written narrations of a particular book. It's simple for me - not requiring editing, nor rigid writing instruction. We start small and build with basic writing skill - one little step at a time.
These initial written collections are treasured by my students (and me), and though they're admittedly shaky at first, these simple written narrations grew into some fabulous writing! A similar alternative that worked well for another student is emailed written narrations rather than the use of a hand-written composition book. At the end of the term we print the written narrations and bind it into a book.
Many, many home educators choose to ask their students to write book reports, and by all accounts those students have lived to tell.  I really have always been so grateful to this board for emphasizing a living education, support I can't find anywhere else, and for helping me keep it "real" in terms of expectations and ideas in home education...so I wanted to throw in that alternative to the book report! 
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19, ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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Barb.b
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| Posted: Sept 17 2012 at 3:48pm | IP Logged
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Thanks Jen,
Well, yes I am aware of the alternatives. I guess oral narrations are something we do naturally anyway.I I know Seton never had kids summarize in the book reports. I know most think of book reports as summaries. My dd (now in 9th) in 4rth would do the book reports that seton required - these picked out 3 virtues of the main character. As the student read - I would have them jot down page numbers and underline in the book examples of those virtues. Once done they would pick out the 3 best examples of each virtue. Then she would go write an outline to order the events and have one virtue for each paragraph. By the end of the year she was not only writing the 3 middle paragraphs but the introduction and conculsion as well (at 1st seton provided those and then later guided the student to do so).
Anyway - for my current ds right now he is reading a short mystery chapter book and I have an app on the iPad that he will fill out the title/author, characters, then it has things like the problem, and resolution (I am probably missing some other things it asks. This is really like a worksheet like form. But from it I will have him write 2-3 paragraphs on the book. After that I may pick out a book that he can do more of what my dd did. At first I may tell him what virtues to look for examples for.
I Love the idea of your composition books though! For my ds - this may be the way to go. If you have time - could you give me an idea of how you would approach them at first. Starting small is good! Maybe instead of the ipad app - those things could be written in. Also, since his current read is a mystery - I could have him predict the solution - then keep track of clues (like a detective!).
Thanks!
Barb
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Barbara C.
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| Posted: Sept 18 2012 at 3:43pm | IP Logged
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Well, my oldest is in 4th grade and we are using Kolbe elementary literature program. However, I did not shell out the money for the syllabus, just the student and teacher guides.
So far with each book I've given her two writing assignments out of 100 Awesome Writing Prompts to Use With Any Book and then assignment that we call her "book report".
The book report is to be a minimum of 3 paragraphs. The first paragraph/part should introduce the books and characters. The second paragraph/part should summarize the plot without giving away the ending. Then in the third paragraph/part she has to give her opinion about what she liked and didn't like about the book, why, and if and to whom she would recommend the book.
But we go over all of the writing assignments for spelling, grammar, typos, clarity of ideas, and, of course, if directions were followed. On the first two, I just mark the errors and go over them with her. On the "book report" she has to fix the errors and print a final draft.
Next year, though, I think I am going to switch her to Kolbe for the majority of her subjects and do their writing program and use the literature syllabus.
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Barbara
Mom to "spirited" dd(9), "spunky" dd (6), "sincere" dd (3), "sweet" dd (2), and baby girl #5 born 8/1/12!!
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Barb.b
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| Posted: Sept 19 2012 at 8:10am | IP Logged
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Barbara,
I have the Kolbe literature too; also just the student and teacher guides. Thanks for reminding me! I need to go look at them now - are the writing prompts you use in the teacher guide? I was just looking at the lesson plans they sell - they are quite expensive and I think I would regret shelling out that money for just something to tell me how much he should read each day!
Barb
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Barbara C.
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| Posted: Sept 19 2012 at 8:59am | IP Logged
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No, the writing prompts are not in the guides; they are in the syllabus. But, like you, I didn't want to shell out the money (I think $125) for the syllabus. The writing prompts book was only $8.50 at Rainbow Resource Center.
In addition to the writing assignments I have her do the chapter questions from the student guide, and I also have her fill out a worksheet with things like the author, original publishing date (to get a context for when the book was written), setting, and major characters. I also have her list the first and last sentences of the book just for a little something different.
But next year I'm going to enroll her with Kolbe, and I'll be able to get all of the syllabi I will need/want, including the literature one, for less than buying each one individually. Although, I know I'll have to tweak things because I really don't think she should read more than one chapter each day in order for her to fully comprehend what is going on. But I like the idea of them telling her exactly what all of her assignments are, so maybe she won't argue with me about them as much. 
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Barbara
Mom to "spirited" dd(9), "spunky" dd (6), "sincere" dd (3), "sweet" dd (2), and baby girl #5 born 8/1/12!!
Box of Chocolates
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4Real Forums : Living Literature
Topic: 4th grade book report
