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Neethu's Global Book Club
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Welcome to Neethu's GLOBAL BOOK CLUB project. The project is essentially for teachers and
classrooms brought about with the idea of instigating the
fascination of and inculcating a passion for reading habits among the young
generation of today. I’d like to invite teachers to participate in the
project along with their students, either the whole class or a limited number
of students. Books of distinct reading values for students would be
selected by a board of teachers. Students all over the world should get hold
of copies and read them. (You could suggest books too, those wonderful ones
which you have read as a youngster and just couldn’t put them down) Then, by
a given deadline all participants could interact with the group and share
their thoughts and feelings about the book with the group. This will be done
through posting regular response journals. My appeal to you is to keep me posted with response journals.
Very simply, a response journal is much like a diary. Only in this diary you
will not be writing about that special someone you like the kind of day you
had, assigning tons of homework, and all the other popular topics that are
discussed in diaries. Instead, you will be exploring your feelings about and
reactions to the novel that your class team or you as an individual have
chosen to read. Keeping a response journal will give you an opportunity to
express your own opinions about what is happening in the novel you are
reading. Passages that upset you, make you happy, or that you simply do not
understand, can be discussed in site’s journal entries. You will have a
chance to ask and answer questions that you think are important. You will be expected to make at least 4-5 journal entries for
the novel. Prior to reading, choose the spots you will stop to make a journal
entry. Or perhaps you could divide the book into 4-5 parts where you can stop
and make your journal entries. In your journal entries, you can discuss anything that
interests you about the material you are reading (a character you despise, a
scene that you found particularly moving, a setting that was described in
extraordinary detail, etc.) There is no set limit on how long your entries have to be. Yet
keep in mind, these journals will constitute a major portion of your mark for
this unit. And you’ll be sharing your notions with people from different
parts of the world who are simultaneously reading the book with you. All I
ask is that you think carefully about what you are writing, and be sure to
give me complete answers. This means that you will have to explain in detail
your thoughts, feelings, ideas and opinions. The following are some possible \statement starters for you to
choose from when you are making you entries: ·
My favourite characters….. ·
The part I liked best….. ·
I would like ______ (a character) as a
friend because….. ·
If I were the author I would…. ·
What impressed me in this chapter was…. ·
I noticed….. ·
It upset me when….. ·
I wonder about….. ·
I don't really understand….. ·
I now understand….. ·
If I were_______________ (a
character) I would ·
I predict that….. ·
I was shocked when / by….. ·
I question….. You must use at least three of these statements when you are
writing in your journal You can also make up some of you own. The more
creative you are the better you grow. Remember, your journal is an
opportunity for you to explore what you think is important. Take the time to read over what you have written after each
entry to ensure that your ideas are in order. It is not necessary for you to
summarize the chapters for me; I am more interested in how you react to what
you are reading. READING RESPONSE JOURNALS 1.
I think… 2.
I wonder… 3.
I predict… 4.
I like… 5.
I wish… 6.
I don't understand… 7.
If I were the author… 8.
This part reminds me of… 9.
It seems to me… 10.
I question… 11.
If I were ___________, I would have… 12.
I noticed… 13.
I liked the idea that… 14.
Now I understand… 15.
What impressed me in this chapter was… 16.
This reminded me of … 17.
I felt… 18.
In my opinion… 19.
I know someone like… 20.
When this happens to me, I feel… 21.
One time I … 22.
It was, or was not fair when… 23.
The author could have… Besides writing entries telling what you are thinking about the
book, you may write response journal entries which are letters - to the
author, to classmates, to other participants of this project, to the
teachers, or to characters in the book. Teachers, please let me know the caliber of your classroom and
the students, how well versed your students are in communicative English, how
you’d like to communicate with us, i.e. via snail mails or emails, and what
kind of books your students interest themselves in, mysteries, detective
books, horrors, children’s classics, science fiction or general fiction…. Or
…… whatever. Individuals who just love reading books but are neither
teachers nor students can also join. Soon I shall be opening up a new
category for you. Please do not hesitate if you have questions to ask or require
help. Contact me without the slightest indecision. Please do let me know if you wish to participate in my
GLOBAL BOOK CLUB project before 05 July 2005. |
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