What grade was your child in when they started doing book reports?

[messy mama]

Does anyone else think that a book report due every 2 weeks is excessive for a 2nd grader?

At first I thought it was a cute idea. They have "Book club" every other Monday. They have to write a letter to the students in their reading group, which they read aloud, and then they discuss the book.

The letter should include:

Title
Author
Brief summary of plot
Connections made between the book and life, or the book and other books
Child's opinion of book
Interesting facts learned (non-fiction)

Oh, and a report without a thoughtfully composed picture will be considered incomplete.

My DS is the top reader in his class but he doesn't really enjoy reading. I think these reports have done nothing to help him foster a love of reading. Quite the opposite actually.

[Houdini]

Yea....every two weeks is excessive IMO. My kids had reports to do when in 2nd grade, but they only had two or three tops.

[bdavis337]

Wow that sounds like a LOT of work for a 2nd grader. My oldest is just finishing up K, but I can't imagine him doing that kind of work, repeatedly, in just another few years.

[LiamnEmma]

another vote for excessive. My 2nd grader just brought home his first report. It's not a book report though. It has to be on an endangered animal. He did one book report in kinder--all pictures--and I think two or three in first grade. None so far this year. But he also has a teacher who firmly believes kids should be kids and to that end does not overdo the homework at all.

[joycenjackiesmom]

My second grader has yet to do an official book report. She has brought some short responses to books she has read that have been done in school. The usually cover one aspect like characters or a summary or how it relates to real life. I do think that a book report every two weeks is excessive--my 5th grade nephew only does one each month.

[CarrieMF]

IMO it depends on the book/story. If they are doing a report on a 7-10 page story then I don't see anything wrong with doing a weekly or every other week report. If it is on a longer chapter type books then yes it'd be too much. It also depends on the child's comprehension at that level. Are all the kids doing the report on the same book, or are they choosing a book at their level?

[hellyaellen]

it actually doesn't sound too bad to me. depending on the length of the book/report and such.

[hellyaellen]

oh and i forgot to sy may dd is in 1st grade and has not yet had to do a book report. but i know she would grumble about it.

[kewb]

It sounds excessive to me. My kids started in first grade. Threre were 4year. Biography, Poetry, Non-Fiction, & free choice. The teacher sent home a report form with space for title and author, what is the book about? What diud you like? What did you dilike? Would you recommend it? and they would draw a picture representing the book. In 2nd grade they did the same thing. My ds is in 3rd this year and the book reports he has done have actually been done as class projects during school hours.

[TiredX2]

DD was in a 1st/2nd split last year with book reports. They did one almost every month. And they needed to be "real" books and included an oral component.

This year she has only done a few so far (3rd grade).

I guess it would depend on the amt they were supposed to write and the length of the book they were supposed to read if I thought doing a report every two weeks was too much. Plus, of course, additional homework and the level of support they get for the work.

[Cranberry]

That sounds like a lot of work for a 2nd grader. When DS was in 1st grade he had to do a book report once a week, but it only had to be a couple of sentences.

[midstreammama]

dd1 had an informal book report, last year in 1st grade. This year she had to do a more formal one with an oral presentation. Every 2 weeks is kind of weird. How can it be thoughtfully done when you're too busy worrying about getting the next one done? The book report she did had to be on a chapter book...so I don't see how you could do one of those every two weeks and still get other hw finished.

[messy mama]

His last 5 reports were on one book, Ribsy by Beverly Cleary. We had to do it in increments. I'm not sure what the other kids are reading. My DS just told me that one of the students did one on Alexander and the Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

The teacher provides the book report form, a page and a half. The top half is reserved for the picture.

It's kind of sad because he begs me to let him "skip it just one time". (insert incredibly whiny voice hear). He said a lot of the kids don't always do them. He thinks it's not fair that he "always has to do them."(whiny voice again)

His next one is a DK Reader Level 4 Robin Hood.

There are only three more scheduled, maybe I should let him do them on simpler books. I think I'll write a letter to the teacher telling her how I feel. This is her fist year of teaching, maybe she just went a little over board.

Thanks for all the input.

[BethSLP]

If books like Alexander and the No Good, Very Bad....Day are acceptable, then I don't think thats too much work. Esp. with a form provided. I think book reports are incredibly valuable for kids to learn how to organize their thoughts on a topic, summarize, etc.

I'd just let him pick a shorter book that's more appropriate for a 2 week assignment. Or do what you did with increments of a bigger book. It sounds to me like the teacher is pretty flexible with the assignment and just wants the kids to get used to that experience/thought process.

Its a GREAT preparation for 3rd grade where the work gets WAY more intense. 3rd grade is a super difficult year for a lot of kids as the work goes from literal answers to inferencing questions and reading between the lines. At my school, I saw a lot of kids struggle in 3rd. Sounds like this teacher is getting the kids prepared so they are better off....

Hope I'm not assuming too much, but it doesn't sound like an absurd amount of work to me.....

XOXO
B