Independent Reading Unit (Intro)

click on poster for an enlarged image

​As we begin this Independent Reading Unit, please remember that the "Bill of Rights" I have posted above certainly applies to you but that we do have an end goal for this unit. I want you to find a book that fits my rather loose parameters of a "work of literary merit," that you can finish reading by Tuesday, January 29th, but that also gives you pleasure as you read. Today's blog post is designed to help you plan for the end of unit assessment (TBA).

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Cristina Hartmann

Still struggling to define "literary merit" and how to know if a book has merit? Well then, welcome to my world! This question has no single answer and can send you down a rabbit hole (what literary allusion did I just make?) if you try. I did find this interesting (even with all its typos and grammatical "oopsies" - I think she may have typed it on her phone as I often find some students do!!!) essay written by Cristina Hartmann on Medium. Read her piece for some commentary on this topic by clicking on her image to the left.

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​Step 1: By now you should have selected a novel from the library, my library, or your own shelves. You need to figure out how long it will take you to read in order to finish in time. To figure out how many pages you need to read a day, complete the calculation below.

 Reading Speed Formula​ 

1. Read a page. Time how long it takes in seconds (divide by 60) and, voilà, you now know how many minutes you take to read a page!
2. Count your book's pages, multiple by your page/minute speed, divide by 60 again and, voilà, you now know how many hours you will take to read your book!
3. Count how many days you have until you need to finish reading in order to give yourself time for the End of Unit Assessment (probably by Tuesday, January 29th) and so on and so forth!

I know that this seems like a ridiculous activity, but I am always surprised by how much more successful students are at reading, comprehending, and completing assignments when they know exactly how long it will take to complete the reading AND be able to finish all the tasks! 

If you are interested in discovering how long you take to read literature of a variety of complexities, use the interactive calculator below.

click on the image above to go to www.myreadspeed.com

Step 2: Respond to this blog post, using your own name-no pen names this time, by:

1. listing the title and author of your selected novel (remember, you can always change the book, but not the due date!),
2. stating in a brief paragraph why you selected it,
3. and completing  this blog response by 11:59 pm on Monday, 1/14!

Step 3: Start reading!!! You will be posting updates and responding through this blog about your understanding, interesting thoughts, progress, etc. every Friday. 

*I am expecting you to keep your selected novel with you at all times. This is the best way to finish your novel ahead of your own schedule. Whenever you have a free moment, you should take your book out to read a page or two. You will be surprised at how much reading you can accomplish if you always keep it at hand to read at these odd moments! As an incentive, I will randomly reward students I "catch" reading with treats. Don't be surprised if I pop into one of your classes to see if you have your book on your person!