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Middle School Book Reviews Major Project Review

Project Goals:

To improve Reading Literacy by inviting students to participate in a project that promotes individual choice and interest in reading, and will serve as a vehicle for a middle school summer reading program;
To provide a portal for students to access book reviews written by other middle school students;
To provide a vehicle for students to submit book reviews electronically;
To provide links for students to search for books of interest by genre or author;
To provide instruction for students on web page design using Netscape Composer;
To provide instruction for students on the use of a scanner for submitting illustrations and/or scanning student-designed book jackets;
To provide instructions for students on the use of a digital camera;
To provide instruction for students on grammar, editing and writing skills;
To provide opportunities for students to work with peers, in this case, a Learn and Serve opportunity for our National Junior Honor Society students, in peer-tutoring for editing and writing/grammar skills;
To provide an opportunity for students to develop interest in web design skills and a personal advocate to help in developing these skills during Homeroom or Advisory time, twice per week, throughout a trimester.
To provide an opportunity for students to evaluate information on the Internet based on criteria, as they begin to recommend appropriate links based on reading literacy for their peers.
To establish a framework for a successful student-owned, multi-faceted, online summer reading project.

Project Description:
To pilot the project, a student survey form was generated and disseminated through Language Arts classes. These classes ranged in levels from English/Reading, Communications and Honors Communications, in both seventh and eighth grade classes. Surveys were distributed to a total of 5 classes, with results from 110 students.

After survey results were analyzed, it was apparent that students from all levels of classes had an interest in being part of the development of this multi-faceted project. 12% of seventh grade students and 35% of eighth grade students participated in a summer reading project last year. Of the students involved for both levels, 10% enjoyed the summer reading project options. The average number of books read was 2 for both grade levels. Comfort level of use of the Internet was 2, on a continuum of 1-5, with 1 being very comfortable. Student visitation of the school web site is limited, with 60% of students visiting once a month or less. No students have ever submitted a book review electronically, although 84% of students reported interest in sharing review with other middle school students via an online form. 48% of students had interest in helping to develop a site for book review linked to the school home page. In response to genres of books read for enjoyment, the choices, ranked by interest of student were: science fiction, fiction, historical fiction, mystery, sports, fantasy, non-fiction, poetry and biography. In response to what students would like to see in a book review, the open-ended responses were: a rating scale from 1-5, summary of the book, a drawing or illustration of a favorite scene, character or book jacket, a description of the main character, who the book would appeal to, number of pages in the book and a recommendation for the book. These comments and analyses were incorporated into the review form that students would use to submit their reviews to the web site.

Two students were chosen, by classroom teachers, from each level, for a total of 6 students, to represent the pilot stage of the project. These students read books of their choice and submitted a review of their book. These students worked in the Computer Lab to design a form for students to submit their review electronically.

Much discussion ensued regarding the questions and fields to be submitted. Some of the students felt there should be a longer form with many questions to submit. Other students felt two or three questions would be enough to generate a response. The students settled on the form presented in the major project review. Questions from the number of pages in a book to listing if we had the book in our school library, led to an additional link to be added to the site to our school's Accelerated Reading book list as an option for students. This link also provides a grade level for each book. Students felt that might be positive when searching for books of interest. In addition, they could earn "Accelerated Reader" points after completing the book, and taking a short comprehension test. They were excited about this "plus".

Students met with me and worked during their Homeroom or Advisory times, usually twice a week, pending additional conflicts, such as assemblies, etc. Decisions about page format, background and link options, along with learning the navigation aspects of Netscape Composer took many sessions due to the collaborative effort of all levels of students working on the project. At one point, we needed to review the effectiveness of working in a collaborative manner and setting up roles and responsibilities to accommodate all learner needs. Lessons other than the previously stated goals needed to be incorporated along the way to promote effective group decision-making.

After group instruction on evaluation of web sites, students began to discuss and direct options they felt significant for the project. Students chose to work with a partner in the beginning phase of the project. Student interest was a major part of this phase. Students researched specific genres, such as mystery to find appropriate links. They used a web evaluation form to scrutinize the value of the page as a link specific to the middle level population.

Development of the actual web pages is continually being updated. Students are meeting with peers, as members of the National Junior Honor Society as a Service Learning opportunity, are collaborating with students to assist in editing and revision of entries being submitted. Our initial submissions that were in Power Point format cannot be uploaded until Power Point is approved to be installed, as Power Point/html as an option was never installed on the computers in our lab.

Students learned the process and created student-friendly instructions for using the digital camera (to take pictures to add to the site about reading) and a scanner to add illustrations or student-designed book jackets to individually submitted book reviews.

Technology and Tools utilized throughout the sessions: Netscape, Netscape Composer, Microsoft Word, Digital Camera, Hewlett Packard ScanJet, Power Point, and graphics applications. Students were also instructed in designing a form template and creating links to pages.

Evaluation:
As reviews were being developed for presentation on the web, it was apparent that further instruction was necessary in editing and revision writing. It was at this time that I sought out our National Junior Society as a peer coaching option and a Service Learning opportunity to work with the students in draft writing and editing. This was also a time to reflect with teachers in teacher planning sessions concerning the continued need for differentiation and skill attainment in regards to writing and editing skills. Purposeful staff development opportunities were suggested and refined to address the issues. I also learned from the students that varied levels of skill attainment need refinement and reflection in my own practice and application of teaching and instruction. My thoughts at first, centered on opportunities for instruction and development of the technology aspects of this project, only to discover that the language arts connection to grammar and editing took more time than planned and I needed to revisit my goals to adjust timelines for completion. In addition, the schedule this past trimester had numerous deviations from "schedule" due to SAT testing preparation, additional clubs, and assemblies scheduled for this pre-planned time which overrode meeting opportunities. My initial planning schedule of meeting twice a week during Homeroom/Advisory time was out of my control. Additional make-up opportunities were not successful. Many aspects of the project took longer than anticipated, although valid for meeting criteria of the project.

Student excitement about this project is growing as students bring back comments from their peers about the progress of the web site and the number of students asking to be part of the project development. When teachers were asked about the project, they relate that students are asking if their work can be submitted to this "newly created team" for presentation on the web. This truly reflects taking work to a larger audience and what authentic assessment reflects.

Students are waiting to see our site. The projection for the site to be added to our school home page is February 2001 to be unveiled by students showing their work, at Parent/Teacher Conferences. The community link will be present, as our site will be highlighted in our monthly mailed newsletter that every family receives at home.

Strengths of Project:

Students are interested in being part of this on-going project;
It is an on-going project - revisions are mandated by students involved with the purposeful integration of the project into their reading repertoire;
Enlists students (and parents) to visit our school web site;
Makes our school web site more appealing to students;
Takes our student work to a new, larger audience

Drawbacks of Project:

Scheduling students during Homeroom or Advisory time, which is usually a flexible time due to need for assemblies, special projects, club meetings, etc.
Homeroom/Advisory time is short - only 30 minutes
Space for meeting with students in our current building is limited; Computer labs are open during Homeroom time for individual students/projects, sometimes restricting my use;
Not necessarily a drawback - but a need for me to revise my criteria - This project has begun to take on a life of its own. Students and teachers continually see opportunities for growth and use of this site; (for example - students seeing that the school Accelerated Reading list be linked; teachers asking for rubrics to be added to the project lists; an option for Author study groups has been discussed, etc.)
Training students to use Power Point was not as difficult as I presumed, as most students are fairly fluent, although as students were ready to add their power point reviews, I found that I couldn't save power point presentations as a html as that option was never loaded on our school computers. I now need to get approval for that option to be added to be able to upload the power point reviews.

Conclusion:
Although I chose a project that will develop and transform over time, I currently see many indicators of success. My initial objectives were met. I purposely kept the pilot stage small to measure success and afford reliability. Time to meet with students and student accessibility was less than anticipated with other building initiatives competing for the predetermined Homeroom time. Student engagement is predominant in all aspects of the project. Although I have a cadre of students working on the school web page, I decided to take on a new charge of students to fulfill the goals of this project. I chose to include students who had little or no experience with web design or navigation of the Internet, specifically to assess the complexity and future success of the project at its final stage. An overriding concern was that the opportunity for this project to be successful was based on the accessibility and comfort level of all students, not just those who are already "comfortable" with the use of technology to integrate information.

Continuation of this project in the Second Trimester will reinforce the comprehension of this project. This project is on going, with the final results not being apparent until the summer reading project is underway. Hopefully, with student, parent and teacher support and engagement, reading literacy at the middle school level will improve, with student choice and opportunity being the hallmark of the project.