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Goal

The goal of this project is to continue making a connection for students between reading, writing and technology by joining my class in the online Spaghetti Book Club. Students will read books of their choice, write reviews of those books, create illustrations that support their writing, and then publish their work online. Students will also complete a family book review of a Florida Sunshine State Reader and complete a group book review as a final assignment following a literature group in class.  

What will be done with my students

For the past three years, I have been lucky enough to join my class in the “Spaghetti Book Club” which is a website for kids on which they are able to publish book reviews. Students from all over the world are able to access this site and share ideas about the books they are reading and learn more about books they might want to read. The site allows students to experience many areas of language arts including reading a variety of genres as well as working through the writing process leading to published works with illustrations! I have used my membership on the website for each class as a yearlong project that includes students reading in a variety of ways including independently in school, at home with their families, and in student literature groups. All of this reading is then partnered with the writing process including drafting, editing, revising and publishing writing which is all based on the books read. This has been one of the most successful recurring projects I have ever completed, so of course I want to continue the project again this year! This year’s class would also become a member of the Spaghetti Book Club, would read a variety of books including the 2015-2016 Sunshine State Readers (chosen as the best literature for students this year) as an at-home portion of the project, and would write book reviews on all of these books. They would also be illustrators and create illustrations to support their writing. This project is so important to me because it strongly meets the needs of all levels of learners which range each year from struggling reader to advanced gifted reader in my classroom. This project allows students to be successful at their own level and be able to take pride in their work because the reading and writing is done is such a variety of ways. One of the strongest portions of this project has been asking families to partner with their child to read a Sunshine State Book and write a review of it together as a family. Getting everyone involved in the process has extended the excitement for reading beyond my classroom walls! I hope to continue that success this year and include the culminating event that is a celebration of the awesome work that is put forth by students and their families throughout the year. The event this year would be titled as my “4th Annual Pasta Party – A Celebration of the Readers and Writers in Our 3rd Grade Class.” At the Pasta Party, each student will present one book review to the audience which is comprised of student families and guests from our school who have had some kind of impact on the students in my class. As a class, we will make a spaghetti feast to be enjoyed during the presentations so the families can talk about the wonderful books they have read over a meal, in hopes that they will continue to have more book conversations at home over family dinners after such a great experience with the Spaghetti Book Club! After last year’s feast, I received an email from our school’s Reading Coach and his thoughts really sum up what I feel this project is all about. “I was absolutely impressed with their ability to stand in front of a crowd of grown-ups and deliver their summaries and recommendations! I particularly felt proud to be in the company of a teacher who incorporates all of the new LAFS (reading, writing, speaking and listening).” My hope is to be able to continue this project in order to impact my newest group of third graders with an experience that will give them the tools to continue as a successful reader and writer long beyond third grade! 

Benefits to my students

Students in third grade are now working with the new Florida standards and preparing for the FSA test which is focused on testing students with a high level of critical thinking and questions that are rigorous to determine if they have full comprehension. Students will be asked to cite examples from the text that they read to prove their ideas and draw conclusions from the text. The Spaghetti Book Club will help to develop advanced ways of understanding, reflecting on, and connecting to what they read. By going through the process of writing book reviews, students will read and reread books, take part in book talks, as well as write summaries, opinions, and recommendations. Another benefit is that publishing on the internet shows students that their opinions and reactions are important not just to their teacher, but to other children their age, their parents, and their community. Students will be held to the publishing rules that have been created by the site itself, and knowing that many others will be able to go onto the site and read the writing they have done will motivate my students to do their best! Finally, having families take part in the process as well as having students have accountability in a small group setting to complete book reviews will give students more opportunity to learn from others, including adults and peers, while in the process of becoming strong readers and writers.  

Budget Narrative

All book titles in the budget are the Florida Sunshine State Readers for 2015-2016 that are needed for the at home part of the project. The membership for the Spaghetti Book Club allows for 90 book reviews for the class for one year. 

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