Book Projects

December Book Project: AAO Showcase! 

Since December is a short month and we’re so busy with Showcase, our book project for December will be focusing on research for our Showcase project: How music has changed society.  

 Every month, the class is assigned a book to read from a special genre and asked to do a project on it for homework.  Kids will always receive written directions about the assignment at the beginning of the month, and these directions will also be posted on our website.  These projects will always be due on the last day of the school each month.  At school, we will be reading, writing and interacting with this type of literature in a variety of ways throughout the month.

Long-term assignments such as these are hard for most kids at this level.  They easily fall in to that old trap of putting things off until the last minute.  As adults, we know how important it is to plan for projects such as these.  Here are some suggestions on how you can help your child throughout the month:

    Help them DEVELOP A PLAN for completing this project on time.  This should be kept simple.  Set smaller, intermediate goals throughout the month.  For example, "read one chapter a day" or "read 45 pages a week".  We will be talking about this in class as well and asking them to give us written copies of their plans.  

    CHECK THEIR PROGRESS REGULARLY.  Please ask your child often how they are doing and see if they are meeting their goals.

    GIVE ASSISTANCE WHERE NEEDED.  Does your child need help remembering to bring their book home?  Do they need you to read with them for a short time each night?  Do they need special materials to do the project?

    REVISE THE PLAN IF NECESSARY.  Is this book too hard?  Too easy?  We try to encourage the kids to choose that are "just right", but with so many kids, we may miss the mark at times.  Tell your child to let us know right away is he/she needs to pick a new book.

Remember, we will send home a copy of every month's book project so you will know exactly what's expected.  If you don't get one after a day or two, ask for a new copy or check out website!  Together, we should be able to help all our children succeed!

Thanks for all your help!