Book Club General Expectations

As the culmination of your quarter-long Book Club, your group will present your text to the class in some sort of interactive fashion. Your goals will be to give your audience something to read by making them want to read your book, convey to the audience what the book is about—not its plot but one or more of its themes, to establish that you as a group have thought in complex, multifaceted ways about the purpose of literature in our culture as well as in our lives.

One of the first things for each group is to decide upon a reading schedule and set up some discussions, either online (you can use the chat box(for real time/synchronous) or a forum (for asynchronous) in the blog or just share email address or whatever you want, such as the blog itself). There will also be some class time to work on these projects. I suggest getting the book read as soon as you can so the research and development of the final project can get going and isn't rushed.

Book Club Reading Journal Expectations

• Book Club Reading Journals are to be posted online in the appropriate discussion forum.
• English 94/98 students must submit two entries per week. English 151/99 students must submit four sets per week.
• Book Club journal entries are to consist of four questions per set as described below:
• Right There: this question can be answered by locating information in the text, in just one spot. The answer will be either right or wrong.
• Think and Search: the answer to this question must be cobbled together from various parts of the text. The answer, generally, is either right or wrong.
• Writer and Me: There is a best or better choice, which means you can answer wrong. The answer is based on/inferred from facts from the book but also requires respondents to use prior knowledge. For instance, if you were in the Courting Marcus Dupree group, you might ask "When the recruiting of Marcus began, do you think Marcus' coach was looking out for Marcus's best interest?"
• On my Own: In some respects, you don't have to have read the book to answer a question of this sort. However, we do expect that these questions will flow from issues raised in the book. For instance, if you are in the Game of Shadows group, you might ask "Do you think Barry Bond's new home run mark is legitimate?"
• Be sure to read the other questions posted by your group members before you post yours because you will not be given credit for asking questions that have already been asked.
• Each week it is required that you read and respond to the questions posed by your book club members. Respond to one right there, one think and search, one on my own and one writer and me question that has been posted by each member of your book club. Do not answer the same or similar questions posed by different students. Credit will only be given to journals and responses that are posted weekly.
• Once you begin reading your book club text, post the journals for the week before the end of the day Friday. Responses to questions should be posted before the start of class Monday morning.

Book Club Presentation Expectations

The below is what your project is expected to address at a minimum. 

• Primary goal is to get others interested in the text. This goal might take something of a backseat with the mid-term presentation as you won't have much time to make your points;
• What the book is about; provide a faithful representation of the major elements of the text;
  
• Who  the characters are and whether or not they are compelling characters; who are the essential/central and secondary characters and why are they of concern?
  
• What are the text's conflicts and/or themes and why might that matter then or now?;
• What is your assessment of the writer's style?
• What interesting information might compel somewhat to read the book?
  
• Discover what you believe to be “true” about the text and back that up with evidence.
• The mid-term presentation should also provide some predictions about what might happen as the narrative progresses and the tale concludes. Build this on concrete elements within the text and not mere speculation;
• A "Works Cited" is required, and a page of links to other resources is also a good thing to include.
  

Midterm Presentation

The mid-term report will be about the first half of the text: what it is about, who are the characters, are they compelling characters, what are the story's conflicts and/or themes, what is your assessment of the writer's style, what predictions do you make for the rest of the book, what are the conflicts that are developing or themes that seem to be emerging, and anything else you find of interest or importance in the text and your group discussions.

As a group, you are responsible for creating wiki in the class space covering the above listed topics. Be sure that everyone’s name is on it and that everyone contributes. In addition, each group will give a 10-minute oral report covering the same points. Each member of the group must deliver a roughly equal portion of the oral report. I suggest that the person who delivers the oral material on a particular portion of the topic also be the person responsible for writing up that material. Some group member can then take all the written material and put it into a single document.

Possible Final Projects

• Create or substantially revise, for the better, an entry on Wikepedia;
• Create a website regarding your work and share it with the classroom. This must be a solid repository of information, most of it original with documented sources;
• Reader's Theater: Put on a dramatic production of some element of the text, one that highlights the major themes and conflicts of the text. Reader's theater does not require that you memorize your lines, but you should be able to read them with a minimum of prompting from the text. Costumes and some sort of set are also needed. This can happen in the class, or in some other locale that works for the class period;
• Video Project: Produce a video somewhat along the lines of a reader's theater.
• Develop some interactive presentation that has the rest of the class engage in some activity that leaves them better understanding the novel you worked with;
• PowerPoint presentation to class, just be sure it has both power and a point! Watch this video about lame PowerPoint presentations so you don't make the same mistakes.
• Dramatized interview with one or more of the characters;
• Puppet show with same/similar expectations of reader's theater;
• Game show that is staged to engage folks who have not read the text while giving them an understanding of the text;
• Got another idea? Run it by me and we'll see.

A Note about Images and Sound if you build a website

Both images and sounds are great things to have on websites, but they need to be done properly, especially from a copyright and intellectual property perspective. In short, you are not allowed to just snag sounds and images from the web unless they are in the Public Domain, which is not always easy to determine. If you are uncertain, I suggest you email the person who has the images you want to use and seek their permission. When that sound or image is then used, it is expected that attribution be provided so readers of the site know where the information came from.& Sometimes, if you can't secure permission, the image or sound can be included by providing a link rather than placing the image itself within the site. We can talk about this as needed.

Grading

Along with my making a determination of the project’s quality and effectiveness, you will also be grading the participation of each group member. Specific criteria can be found within the attached rubric.

New Stuff to work into the above material: Book Club Final Presentation CRITERIA The students brainstorm the criteria by which they will be graded for this presentation and weigh the points as they see fit. This is one example of a student-generated rubric: Knowledge/Preparation Presenters know what they’re talking about but can admit they are wrong, are prepared, and are ready for other opinions; thinking about the novel or has been complex and multifaceted; presenters do not act like they know everything about everything; presenters should engage the complexities of the question and not dismiss a question because they don’t want to talk about it. Tone Presenters are passionate and clearly enjoy what they’re doing, they clearly want to be in class; presenters create a mood appropriate to the book; presenters present an authentic engaged voice (not monotone); presenters are flexible—are able to go where the class needs them to go; presenters are friendly, respectful, and open minded. Teaching Methods Presenters use creative teaching methods—the presentation exudes imagination and originality to make a thought-provoking connection to the book; presenters take into account individual learning styles and teach to the age and abilities of the students; presenters prepare the students, stay on task giving them things to do that are relevant and important to their learning, and communicate effectively. Audience Awareness/Relationship to Students Presenters make their students think, push them to understand concepts, and hold them accountable for their choices; presenters are approachable, available, encouraging, and genuinely sees students as human beings; presenters take into account how hard the students work; don’t play favorites; don’t waste students’ time.

Attachment	Size
book club Group_Evaluation_Form.do.doc	30.5 KB
bookclubrubric.rtf	35.56 KB