Happy Wednesday bookworms! Today I'm coming to you with another Chats With Paige installment! Since the school year is coming up, it got me thinking of required reading in school. I know this is something that is talked about often in the reading community, so I thought I'd discuss some of my views on the topic and share some research about it!
How Do Students React? Generally most students in the classroom already do not enjoy reading, so this added responsibility is not normally well received. In younger grades, a book may not be assigned but instead they are required to read for a certain amount of time each night. Studies have shown that when told they have to read, they typically grow to find reading a chore and do not enjoy it. However, those given the freedom to choose are more likely to read on their own. Required Reading in High School Below are some books that are usually assigned in high school. Most are classics or plays that have many underlying messages. My Opinion Personally, I've had many different experiences pertaining to required reading at school. I have always loved reading even from a young age. So when we were told we had to read it made me excited! When we read books as a class, I was always happy to discuss the books with my classmates and teacher. The teacher would hold contests to see who could read the most, and the winner would get a free book! Needless to say I won every time 😂. However, when I got into highschool I found that I really didn't enjoy some of the books we were reading. It also probably didn't help that we would continually prod and pick at the story and analyze it to death 😂. That being said, there is some books that I absolutely loved. Those being: The Great Gatsby, The Outsiders, all of the Shakespeare plays I’ve read, A Monster Calls, The Crucible, and more! In the end, I love reading and talking about books regardless if it is mandatory or not. I think that a way to improve this system would be to select books that engage a variety of students and to give them options. Along with giving younger students a more lenient plan in order to not make reading a chore. What’s your opinion on required reading? Did you enjoy any of the books you read? Let me know in the comments below!
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Hello bookworms and happy Wednesday! I thought I'd introduce a new feature on my blog and that is Chats with Paige! In this series I'll be doing discussion like posts where I talk about lots of topics in the book community! The first post is How I Rate Books! I'm excited to share my thought process with you guys so let's get into it! My Star System So first I thought I'd talk about the system as a whole. I rate every book out of 5 stars. I do give out half stars but not 0.25 or 0.75. I tend to only go with half stars as once I get into smaller fractions it gets hard to differentiate exactly what criteria was met and to what degree. If I only give out half stars it gives me a clearer and more definitive way to seperate for example a 3 star or 4 star book. My Criteria Here's a little list of some criteria I consider about a book before giving it a rating:
5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ This book was a new favourite! I only rate a book 5 stars if I know it's become a favourite of all time. I loved every aspect of this book and wouldn't change anything about it. I grew very attached to the characters and the plot, and was surprised at every turn. I felt a lot of emotions while reading and it was a book I couldn't put down. A book I'd recommend to everyone. 4 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐ I really enjoyed this book! This is an average rating, as I rate a lot of books 4 stars. While I did enjoy this book, I didn't have an extreme connection to it and it hasn't become an all time favourite. I would change some aspects but I was overall happy with the plot and characters. I might not have felt very emotionally attached. Is still a book I'd recommend to many people. 3 Stars ⭐⭐⭐ This book was average. I've seen many people discuss if they think 3 stars is a good rating or not. In my opinion, it isn't a bad thing. When I give a book a 3 stars, I usually did have a good time reading but I had more things I would change about it. I might have felt confused while reading or maybe overwhelmed by many things happening in the plot. I probably didn't connect with the characters very much and wasn't emotionally invested. I would recommend this book to people that wanted something specific in a book or if I think someone else would like it more than I would. 2 Stars ⭐⭐ I wasn't a fan of this book. When a book earns 2 stars there is some redeeming quality that saved it from a 1 star. It may be that I liked the characters or elements of the plot, but overall I didn't enjoy reading it. I wouldn't recommend this book unless someone was really interested in the concept. 1 Star ⭐ I did not enjoy this book at all. I didn't like any aspect of the plot or characters. Luckily this doesn't happen very often, but when it does it's usually something I didn't want to pick up. For example my last book I rated 1 star was Death of A Salesman that I read for school. With a 1 star book, I may be confused while reading, or something happened that I really did not enjoy or wanted to read about. The writing is poorly done and I had to push myself to finish it. I would not recommend this book and would steer others away from it. A 0.5 can be earned when a book is close to a star but is given half because it did not meet all the expectations of that category.
That's all for my first Chats with Paige post! Did you enjoy it? How do you rate your books? Let me know in the comments below! |
AuthorPaige is a bookstagrammer and blogger who loves all things bookish. From fantasy to mystery she can’t get enough! She’s always ready to recommend you a book and she can talk about her favourites all day. When she’s not reading, you can find her watching Marvel movies, playing video games, and taking bookstagram photos. Visit her on Instagram and Twitter for more updates. Categories
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