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WO program keeps kids readingfkxk club for mkklle schoolers helps students build critique skillsBy EhruDietwfitwlaiKisefitmelcom616-$46-4231A lot of literacy efforts in Michigan are focused on students in third grade or below. However, West Ottawa middle schools are making an effort to keep older kids turning the pages too.West Ottawa middle school librarian Cindy Dobrez and former middle school librarian and current West Ottawa board of Education president Lynn Rutan run the Rest Rooks for Young Adults Club, open to all sixth, seventh and eighth-graders in Macatawa Ray and Harbor Lights middle schools. The club has become so beloved that high school students come back to the club as well, and even a few high school graduates..‘It s just great to get to talk about books with people who also really like books,* said Luc Pepper, a sixth-grader at Harbor Lights. “I wish i d been able to join in kindergarten**1 like that everyone here likes to read and we all feel comfortable sharing our opinions,* said Macatawa Ray eighth-grader Maura Tracy, who has been a part of the club since she was a sixth-graderUnlike traditional book clubs, the students in BBYA do not all read, the same book. Each student picks a book based on their own interest from the BBYA collections, which contains recently published books and .advanced, copies of young adult books that have not been published yet The club meets bi-weekly, switching betw een Macs taw a Bay and Harbor .Lights, to discuss what they’ve read and swap books with each other.•Its very flexible,* Dobrez said. *We have students who come and go throughout the year depending on participation in things like musicals or sports. We’re happy to take them when we can get them *The book club has a useful purpose for both students and Dobrez and Rutan. Explaining why they liked to didn’t like a book helps students develop a sense of literary critiquing and evaluation. Rutan and 'Dobrez also appreciate the feedback from target audience of the books for their w ork on their Rookends blog and their work on the Young Adult Library Services Association’s Best Books for Young Adults committee.‘Its so important to hear what tha ksds are thinking,* Rutan said. ‘It’s also SO' fun watching their literary skills grow *— Follow this reporter on Tunttrr (a SmtirulEnn-Harbor Lights sixth-grader Luc Pepper shares bis thoughts on Hare Sword. Wd® TraveT by Garth Hu and Sean Williams at the Best Boohs tor toting Adults book chib meeting on Wednesday.Dec. fc. The club chooses different books to read and discuss from'the BBYA cohectKm. t a m thCTZCR STAf f)
Newspaper Details
Holland Sentinel
Holland, Michigan, US
Sun, Dec 10, 2017
Page 3
Full Page
Clipped by
Cindy D.
USA 26 Nov 2024
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