Not Sure if Students are Doing the Reading? Let Them Prove it.

Since I taught literature, my students always had a novel that they should be reading at home, but I never knew for sure if they were keeping up with the reading. The common solution to this problem is the periodic reading comprehension test.

I gave many of these, but they took a lot of class time, they took even more time to grade, and they didn't always accomplish my goal. Some students did the reading but happened to skip over an important fact that was on the quiz. Other students, often the ones who struggled, spent twice as much time reading, but their poor test taking skills got in their way and earned them a grade that looked like they skipped the reading. Conversely, too many students did skip the reading but looked at plot summaries online or asked friends about the plot. These students often earned better grades than many of the students who completed the assignment.

One day, while I was trying to solve this problem, I realized that it's not my problem, it's the students'. The next day when I assigned the next week's reading, I asked the students if they liked reading comprehension quizzes. Of course, they did not. I then informed them that it would be up to them to prove to me that they read the assignment. I wanted to really push their problem solving skills, so I make half of the grade based on how effectively they proved that they read. The other half? how creative their solution was. One could also make it a contest to see which student or which class came up with the best solution.

I have never had students devote more effort to a reading assignment. Far more students completed the reading than usual. Unfortunately, some students lacked creativity, turning in notes from their mommies stating that they had done the reading. I also had a few that made a poster because at our school, they had done so many posters over the years that the word "project" = "poster." Conversely, I had very fun, unusual submissions. One student wrote his own quiz and then took it. A few students made home movies acting out the plot. One student did the same thing but with animated stick figures. One swore an oath on a Bible while another tape recorded herself reading the whole chapter aloud - I fast forwarded to the end. My favorite was a student who took a photograph every ten minutes of herself reading with a clock in the background; you could see the turned pages staking up as the clock hand moved.

Obviously, students in school need to write essays and take tests. But often, there is a fun and creative alternative to boring busy work. Instead of asking students to write the answer to a question, have them give the answer in anything except words. Or have them write a poem, act it out in class, or send it in a text message. Many students are so bored with the same old assignments that they really appreciate a teacher that does something unexpected.

And if you just have to give reading comprehension quizzes, roll a die or flip a coin right before the quiz to see which classes have to take it. The students think it is great because they don't have to take a quiz, but they still had to prepare for it, and you have half as many quizzes to grade.