I’ve had students complain.
I’ve had students defy.
I’ve had students look me straight in the eye and say, “I’m not doing this.”
I’ve even had kids tell me, “I hate school.”
That last one always sticks with me. Because hating school hasn’t always been a thing. Somewhere along the line, it starts.
For years, I’ve asked my 7th and 8th graders a simple question: “When did you start hating school?”
And you know what? About 95% of them say 4th or 5th grade. That’s not a coincidence.
Now that my daughter is in 4th grade, I’m starting to see why.
Take her latest assignment, a two-page book report.
She loves reading. She reads in the car, before bed, pretty much anywhere. She got to pick her book, which should have been awesome. But instead, it came with a mountain of a writing project. She’s never done anything like this before, and the directions weren’t chunked or scaffolded. It was just: “Choose a book and write this big report.”
So now, the kid who loves reading doesn’t.
She’s not thinking about the story anymore.
And to top it off, the two-page report template (from TPT) was emailed to me, and I had to print it because she lost her copy. So now, it’s not just her stress. It’s ours.
Here’s what I keep thinking:
- Just have a few extra copies ready. Battling over a lost paper doesn’t teach responsibility. It just builds resentment.
- Don’t hand a 4th grader a giant project with no warm-up. Start small. Build confidence.
What if instead of the classic book report, we tried something like BookaKucha?
Students create three slides about their book and talk for 20 seconds per slide. That’s it. One minute of presenting. It’s quick, creative, and authentic. They get to share what they love about a book, not just prove they read it.
When students recommend books to each other, it creates a reading culture. And culture beats compliance every time.
Because maybe the goal isn’t to make kids “do” reading.
Maybe it’s to make sure they don’t stop loving it.
Moler's Musings 