So I Went to Hobby Lobby for Book Report Supplies

and while I was picking up some little thingies to go into a the project I started wondering - whatever happened to actually writing a book report? Charles has been in school nine years now and he has never once written a book report. He's made a sandwich out of story elements. He's created a movie poster about a book. He's even made a power point about a book but he has never once written an book report. He also has never written a term paper or essay and he's in the Pre AP program.

How do schools expect students to learn to write coherent thoughts? How does making a sandwich out of the plot, characters, main idea, and climax of a story teach children critical thinking skills? How will this help him get into college? How will he handle having to write that term paper in Freshman Comp?

I sit here and imagine the look on Dr. Pressman or Sister Anne's face as today's high school graduates attempt to turn a "story sandwich on War and Peace or Little Women. It make me laugh - visions of smoke coming out of the tape recorder of death - heh.

This is a Pre AP English class project - not a regular class - I can only imagine what those projects are like. And yet, as I look at the requirements for this summer's Pre AP Engllish project and thinks there are going to be a lot of upset 9th graders come August. How do teacher's expect kids to make a jump from regurgitation to ingurgitation and adaptation in a summer?

Ten years from now (holy crap I'm old) my child's boss is going to want an analysis of whatever and all he's going to be able to do is make a power point on the plot and main idea of his data.