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BrittneyShaw
Fogelson
JuniorEnglishDE
May2,2016
CompareandContrast
Readingnotonlyhasthepotentialtomakelifebetterbutcanalsoimprovetestscoresand
significantlyimprovevocabulary.Aloveofreadingcanhavearippleeffectonastudentslife
byhelpingthemdobetterinschool,whichcouldpossiblyleadtoadegreeandtheneventoa
dreamjob.Moreemployed,literatecitizensisbeneficialbecauseithelpsthegovernmentand
businessesbyreducingtheamountofmoneyneededforhealthcareandprogramsforthe
unemployed.Increasedliteracycanalsoleadtoadecreaseincriminalactivityduetomore
peopleworking,improvingtheeconomy,providingfortheirfuture,andhelpingthecommunity
asawhole.Thequestion,however,ishowdoesthisdreamofabetterlifethroughreading
becomeareality?.Therearemanyoptionstohelpstudentswhodonotliketoread,including
payingforacompulsorytutoringserviceorteachingthechildwithhomemaderesources.These
arebothimprovementyieldinganddistinguishedoptions,butitisdifficulttoteachaloveof
learningwhenitfeelslikemorehomeworkanotheroptionthatprovidesanenjoyableexperience
ofreadingandsupportsstudentsthroughtheirgrowthwouldbearegularlymeetingbookclub
withanemphasisonfun.
Therearenumerousbenefitsofacompulsorytutoringservice,suchasSylvanLearning
Center,thatproduceexcitingresults.Sylvanisatuitionbasedprogrampaidforbythestudents
guardians.Hiredteachersworkthroughtheneededmaterialwiththestudentsusinga


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personalizedcurriculumguidedbypreteststhatgaugeexactlywherethestudentislackingin
theirstudies.ThestudentsevenaregivenaniPadforthedurationofthetutoringsessionto
blendtechnologyandlearning.Sylvanensuresthattheirindividualizedtutoringnotonlyhelps
thestudentinschoolbutalsothatthematerialalignsthestateandCommonCorestandardsso
thattheskills[thestudent]islearningatSylvanmakeanimpactatschool(SylvanLearning).
Studentsalsohavetheopportunitytoearnprizesfordoingwellintutoring.Forthosewhocan
affordit,Sylvanisagreatoptionforimprovingthereadingskillsofastudent.However,there
aresomedrawbacksthatmakethisoptionjustshyofideal.Inordertoreceivetutoring,the
guardianmustpayfortheinitialtestthatmeasuresthestudentsabilitiesinadditiontotheactual
service.Thisisagreattooltomakethetutoringpersonal,butcanbecostlytotheguardians.
Theinitialtestaveragesabout$95,anditisadditionalhundredsofdollarsfortheweekly
tutoring(SylvanLearning).Sylvanisopenyearround,howeveritisasignificanttime
commitment.Thereareseverallocationsacrossthevalley,butitcanstillbeburdensometo
donateseveralhourseachweektotutoringforachild.Withworkingfamiliesthatarestruggling
financiallyorworkduringthehoursthattutoringisoffered,thiscouldbeamajorsetback.
SylvanLearningandotherpricedtutoringsystemsprovevaluable,therearecomplicationsthat
makeitdifficultforstudentsstrugglingfinanciallyorwantavoluntaryreadingprogram.
Studentsinthiscommunitycouldprospergreatlyfromabookclub,aprojectwitha
differentapproachthanatutoringprogram.Itisanenjoyableopportunityforbothilliterateand
literatestudentstoimprovetheirskillandwidentheirvocabulary,butalsobuildfriendshipsand
communitythroughthecommonalityofbooks.Thegoalisnottoassignanadditionalloadof
homework,buttoinstallaloveoflearningthroughpositiveexperiencesandaccomplishments.


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Asseenbyrepresentationsofstudiesthroughgraphs,byincreasingthenumberofminutesthe
studentreads,theirvocabularyandexposureexperiencesexponentialgrowth.Also,bookclubs
discussionswould
improvesocial
skillsandcreative
andanalytical
thinking(PBS
Kids).An
advantageof
recreationalreading
isgrowthofvocabulary,accumulationofradical
innovativeideas,andtheopportunitytolive
experiencesthroughtheeyesofanotherperson.
Readingbychoicehasbeensaidto
stir
imaginationandfosterindependentthinking
alongwithsparkinganinterestinhistory
(FremontTribune).
Thesereadingscanalsopositivelyimpactreadingandwritingstandardized
testscores.StudiesreportedonEducationWorldshowedthatstudentswhoreadmoreminutes
perdayhavehigherpercentilescoresontestsadditionallystudentswhowoulddiscussreading
activitiesweeklyormonthlyhadhigherreadingscoresthanthosewhodidnt.Thisbookclub
wouldbefreeofcharge,thereforegivingstudentsfromdiversefinancialbackgroundsthe
opportunitytoparticipate.Ideally,itwouldmeetbiweeklyattheSurpriseLibrary.Thisisina


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centrallocationforthetownandmakesthetimecommitmentnotoverwhelmingandallowstime
forthestudentstoreadinbetweenmeetings.Theclubwouldalsoaskfordonationsfrom
variousbookstoresanddonorstohelpkeeptheclubrunning.Therearealsoplanstohave
incentivesforcompletingbookslikegiftcardsorprizesordonatedbooks.Abookclubwould
beapleasurable,inexpensiveoptiontoimproveliteracylocallyandbuildcommunitywhile
reducingilliteracy.
Compulsorytutoringisagreatoptionforstudentsthatarestrugglinginschool,buta
bookclubwouldhaveadrasticallyincreasedchancesofstudentsfallinginlovewithreading
withsimilarbenefitsofagrandervocabulary,improvedsocialskills,andacreativemind.This
increasesavailabilitytostudentsofallfinancialsituationsandwellasdrawmorestudentsthat
arelookingforabreakfromhomeworkandschoolwork.Therewouldalsobebuildingof
communityandfellowshipwiththediscussionofsimilartopics.


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WorksCited
ONeill,Doug.10BenefitsofJoiningaBookClub.
CanadianLiving.
TVAGroupInc2015.Web.
28Apr2016.
PBSParents.TheBenefitsofKidsBookClubs.
PBSParents.
PBSParents,2015.Web.26Apr
2016.
SylvanLearningCenter.ReadingTutoring.
SylvanLearning.
SylvanLearning,2016.Web.28Apr
2016.