Kidsday: Brought together by books

Students from my school took a trip to Jericho Middle School for a Book Talk. A Book Talk is when kids read the same book and meet to talk about the book.

The kids talk about how they thought the book was, their favorite part, and what they would change about the book. I read "The Bystander" by James Preller. It is about a boy who sees bullying but does nothing about it. Then, he becomes the bully's next target.

At the beginning of the talk when all the schools were arriving, there were bagels for the students and teachers. This was a fun activity because it gave me a chance to make new friends. After that, we went to the library and played a game to get the kids settled in and relaxed. After our conversations, we made bookmarks to represent our book. We discussed what we put on our bookmarks and why. Then, all the groups got together, and each school went its separate way.

We returned to school around 1 p.m., and went about our normal day. It was a great chance to talk with other students about books.

Do good grades merit rewards?

Should kids be rewarded for getting good grades?

I surveyed 100 kids in the seventh grade in our middle school. I gave them three choices -- yes, no or I don't care.

Here are the results:

Yes, we should be rewarded: 70

No: 15

I don't care: 15

I also wanted to know the kind of reward kids liked the most -- money or gifts.

Here is what I found out from those who answered yes or no:

Money: 60

Gifts: 25

As you can see, more than half of the kids said they should be rewarded. More kids wanted money as their reward rather than gifts.

Some kids felt that this was their "job," and they should be rewarded for a job well done!

--Kidsday Reporter Veronica Muzek

CLASS OF THE WEEK: Marion DelGiudice's seventh-grade class, SEAFORD MIDDLE SCHOOL