Yr 8 English - should they be reading the whole text?

[courderoy]

i just want to test if this is normal practice, it’s an example rather than a specific question about this text.

Yr 8 mixed ability set have been studying To Kill a Mockingbird this term. They have read 7 chapters along with the audio book in class and have watched the film.

They wont read much more in class so won’t have read the whole book. English homework policy is a computer based vocab builder and nothing else, and in any case there are not enough texts for them to take home.

I could see how getting through the text would be challenging in the limited time available. I just wanted to test whether this is a normal approach?

Thanks

The physical library has no librarian and not a very good stock due to budget cuts. I don’t know about ebooks, but I expect the cost would be prohibitive. Are there ebook schemes for schools does anyone know?

It doesn’t seem like extract based work by the way they started reading at the beginning and will get as far as they get.

Just checked the KS 3 english programmes of study and it actually says in there that pupils should be expected to read whole books - I realise that might not be TKAM but I don’t think they have or will read a whole book in yrs 7 and 8 (two yr KS3)

I was quite shocked when my granddaughter only had to read one Act of The Tempest in Key Stage 3, and the teacher hadn't told them anything about the play at all.
The same grandchild had to spend the whole of Year7 studying The Monkey's Paw, a very short story.

Can you get it from the public library and read it at home? Even if it's not in stock, I think you can generally order children's books for free. If it were me I think I would be strongly encouraging my DC to read the whole text even if school don't require it. Though it's good that they've watched the whole film at school, as it's a fab film and will give the broader context. (NB DS in Year 7 has only done one book so far - had own copy and read the whole thing as a combination of class reading and homework of reading and precis-ing - independent school, so obviously different in terms of funding available for books.)

I once met someone socially who, during the course of our conversation, revealed that she had written her English degree dissertation on one of my (at the time) favourite authors.

My joy evaporated instantly when she then said that she'd written her dissertation (and got her degree) without ever having actually read any of his books.

Thank goodness that although my kids are at a non selective comp. they bring books home, they get reading homework, they have to write essays for homework, it’s all marked to a good standard and my kids are required to act on the feedback. And in yr 8 the books are less complex. I had to share books with classmates back in the 70s/80s, it seems things get worse, not better. How depressing.

From your update that sounds more like poor planning and running out of time then.

It's worth being aware that academies don't have to follow the KS3 programme of study. I know of some where all KS3 is extract based and driven by the GCSE paper question formats. It sounds horrifyingly boring to teach and study in my opinion.

We have to buy the English Lit books. cheap on eBay. I’d buy it and encourage your dd to read it. So poor to not finish the book