When we introduced Book Talks with Benny, it was a game changer for reading accountability in schools. Now, Benny the Bean is going beyond accountability to give you insight into student engagement with independent reading.
When a student completes a title in a Book Talks-enabled challenge, Benny initiates an open-ended conversation about the book they read. Afterward, Benny draws reading engagement insights from the conversation and shares them with librarians and teachers. This feature aims to help educators better understand which of their students are positively engaged with the books they’re reading and which ones may need more enrichment and intervention.
These insights can be viewed by going to Classes and Readers > Students > Sessions for Review.
Engagement Breakdown
Reading engagement insights include green flags, red flags, and a summary and analysis of the conversation with the student.
Green Flags
Green flags generally indicate honest logging and a positive reading experience by the student. These flags include the following:
- Answer Length
- The student provided one or more in-depth responses during the conversation.
- References Details
- The student referenced supporting evidence in one or more responses.
- Positive Sentiment
- The student expressed that they enjoyed the book or conversation in one or more responses.
Red Flags
Red flags may indicate dishonest logging by the reader. These flags include the following:
- Response Lacking Detail
- We were unable to identify specific book details in one or more responses.
- Skipped Question
- The student skipped one or more responses.
- Pasted Text in Response
- The student pasted text into the response window.
- Lost Focus
- The student took a while to respond or switched to a different window.
- Took a While to Respond
- Took over one minute to respond.
- Conversation Ends Early
- The student chose to end the conversation early, before sharing five responses.
Engagement Analysis
Together, green and red flags generate an overall engagement analysis for a single Book Talk with Benny. Engagement analysis can be categorized as either positive, negative, or neutral.
- ✅ - (Green) It is likely the student was positively engaged with the book.
- ❌ - (Red) It is likely the student was not positively engaged with the book.
- ➖ - (Yellow) Either the analysis is still in progress or it is unclear if the student was positively engaged with the book.