Leestaken

Leestaken is a term used in Dutch-speaking education to describe reading assignments. A leestaak consists of reading one or more prescribed texts and completing accompanying tasks that assess comprehension, analysis, and communication. The singular form is leestaak, while leestaken is the common plural. The term is used across primary, secondary, and higher education, and can accompany both literary and informational texts.

Purpose and scope: Leestaken aim to develop reading comprehension, critical thinking, argumentation, and subject-specific literacy. They may be integrated into lessons, aligned with curriculum objectives, and serve formative or summative assessment. They can be completed individually or collaboratively and may use print or digital texts.

Typical structure: A leestaak usually includes a prescribed text, guiding questions, and one or more tasks such as summarizing, identifying main arguments, analyzing structure or use of evidence, and noting vocabulary. Some assignments require reflections, comparisons with other sources, or creation of annotated notes. Tasks are often scored with rubrics that specify criteria like understanding, accuracy, clarity, and originality.

Relation to related concepts: Leestaken are distinct from a reading list (leeslijst), which simply enumerates texts to read; a leestoets or boekbespreking covers broader evaluation. In practice, terms vary by school or country.

Example: Read a chapter from a sociology text and answer five questions; compare the chapter’s findings with a short accompanying article; write a one-page analysis explaining similarities and differences.