I write out a weekly assignment sheet with reading, technical reading, and writing assignments. The first few weeks, I did require written answers to a few short essay questions about their reading which seemed to help them get into discussion easier. Now, I may include one question to write out and others they are simply to be prepared to discuss, complete with notes and phrases but no polished answers. If they get stuck in class, they have something to refer to. Grading the essays is the hard part for me.
Easy grades are quizzes and tests over the reading material.
I send the test home sealed and they bring it back for me to grade. I use published tests from a variety of sources whenever I can to give them practice taking as many kinds of tests as possible. Whenever there is a test on the Gradesaver site, they take that as a practice test. Again, it gives them experience with tricky multiple choice questions. Unlike college, we have a related snack whenever we can-blackberry pie for the reading of Four and Twenty Blackbirds for instance.