Introducing book clubs to students

Even better, imagine your student readers encouraging other student readers from home. In order to carry out book clubs successfully, students must work together to negotiate places and times to meet, along with the pacing and discussion of the books. If you belong to a book group yourself, you will know that the pleasure of reading is multiplied when we share our ideas, explore differences of opinion and find common interests. I placed three selections at each desk group around the room. A group of high school students sitting in a circle, discussing a book. What are some creative ways you introduce a new book to.

Have students share their prior knowledge and experiences about book clubs. Tell students that, in this session, they will be choosing the books they will discuss in their book club. Students can also be involved in selecting texts for their book club to study and discuss. The activities below will reinforce and enhance what your students are currently reading. The dangers of faculty book club the chronicle of higher. Give students about 20 minutes to browse through the books and make a list of their top three choices. Introducing book clubs in the 4th grade donorschoose. Do you want to have a theme for your book club based on the groups interests. The author is lester laminack, and the illustrator is adam gustavson. I projected these onto the board as students arrived. Here are a few ideas i have compiled from running my own schoollibrarybased book clubs and a few ideas i have yet to try out. Books clubs can be an effective way to use these natural tendencies as a positive tool to engage middle school students in literature.

Encourage students to keep reading over the summer by forming student book clubs weve created a student book club guide to share with your students and their parents to help you get the ball rolling. Book clubs can be used to support indepth analysis and discussion of a variety of texts including literature, historical accounts, movie clips, and lyrics. Elementary middle schoolhigh school this book is not a member benefit, but sample chapters have been selected for your perusal. They can do this keeping in mind, an audience they would like to draw with the hook. Follow the steps below to start a club that is interesting, wellrun, and will last a long time. To say that there was a buzz about book clubs all week would be an understatement. After reading a selected book, they discuss what they like and dislike about the book and if they would recommend it to a friend with their partner. The one that i plan to us is the video modelling what a book club discussion is supposed to look like with real students discussing a real text. I had scoured the book room, gone book shopping spending my own money and used most of my scholastic points. Minilessons that support effective book clubs center. I had some students begging me to read just the first few pages. Imagine the topics being learnergenerated and the discussion natural, without formal comprehension questions or postreading exercises. Find ideas for discussions and activities your book club will enjoy. As stated in previous sections of this series, mini lessons are not a necessary part of literacy circlesbook clubs.

This is the fourth installment in a series of posts with ideas and suggestions for running effective literacy circles or book clubs with students from second grade. Yesterday, i introduced book clubs by issuing students their books with their reading ticketsschedules see previous blog post, please. Scholastic book clubs childrens books for parents and. The second post details how to establish expectations and create a schedule, and the third post discusses accountability and assessment procedures recent literacy research has revealed that choice is the key ingredient in a successful reading program, especially for reluctant readers. Book clubs services to schools national library of new zealand. Whether youre a school librarian or a teacher, allowing time for. Students need to choose the books that they are reading.

Both students and teachers tend to get a little antsy and stressed at the end of the school year, and these notes are. Texts can be assigned based on student interests, reading level, or learning objectives. How we set up book clubs in middle school pernille ripp. See more ideas about library activities, elementary school library and library lessons. Usually its every time they meet, with snacks and drinks and a general good vibe because they got to get out of the house or office or daily routine to talk about something they enjoy.

Students are expected to come to group with reactions and thoughts to share. Book clubs for the upper elementary classroom the rigorous owl. If you are looking to start an online book club for the classroom, it may be advisable to initiate a closed club. Students also got new seatingtable assignments when they arrived.

I decided to only include girls because it was mostly girls in my summer clubs, and since i was starting small with lunch bunch book clubs, it made the most sense to have a homogeneous girl group. If you are part of a book club, share your experiences with the class. Students are introduced to the questionanswer relationship qar strategy through a readaloud and question sort. It is probably best done in the form of a written recount. Minilessons that support effective book clubs center for the. Book clubs are a great way to engage students with reading and help build a reading culture at your school. However, as the year has progressed, obtaining books has been very costly for me. Launch book clubs in just one week with these handy tools and resources. A book club is simply a small group of students that meets together to discuss a shared title theyve all read on their own.

This is the fourth installment in a series of posts with ideas and suggestions for running effective literacy circles or book clubs with students from second grade through high school. This post is the first in a threepart series about how to run a book club in your classroom. That way they can still rely on each other for help as they read their book, even if they are not officially meeting. Middle school students are typically social and like to talk. Book clubs, or literature circles, are a powerful way to build stronger readers and better reading comprehension in your students. I magine your students, sitting in small groups of.

It can be used to introduce students to any new book, whether a work of literature or a resource book such as holocaust and human behavior. Students are either seating with their entire book club or in a subgroup of a larger book club. Starting an action book club is simple, whether youre a seasoned book club, a group of friends, or a classroom of students excited to give back to your community. No matter the genre, age, notoriety, or length of the book of the moment, book club questions can kickstart or enhance your group discussion. Nonacademic book clubs often meet at public libraries, some of which provide tips about logistics, suggestions for icebreaking questions, and ways to handle the verbose and the silent. Text to self is a great opportunity for students to become introspective. While your book choice may be set, make as many other decisions as possible with. You want students to understand that a book club is when people who have all read the same book come together to discuss that book.

Introduce the books that you have chosen by giving a brief summary of each and sharing some of the main themes. Book clubs for children are a staple activity at many libraries and schools. How do i create a virtual book club for my students. Introducing the scholastic book clubs bonus catalog. Now that you know all about high school clubs and why youd want to start your own, lets get started. If you think about it, the book club format has really been around for a long time. Students can go into their book club groups with a toolbox paper. The first step is to ask students to write down all the key elements of the book. With all of this said, it is still true that the more background students have had in reading for deeper meaning and working in collaborative settings, the less support they will need with lists, prompts, or minilessons. Today i will write an introduction about book clubs and dive further into the different parts of. It may help to introduce this in class and send home to parents. Book club success for every student success for every. There are infinite ways to organised and run a book club.

Book reports are a thing of the past, and its time to be innovative and try some book activities that your students will enjoy. In august after i introduce the concept of our class book club, i teach students about literacy. My students need sets of books on world war ii to use during guided reading and book club, as well as posters depicting the the wwii era and a bookshelf to store the books. Of course, students may choose to run their own book clubs at any point. Classroom book clubs are about real reading of real texts.

As a scholastic book clubs teacher, youll have access to the very best children s books just right for your gradeplus special themed catalogs so that you can offer families a wider selection of books each month that match kids interests and reading levels. If you would like to order something from these book orders, there are a couple ways to do so. Students then use the strategy to develop questions for a peerled book discussion. For over a decade, a core group of english teachers and the teacherlibrarian at. Introducing an allnew book club for bu wheelock students. One would, however, require an invite to join a closed club. An open club allows anyone to register and become a member of the club. Draw from their collages when introducing the book club concept. Neil gaiman goodreads author shelved 3 times as highschoolbookclub avg rating 4. The scholastic book clubs bonus catalog has everything you need. May 17, 2020 learning and reading activities for the elementary school library. These two kids seem to be zipping down a hill on this red sled. I held two book clubs during the lunch hour for a group of 4thgrade girls and a group of 5thgrade girls.

Book club reading and discussions must focus on reading, on students making connections with what they are reading and generating ideas, and then discussing these ideas and connections. Then, on the first day of clubs, we had a book walk. This is a quick and easy way to order books and it also gives your childs classroom the opportunity to receive free books from scholastic. In order for your classroom book club to be successful, you need to entice students. Plus you can use the bonus points youve earned all year long. After teaching literature, composition, and creative writing to thousands of high school and college students for 33 years, susan turned her attention to putting a novel in her heart on paper, the genesis of which started with a short story that won a fiction prize some years ago. General book club questions for study and discussion. Help your students develop a lifelong love of reading through interactive discussion with classroom book clubs. Link your experience to no more than four situations that occurred within the text.

Imagine being able to encourage your student readers from home. How to introduce units of study and set your students on fire for learning july 1, 2016 december 7, 20 by michael linsin there exists an amazing strategy that will dramatically increase student interest, motivation, and comprehension in virtually whatever youre studying. Write the words book club on the board or on a piece of chart paper. As a first step, determine how often youll be meeting. More than 50 choices awaited my students, i couldnt wait to start book clubs. Members of your action book club can be friends, classmates, family, a local community organization, or existing book clubs. Setting up a book club in school reading groups and book clubs are a hugely popular way of engaging readers and are a way into opening the box of reading delights. Whether you are discussing characters and their actions, setting, theme, or images, having a guide to questions that will. The dvd that comes with the book has lots of other resources on it as well. The very next day, they are then introduced to their book club choice. This spring semester, bu wheelock students are invited to take part in a brandnew book club, created and coordinated by bu wheelock faculty members dr.

Classroom book clubs is a narrated slidecast that describes a fun and effective method of doing literature circles. I read the chapter on book clubs and got a couple of great ideas from it. After 20 minutes, gather the books and ask students to hand in their lists with their top three choices. If you introduce it in a way that is dry or that leaves your students confused about its historical. Put your students in charge of leading their learning. I have been implementing literature circles with my students for. Popular high school book club books showing 150 of 721 the graveyard book hardcover by.

Based upon a book you have just read, share a story about yourself that is related to an event or character that was in the book. Dont let the summer slide erode all the reading progress your students have made this year. There are actually many variations on the same themea reader has much to gain by reading the same thing as others fellow students or the like and then by. You only have one chance to make a first impression when introducing children to a new book. Today we are going to read this book hold the book so the front cover is visible. When i introduce book clubs, i explain why i selected the books and seek.

Ideally, groups would be given the opportunity to select from highlyengaging texts that include both fiction and nonfiction options. Book clubs made easy by teacher trap teachers pay teachers. Student book clubs michigan english language teaching. The social aspect and autonomy of book clubs appeal to middle school students and provide motivation as well as opportunities to expand knowledge. The advantages of a book club in a middle school classroom. Reading book clubs a what to do and what not to do. As a member or leader of a book club, you are likely to be reading books on a wide variety of topics, both fiction and nonfiction. Reveal the book club idea, like a fun surprise, building anticipation about the way were going to experience our. You can put kids in book clubs without an actual book. How to introduce units of study and set your students on. Students will sit together in their clubs even when it is not a book club day. The first way to achieve studentled book clubs is by empowering your students with the gift of choice. Explore options for setting up and running a book club. Scholastic book clubs is the best possible partner to help you get excellent childrens books into the hands of every child, to help them become successful lifelong readers and discover the joy and power of.

How to run a fullchoice book club in your classroom. So when i announced that today was the day they would know their book club groups, i had not planned for the groan of disapproval that met me. My goal this year is for my students to grow their independent reading levels. Christine leider, in partnership with helen lee, library coordinator at the.