How to get a smooth running book-club in your classroom
Book-clubs are an amazing way to teach your students so many reading strategies. But how do you introduce a book-club and have it be a success? Try offering a variety of books and aim for groups from 4-6 students. Book-clubs do take some planning, modelling, and practice, but are so much fun for students once they get the groove. Here are some tips for having a book-club in your classroom this year!
1. Model Reading Strategies
It is important to model the reading strategies that you’ll want your students to practice during book-club. A great way to model the reading strategies early in the year is to teach them during a read-aloud novel study. Teach and model various reading strategies during a whole-group novel study, allowing students to practice as well. Provide students with a booklet to fill in for your whole-group novel study. Use the same booklet for your book-club later in the year. This way, your students will have already seen and practiced the reading strategies numerous times before attempting them independently.
2. Choose Good Books
Choosing good books for your book-club options can really make a difference in the success of your book-club! Provide your students with a variety of genres. Allow your students to choose the book they are most interested in. Don’t worry so much about having perfectly equal groups. It’s also important to provide books of various reading levels. You’ll notice your students engage in various leveled books while still practicing the reading strategies that you are targeting. Don’t forget that decoding new words is not the only skill we are teaching when reading. Practicing to understand the book, make connections, and make inferences are also important reading strategies.
3. Check-In
You may not be able to sit with each group of students every time you do book-club. However, it is important to check-in. You may only have the chance to sit with and have a discussion with 1-2 groups while they are talking about their books. You can also have a whole-group discussion at the end of the book-club meeting for those who didn’t get a chance to share – but have something really important to say! I like to keep book-club positive by asking what went well during each meeting. Avoid asking when bad. Instead, have students come talk to you individually about a problem they had during their meeting and address the issue privately with the students involved.
Book-clubs are a great way to practice reading strategies and develop a love of reading! Some students may love the opportunity of having social interactions while also studying a book. Book-clubs may also allow for students to gain a better understanding of their book because of the conversations they have with their peers. Try a book-club with your students this year and see which books are a hit! Start building your collection for years to come. Your students will thank you for it.
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