- Teacher chooses books by theme/genre as well as reading level
- Students choose books by interest within theme/genre
- Teacher and students develop background knowledge
- Students make predictions
- Books may be chosen based on issues students are exploring in their personal and/or class inquires. These books support multiple interpretations and critical thinking by readers.
- Books are challenging texts which encourage readers to think deeply and critically about their lives and the world.
- Teacher may begin with book talks.
- Teacher participates as a reader to demonstrate ways of responding
to texts.
Once
you set up the routine of Book Clubs on a daily basis, the students are
able to work really well independently. They know that they need to get
into their Book Clubs, read up to their assigned page or chapter, and
work on reading responses. This routine releases the teacher to circulate
among the groups and discuss the books they are reading.
Book Club Activities
- Book is read through shared reading, guided reading or independent reading.
- Students can respond to the literature in a number of ways:
- Written responses to literature - story elements/summary, personal response, think questions, vocabulary/skills, predictions/validations, and other teacher prompts.
- Oral discussions in small groups - share written responses, discuss think questions and oral reading or rereading.
- Visual Organizers - story map/web, character web, matrix, fishbone, Venn diagram, compare-contrast, excitement map, cause and effect, flow chart, time line, etc.
- Other creative responses - art, music, drama and creative writing
- Students participate in small reading groups (4 to 6 children).
- Book Clubs begin with conversations where students are encouraged to think deeply and critically about text through dialogue to co-construct new understandings.
- Students discuss their book with their group to explore multiple
interpretations.
- Students will create rubrics for criteria-based assessment
- Students will self-assess themselves
- Students give an oral presentation with their literature groups, by sharing their books, using visuals and presenting their creative responses.
- The whole class will debrief and discuss generalizations about the unit, universal concepts and write wisdom statements.
Copyright 2000-2001 All Rights Reserved