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Book Clubs For Elementary Students
I am a proud bookworm. I enjoy reading and work through dozens of fiction and non-fiction books each year. (And yes, I still prefer “real” books over audiobooks and e-books.)
Book Clubs (how To, Organizers Gr. 3 5)
I believe I love to read because I had teachers who were passionate about sharing reading experiences in the classroom. When I became a teacher, I knew I had to help my students find their love of reading. Book clubs were the answer! I divided my class into four grade groups and we enjoyed book club time each day during reading groups.
I know everything is different when it comes to teaching this year, but that doesn’t mean you have to give up on book clubs. Book clubs in a virtual classroom help increase engagement and excitement about reading.
Each of your book club groups will need a book. They may read the same book, but it is rare that a book is ideal for each group. Honestly, it’s more fun for me to start reading three or four different books with them than to read the same book four times in one day!
You can use almost any chapter book with your book clubs! There are a few things you want to consider.
Summer Book Club Draws In Children
If you teach literature standards, then I suggest choosing fiction books for your clubs. If you are going to learn informational standards, then you will want to choose nonfiction books.
It’s a good idea to learn about the types of books that your current group of students likes. Submit a quick Google Form survey to get an idea of what books they read and what genres they like. You don’t want to pick the exact books they’re reading, but you want to pick books that compliment what they’re reading. For example, if they love Harry Potter, you might want to look for another fantasy book.
You don’t want to choose books that will completely irritate your students, and you also don’t want to choose a book that bores them. Spend some time getting to know your readers so you can choose books that are at a level that challenges and excites them.
Also note that the books for each set do NOT have to be the same length! Often my lower readers had a shorter book and finished it before my higher group. Ungrateful! A group can simply start with a second book. It is not necessary for each group to finish and start a new book at the same time.
See What The Elementary School Aged Book Clubs Are Reading In April!
A book club will be significantly more successful if every student has the book to read. This was easier to accomplish when we taught in person and didn’t worry about clearing each book.
When I first started doing book clubs, I assigned certain pages or chapters to read at a certain time. It was a mess. Students would lose their book. A good number of them would not complete the reading assignment. Some of those who had made it would read the entire book and then give major spoilers to others in the group.
The reality was that it wasn’t fun because we didn’t have a common reading experience. I turned reading into a chore instead of an experience.
When I saw that wasn’t working, I made a major adjustment that improved my book clubs no end.
Getting Started With Book Clubs
We were all reading the exact same page at the same time. It was a shared experience. We laughed together and sometimes stopped to admit that something was wrong.
I love reading in chorus with my book clubs. This is when you all read out loud at the same time and quickly.
I’m not a fan of circular reading at all! There someone starts reading and then you randomly call another student to pick up where the last student left off. This really puts students on edge and can make them anxious. Many of my students struggle to stay focused and follow along if the reader is a little slower than they prefer. Plus, it takes forever because the new reader never knows where to start!
You can meet with your book clubs via Zoom or Google Meets! Schedule a 20-30 minute block for each group to sign. Students have their books in front of them and you read together as a group.
Literacy — Book Club For Kids
So if you have three different book clubs, you can block off 10-11:30 a.m. each day for reading groups. This gives you thirty minutes to meet privately with each of the groups.
I bite my tongue and don’t stop to ask a million questions. Stopping and starting is a terrible model of reading fluency and never leads to someone saying, “I absolutely love reading because once I got really into the chapter, my teacher stopped and asked me about character traits.”
So how will you use these book clubs to practice important skills without asking a million questions?
I started by assigning each student a book club job. Maybe one student was Illustrator and another was Word Detective. After we read, they did a task based on their work. Then we would switch jobs.
Spanish Book Club Meeting
I hated that every student didn’t work on the skills we specifically covered in the whole group readings for the week. If I teach about a central message, I want each student to practice a central message.
Instead of work, I decided to start assigning the same task to every student in the club. The assignment was directly related to the skill we learned as a class. If we were to learn about sequencing, then all the students in the book club could create a timeline with the sequence of events in the book.
This made the book clubs a huge win! Students began to score higher on our curriculum assessments because we practiced the skills with our book clubs. (Also, it was much easier to have my entire class do the same assignment than to have six different assignments at once.)
We’ve created Google Slides versions of all our book club graphic organizers. These are very simple to upload to Google Classroom. Plus, we’ve included instructions so you can download it as a PowerPoint. You can use this format in Team, Canvas, and Schoology.
Breathing New Life Into Book Clubs By Sonja Cherry Paul, Dana Johansen
I suggest spending most of your book club time reading – maybe 20-25 minutes. Then you can spend the last five or ten minutes discussing the book and explaining the assignment.
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Check out the books, supplies, and other products we use in our classrooms. We only recommend things we absolutely love and swear by! In past blog posts, we’ve discussed the benefits of a reading workshop, 5 easy ways to start a reading workshop, and how to start book clubs with your elementary students. In this post, we’ll talk about how to help your students host successful book club discussions.
Puntastic And Fun Book Club Names
I know what you’re thinking…student book clubs?! No way!!! You probably imagine a chaotic zoo with kids running around with absolutely no learning involved. Okay, so that might be an exaggeration, but I’m sure you’re at least imagining off-topic conversations and off-duty behavior. Remember how we talked about student buy-in in Reading Workshop? Well, this very purchase helps these book club discussions run smoothly.
Because students can choose their own book clubs and even petition for those clubs, student ownership increases significantly. The thought process is that they have “earned” their spots in these book clubs. (
Teacher Tip: Really play it up when announcing student book clubs. I congratulate them for the selection in these clubs. Even with older children, it helps!
) Year after year I have found that students are proud to be in these clubs. Therefore, they
Carlisle Book Club Concludes First Book
Success They just need to know what a successful book club looks like. Send the teacher! Here we come in!
There are three EASY steps to running successful student book clubs. Once students are trained to use these three steps, book club discussions will quickly become the best part of their day.
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