We have no done any book club type activities as a whole class. Each student chooses a book to read during readers workshop. My mentor teacher and myself meet with each student to make sure they are choosing an appropriate book for their reading level. We also provide them with some type of organizer to keep while reading the book. This can be anything from a goal setting sheet to a character and summary chart. We have noticed that some students have trouble with vocabulary, so we have provided them with a vocabulary organizer so that we can go over words they may not know or understand.
If I were going to try and set this up in my classroom, I think I would start by grouping kids according to their reading ability. There are many students who are below grade level, many at grade level, and even a handful above grade level. I would give them choices of books depending on their ability. I think it would be nice to have a book club similar to the one's we did in our 401/402 classes. It would be nice for each group to be able to read a different book. This allows students to learn about a variety of books, and possibly choose one they are very passionate about. To keep my students in a similar mindset, I think a great idea would be to have each student reading the same type of genre book. My students are currently focusing on chapter books in the class. It would be nice to have different books in one category. For example, if I choose all historical fiction books, each book club group would have a different historical fiction book, but at the end of the book club each group would be able to talk about their books. This would allow the class to hear about different historical fiction books and possibly hear about different time periods and what may have been happening in the world during that time. Book club does give students a lot of different opportunities to express their reading.
Sometimes as a teacher and student, it maybe hard to recognize all types of book club ideas. I know that I never really thought about read-aloud as a book club idea. It wasn't until I started to read this book that I realized that it could be used as a book club idea. Currently, I like the way our reading is set up in the classroom, but it wouldn't hurt to try something new.
My mentor teacher’s share alouds seem similar to your read alouds. We’re very lucky that we have enough copies of the book for each student to follow along with. We’re also reading a historical fiction book, Sign of the Beaver, which relates to their social studies. I think it’s great to relate one subject to another because it gives the students the full opportunity to learn the material. They are able to connect with it in different ways and realize that every subject overlaps and they all relate to each other. What they may not understand during Social Studies is emphasized during language arts and vice versa. We also stop and ask questions about the book and the vocabulary in the book. We do spelling and vocabulary tests on Fridays and the vocabulary words are from the book. My CT stops and discusses the words with the students as they arise in the book. She asks them to use context clues to try and find out what the word means. After a few students share what they think it may mean she has students take turns getting the dictionaries and reading the definitions to the class. It’s great to see so many things incorporated into read alouds. She also tries to have the students relate what is happening to their lives. However, a lot of things in this book are very different than how we live so my CT often asks the students to contrast how their lives are different than those of the characters in the book.
ReplyDeleteI find your readers workshop information interesting. We have not started readers workshop yet since the district requires us to do MEAP reading GLCE books, so it’s great to hear about yours and get some ideas for when I start teaching and working with readers workshop. I think it’s great that you meet with the students. I feel that talking with students about their reading and the level of book that they’re choosing is very helpful to the students. Reading is very important and if they’re reading above their level they won’t get as much out of the reading and will become frustrated as well. I would hate to drive a student away from reading due to frustration. How often do you meet with the students? Do you meet with them all after a certain amount of time or based on when each child finishes a book? I also LOVE the idea of giving them organizers to help them focus their reading and learn new vocabulary. Also, this way they won’t be reading without comprehending because they’ll look up the words and understand what they’re reading. The vocabulary chart sounds like something that could be a great reference for them all year as well. The character sheet is also a great way to incorporate the elements of literature.
I also would set up groups by reading level. I think it would be helpful for students of the same reading level to have a chance to talk with each other about their readings. Since they’re on the same level they probably will feel comfortable talking with each other and also they will be able to learn from each other. I also think it’s a wonderful idea to give the students choices of their books for book club so that they don’t feel like they’re being forced to read a book. If it’s a book that they chose they will have more motivation to read. I think having different groups reading different groups would lead to a great class discussion. Each group could share with the class what they learned from their books, maybe some vocabulary words, etc. It would also lead to a great text to text discussion and also get students interested in new books. In terms of having them read the same genre I think it could go both ways. I think having each group read the same genre would be great and lead to great discussions about how the same genre can still have differences. However, it could also be interesting to have each group read a different genre and then report back to the class about their genre and have a discussion about how each genre is similar. I would like to try both of these types of book clubs.
ReplyDeleteI never thought of read alouds as a part of book club too, but I also can now see how it would work in book club. I think it would also be interesting to have the small groups do share alouds within their book clubs. The students could take turns reading to the group while the other members follow along. This would be helpful for students speaking in front of others and good reading practice at the same time. It would also be helpful because if they don’t know a word the group members could help them and if they come across a vocabulary word they don’t know the group could discuss it together and help each other. Then if they don’t know it, they could go to a dictionary. I can’t wait to see reading groups in my room. The MEAP GLCE books are so boring for the kids and very redundant. I look forward to starting something new soon and trying new things too!