Help me plan a productive book club for kids!

November 7, 2006 12:11 PM

I found out today that starting tomorrow, I'm teaching a kids' book club once a week. I've never done this before. Help!

I don't have the books yet, they're giving them to me this afternoon. It'll be 3-5 fifth graders, and the meetings run 2 hours, once a week. New book every second week.
I have experience working with and teaching kids, so that's not a problem, but I DON'T have experience with book clubs. What do I do???

posted by BuddhaInABucket to education (7 comments total)

Are the kids part of a voluntary book club, or is it part of a program? In other words, how likely are they to really want to read whatever book this is?

Basically you are looking at having only one meeting with them to get them excited about contributing something to the next meeting, which means they have to read that book between tomorrow and next week.

Most likely there will be tons of guides online for whatever book it is, and maybe some activities suggested. But be careful when it comes to asking the group questions. If you are simply checking comprehension and asking classroomy questions, they'll be able to tell. A book club is a great opportunity to present reading as worthwhile not just as part of an assignment, but as a means of engaging each other and talking about life. This is a small group and way easier to hold kits accountable and to talk freely without it getting too noisy and off-topipc. Plus if they are meeting in this context for the first time, then it may take them a few meetings to really grow into this shift.

Perhaps when everyone introduces themself you could ask them to tell the group a little about one of the best books they ever read, or what they don't like about reading, etc. It's an instant launchpad into figuring out what the purpose of your group will be (and it may change over time, esp. depending on the books).

Search for themes that kids this age are sensitive to and can talk about. Injustice. Intimidation. Poverty. Initiate discussions based on these. Once you've initiated a discussion, try to hold back and let them run it. Let this go for a couple minutes longer than you normally would in a classroom. Come up with a word or signal that indicates when someone has gotten way out of line or is dragging things wildly off course, and use it. After a couple of meetings, allow them to start using it too.

The incentive for them to finish their book by the next meeting has to be strong. With such a rapid turnover, I hope they're good books!
posted by hermitosis at 12:46 PM on November 7, 2006

2 hours is a long. time.

Snack break in the middle? Most book clubs have a social aspect that makes it feel like a fun time.

Make them feel like they're part of an elite group that gets to do something others don't. If you're too strapped to provide any good snacks, get creative about ways to break up that block of time. Perhaps you could make a batch of hot chocolate in a big thermos, and ask them all to bring a coffee mug from home so that you guys can sit around with coffee cups and feel sophisticated.
posted by hermitosis at 12:51 PM on November 7, 2006

Snacks or candy are a good idea in the middle, but I would reccommend putting the books away for snack time or else a discussion about the interesting book will turn into a discussion about whether johnny or jamie can fit more popcorn in his mouth at once.
Two hours is a really long time for fifth graders. Maybe some of the time can be devoted to silent reading or reading out loud.

See if you can get the kids to ask each other questions to get the discussion going. The questions will start out being comprehension level stuff, but hopefully talking about the plot will get them moving when it comes to more abstract things. This is what my (high school) english teacher does when we discuss Shakespeare, it helps because a lot of the time we're not completely clear about what happened at first.

Why and how did you end up sponsoring this book club? Is it an optional thing for kids who enjoy reading? Or is it a creative way to try and motivate the slower kids to start reading. Keep in mind the intelligence and motivation of the kids involved while you make your plans.
posted by martinX's bellbottoms at 1:45 PM on November 7, 2006

In the first session, you may want to set ground rules, especially these two:
- We are here to have a respectful discussion. So we'll be respectful of what other people have to say. Disagreeing with each other is fine, so long as you do it respectfully.

- We will assume that everyone has read the book; we won't be doing any plot summary and I won't be asking you any questions like you get in school ("Who was Jonny's father?") that are mainly meant to check whether you've read it. If you haven't read the book on time, it will be boring and confusing for you, and we won't slow down just for you.

Hermitosis is right; plan for a break in the middle. Maybe you can have them do a creative activity that has to do with the book -- how would [character] act in [some other situation not described in the book]? What would happen if, instead of [decision made halfway through book], there had been this different decision? Let's draw a map of the place where the story happens. etc.

Here are some standard questions that come to mind for discussion. I think you'll want to overprepare a bit, because you'll need to be able to bring the discussion back on track when it veers off. The kids will probably begin by talking very generally about whether they liked the book, and about what they thought the "moral" was. You'll need some ideas for what to talk about next, after those topics have been exhausted.
- Was there a part of the book that taught you something you didn't know before? What was the most thought-provoking part?
- Do you know anyone in your own life who's like [main character]? Have you ever felt that way yourself?
- Was there any character who seemed unrealistic to you? Why?
- Does [major situation in the book] remind you of anything that has happened in your own life?
- Did anyone in the book handle a situation badly? Why did they act the way they did? If you were their friend, what advice could you give them about how to handle it differently?
posted by LobsterMitten at 1:50 PM on November 7, 2006

I participated in Junior Great Books as a kid and it was immensely rewarding. We read a book for each session, or sometimes what essentially amounted to a long short story, and then we discussed them, much in the way you discuss literature in college. I am sure the moderators had canned questions to help get the discussion flowing. I am sure you could write your own if there is no material to go along with the books.

I agree that two hours is a long time for such young kids. A snack is a good idea. You might also want to move beyond merely discussing the books and have them spend part of the time illustrating aspects of the books or something else done with their hands. I think our discussions started out as an hour at the third grade level but they were longer as I grew older.
posted by caddis at 1:53 PM on November 7, 2006

This training course for Junior Great Books Instructors should give you some stuff to think about.
posted by caddis at 1:57 PM on November 7, 2006

2 hours for 5th graders? Hah!
posted by dgeiser13 at 10:17 PM on November 8, 2006