Content-Area Book Clubs


Content-Area Book Clubs 
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This chapter was really helpful in starting to think about what it would look like to implement a book club in my own classroom. It provided practical tips on how to get started with book clubs, the teachers’ role in book clubs, assessment opportunities, etc. The two things I found the most helpful were the section on training and the teacher’s role. Often, teachers attempt to implement fun learning tactics, such as this, but they try to do it without training their students first. This section discussed the importance of training and how “we can’t plunge kids into book clubs without their knowing how they are to operate.” (p. 244). In my own classroom, before I even start a book club, I plan to have a whole class day to introduce book clubs and practice doing them. I also love the idea of making a positive statement list as a class revolving around the idea of book clubs. The other thing I found helpful to reflect on as a future teacher was the teacher’s role in book clubs. It is important to only prompt them to answer specific questions when needed. However, the book clubs should be student-maintained. Also, while I was exploring YouTube looking for a sample book club to show my future students, I found a video of a teacher implementing some of these strategies in her own classroom and found it super helpful. I recommend any future teacher to watch this, but especially those eager to implement the idea of book clubs into their own classroom.
Word Count: 259



Comments

  1. Joe CottonOctober 15, 2019 at 8:41 AM

    Hey Katie,
    I thought you brought up several good points! Like you, I found the section discussing teacher roles in book clubs to be helpful. It’s so important to have realistic expectations for your students which requires the teacher to give an appropriate amount of guidance. On the flip side, it’s important to let your students discuss among themselves, ultimately providing them with little to no further instruction. I liked what you said about having a list of positive comments. Students love to be appreciated for their work, and actively thinking of ways to uplift your students should strengthen the teacher-student bond.
    (WC:100)

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