Monday, January 23, 2012

Caroline's Classroom Connections: Book Clubs

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January 23, 2012
Caroline's Classroom Connections
Book Clubs, Part Three: Running a Meeting

Once you've
and
it's time to get started!

It's a good idea not to have a book discussion that first meeting. Instead, talk about ground rules and what you hope your book club will become. Here are some things to think through beforehand:
  • Will members be allowed to drop in when they feel like participating or will they be expected to attend regularly?
  • What happens if a member hasn't finished the book?
  • How can members prepare before the meeting?
  • And a key question: What's the point of a book club?
 
Here's a handout I gave my students our first week together:

Welcome to Book Club!

Here are some things you should know:

In order to attend a meeting, you need to read the book. That's it!

Sometimes we'll read a book about a boy. Sometimes we'll read about a girl. If you are a boy, you CAN read about a girl and survive. I promise. Girls, same for you.

To make Book Club as interesting as possible, it is good, though not required, to jot down things as you read. Here are some ideas:
  1. How does this book compare to others I've read?
  2. Three words to describe this book would be...
  3. If I were the main character, I would have...
  4. I was suprised/annoyed/happy etc. when __________ happened.
  5. I like this book because...
  6. I didn't like this book because...
  7. My favorite character is _________ because...
  8. If I could change a part of the story, it would be ___________ 
  9. An important sentence in this story was _________ because...
  10. Any of your own ideas!

You can get yourself a notebook to write notes in. You can write ideas on a scrap of paper. Where you write doesn't matter.

Come to the meeting with something to say! The more you say, the more fun the discussion. If you have a copy of the book, bring it along, too.

Come as often as you like.
Invite your friends!

Challenge yourself to read a type of book you might not pick up on your own.

Have fun!

I'm looking forward to our year together.

Now that you're all on the same page, assign the first book, select it together, or pass out the list of books you've planned for the group to read ahead of time. Make sure to include a way to contact you. Make sure you've arranged with parents for transportation. Be prepared to be flexible. And just like I mentioned above, commit to having fun!

Next month, Book Club Pitfalls to Avoid.

 Black Stripes

Meet the Spellbinders


Caroline Starr Rose
Caroline Starr Rose spent her childhood in the deserts of Saudi Arabia and New Mexico, camping at the Red Sea in one and eating red chile in the other. She's taught English and social studies to upper elementary and middle-school students in New Mexico, Florida, Virginia, and Louisiana. Back in New
May B
Mexico, Caroline now writes middle-grade novels and picture books full time.

  
  
  

CaCarolee Deanrolee Dean has made numerous appearances as a guest poet/author at schools, libraries, poetry events, and teacher/library conferences. She holds a bachelor's degree in music therapy and a master's degree in communicative disorders, and she has spent over a decade working in the public schools as a Comfort Paperback Coverspeech-language pathologist. Her first novel, Comfort,was nominated as a Best Book for Young Adults, was named the Best YA Novel of 2002 by the Texas Institute of Letters, and was on the TAYSHAS (Texas Library Association) reading list. She conducts teacher trainings on inspiring reluctant writers including "The Secret Language of Stories" and "Random Take Me There CoverActs of Haiku."

To find teacher's guides, writing activities, and information about author visits, go to my website.

 Follow me on Twitter
  
  
  
  

Upcoming Author Events

 

Sunday, March 11
Kimberley presents at the
Tucson Book Festival

12:30 -1:30 Panel with Author Will Hobbs: "Opening Minds Across Borders: Characters in Conflict" 
AND
2:30 - 3:30 "Breaking into Children's Novels through Magazine Writing"

Each session followed by autographing

Saturday, March 17
UNM Continuing Ed  
Young Writers Conference

Kimberley is presenting "The Creative Diary" - a hands-on Writing Workshop for kids and teens   
 

Sunday, April 29th 
9-5 Preconference Session
Author's Panel at the
International Reading Association Conference
Chicago, Illinois
"Rekindling the Reading and Writing Fire"
Join us for this all day session
featuring 11 authors including
all 3 Spellbinders
Carolee Dean
Kimberley Griffiths Little
Caroline Starr Rose
  
Tuesday, May 1
3 p.m. - 4 p.m.
International Reading Association Conference
Chicago, Illinois
"The Secret Language of Stories: Beyond Story Grammar"
Carolee Dean 
    
  
  

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Spellbinders | 3 YAF Authors | Albuquerque | NM | 87181

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