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By Jillian Langer Until this year, I have not been able to come up with a structured format and time during which students can be engaged in lively conversations about their independent reading books. A basic philosophical belief of mine is that social interaction is critical to deep learning. However, my students have mostly done independent reading and guided reading during Reader’s Workshop time, leaving them with few opportunities to participate in meaningful conversations about books of their choice. They want to talk with their friends about their reading, but there never seemed to be time for formal, thoughtful conversations.
This year, I’ve been trying to make it possible for students to meet in small “book clubs” so they can read, discuss, and en¬joy books together. I’ve also been allowing students to choose the books they read and their topics of conversation.
Preparing for success
As you may imagine, there is a lot of work to be done beforehand if second graders are going to be successful participants in book clubs. To set them up for success, I used mini-lessons, modeling, Guided Discovery, and Academic Choice to teach students the tools they needed to make the clubs work.
Before the start of the school year, I made a rough schedule of what I’d teach and how I’d teach it. I was glad I’d made it once the busy school year started! I scheduled a series of objectives in the appropriate month with the appropriate structure, including mini-lessons, modeling, Guided Discovery and Academic Choice. I also introduced my students to small group work, the signal for silence, independent reading, classroom library use, plot analysis, and other reading skills. (See the complete schedule at the end of the article.)
My objective was for students to get comfortable with active, lively, reciprocal, and deep discussions about books. I reminded students that this objective was my hope and dream for the year, and then further linked this to our rules. When it came time to teach a specific discussion skill—and there were dozens to teach—I prepared a specific lesson.
What is worth sharing?
In Lesson 1, my students engaged with book-sharing questions: Who likes to share about the books they’ve read, and why? What is worth sharing? (All of these proactive lessons required students to share their opinions about their books, either in writing or verbally.)
Following this lesson, my class generated an “Ideas Chart” listing aspects to consider for sharing books. Some items in this list were rudimentary, including “funny part” and “favorite part,” while others, like “theme” and “connection,” required more knowledge of literary devices. We posted this list in a highly visible spot in the room, and have referred to it many times during our sub¬sequent discussions.
Sharing books with others
Other lessons focusing on partnering up and small group work followed. During one such lesson, I modeled a partner share with a student using Mystery at the Washington Monument, our class read-aloud at that time. I asked students to think about what they saw and heard. To ensure a positive sharing environment, we focused on modeling the following behaviors.
We should see: - Children facing each other
- Children making eye contact
- Children showing their books
- Children having an “I’m interested in what you’re saying” look on their faces
We should hear:- One child talking at a time
- Discussion stemming from class chart
- Focused (on-task) conversation
- Questions being asked, comments being made
- Answers to questions when possible
After the modeled partner share, students practiced a partner share using their independent reading books. I encouraged pairs to refer to the Ideas Chart as needed. As a group, students then reflected on what they noticed, how they felt, what went well, what could be done better next time, and how closely they followed the models.
This conversation led to our third lesson, which emphasized sharing in small groups. My students loved discussing Tommie dePaula’s Now One Foot, Now the Other, so I decided to have groups of students read other dePaula picture books. After having done some individual preparatory work with a Book Share Sheet, the students formed mixed-title groups and began sharing and discussing their books. Once each student used his or her sheet to share, the other members of their group could ask questions or offer comments. The students were delighted to find connections between their books. Many students then wanted to trade books and read more of dePaola’s work!
After these (and many other) lessons, the students began to use this new “book club” approach to discuss what they were reading. (See a more detailed look at Jillian’s book club lessons at the end of the article.)
Assessment: were the book clubs succeeding?
Because I really wanted to know whether my book club initiative was working, I decided to survey students and parents, and to make careful observational notes.
In September, and again in November, I surveyed students about what they read and what they talked about during discussions. I wanted to compare their answers over time to see if all this work was having any effect. I also surveyed parents in November. In the student surveys, I asked:- What kind of books do you like to read?
- To whom do you talk about books?
- When you talk about books, what do you talk about?
Their survey responses showed a movement from general to more specific responses about book content: students listed more specific book titles, authors, and characters in November. More students reported talking about books with friends, not just adults, in November. And in the second survey, students reported talking about books in greater detail, dis¬cussing book characters, the meaning of titles, and personal connections to the books. (More survey details are at the end of the article.)
Positive results
The results indicated that my goal was becoming a reality. My plan was working! The students were conversing about books with each other, not just their parents and family members! They also were talking more deep¬ly about books, instead of just talking about a book’s plot. I plan to continue giving students plenty of time to share about their books and to note when they are being specific about their sharing ideas. They feel good knowing that their peers take their recommendations about books seriously; I may even begin a “recommended reading” list for the class.
Family involvement
I am delighted that the students’ enthusiasm towards reading was evident at home. Some highlights from data I collected through a November parent survey included 18 out of 22 families commenting that they noticed their child reading more than he or she had at the beginning of the year. The remaining four families surveyed noted that their child was reading the same amount. No one reported a decrease in the amount of reading.
Every family reported that their child enjoyed reading. Many parents mentioned that their child was highly motivated to read, listing such reading mate¬rial as books, magazines, cereal boxes, and captions on TV; this, in turn, helped spur regular discussion between these students and their parents. Some parents expressed that reading would not be their child’s first choice of activities, but still, their child is interested in it. Parents also commented that the reading calendar we’re using as an organizational tool helped students stay motivated to read at home; it also created another school-home connection. (I expect children to read for 100 minutes a week outside of school and to document their reading on their monthly calendar.)
It pleased me that almost every family took the time to complete the survey. This implied to me that the children are being supported and encouraged to read at home.
I would like the students to talk about books at home in the same way that they talk about them at school. To sup¬port and encourage meaningful discussions of books, I sent home a note to parents describing the book club conversations we have in class. The letter included all of the ideas from our class¬room book sharing Ideas Chart. My hope is that students and their parents can use the chart’s ideas to model and practice the art of conversing about books at home.
What follows is a more detailed look at Jillian’s book club schedule, lessons, and survey.
Rough Schedule
Proactive Book Sharing Lessons
Lesson 1: Sharing books—What is worth sharing?
Objective:
Students will engage in active, lively conversation and sharing about books.
Materials:
Chart paper, chart markers, students’ books.
Procedure:
Ask: What do you notice about how we’ve shared books when we’re finished reading them up to this point in the school year? Who likes to share about the books they’ve read? Why do you like sharing them?
Remind students that my hope and dream for the year is for students to have deep discussions about books. Link this hope and dream to our rules. Discuss how some kids may not know what to share about when they try it for the first few times.
Transition to whole-group activity: create a chart of what aspects of books we might think about as we prepare to share our book(s).
Read chart together. Discuss brainstormed ideas in pairs. Have students choose an idea from the list.
This session generated the following ideas for sharing books:
Favorite part
Funny part
Part you didn’t like
What the title means
Description of main characters
Prediction
Connection
How the book ends (only use if your partner wants you to share this)
Information learned (non-fiction)
What the book is about
Theme of the story
Favorite passage
Who the author is
We posted this list in a highly visible spot in the room, and have referred to it many times during our subsequent discussions.
Lesson 2: Sharing books with a partner
Objective:
Students will pair up and engage in lively conversation about their selected books.
Materials:
Chart paper, chart markers, students’ books.
Procedure:
Discuss with the class that, up until this point, we’ve shared our books together as a whole class. Transition to today’s lesson with the following: “Today we’re going to have a partner share about a book.” Model a partner share with another student using Mystery at the Washington Monument (our current class read-aloud.). Afterwards, have another student share about his/her book from independent reading.
Have students practice a partner share about their books. Tell them I will be looking and listening for the things they noticed about my modeling. Keep this initial exchange brief; we want it to succeed. Try 1-2 minutes each. Encourage pairs to refer to the Ideas Chart as needed.
Reconvene as a group and have students reflect on their partner share. What did they notice? How did it feel? What went well? What can be done better next time? How closely did they follow the models?
Lesson 3: Sharing Books in a small group
Objective:
Students will form small groups and engage in active, lively conversation about their selected books.
Materials: Chart paper, chart markers, students’ books from reading groups, Book Share Preparation Sheet for each student, Now One Foot, Now the Other by Tomie dePaola, Post-it notes, pencils.
Procedure:
Introduce a small group share by telling students that I believe most of them enjoyed Now One Foot, Now the Other. Say: “Today I’d like to give you a chance to talk with one another about the book in a small-group setting.”
Model how to fill out a Book Share Preparation Sheet using Now One Foot, Now the Other as an example. (We all know this book and I used once already to model how to make connections to a text).
Have students complete their own Book Share Preparation Sheet independently using their own book from guided reading groups.
The next day, form small groups of students across our various reading groups. Model how to take turns sharing books and remind students about our guidelines for a partner share. Remind students to refer to their Book Share Preparation Sheets as needed. After each person uses their sheet to share, the other members of their group can each ask a question or offer a comment.
Student Survey
Jillian Langer, a National Board Certified teacher, teaches second graders at Gurney Elementary School in Chagrin Falls OH.
This article first appeared in Origins: A Newsletter for Elementary Educators, Winter 2009
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