MRS. FRY’S FOURTH GRADE CLASS WELCOME TO BOOK CLUBS IN OUR CLASSROOM

I have been interested in Literature Circles/Book Clubs for a long time, I knew that it was something that I wanted to do in my classroom. When I first started thinking about doing something with book clubs for my cognate, my thoughts were focused on how I would implement them in my classroom and what I wanted my students to get out of their participation.

When I actually started my cognate, with my fourth grade class, I was a new teacher and my questions started to focus more on my own teaching and the needs of the group of students I had in my class. My questions How was I going to implement Literature Circles/Book Clubs in my fourth grade class? What were my expectations? What did I expect my students to get from their participation? My questions How was I going to implement Literature Circles/Book Clubs in my fourth grade class? What were my expectations? What did I expect my students to get from their participation?

I started book clubs with my students The students started with role sheets, we practiced each role and had whole class discussions using the role sheets to guide the discussion. My students did fine with the role sheets, completing them as they did the reading, and it helped them when we had class discussions. When students began to meet in small groups to have book discussions I noticed that this was difficult for my students. I started to rethink how book clubs could benefit this group of students. I started to focus on what the students needed at this time and how I might use the book clubs to address those needs. I started book clubs with my students The students started with role sheets, we practiced each role and had whole class discussions using the role sheets to guide the discussion. My students did fine with the role sheets, completing them as they did the reading, and it helped them when we had class discussions. When students began to meet in small groups to have book discussions I noticed that this was difficult for my students. I started to rethink how book clubs could benefit this group of students. I started to focus on what the students needed at this time and how I might use the book clubs to address those needs.

My students really needed to work on social skills, how to work together in the classroom, how to work in small groups, how to use polite words with each other – how to meet and have a discussion. So I began to focus on using book clubs in our classroom to build and support community among my students. My students really needed to work on social skills, how to work together in the classroom, how to work in small groups, how to use polite words with each other – how to meet and have a discussion. So I began to focus on using book clubs in our classroom to build and support community among my students. What I discovered

CHANGES AND WHY THEY WERE MADE

Using Literature Circle role sheets to help guide students book discussion meetings. Moved away from role sheets and started practicing and using polite conversation starters. When the students began meeting in small groups for discussions, I noticed that they had difficulty working together in small groups. I felt that they needed to work on how to have polite conversations about their readings – using kind words

Observing group discussions – Are students engaged in a meaningful discussion of what they are reading? Observing how students are interacting with each other during book discussions Building and supporting community is an important need for this group of students.

Focus on how to implement Literature Circles/Book Clubs in my classroom as way to engage and motivate students in reading – and in discussing their reading. The focus became more about using Book Clubs to encourage, build, and support community among my students. At this time my students’ needs were more about their social interactions with each other than about how deep their book discussions were. Because of this, I decided to observe student interactions. My students needed to first learn how to work together and how to talk with each other – how to have a small group discussion.

OUTCOMES My students were engaged and motivated readers – book clubs got my students excited about reading. Book clubs helped build community among my students My students used the polite conversation starters in their discussions – it has slowly begun to trickle into discussions in other content areas. In no way did we have everything perfect, there is still a lot to practice and work on, but I really saw a lot of growth in my students and how they interact with each other. My students were engaged and motivated readers – book clubs got my students excited about reading. Book clubs helped build community among my students My students used the polite conversation starters in their discussions – it has slowly begun to trickle into discussions in other content areas. In no way did we have everything perfect, there is still a lot to practice and work on, but I really saw a lot of growth in my students and how they interact with each other.

In my opinion, book clubs can be a great way to build and support community in the classroom.

My students were engaged and motivated to read – they were so excited about book club time.