In my years of schooling, I don’t remember ever doing a successful book club. In 4th grade, my crazy, part time gifted teacher made an effort to host a book club. She did not have our respect as her students, and we simply dreaded being pulled out of class for the book club. On top of that, we hated the book. We didn’t choose it and we weren’t allowed to make any decisions around the activities we did in book club. I find this is important to note because that could have changed the outcome of book club for us as students. We have learned throughout this semester that all students need independence, and book clubs could be a great venue for student choice in learning.
Another concern I have with book clubs lies in the amount of time it takes to complete a book club. In the already fast paced setting of public schooling, I’m unsure of the practicality of using book clubs in a content area classroom. Completing an entire book around a topic would take more time than is usually allotted for one particular topic in the curriculum. However, if the books panned multiple topics in the curriculum I could understand the appeal of using a book club in a content area.
Other than that one experience, I never had a teacher try to establish book clubs in our classrooms. Because I had such a negative experience, I am hesitant to say I will try to implement them into my content area classroom, but it is definitely something to consider.
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Thanks, Courtney! You bring up important points, especially the bit about student choice, which we've learned is an important factor to consider. The time concern is also valid, particularly if a teachers plans to choose books that correspond to a specific concept. It is possible, though, to use texts that are broadly relevant to the curriculum with the knowledge that reading has a positive influence on general academic performance. Great points!
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