This last year I started a new (to me) idea and had a monthly Lunch Bunch Book Club. It was SO SIMPLE to do, I don't know what took me so long... At the beginning of the month I would display the new book on the whiteboard after reading the first paragraph to the kids. The interested kids would then sign up on a nearby piece of binder paper.
I have multiple copies of the monthly book (thank you Scholastic bonus points), and the kids would take a copy to read. I have my books labeled, so on the binder paper I wrote the number of the book they borrowed. If kids had their own book, they were welcome to bring it home, but if more kids signed up than copies available, the kids would just take turns in the classroom during silent reading time.
On the last day of the month (or the last Friday), the Book Club would meet during lunch. The kids would bring their lunches into the classroom, and we'd talk about the books - their favorite parts, what they thought the author's main purpose was, anything surprising, the parts they didn't like, etc.
Then we'd do a little craft or game that had to do with the book before they headed outside to play a bit before lunch recess was over. No matter what, I always picked up some di-cut shapes (month themed) where the kids would write their name on one side, and their favorite part on the other side. I put these di-cuts on the wall as a little reminder of the importance of book club for that month, then they would come down and be sent home with the specific kids.
Overall, I'm definitely doing this again this next year. I love talking books with the kids, and spending time together during lunch helped to build relationships. :)
This next year my books for Lunch Club will be How to Steal a Dog, Save Me a Seat, Restart, Ugly, Pay it Forward, Loser's Club, Mudshark, Field Tripped, and the Great Gilly Hopkins. Some of the same books, some different.
I hope this helps!
It was my first year for lunch book clubs as well. For me it started when many of my 4th graders were reading Fish In A Tree and one of them said we should meet to talk about it. I ended up doing four book clubs in which there were 5-8 kids each time. Our books were Fish In A Tree, Save Me A Seat, Front Desk, and The Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus. I look forward to doing it again this upcoming year. I have a couple titles in mind already. I am also contemplating doing it across grade level, we have three classes.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea about opening it up to the grade level!
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