Supporting a Principal’s Book Club
Posted by Abbey on February 1, 2009 in Internet Research, Language Arts, Photo Story 3, Podcasting
A book club is a great way to bring people together to share their thoughts about what they are reading. Organizing such an event for students and /or parents in your community can send a powerful message to establish yourself as a reader and as a leader in literacy. Whether you are considering developing a book club with face-to-face interaction or through online social interaction, there is a wealth of resources online which can help you throughout the process.
Mark Federman, principal at Eastside Community High School in New York, has been conducting Book Clubs for his students (6-12 grade) for the past 8 years. He advocates, “ The most doable way to create a culture of learners who value reading and to launch the start of Readers Workshop is through a Book Club.” Click More to continue reading:
I have collected valuable information to guide you through getting started including:
- Mark Federman’s tips for getting started such as choosing your first few titles for the year, introducing your first book club event, advertising the launching of your Book Club etc.
- Letter of Support from Barnes and Noble which highlights suggestions for raising funds for purchasing books plus much more
- Technology Resources and websites for each phase of implementation
Mark Federman visited with some of our Seattle principals to share his process and insights for a successful implementation of a Book Club. With his permission, I have outlined below a summary of notes from his presentation and artifacts he shared around this topic. I have also spotlighted the technology resources and websites, which can help you in the various phases of implementation. Be sure to read the letter of support from Barnes and Noble local representative, Lisa Lundquist.
First Year Selection of Books
• Start with a Universal theme, a book everyone can read, high interest for students you are targeting
• Repeat popular authors
• BiblioTherapy: Allow for time with students to address important teen issues and other topics
• Choose books that have movies coming out
Technology Resources:
First Year suggested BookCover List and Synopsis
Evergreen Young Adults Book Awards
Sponsored by Washington Young Adults Review Group
Pacific Northwest Library Assoc. Young Reader’s Choice Awards
This award includes a division category for 4-6th grades, 7-9th grades, and 10-12th grades.
Notable Children’s Books
Committee of librarians (ALSC) identifies the best of the best in children’s books (for age levels birth -14). According to the Notables Criteria, “notable” is defined as: Worthy of note or notice, important, distinguished, outstanding.
Ideas for Advertising
• Pass out fliers to introduce the Book Club. Be sure to include upcoming books for future Book Club sessions
• Announcement at assemblies
• Book Talks either in person or on multimedia
• Special flier for “Invite for Kick off Party” (usually 10-15 minute book talk and a time to distribute copy of books for students)
• Another way to distribute books might be in partnership with Language Arts Teachers, Math teachers, or Science teachers as appropriate for the featured Book Club selection.
• Email announcements to teachers with possible incentives such as field trips for a class of students to Bookstore or Library, or organize a field trip for teachers to a local bookstore.
• Inquire around your local businesses for ways to raise funds. ( see letter of support from Barnes & Noble)
• Inquire about celebration locations in your community where students can share their own poetry or other writings in front of live audience
• Provide workshop for all parents to attend in order to inform parents of the Literacy expectations and value of reading (see PowerPoint:Family Literacy Information)
Technology Resources:
Book Cover Images to paste and create your own fliers
PowerPoint: “Family Literacy Information”
Letter of Support from Barnes & Noble
Getting Students Started
• Special flier for “Invite for Kick off Party” (usually 10-15 minutes book talk and a time to distribute copy of books to students.
• Provide a suggested time line to finish reading the book. For first year, recommend a three to four week time frame but can be adapted, as students get familiar with format.
• Request a letter from students about the book (see Sample Request)
• Pull quotes from student letters to start discussion
*Encourage students to keep a log of what they have read
• Mark Federman is currently using a tool online for book discussion groups called Goodreads
• Provide a tutorial for students to learn how to use online discussion group (Ideally, the school librarian might do this.)
Technology Resources:
Sample letter to students
includes suggested prompting questions
Goodreads
This is a website where book lovers can record the books read or plans to read and share rating for books with recommendations. This resource also features a forum to have group discussion about books read within a private setting.
Shelfari (Another option for rating books or online book discussion) http://www.shelfari.com/
February 2nd, 2009 at 6:40 pm
Thank u sooooooooo much for your help with photo story 3 it is just fantabulous!!!
but i can’t download it on my computer.