I'm chiming in to say I also agree that Book Study should not be teacher-driven. I give my fifth grade students choices of books and the freedom to schedule their own meetings. I require a written response to be ready to share at the meetings, mainly so that the children will have something to talk about. I give them many ideas (almost sentence starters) for their responses, and they have a rubric to guide the quality of their responses so I don't get lame ones like: "I like this part of the book." I want thoughtful written responses to guide thoughtful conversations.
I do not usually attend their meetings because I am busy doing guided reading or other teacher-driven activities; but when I can, I eavesdrop and I love what I hear. The children debate passionately and discuss in lively fashion their opinions, inferences, predictions...just like the critical-thinkers they are. It's very cool and it motivates all of the children to read more and with more care. I moved from third grade, where I also ran Book Clubs, to fifth two years ago, and the students who were in my third grade immediately asked in Sept whether or not we would be doing Book Clubs. Yay! Maureen _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
