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Literacy 4-6

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Literacy 4-6 > Strategies > Book Clubs

Book Clubs

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Overview

Students practice making and finding meaning in their reading through a book club model. Students' Motivation to read can increase when they choose their own books, and time to discuss questions, observations, and connections in a social environment can help build Background Knowledge, Genre Knowledge, and Vocabulary.

Use It in the Classroom

Watch as these fourth grade students talk about their questions and observations about the books they are reading. As they discuss the books they have chosen, they animatedly engage with one another, sharing Background Knowledge and making inferences and predictions that strengthen Verbal Reasoning.

  • Using a workshop model can help support student discussions. Teachers can give a short lesson focused on a particular type of question or discussion, give students time to try this in their own discussions, then come back together as a group to reflect and share, supporting Metacognition.

    • Design It into Your Product

    Videos are chosen as examples of strategies in action. These choices are not endorsements of the products or evidence of use of research to develop the feature.

    See how Bookopolis allows participants to rate and review books that they have read. These reviews and ratings create a global Literacy Environment and expand readers' Social Supports, as they share books with peers all around the world.

  • Designers can provide a full library of texts to be used in a book club and ways for students reading the same text to post questions and thoughts as they read with features like shared annotations. Another design idea is to embed audio or text-to-speech options, allowing all students to access the text and participate in discussions.
    • View References

    Resources

    Below are additional examples, research, and professional development. These resources are possible representations of this strategy, not endorsements.
    Examples

    Learning Clubs

    ReadWriteThink lesson on organizing students based on their reading or writing interests

    Examples

    Literature Circle

    Important elements to consider for literature circles

    Research

    Identity, Behavior, and Relationships

    Topic that includes research on the development of social and emotional skills on Digital Promise's Research Map

    Research

    Learning Communities

    Subtopic that includes research on communities of learners on Digital Promise's Research Map

    Research

    Motivation & Autonomy

    Subtopic that explores how and why students are motivated to learn on Digital Promise's Research Map

    Factors Supported by this Strategy

    Student Background
    Adverse Experiences
    Literacy Environment
    Physical Well-being
    Primary Language
    Safety
    Sleep
    Social Supports
    Socioeconomic Status
    Social and Emotional Learning
    Emotion
    Motivation
    Self-regulation
    Social Awareness & Relationship Skills
    Stereotype Threat
    Cognition
    Attention
    Inhibition
    Long-term Memory
    Metacognition
    Short-term Memory
    Speed of Processing
    Literacy
    Background Knowledge
    Foundational Writing Skills
    Genre Knowledge
    Morphological Knowledge
    Orthographic Processing
    Syntax
    Verbal Reasoning
    Vocabulary

    More Cooperative Learning Strategies

    Gallery Walk

    As students walk through stations working in small groups, the social and physical nature of the learning supports deeper understanding.

    Think-Pair-Share

    Students develop literacy skills by listening to and speaking with others in informal ways.

    Writing Conferences

    Writing conferences allow students to share, reflect on, and receive feedback about their writing, which promotes Motivation for revising.

    Reciprocal Teaching: PALS

    When students explain to others, they deepen their understanding and gain confidence in their learning.

    Collaborative Writing

    When peers are able to work together to plan, draft, edit, and revise their compositions, their writing quality improves.

    Text Chats

    Bringing students' every day literacy practice of texting into the classroom provides regular, low-stakes practice communicating with authentic audiences.

    Jigsaw

    As students work with and process information by discussing, organizing, and sharing it together, they deepen their understanding.

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