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start clubs for
• grades preK-2
• grades 7-12
see Discussion Questions
Grades 3 - 6
Do some research. • Is your child interested? That’s pretty important. • Are there existing book clubs? • If there are no appropriate clubs, start your own. Who is interested? Talk to teachers, librarians, parents, and of course your child to find out who would be interested in starting a book club. Who will organize it? • Parents and children? If so, you will have more control and flexibility. • Teachers? If so, it will be a school-sponsored activity. • Librarian? If so, it will be an activity of your local library. How will you get started? • Determine when and where to hold the first meeting. • Design and mail out fun invitations. • Plan on serving refreshments. • Ask everyone to come with a list of book ideas. How many should join? 6 to 15 are best. Too few make it sparse when some are absent; too many make it hard to hold a coherent discussion. Where will you hold future meetings? Homes? School? Library? The Y? A church? When will you meet? • Right after school? Evenings? Weekends? • Once a month is best. • Pick a schedule and stick with it. How will you structure meetings? • 10 minutes to discuss club business • 20-30 minutes to discuss the book • 30-60 minutes for a themed activity What kind of books will you read? • Fiction: current or classic; story or chapter books (depends on age) • Non fiction: poetry, biographies, science, social studies, world folktales, world travel • Themes: family relationships, friendship, pets, feelings, social values, diversity
• Limits: by price? by number of pages or chapters? How will you find book ideas? • School reading lists • Librarian recommendations • Teacher recommendations • Book Award lists: Caldecott Medal, Newbery Medal, Parents’ Choice Awards, Boston Globe Horn Book Awards • Websites: American Library Association Notables, Reading Rockets, New York Public Library • Publications: NY Times Book Review, Washington Post, local papers, national magazines. How will you select your books? • Frequency — select monthly — every 2-3 months — all books at the first meeting of the year. • Method — vote from a list of recommendations — rotate monthly so each child can choose a book. Who will lead discussions? This varies according to age and club. Some children may want to lead their own discussions; if so, be sure to have an adult present to moderate. Here are some options: • A librarian, teacher, or invited guest leads. • One parent (agreed upon by others) always leads. • Each child or parent picks a month to lead. • Whoever chooses the book leads. • Whoever hosts the meeting leads. How will you discuss the books? To help with discussions, see our Discussion Questions for Kids in this age group (Grades 3 — 6). You'll find some good ideas. And for the kids who are a little older, you can try some of our adult discussion aids: — How to “Read” a Book — Discussion Questions — Icebreakers How will you stay in touch? • The computer: e-mail, IM, FaceBook or MySpace: kids already use these sites to stay connected. • Contact list: put together a list that includes emails, phone numbers, and home addresses. What kind of activities? Here are some terrific activities for your book club. For more ideas, check out our 26 LitFun Ideas for Kids. • Themed dinner Cook a book-related menu together or have everyone bring a themed dish (see LitFood.) • T-shirts Decorate T-shirts with a book’s characters • Bookmarks Create club bookmarks using wrapping or wall-paper or draw characters from books. • Sleep-over Bring a sleeping bag and watch a book-related movie • Field trip Head to a book-related place or event: a play, a movie, concert, museum, zoo, historical site, botanical garden, natural area, sport event, or county fair. • Make a donation Collect $1 in dues each month and donate a book to the library. • Bake sale or book sale Rasie money and publicize literacy by baking themed foods to go with certain books. Or hold a book sale for used books. • Acting Act out characters, scenes, or titles of books you’ve read. You can even turn it into Literary Charades, in which teams try to guess what book the other team is acting out. • Club journal Design and decorate a book club journal: keep track of books, published reviews, club discussion points, likes and dislikes. Make a multi-year journal or a new one every year. • Personal journals Have members design their own reading journals. • Collage Use poster board, magazine clips, pieces of fabrics, other small gluable objects to create a poster-sized collage for each book you read. Display them all at the end of the year. • Letter to the author Dictate to an adult or write a letter to the book’s author. Talk about what you liked or disliked or ask any questions. Include a group photo, too. Mail it to the publisher—who will forward it on to the author. (Include a copy of the letter and the photo in your club journal.) |
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