Book Clubs for Secondary Classrooms

It seems to me that 2018 has been quite the long year… but then again it does feel like I was just rounding the corner of 2018 not too long ago, and here we are already at 2019. One of the most important things we can do as teachers is reflect, and so that’s why I love this annual blog post. It’s been my new year tradition for the past several years (2015, 2016, 2017), and choosing only five moments is always so hard, but here goes: My top five classroom success stories of 2018! This year in review…

1) Read-o-Lution: Reading is the hallmark – the cornerstone – of any English classroom, but let’s face it: In today’s time, even reading can sometimes take a backseat to everything else we cover. And with our teens walking around with tiny TVs in their hands at all times streaming the latest Netflix Original or watching the newest Youtube sensation, there isn’t much reading going on. I started the second semester (Jan 2018) with a focus on reading and having my juniors make a reading resolution or “read-o-lution” after studying an article about the importance of reading. If you are a Common Core state, you can use the reading passage from Appendix A to discuss the importance and value of reading. If not or if you just want something ready-to-go for the new year, I have this super simple informational hot topics lesson on how Reading Is Good For Your Brain. Throughout the year, I implemented my Article of the Week program, too (another blog post to come on that this year but you can get the materials for it here now). We also read more full-length short fiction texts in class, and my honors students read an out-of-class novel for book clubs. (See more about my book clubs here). I also set up a mini classroom library, and students checked out books all year long that way. I left their poster up the rest of the semester, and many students truly did make efforts to take reading more seriously and achieve their reading resolution.

2) Podcasts: I love introducing students to something new, and surprisingly Podcasts were actually kinda new to my students. They had, of course, heard of them, but they never really listened to them. Again… why would they when they could just watch something on the tube? I actually used Podcasts two ways this year. First, with my yearbook staff, we listened to a Podcast crime series when we finished our book. Up and Vanished (Season 1 carefully edited) was the perfect way to get my staff engaged. They completed a casebook to keep track of their listening and crime solving. That casebook is free in my TeachersPayTeachers store. Second, in my English class, we did some spooky Podcasts from Lore during Halloween, and students took notes on a podcast worksheet I created. (Get those here.) Then, they wrote their own spooky stories. My students wrote some really amazing stories: We had many laughs and many spooky cold chills, too! Readers of my email newsletter Teaching Tidbits with Julie Faulkner got that activity for free back in October. Be sure to sign up for that email at the bottom of the page, so you don’t miss anymore goodies. You can also see some of my Podcast suggestions via this link over to my Facebook page at Julie’s Classroom Stories.

3) Victorian Tea Party: Another focus I had this past year was on careers. Whether students were going straight to a career or college after senior year, I still wanted them to be focused on their futures in terms of where will they work when it’s all said and done. I’ve found that this year especially, my students are so uncertain about what they want to do, and they don’t even really have any idea what’s out there. I’m going to be adding a few more career-based lessons in the new year to possibly help students get a better idea of what their options are and what might be a good fit for them. But this project was an interesting way for students to really think about who they are as a person and what they’d like to become — just like our gal pal Eliza Doolittle in Pygmalion/My Fair Lady. Hats are a huge symbol in this text, and I wanted students to not only understand and recognize that symbol and it’s role in the characterization, but I also wanted them to make text-to-self connections as well. I loved seeing how their hats turned out, and it was a fun way to make a class party text-based. See this activity and all the instructions here in my TpT store.

4) Sieve and the Sand Experiment: I’ve lost count how many times I’ve taught Fahrenheit 451 over the years, but this year I did something new that I’d never done before: a science experiment. No we didn’t burn anything… though it alarms me how many people want to burn books as part of teaching this unit. (Insert “I dunno” emoji here.) This was actually an experiment that brought the text to life and helped students get hands-on with Bradbury’s choices. I hid a few “surprises” in the sand for students to find, but ultimately, my goal of them being able to use the experiment as a jumping off point for discussion during book club meeting was super successful. I was really proud of how they went back to the text to see what Bradbury said and truly analyzed Montag’s memory. Get my 451 unit here.

5) Character Stockings: About once a year I can get it together to make a huge reading display outside my classroom door. I wish I could do it more often, but quality over quantity, right? This year, we were inspired by Fahrenheit 451 to design a hearth and decorate it for Christmas. I drew the outline for the hearth and printed up the stockings using clip art. Several of my students drew the fire and bricks and put on the finishing touches with paint. Each student then chose one character from the novel and designed a stocking for that character using text-based details. I LOVE the way it turned out!! I’m so proud of it, I’ll probably be “one of those people” who leave their Christmas decorations up year-round. LOL!

As you can probably see, this year was about all about a focus on reading — fiction and nonfiction. I wanted students to see the value in reading and truly immerse themselves in it. Making text-to-text connections, text-to-world connections, and text-to-self connections really taught students to dig in and read closely. I think the reading focus paid off: Just seeing students doing more guided reading in class and independent reading out was fulfillment enough, but we also saw major improvements in ACT reading scores with students making gains of 5-6 points on the reading section and some students scoring 30+. That sounds like a great year to me! Share your best moments of 2018 below, and here’s to having your own classroom success stories in 2019!

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An English teacher’s life is packed, and for the most part on top of that, we are doing more than just teaching English. For me, I’m the yearbook adviser, the graduation coordinator, senior class sponsor, member of the leadership committee, etc. I’m sure your situation is similar. So, when I can cut down on what I might be doing in my English class that causes me more work (and doesn’t really benefit the students more than another choice I could make) I look at revising it. Therefore, one year the cut came to literature circles. In fact, I had done them several times, several ways and hated (I know that is a strong word, but really) so much that instead of revising it, I cut it completely for several years – until another idea hit me. So before I launch into what I do instead of literature circles, let me make my case against them. Primarily, my number one reason for not using literature circles is not the work load for me of all the copying, begging, keeping multiple stories straight, and grading through different work stacks, but rather the disservice I think it does to the students. Every single time I tried the literature circle strategy with different students reading different books doing different roles, never once did a student actually read the material in its entirety or go above and beyond to explore other aspects of the novel. They would cheat the system every single time no matter what I offered, promised, or threatened. In theory, I think they are great. Once I was brave enough to try again, I looked at ways to revise the concept and now my students read at least one novel out of class and not only do I look forward to the time, but so do they. So, what do I do? I still wanted it to have a read-for-fun concept, so we have Friday Book Clubs. Below is my method of implementation. This is my strategy for managing and maintaining out of class readings for students.

1) Each student reads the SAME book. I know- where’s the fun in not letting them pick? The picking strategy doesn’t work for me (or my students) because honestly, if they are all so good to be in the stack that it doesn’t matter what they pick, then why aren’t they reading them all? In my opinion, there’s no way each book can offer the same type of skills. For me, time is so precious, so I’m even using my out of class readings as a vehicle for skills I need to cover. Also, how can you make connections across other texts and concepts and reference them in class when only a certain number of students are privy to the info? I even seen with literature circles eventually the students read all the books anyway. I am not one to just fly through the pages of a book to check it off the list. I would rather my students take an entire semester on one book, if need be, to really dig into its layers instead of flying through a stack, just so everyone feels like he/she gets a choice. If they are reading them all, then it was never a choice anyway – just a choice in what order they read them, and it’s more frustration and work for the teacher.

2) Each student has the same role and goal – to get the most out of the book as possible so we are all on the same page. With literature circles, students get into groups to discuss the work they did for their specific role. Then they switch roles at different points and so on. I found that if a student was the word master for the group, that’s all she did. If a student was assigned to be the symbol sleuth, he just looked for symbols and completely missed any new words or any key developments with the characterization. I prefer my students to read with an open lens, so they come to class with all the information of the text bubbling around in their head. Then, I give them a focus for their discussions, and they drill down. To me, reading for just bits and pieces takes the fun out of reading. It makes it like shopping with a list – you miss other things you might’ve loved because you are too focused on just the list. See my accountable talk discussion pack and my emoji puppet stems for productive and fun discussions!

3) We do meet in small groups weekly. Students are still assigned (or choose) a small group of other students – their book club – for the duration of the study. They’ve all read the material and are ready to complete whatever activity for skills building and discussion that I have ready. Since my students read their books out of class, I dedicate every Friday to book clubs. While they are reading out of class, I just want them reading – no busy work to do, etc. Just reading and comprehending. Plus, I really do try to limit the amount of homework they are required to do because, let’s be real, most have jobs, play sports, take extra classes, etc. So, with my reading assignment, I just want them reading. Typically, my students do only one out of class novel per semester. That amounts to about 15-25 pages a week depending on the novel length. They have all read a certain number of pages over the course of the week, and on Friday they come to class ready for a short closed-book quiz. Yes, I give a quiz. (Maybe that could be a topic for another post.) After the quiz, we discuss openly the plot development from this week’s reading, I answer questions, and they discuss and debate, make predictions, and so forth. Next, they move into their small groups, and I have some sort of activity waiting for them to complete that is skills-based. Sometimes they close read a section and discuss. Other times, they are working on symbolism or characterization. During this time, I can visit each group and listen to their conversation because I know they’ve read the text and are now enjoying working together to complete the task. I can enjoy hearing what they say instead of worrying that some people haven’t even done the reading.

4) Students do have choices. Throughout the course of the unit, I do provide students with choices in the projects they do, essays they write, and even in the research they conduct. The book I pick is the constant and offers the stability, and from that students’ curiosity is piqued and choices are generated. I love using menu boards, giving lists of topics, or having students submit their own ideas. What I don’t have is copies and copies of various pages and packets that students must keep up with and manage. Task cards also help with streamlining work and provide differentiation.

Literary Analysis Task Cards Comprehension, Prompts, Any Prose Text

5) Grading is more streamlined, and I get a better picture of what students understand on an individual level. I take grades from the quizzes, short writing prompts, research project presentations, essays, paired texts questions, and other related worksheets. All these things measure what the students can do on their own in response to the text rather than what they copy down on a sheet from the surface of the text. Each of my literature units that I develop and sell have all these no prep pieces included.

Basically this method blends the modern idea of literature circles in the sense that students are reading out of class and coming together with a group to discuss and dig into the text with the old-fashioned methods of traditional out of class reading strategies that offer the structure and accountability that I think students also need to get the most from a text. I’ve had students tell me that was the first book they’ve ever read all of from beginning to end. I’ve had students say, “I really liked that book – what other stuff did he/she write or what would be another book like that?” and they go searching on their own. Now if that isn’t building true readers and opportunities for authentic choice, then I don’t know what is.

Some novel units I’ve completed with great success include Dave Cullen’s Columbine, Fahrenheit 451, and Lord of the Flies.