Why I Don't Do Guided Reading! Book Clubs Exposed!!!

I have lucky to be in on many innovative educational ideas.  I have seen the rise and fall of educational concepts.  It has been an interesting time.  One of the best ideas I have seen, and practiced, is the use of Literature Circles, or Book Clubs for kids.  It is also one of the most under utilized strategies with teachers.  Let's take a look at why!  

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This is how I survived my ELA block for the last few weeks before break!! I LOVE Book Clubs (Literature Circles) and so do my students!! It strengthens their understanding of character development and plot! Have you used Book Clubs in your class! Let’s hear about it!! #studentbookclubs #bookclubsforkids #literaturecircles #iteachela #iteachprimary #iteach123 #iteach234 #iteachgifted #teachingprimary #Igteachersrock #iteach2nd #iteach3rd #elementaryteacher #primaryteacher #teacherteam #teachersfollowingteachers #elementaryteacher #secondgradeteacher

A post shared by Julie from The Best Days (@thebestdaysclassroom) on Dec 26, 2018 at 9:09am PST

Book Clubs for Kids

Literature Circles, or Book Clubs for kids,  have probably been around longer than we can imagine.  I can retrace my experience back to my first year of teaching.  I taught Fifth Grade and had this great idea from college to try out.  My peer teacher was extremely innovative and agreed to let me try them out.  She was a steady novel user herself-in fact, she still is a novel user! (More on that in other posts!) I had used novels right along with her, mainly to get the most band for the buck!  My Brother Sam is Dead is a great example of this most bang moment!  This amazing novel teaches the American Revolution from an amazing view point - that of a Revolutionist who also put his life on the line for his family, all told by his young brother who was not fighting in the War.  Great stuff - but I digress!  So, I gather the texts I wanted to use - The Secret Garden, Alice in Wonderland, The Jungle Book, and Huckleberry Finn.  These books were not a huge jump for my students - in fact, because of what we were reading, they fit right into our class.  I created a project too - they had to write a summary for each chapter and draw a picture to create a Big Book for a younger grade!  All was great - but I had NO IDEA what I was doing!  This was totally unstructured talk with a random project.  I would rotate and listen to them.  They would all write a summary!  Great, but with no real results.  No real ability to "see" what I needed to see from them.  And, so, like so many others, I gave up this very "innovative" idea and stuck to what I was learning from others - the use of really great literature with the whole class.   Until...

Balanced Literacy!

Yes, about ten years into my teaching career, Balanced Literacy was launched.  It was during this time that "Guided Reading" was introduced to us and it was quickly pushed aside by those that I taught with.  In fact, it was a somewhat verbal assault on the instructor of the course.  But, she would not be pushes aside so easy.  Over the course of our year's worth of classes, she began to make headway - with BOOK CLUBS for kids!  She quickly moved from the idea that small readers were for all students into reading novels with older kids.   This brought buy-in!  In fact, she brought us to the point that students in 2nd grade and beyond SHOULD be reading real literature in the form of NOVELS!  And that's where she found acceptance and understanding!  And that's why I don't do Guided Reading in my classroom - in ANY grade I've taught!  Instead, I do...

Book Clubs!!

Literature Circles, or Book Clubs for kids, soon became a big hit with my students!  Why??  Well, there are a number of reasons!  Here's some:

1. They offer student choice!  We all know that it is hard for teachers to give up the idea that students can choose their own books.  However, that is part of what Book Clubs for kids offer.  Choice gives a student more buy-in.  That means more time on task, a connection to social-emotional learning, a willingness to have cooperative behaviors, and just a better chance to have fun with their reading.  
2. They provide a chance for differentiation!  That's right!  You can offer a variety of reading levels and topics in one Book Club for kids.  Or, you can go with a theme and offer a variety of levels of reading opportunity!  The opportunities are endless!  
3. It provides a purpose for reading beyond the idea of taking a test!  YES!  It is real, it is engaging, it is opportunity!  Real literature is used.  Kids want to read when the book engages them-so pick quality with PURPOSE!  Understand what and why you have picked that text to use with them!  And, opportunity is present.  Opportunity to get students involved and loving a book for what it is and what it does for them as a reader! 

What Book Clubs for Kids are NOT! 

I shutter when I hear Guided Reading- for real, I do.  Because it has become what it should not be.  It is, in it's current form, Round-Robin Reading Groups.  Student groupings don't change, they are stuck in a cycle of boredom (and so is the teacher), and we are assessing everyone for fluency OVER AND OVER! (Why?? WHY?? If they are fluent-move ON!)  We don't boost their reading past what we "think" they should be doing!  Reading is NOT A LEVEL!  Therefore, Book Clubs are NOT Guided Reading!  

Book Clubs for kids are NOT a free-for-all either!  There is structure and planning in Book Clubs.  Students have roles and expectations- all of which they must be ready for.  It takes practice and work, but students can quickly learn the hows and whys when presented with opportunities to lead!  

Book Clubs for kids are NOT ungraded!  There are many ways to grade Book Clubs.  Be open to ideas for grading, even from the students.  They know what should and should not be going on in their groups and will be honest about their behaviors and reading.

Book Clubs for kids are NOT unguided.  I carefully scaffold my Book Club instruction.  I start the same for every grade, no matter what grade I have taught Book Clubs in, 1st through 5th.  When they learn the ropes, they learn quality Book Clubs!   

So, now that you are intrigued, I'd love for you to join me in learning more!  I'll be posting some Blog Posts and sharing some over on my Facebook Page!  Stop by and follow me there for my live discussions about Book Clubs!  And, let me know more about what you'd like to learn by leaving me a comment below!  

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Read the next article on Book Clubs for kids HERE! 

How to Boost Inference Skills!

How do you boost inference skills?  Two words-Chris VanAllsburg!  Oh yes!  A HUGE dose of Chris VanAllsburg!  Here's how!

First, explore who this author is.  Many of us know him, but we don't!  Sure, he's The Polar Express, Jumanji, and Zathera.  But he is SO much more!  He is a supreme artist.  If you look at his work carefully, you will see that his quality is amazing.  I prefer his black line work myself.  His shading and detail are incredible.  Next, look at it even closer.  He hides things in his work.  There are reoccurring patterns of pictures and imagery.  One of these is his "nephew" dog! That cute little dog is in every book he has created!  

Next, there are the stories.  Oh, the stories!  These stories will make students think!  VanAllsburg doesn’t provide all the answers.  No, he is going to give hints and pieces that give the students a chance to think it through, to dig deeper into their own thinking and understanding.  It is REAL practice each time they hear the story, or pick it up on their own afterwards. 

It is important that you don’t just attack these stories in a haphazard way. There has to be a plan.  Students need the opportunity to build their inference skills when presented with his stories.  Let’s take a look at how they can build this skill within this practice of listening and inferring.

First, start with the most familiar books.  The Polar Express, even when it is not Christmas time, brings the students to a familiar place.  They are comfortable yet surprised by some of the differences with the movie and the book.  This leads to good conversations in class.  Move onto Jumanji and Zathura, since students may have seen those movies as well.  And, this becomes a fascinating set of tales for them.  It also begins to press into inference, as they must use their understanding in a different way.  They inferencing process can be charted and discussed at this point.  There is a serious transfer of characters at the end of Jumanji that goes into Zathura.  Students will use their inferencing skills to start this story.  They will then apply their former knowledge to infer events in Zathura.  Building this slowly creates a growth mindset because you don’t overload them with the serious books yet to come. 

Next, we head into the medium inferential thinking books that he has written.  The Garden of Abdul Gasazi is an example of this.  Most of the story is a nice tale of a boy who doesn’t follow directions and the results of that decision.  Then, BAM, just like that, kids have to make a serious inference that isn’t a huge risk.  They take it, they have success, and they are ready for more!  The Wreck of the Zephyr, Ben’s Dream, The Wretched Stone, The Mysteries of Harris Burdick, and Probuditi are good to read in this stage.  Success for growth in inference, repeated practice, and a growing love of his work all come out of this continued practice. 

In the final stage of practice I introduce them to the heavy stuff.  This is where you have to work carefully, because these stories can overload the kids if you are not careful.  I start with The Witches Broom.  There are some things in this story that students must connect through inference.  When they do, they are amazed at the depth of their thinking!  I follow this with the Sweetest Fig.  This one is a little harder and raises many questions for the students.  Run with it and work together through the tale.  The end is so worth it!  And, again, success!  Next comes my favorite, A Bad Day at Riverbend!  OH MY GOODNESS!  Do NOT, I repeat, Do NOT let them see any pages ahead in this tale.  Inference, inference, inference is used on every single page!  And, be sure to read it with a western twang!  This is truly the most amazing of all his books!  All of this will prepare them for The Stranger.  This one is really hard for my students, since we live in Florida.  It takes lots of inferencing and, frequently, after discovery, I reread it to them so that they can find the clues and truly enjoy the story with the deeper understanding it takes. 

I know that I haven’t talked about a single activity to do with these books.  That’s because I don’t do them!  I don’t overload the process with writing activities and recording information.  I can totally gather information from faces and group talks.  I’m not looking for perfection or continual growth.  I want to have this skill impact them through the simple joy of hearing, thinking, and team discussion.  I have been reading and completing this unit for over 15 years and I can honestly say, it works!  One of the true errors of this post is that I’m recording this information now.  I won’t do this unit until at least January!  By then they will be ready. 

I do finish this unit with a graffiti wall activity.  This is an awesome way for kids to record their favorite parts of the story, their inferences, or a picture that will stay with them from each title.  The end product wasn’t fancy, but it was full of great thinking and creativity on their parts. 

How do you teach inference?  I’d love more ideas for great authors and activities to build my students’ skills!