Checking in on our Book Group Lunches

The first round of Book Group Lunches finished up today.  

It has been a fun five weeks watching the students learn to have discussions around books. They arrive with such passion and excitement. I've enjoyed not only learning about books from them, but also helping them figure out how to take turns sharing (patience is hard when you are excited about a book!) as well as put words to how they feel about and connect to specific books/genres.  

Here's how our schedule looked for the first five weeks:

The first few weeks were spent discussing books and then checking out books related to the discussion (this was reader's advisory on steroids!). For later discussions, I set up activities related to the books for the students. I have included some of those below.

For Jarrett Krosoczka, the students focused mainly on Lunch Lady.  Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute was passed around the table and read out loud. This was the highlight of my day.  The students also brainstormed new items for the Lunch Lady to add to her arsenal of tricks. Check them out!

Spinach Spy!

Spaghetti Rope!

Ketchup Glue!

French Fry Freeze Gun!

 Booby Trap Floor Tiles!

Lettuce Leafer!

Whisk and Bow!

After discussing Grace Lin's books, the students read an interview I did with Grace last spring and left comments for her. They also shared comments on a poster splash.

During the humorous fiction discussion, the students created a character or illustration that demonstrated their own sense of humor.

For Rick Riordan, the students explored resources on TeachingBooks.net. As a group, they watched the presentation below.  I also found it on YouTube. I know the students felt like they were at this event, because I saw them raising their hands to ask and answer questions!

For the graphic novels, the students used Make Beliefs Comix to share why they like graphic novels.

As a side note, I realized a few weeks in, that due to schedule constraints, it is too hard to combine the 4th and 5th graders, so uninvited the 5th graders for the last two weeks.  I promised to make it up to them and I will!