GOAL:
To review the behaviors that promote successful book club discussions
ASSIGNED READING:
Chapters 7-8
WRITING PROMPT:
How would you describe the Prestons' community? What does all the food that Dad finds in the mailboxes show about the community?
How is David's family different from Marty's?
Marty says that his secret about Shiloh is "like a time bomb waiting to go off." What do you think he means?
ONLINE PROMPT:
Participate in the online book club by using the Student Comment Form and the Student Comments About Shiloh page.
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At the start of Book Club today, conduct a lesson about the behaviors that
contribute to a good book club discussion. Ask students to recall some
of their past experiences in book clubs and other discussion groups
and to think about what made the experiences good or bad. On the chalkboard,
create a two-column chart with the headings "Qualities of a good group"
and "Qualities to avoid in groups." Have students brainstorm items to
add to the chart. (Note: Guidelines for successful book club discussions
are outlined in the teacher's
handbook. See page 169 for a sample chart like the one described
here.)
Remind students that having good conversations in their book clubs requires commitment and practice. Suggest that they keep in mind the behaviors that they brainstormed as they meet with their book clubs today.
Because good small-group discussions are so central to the success of Book Club, you'll probably want to make a special effort to monitor and assess students' progress in this area. Some Book Club teachers use a tape recorder to record individual book clubs so that they can listen to the groups at a later time. (You can rotate the tape recorder between groups over a two- or three-day period.) Use of the tape recorder also puts a little added pressure on students to participate, which tends to promote better conversations.
During community share, discuss the issues that came up in students' book clubs and also how well their discussions met the criteria that the class outlined earlier. You might wish to have students write assessments of their book club performance, giving themselves and their groups letter grades and explaining why they earned those grades. Examples of student assessments are shown on page 191 of the teacher's handbook.
Click to go to Lesson 5.
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