How to Start A Book Club for Kids
Starting a children’s book club can seem like an overwhelming undertaking, but there are a few simple considerations and steps to follow. •
Before you decide to start a book club, make sure that your child wants to participate. If your child is not really interested and willing, the book club may be a disappointment for you both.
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The next decision you will need to make is who will participate in your kids’ book club. Ideally, all children involved in your group will be at a similar reading level, so you may want to target a particular age range for your group, such as second-‐ and third-‐graders. Remember that younger children or weaker readers can participate in book clubs by having parents read books aloud to them or by listening to books on tape. In addition, you will need to consider whether you would like to have mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, or simply parents and children.
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It is important to consider how many participants are ideal for your book club. Having too few participants may not make for lively enough conversation, while having too many participants may mean that each child does not get enough time to talk. Book clubs of between five and eight children and their parents are optimal.
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You will also need to decide how you will advertise your book club. You may simply want to invite your child’s friends and their parents by sending an invitation via telephone, mail, or e-‐mail. You can also post a flyer at your local library or children’s book store, or advertise in school newsletters.
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You must also decide on a meeting location. Meetings can be held in participants’ homes on a rotating basis, in a local library, local book stores, at a park or at local coffee shops or restaurants. The size of your group may help you identify the ideal location for your meetings.
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Once you have found some children and parents who are interested in participating in the book club, hold an organizational meeting to orient participants to the club. The organizational meeting is a time for group members to get to know one another, to establish some ground rules for the group, to decide on a meeting schedule, and to hand out the first book the group will read.
Adapted from http://www.pbs.org/parents/education/reading-language/reading-tips/how-to-start-a-book-club-for-kids/
Kids’ Book Club Basics
No two parent-‐child books clubs are alike. There are many ways to run a book club to ensure success. However, the following structure may help you to begin planning your parent-‐child book club. As your group progresses, you will surely add you own unique twists to this basic structure. •
Welcoming Activity To set participants at ease, many book clubs begin with a welcoming activity in which all members participate. This activity is relatively short and most often related to the book participants have read. For example, participants may share one new or interesting word they learned from the book, share a short entry from their reading journal, or name their favorite character from the book. Sometimes it is fun to do a quick ice-‐breaker type activity, too. Anything fun that helps to get the group better acquainted is great!
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Business A portion of each book club meeting is usually devoted to announcements. For example, members may want to tell others about upcoming events at local libraries or schools, or discuss the book club schedule.
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Book Discussion Discussion is the heart of the book club, and the majority of time should be devoted to discussion. Depending upon the size of the group and the ages of the children, discussion can range from 20 minutes to about an hour. Whether your book club’s discussion is led by parents, children, or both, it is a good idea to have some questions prepared ahead of time. With children book clubs, just as for adults, it is also a great idea to save some time at the end of the meeting for open discussion and play. This is both rewarding and reinforcing, and provides some structure to the overall activities of the meeting.
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Extension Activities Some book clubs provide opportunities for members to complete activities to accompany books. For instance, after reading “Call It Courage” by Armstrong Sperry, parents and their fourth-‐graders in one book group built miniature outrigger canoes based on the book’s rich description of life in the South Pacific.
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Refreshments Both children and parents look forward to a portion of the meeting in which they can talk informally and share a snack. Many book clubs plan snacks related to the book being discussed, such as magic wand cookies for a Harry Potter meeting, but it can also just be simple snack-‐time shared with friends.
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Book Rating To close discussion of a book, many book clubs offer an opportunity for members to rate the book. Using an agreed-‐ upon system, such as a star or number system, each book club member rates the book and briefly states the reason for his rating. The club’s organizer can keep track of the books the club has read and the ratings each book received to share with other book clubs.
Adapted from http://www.pbs.org/parents/education/reading-language/reading-tips/how-to-start-a-book-club-for-kids/
Having Great Discussions at Kids’ Book Clubs
Parents new to book clubs are often concerned about book discussions. What if the children do not want to talk? What if everyone says the same thing? What if everyone tries talk at the same time? How can you make sure that discussions are appropriate for the ages of the children? These simple tips will help your kids’ book club to have successful conversations. •
Have your group decide on ground rules for discussion. Ground rules might include having only one person talking at a time, not "putting down" or insulting others, and accepting differences of opinion. Depending on the ages of the children, consider writing the rules on poster board and reviewing them at each meeting.
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Make sure every discussion has one facilitator pair to ensure a smoother discussion. The facilitator should not dominate the discussion, but should be in charge of asking questions when conversation is stalled. Many book clubs set up a rotating schedule for discussion facilitation so that each person team has a turn, but this may also be the responsibility of the book club parent host.
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Avoid having adults dominate the conversation. While it may be necessary for adults to get discussions going initially, make sure that children’s voices are heard. Encourage children to respond to one another in addition to responding to adult questions.
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Provide children with adequate time to put their words together. Children vary widely in the time they need to speak, particularly if they feel "on the spot." Wait time it okay and often very helpful for younger children.
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Prepare discussion questions ahead of time to ensure a rich discussion.
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Ask a wide variety of discussion questions. Some questions such as, "What did you enjoy about this book?," can be used for many of the books your group reads, while other questions will be specific to a particular book. In addition, some questions such as, "Who was your favorite character?" and “What was your favorite part?,” lend themselves to short answers. Others such as, "Why do you think the author chose this title for the book?," challenge children to provide longer responses.
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Encourage—but don’t force—children to participate in discussions. Children vary in their level of comfort in speaking in groups, and some children are naturally quieter than others. Simply by establishing and valuing all opinions, asking a variety of questions and allowing children enough time to respond, you encourage all children to share.
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Select books carefully. When you choose books that are interesting to children, are at an appropriate level for children in the club, and raise enough issues that children want to discuss, book conversations are more likely to be successful.
Adapted from http://www.pbs.org/parents/education/reading-language/reading-tips/how-to-start-a-book-club-for-kids/
The Benefits of Kids’ Book Clubs
Parent-‐child book clubs offer you and your child a way to share books, experiences and feelings together. Many parents and children report feeling closer to one another after sharing books together. In addition, book clubs may provide parents and children with a way to explore and discuss difficult topics in a safe way. You can learn more about the ways in which parent-‐child book clubs foster positive parent-‐child relationships by reading Shireen Dodson’s “The Mother-‐Daughter Book Club.” This book provides moving first-‐hand accounts of mothers and their daughters discussing the ways in which book clubs benefit them. In addition to helping you talk with your child about important issues, book clubs provide an enjoyable and easy way for your child to develop many literacy skills. Simply by reading books in preparation for book club meetings, your child will develop fluency or the ability to read smoothly and with expression. In addition, he will learn new vocabulary words and be exposed to new ideas and concepts. Through the discussion that takes place at book club meetings, your child will develop a deeper understanding of books, consider others’ perspectives on the same book and practice analyzing the books he reads. Finally, book clubs help children develop important language skills. Book discussions help children practice turn-‐ taking, encourage them to use language to analyze, make predictions and solve problems, and provide them with opportunities to try out new vocabulary words. Simply by reading and participating in discussions themselves, parents can provide important language and literacy models for their children.
Adapted from http://www.pbs.org/parents/education/reading-language/reading-tips/how-to-start-a-book-club-for-kids/
