Immersed in Literature ~ Erin Florence & Sheryl Rose

Think back to when you were learning how to read... 

Did you learn from a reader? Did you enjoy it? Did you ever wish you had a choice of what book you were reading? As a teacher, it can be difficult to engage students and instill a love of reading while using a repetitive “reader” that is not of interest to the student. So how does a teacher instill that love of reading without using a reader while teaching important reading skills? 

For the past two years we, Mrs. Rose and Miss Florence, have worked together in the 3rd and 4th grade classes to teach and run Book Clubs, also known as Literature Circles. This allows students to choose from books at their reading level and find ones that are of interest to them. By using Book Clubs we have found that the students look forward to reading and they are still learning valuable reading skills!

Choosing the right book
To start our Book Clubs, we select a variety of books at appropriate levels that we believe might be of interest to our students. We then give a “Book Talk” to the students where we discuss “good fit books” and give a brief overview of each book. Students are given time to look through the books to decide if they are a “good fit” by asking two questions:

    1. Can I read and understand most of the words on a given page? 
    2. Does the content of the book seem interesting? 

Once they have had enough time to look through each of their options, they write their top three choices on a sticky note. Book Clubs are then formed from their choices.

Filling a roll
Now the fun begins! Students are assigned pages to read in order to complete their assigned job. Each group has 6 jobs to fill:

    1. summarizer
    2. discussion leader
    3. dictionary detective
    4. text connector
    5. character analyzer
    6. Imaginative Illustrator 

Once each person has finished reading, and has completed their job, the group meets and shares their information. This process continues until the group has read the entire book. Then students complete a final project over the book.

Being immersed in literature
Book Clubs allow students to be immersed in literature; they give students the freedom of choice. Through Book Clubs, we are able to expose students to a wide variety of literature that they may not otherwise experience. This allows students to engage in different genres that they may not pick up on their own. 

Even though students are reading different books, we are still able to teach core reading concepts through whole group lessons as well as mini lessons through the Book Club experience. We work with small groups and individuals to strengthen reading skills and differentiate learning. Each Book Club moves at their own pace depending on the needs of the students in each group. This allows us more time to work with certain students without holding the entire class back.  Together we grade and write feedback for students regarding their assigned jobs.

Finding their comfort level
While students are reading and working on their jobs, we allow them to work wherever they are comfortable. This flexible seating around the room means students aren’t “stuck” in a chair at their desk during reading instruction. Once everyone is ready to meet, the group decides where the meeting will take place, again allowing for flexible seating. Students decide where they are best able to focus and learn.

Reading AND writing
Book Clubs are more than just reading, they encompass writing as well. Each of the jobs require written responses; we hold students accountable for spelling and grammar rules they have learned. With this approach, students read, write, and spell at their learning level (stay tuned for our next blog post for more about differentiated spelling groups!).  

Our decision to do Book Clubs as one of the avenues for teaching reading has been highly beneficial for our students. It has allowed our students to work at their level in a book that is of interest to them. They read a wide variety of books over the course of the year, some that they may not have considered reading on their own. Our flexible working environment allows students to work where they are comfortable and to work at their own pace. We are able to teach whole group concepts as well as work with students one-on-one or in small groups. Book Clubs have instilled a love of reading in our students while still learning important reading concepts.

When fall begins, we will be immersing the entire upper elementary classes in literature via book clubs, as Miss Florence will be teaching the 4th & 5th grade in a combined class, and Mrs. Rose will be teaching the 6th graders in a self-contained classroom. 

***Erin Florence is an elementary teacher at Waterbrook Christian Academy where she has taught 4th grade for the last three years. She graduated from Olivet Nazarene University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education.
***Sheryl Rose has taught first, second, and third grades at Waterbrook Christian Academy over the last four years. She graduated from Central Michigan University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education. She also has a Master of Arts in Special Education, Learning Disabilities from the University of Michigan-Flint.

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