Sunday, March 22, 2009
'Lil Smarty Bookclub
By CharlotteSmartyPants' Guest Blogger, Melissa S
As moms, we are always trying to find educational things to do with our children that are fun as well! That’s why I was so excited about the idea of starting a children’s bookclub.
It’s the same idea as what many moms do except with kids! My daughter was thrilled to be able to do something with her friends just like mom does. Our group is ten 2nd grade children, mostly girls. We have monthly “meetings”, spread out more during the school year. We take turns picking chapter books or advanced picture books, always with the mothers’ approval. It can, however, be difficult to find books that both boys and girls want to read.
One thing that came up early on is that many of the girls read at different levels. But we figured out a way to accommodate this. Kids who might have difficulty reading a particular book don’t have to read it themselves; moms, dads or older siblings can read it to them and no one needs to know!
At the “meetings” we’ve done many different things. We’ve used discussion questions, completed crossword puzzles or artwork that related to the book topic. But, a favorite was the Magic Tree House book, “Vacation Under the Volcano”. We then went on a “field trip” to the Discovery Place Pompeii exhibit. Another fun treat was at Christmas, each child brought a favorite wrapped book to exchange and during the summer we met at the pool!
Happy reading, ‘lil Smarties!
What other books or ideas can you add to this list?
5 comments:
I think this would be a great idea for my 4th grader and her friends. Reading seems to be the last thing they have on their minds, but this would help!
This is a fantastic idea! Some other ideas to use: Use a theme of fairy tales or classic stories such as: Goldilocks, Little Red Riding Hood, The Gingerbread man, and let children choose their own version of the book. Make part of your "club time" a book talk where the child shares their book, and talks about their favorite part, the characters, etc. Then get together and act out the book.
Another way to do it in a mixed group is to pick a theme such as "space" "trains" or "turtles" and let the kids choose a book on their level that they like. Use the same concept of book talks for your together time, then use the together time to do some non-fiction.
Also, another easy book club, is to choose a song, the kids can read the lyrics, listen to different versions of it, and then for their together time, create a "book club" book that they can all illustrate. This is a great way to introduce kids to those songs we all need to know, like the star spangled banner, polly wolly doodle, and froggie went a courtin.
My favorite (and my plan for the summer) is to study some of the artists and do artist studies. Mondrian, Matisse, Degas, Monet, Picasso.. by reading about the artists lives you can tie in geography and history ideas, and just about all kids LOVE art. They can then try to imitate the art style, or some of the pictures themselves.
Whatever you choose, the important thing is to have fun! Keep it relevant and get kids reading and TALKING about books.
I am so glad you shared this idea. We did this with my daughter and her friends one year during the summer. They loved "Island of the Blue Dolphins", which led the group into a big discussion about dolphins and ocean life. If you are unfamiliar with the book, it is also a wonderful lesson in history and will open the children's eyes so much.
OHH OHH I forgot: Another way teachers get around the interest problem is to choose an Author Study- this is a fancy way of saying, offer a selection by an author (you could do series too) Just think of the fun you could have with Roald Dahl (charlie and the choc factory, matilda, george's marvelous medicine, the twits, the witches, the BFG) or Judy Blume or my favorite, Bevery Cleary (Ramona the pest, Ralph S. Mouse)-- Andrew Clements is very popular these days as well, another oldie but goodie, James Howe and for the younger kids Jez ALborough, Phyllis Root, or Arnold Lobel.
OK, this is the cutest idea! I can't wait until my boys can read. You could really have a lot of fun with this. Thanks for sharing!
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