One of my favorite things to do during literacy stations when I’m pulling small groups is to have a few partnerships or groups working on book clubs. Book clubs are special (but not anything that takes a ton of extra prep for the teacher). Kids love book clubs because they get some independence and they get to read and discuss a book like an actual book club.
In my first and second grade classrooms, I’ve used book clubs for the higher readers that had mastered the phonics skills needed at that time or were quite a bit ahead on the phonics front from the rest of the class. The reason I did this was because the other kiddos weren’t really ready for their own chapter book and the kiddos struggling with phonics or fluency really needed group time with me working on that the whole 15 minutes or so. So, for the kids that were ready to move on from the phonics and fluency – that’s where these comprehension book clubs came in.
I’ve done them with partnerships or groups of 4 working on a book. I would not do more than 4- too many little people in a group to try to get a long and get the work done with.
During small group time, I would pull back the kids working on say Cam Jansen. We’d discuss the chapter they read the day before with their partners and also go over the questions and answers. Then, I would assign the next chapter of reading and the next group of questions. The good thing about this is that the check-in only lasts a few minutes. Then, the kids are working independently on their chapter and questions. While they’re working independently, I’m able to pull groups that need more time to cover missing skills.
You might be asking yourself, where does she get the questions. Well, often I make them up. I go through the book and come up with 3-4 questions per chapter. Then, I put together a little packet/booklet of all of them for the kiddos to work on as they go. See my example below that is now in my TPT store.
Title Page
Character Circle Maps
Chapter Question Examples
Answer Key
Do you use book clubs? How do you use them in your classroom? Comment below – I always love to get new ideas and see how other are doing things in their classroom.
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