Book Club/Literacy Circles

I really enjoyed participating in our Book Clubs/Literacy Circles in class. I have never been apart of a book club, so this activity was new territory and fun for me. Creating “norms”, a handshake, and scheduling our readings really provides structure for this assignment. I have never read a book so fast until I read Hoot. Looking back on the assignment, making a reading schedule really helped me. I wish I had made reading schedules for myself in the past with other books. Planning our readings ahead of time helped me, because it allowed me to read swiftly and productively. There have been a lot of times where I have felt overwhelmed with books in the past, but this time I enjoyed and looked forward to reading.

I also favor Literacy Circles, because students are allowed to work in groups. Working in groups allowed me to see other areas or connections in the text that I had overlooked and view other interpretations of the book. Each member in my group had something different to bring to the table which made our group discussions interesting and engaging. In the classroom, I will definitely be using this activity. My group discussed giving students an option to have “Lit Fridays” once a month, every other Friday, or maybe every Friday. If anything, this activity gives students a break from textbooks and worksheets (especially in science and math) and develops reading skills that will be useful on milestone testing, future academia, and in life.

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