They LOVE it!

It's been a while since I've posted, but we are now right in the middle of a "Book Club" unit. I have done literature circles before with average to lackluster interest from students, so this time I revamped everything: new books, new name "Book Clubs" instead of "Literature Circles," new rules, etc.

I didn't know what to expect, but the students are absolutely devouring the books this year! Not sure if it's the group of kids or the groundwork I've laid throughout the year (or the fact that it's my 3rd year teaching this class now and I'm getting more of the bugs worked out and hitting my stride).

Whatever the case, the students are 100% engaged for the entire period, and they are READING, and not only are they not complaining, but they are raving about their books. They're having spontaneous authentic discussions about character, plot, author's intent; they're making text to text, text to self, and text to world connections; they're summarizing, paraphrasing, figuring out the meaning of new words in context, making predictions and inferences, drawing conclusions...all spontaneously!

This year's books are Monster (Myers), Stargirl (Spinelli), Gym Candy (Deuker), Wolf Rider (Avi), Tears of a Tiger (Draper), and Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (Sheldon). The biggest hits of the year are 3 new ones I added to the repertoire: Gym Candy, Tears, and Wolf Rider.

I couldn't be prouder of them. Some of these kids came into the class as proud "nonreaders" and now no longer say they hate reading. They have changed their phrase to "I hate reading things I'm not interested in." WOW, WOW, WOW!

THIS is why I became a teacher!!!