How to Start A Book Club
Starting a Book Club in Primary, Middle, and High School gets Students Excited about Reading
Book clubs are a great arena for students to meet new friends, become active listeners, develop their writing, oral, and artistic abilities, but most importantly to read new and interesting books. Often, the curriculum dictates the books for the students to read in the school year, however, book clubs allow the students to choose a book of interest. Start a Book Club in your school for the students.
How to Start a Book Club
1st Step: Choose a safe location for the book club. Classroom or meeting rooms are ideal as you are able to create a comfortable reading area for the students. The gymnasium is too big to generate an environment conducive for an open discussion.
2nd Step: Choose a time for the book club that is accessible to a high percentage of students. Often lunch is an ideal time as after and before school there are more restrictions on the students. As well, recess is not suitable because the time is limited.
3rd Step: Gather support from teachers, parents, principal, administrators, teacher assistants, and school volunteers to participate in the book club. Support is critical for the book club to be successful.
4th Step: Write a persuasive letter to parents and the students about the book club and the many benefits they will receive from participating. Also, the letter may solicit donations from the parents to build the book club library.
5th Step: Invite students to come to an informal meeting to briefly discuss what the school book club will entail and what there responsibilities are for attending the sessions. A great time to gather information from students as to what they expect from the book club and what they would like to gain from attending.
6th Step: Ask students to list the books that they would like to read. Compile a list of all the books and have students check their top 3 books on the list. Majority wins. You may also randomly pick a book, or students can vote on the book they would like to read.
7th Step: Organize your first book club meeting and assign the book to the students and to set the date for the first couple of chapters to be read or for the book to be finished. If the book club is to meet monthly, that is sufficient time for the students to read the book however, if you choose weekly meetings you may wish to break the book into chunks.
8th Step: Have fun and be flexible, as you have more book club meetings, you and the students will see what works and what doesn't work for your group. Enjoy the process, it is about students reading.
Leave your tips and suggestions on how to start a book club in your school at the discussion forum.
